Rich greenery surrounded Adelaide Knight’s quaint shack; tall palm trees providing shade from an unforgiving sun. Bushes and waist-high grass crawled all the way to the house itself, except for a dirt trail leading up to porch stairs.
Had Adelaide charmed the earth in order to keep the forestry at bay? One would think property only accessed through the badlands was not usually so kempt.
Considering Adelaide was an earth witch, it was entirely possible magic could be credited for the manicured home. However, the scent of the fire still reached the isolated cottage. Somehow, despite the entire island being scorched, this small area remained untouched by any brutal fire.
Kelia’s lips turned up as she stepped inside the cottage. She was instantly hit with the smell of lavender and could not help but close her eyes and breathe it in.
“What are you doing, blocking the hallway?” Adelaide asked, bumping Kelia’s shoulder. “And did I not just tell you about your ruddy boots. Off with them! I thought you were the smart one, but clearly I was mistaken.”
Kelia outright laughed as she bent forward and removed the boots from her feet. Drew took them in his hands and brought them outside along with his own. Kelia watched him, murmuring a gentle thank you but unsure if he actually heard it. He probably did, with his Shadow hearing, but he didn’t respond.
The foyer was filled with light from the moon, spilling in from windows on various walls. Some were open, some were shut, but it almost seemed as though Adelaide had to feel the outside elements in some way, whether it was to smell the salt from the sea or feel the gentle breeze as it surrounded the cottage.
Adelaide pushed past her now-crowded foyer and led them into a sitting room, where musty couches and chairs were placed. Across from the chairs on the opposing wall was a fire place with a mantle, and shelves filled with bottles and other containers.
Just behind a matching armchair to Kelia’s left, a slightly ajar window allowed a breeze to float in and mask the musty scent of the old couches with the fresh, cool scent of the sea, which somehow reached even these innerlands of the island.
As Kelia sat on the left side of the crimson-colored couch, she noticed a crate with love and beauty-enricher potions haphazardly tossed inside. They must have been products from Adelaide’s business that she grabbed when evacuating her primary home in such a hurry.
Drew sat next to Kelia, and Wendy took the final seat on the couch on the other side of her brother. Daniella sat in one of the armchairs while Emma stood next to Daniella’s chair, her arms crossed over her chest in a surprisingly defensive pose.
Adelaide herself sat adjacent to the fire place, looking at her guests. “What are you staring at, Starling?” Adelaide asked. “I don’t think you need a love potion. My nephew seems enamored with you enough already.”
Kelia felt her cheeks pinch at her blunt delivery of the words. Drew took Kelia’s hand in his and squeezed it. There was still tension between them. Kelia could feel it. Even though they still worked well together, even though Kelia would gladly lay down her life for Drew, she knew there was still a big issue holding them apart, and she did not know how to fix it.
“What is it you want, then?” Adelaide asked. Her eyes landed on Emma rather than Drew. “I take it they’re here because of you.”
“I need ingredients to rid a Shadow of Siren blood,” Emma said.
“Obviously,” Adelaide muttered as she continued to look at Kelia. “I guess you really aren’t the smart one then. Shame, I was hoping my idiot nephew finally had a reason to use the head on his shoulders instead of the one on his cock.”
“Auntie
,” both Drew and Wendy snapped.
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” she barked. “If Drew wasn’t swept up in appearances, he would be dead and gone by now. Instead, he tangled with the wrong bitch, and now he’s a bloody vampire! Not only that, he’s risked Starling’s life trying to find Wendy, Wendy was trying to save Emma, and Emma had only been captured by the Society because Drew decided to break his bond with his Queen. Everything bad that has happened to you lot happened because of my nephew. If I say he is an idiot, he is an idiot.”
“We’ve all made poor choices in our lives,” Kelia said. She could feel Drew’s dark eyes on her profile, but she couldn’t look at him, not yet. She would not be able to get the words out if she did. “Whether we follow our cocks or our history, whether we follow our heart or our brains, we all follow, and perhaps that is what needs to change. I was blinded by my devotion to my father. I believed in the Society without question. But I was wrong. And Drew helped me see the truth. Drew saved my life multiple times—”
“My nephew killed you,” Adelaide said. Her eyes weren’t on Kelia but on Drew. “My nephew, the one who so hated the Queen for what she did to him, who went on and on about how he would never do something like that to anyone else—did that to you, the woman he seems to love. Took your life. Because he is selfish.”
“No.” The word was low and crisp coming out of Drew’s mouth. He was not looking at her any longer, but at his aunt. There was a quiet fury in those eyes.
“No?” Adelaide seemed surprised by Drew’s rebuttal of her statement. Her dark eyes flashed with amusement, and her lips angled into an awkward smile. “Then what did you follow her with? Your head or your cock?”
Drew pressed his lips into a thin, white line. His grip on Kelia’s hand—placed between their outer thighs and masked to everyone else—only tightened.
Her breath caught in her throat. She knew what that meant. She knew she meant more to him than another body to consume with his desire.
“Have you grown a heart, nephew? I did not think it was possible, considering you did not have one of those when you were alive. How ironic that you find yours in death, hmm? And then you decide to kill her and bring her into the darkness with you. My, my, the web you weave.”
“He didn’t kill me.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. “He saved me.”
Adelaide snorted, rolling her eyes as though she was talking to a naive child. “So ignorant, so young,” she said dismissively.
“I would like the ingredients and we can leave, Adelaide,” Emma said. Her voice was curt, insistent. Her knuckles were white from how tightly she was clutching her arms.
“Yes, that would be nice, would it not, Emma?” She stood, and the chair groaned under Adelaide’s weight. The bulky woman turned and proceeded to eye the vial and beakers, fingering a branch, rattling something else that sounded like pebbles.
“What happened back there?” Wendy asked. “How did someone break through your spells?”
“You think if I knew who did it, we’d be sitting around, chatting amiably?” Adelaide asked.
“The supernaturals in the badlands, perhaps?” Kelia asked. “I’ve never seen a beast like that before. I’ve never even heard of it before.”
“No,” Emma said. “To break Adelaide’s wards, it has to be a witch.”
“A rogue witch,” Adelaide said. “I only know of one other besides Emma, but she died long ago. I don’t have any idea as to who it could be. Which is why I left you that note, so you wouldn’t be foolish enough to come after me. Yet here you are.”
“Kelia needed—”
“Yes, nephew, I am aware.” She rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. “What are your plans after that, Drew? Do you plan to finally kill the bitch?”
She reached for a third concoction and brought it close to her face before wrinkling her nose and placing it back on the shelf.
“I need to train Kelia,” he said after clearing his throat. Kelia’s eyes widened. He did not look at her, however. His focus was strictly on his aunt. “I want to stay here for a few days and regroup before we leave.”
“Actually,” Wendy said, her voice hitching. “I would like to stay longer than that.”
Drew’s mouth fell open. “What?” he asked, his voice short.
Wendy rolled her shoulders back. “It would seem I have much to learn regarding my powers. I was a fool before,” she said, shifting in her seat. “My emotions got the best of me. I lost someone close to me. I do not want to endure that type of pain again, and I think, Aunt, you could help me with that.”
Adelaide snorted again as she pulled a fourth container down. “You have your mother’s romanticism about you,” she said. Kelia picked up a hint of a disapproving tone. “Both
of you, it would seem. I don’t take sensitive harpies under my roof for longer than a day, perhaps two, and that’s only if those harpies are family.”
“You cannot possibly stay here while we go for the Queen,” Drew put in.
“I cannot fight,” Wendy said. “How long did it take for me to get the wind right when we were getting Kelia back from the Queen? What about when the Sirens and the Kraken attacked? I am a hindrance. I need to take time to mourn and grow strong.” She stood from the couch, a fist clenched against her chest. “Please, Aunt. I shall do what you require of me. Take me in the way you did with Emma.”
“Emma is the most talented witch I have ever laid eyes on besides myself,” Adelaide said, arranging the ingredients on the cushions of her armchair. “You need to prove your worth to me. Assist your brother. If you really want training after that, return.”
“There are Sea Shadows crawling over the island,” Daniella pointed out, speaking for the first time. Her nails dug into the arms of the chair before coiling into her palm. “How will you survive, considering you are a direct relative to the Shadow they are supposed to retrieve.”
“You’re a fire witch, are you not?” Adelaide asked, her tone dry. “Always speaking without thinking, acting without thinking, doing everything without thinking. I’ve been around a hundred years, and I plan to live a hundred more. You think Sea Shadows scare me?” She barked out hollow laughter. “You have a lot to learn. Is Emma training you?”
“She is.”
“Not anymore.” She went back to the ingredients, taking a pinch of something between two thick fingers. “You stay with me. I’ll train you.”
“Aunt!” Wendy said, surely affronted at being dismissed.
“What? I can tell she has spirit. She’s hard. She’s jaded. Your heart is broken, that’s all. You can’t even see past this, that you will recover from this. Pain is passing, a fleeting moment, and yet you choose to live in it. She may ask idiotic questions, but she’s not wallowing in her past. She’s ready. You are not.”
Wendy swallowed. Her fingers shook, but she plopped back down next to Drew, quickly blinking her eyes. Kelia assumed it was to ensure she did not start crying.
“So then what’s the plan?” Emma asked. She looked between Drew and Adelaide. “You’ll give me the ingredients?”
“Yes, yes, always so impatient.” Adelaide waved Emma away as she dropped the pinch of something into a small vial. “I’ll have this done for you. I take it Drew will administer it?” She turned her attention to Drew. “Finish this vial exactly, and one night of rest. Once she’s recovered, you can train her on my land for two days. Then you must leave. Do you understand, boy?”
Drew stood in front of Kelia, almost as though he wanted to shield her from whatever Adelaide might say next, which baffled Kelia. Did he think so little of her that she could not handle words, even if they were cold and unforgiving?
“I can’t take her back to the ship,” he said.
Adelaide rolled her eyes. “Clearly not.”
Kelia stood, not caring about, nor needing, Drew’s protection from his aunt. “Why can’t we return to the ship?”
“Seems stupid is contagious.” Adelaide put her ingredients away, careful to ensure they were all in the same spot as before. “You barely survived passing through the badlands the first time. You expect to go back now? You don’t even know how to fight as a Shadow.”
“But are we even safe here?” Kelia asked. “Your last safe house was undone by a rogue witch. We’re surrounded by creatures even Drew has never seen before. Shadows hellbent on revenge are hunting us down. Are we safe anywhere
?”
“Only fools would cross the badlands,” Drew said. Adelaide snickered at that, but Drew just glowered at her and returned his attention to Kelia. “We should be safe for now.”
“For now
,” Adelaide reiterated.
“For now,” Drew repeated, his voice holding onto a subtle sharpness. However, when he turned to look at Kelia, his eyes softened. “But we should keep moving, get away from this island as soon as we can. Emma’s preparing the potion with Auntie’s herbs. Tomorrow, once the medicine has run its course, we will begin training.”