Chapter 2
She isn’t joking. There is a darkness and truth in her threat that makes me take another step back.
She smirks again. That witch has dropped me right in it with this crazy Nexus woman.
“In truth, I didn’t come here willingly,” I softly begin.
“This isn’t my world, and I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to. ”
“Keep going.” She spins a dagger in her hand. Wait, where did she get a dagger from?
I don’t question it as I hold up my hands.
“I don’t want to fight. I’m a witch. I’m one of the few witches left here, but where I’m from, there are thousands of surviving witches who are trapped, hurt, and living like slaves.
Humans too. Shifters too…people like what you are,” I explain.
My dark hair blows around me in the breeze, and I wish my leggings were jeans or something, as I’m cold.
I miss my cloak; I’m wearing a denim coat because Lyra said it’s not common for humans to wear cloaks and I’d stand out too much.
Seems there are downsides to this world after all.
“I’m no threat. I was told I need to ask for blood from you for a spell and rare herbs.
I was sent here by a witch called Hell, and she seemed to think you’d help me. ”
The Nexus woman huffs. “You’re making me feel bad for imagining killing you now.
Sounds like your people are in trouble.” She puts the dagger down on the armrest. “Been there, done that and won. I helped a witch, never learnt her name, but I assume it’s the same crazy black-haired one.
She came here yesterday and warned me that I had to help you or everyone would suffer. ”
“Are you going to help me, then?” I question. I’m really not sure she wants to.
A gorgeous tall man steps out onto the balcony, slightly older with dark hair and an even meaner expression than the woman has. “Do you want me to kill her, Sun?”
I don’t doubt for a second he would attempt to kill me. I get a spell ready, just in case, but she sighs. “No. We can’t have fun this time. My Nexus likes her, and I have a bad feeling that letting—” She pauses and looks at me. “What’s your name?”
“Juniper,” I answer quickly into her rant.
“Right. Letting Juniper go without help or killing her would be bad. I’m not in the mood for another war with witches this time, Finn.
” My shoulders drop. I might be able to get back to my bonded.
I know something is wrong; I can feel it, and the longer I stay here, the more I just want to rush back.
He leans against the wall, his tall frame towering over me, but his eyes stay on her.
They must be mated; there is no way they aren’t.
That look? Black looks at me the same. God, I miss him.
I can feel our mate bond in my chest, in my heart, but it feels like a piece of string in a hurricane, and I can’t find it.
“Look at you, Gwen, choosing peace over violence.”
Gwen laughs. “Just for today. Don’t get used to it.” They both look at me. “Explain what world you’re from and why my blood would help?”
“I’m from a pocket world that was made by a goddess and used to be a safe place for young witches to train without hurting humans.
It was corrupted and changed, and it looks much like this world but different, older.
Derelict almost. I grew up there having no clue this world existed.
The real world. In fact, none of the witches do.
Children, women, people that cannot defend themselves are sitting ducks in my world.
They all live in this pocket world, and we are controlled by our leaders, the Umbral Authority.
They are immortal witches who have an army of Mindless beings, monsters, that just kill.
They locked us in towns, keep us controlled there, train the very best of us to become their soldiers, and kill anybody that rebels.
I have to get back. My bonded are in that world, and I can’t do much here, but I need a portal to open between the worlds.
Apparently, that is not easy, according to Hell, the black-haired witch you saw yesterday.
For some reason, Hell told me your blood is the key and you’d know where the herbs are.
I know the spell, and I have everything else.
I’m top of my class at Bloodstone Academy, and there is no spell I can’t create to get back to my bonded. ”
Gwen and Finn share a look. He looks back to me. “Are bonded like mates?”
“Yes.” I rub my hands together. “Kind of. It’s a sacred bond and hard to explain. Mate bonds exist too, and I’m mated to one of my bonded, which is forbidden, but I don’t care.”
A cat strolls out from the main room, and Finn, a massive man, visibly shrinks away from the cat. The cat walks right up to me, and I smile, leaning down and stroking behind its ears. Gwen is grinning at me when I look up. “Boba hates everyone…I’m sold on helping you.”
“I hate that cat,” Finn mutters. “I’ll get the others and let them know what’s going on. I assume you want a ride set up to your aunt’s?”
Gwen nods. “Seems so.” Finn kisses her forehead before leaving, while Boba keeps brushing her head against my legs.
“Aunt?” I question.
“Lucky for you, my aunt has an amazing greenery, full of probably every rare plant that you would ever need. If not, she specializes in things like that. I’m sure she can find anything.” Gwen stands up. “We can get a helicopter and get back here within a day, Juniper.”
I stare at her. “Why are you really helping me? Not the bullshit about your cat.”
Something dark echoes in her eyes. “I’d do anything for my mates and anything to get back to them. We have been split up several times, and I know the pain in your voice. Call it whatever you want, but I don’t like mates being kept apart. It’s a form of torture.”
“It is,” I whisper. I don’t think my heart will stop hurting until I see them again.
I left them in Bloodstone Academy, surrounded by Mindless, and I have no idea if they even made it out.
If they did, where would they go? I push down the pain and focus.
I am a good witch, and I can make a spell to get back to them.
I feel Minnie sleeping on my arm, her crazy long tail wrapped tightly around my wrist. The tarot cards are in my new denim coat pocket, and I’m worried about using either one of them for this.
They are heirlooms of the goddess, and who knows what they could do with a spell?
I know Lyra would be able to help me with this, but I think there is a reason Hell sent me alone to meet Gwen. “Thank you.”
“Thank me with information. You said there were shifters like us?” she asks, watching me in an eerie way that I’m beginning to think is probably normal for her.
“Yep.” I look out at the sea. “Shifters have two forms, one like us and one as an animal. My bonded are all dragons.”
“Dragons?” Gwen’s eyebrows rise. “I’ve always wanted to see a dragon.”
“They are terrifying,” I mutter. “I screamed and ran away when I saw one for the first time.”
She laughs. “Fair reaction. What happens when you go back, Juniper? What’s your plan?”
I cock my head to the side. “I’m going to kill the remaining members of the Umbral Authority, and then I’m going to get my people back to this world, where they have a chance of being safe. The final plan is to destroy the pocket world, leaving all the Mindless monsters in it.”
“Our city is open to new people. We lost too many in the war.” She offers me a solution, but she doesn’t push it. “You hungry? One of my mates is cooking lunch.”
“Sure.” I nod, following her into the cozy apartment. I only stop when I feel a stabbing in my chest, and I look back at the sea. The pain is gone within a second, but the feeling of dread that came with it? That doesn’t leave, and I pray to the goddess my bonded are safe.