Beware, p.25
Beware, page 25
Faye tried to hold her breath, but it was impossible. She was going to burn her skin off when she got to the house, literally. It would be the only way to get the scent off her, and she could take the pain. With Molly’s blood, she’d even be able to heal right away unlike with Malek’s. Thinking about his blood caused the bile to rise in her throat again, and she had to swallow it down. His blood had done the trick in a pinch, but there was something off about it. She’d have to ask Molly.
It didn’t take them too long to find a ladder and a manhole. Faye went first because she was the only one with thumbs and not a bruised ego. As soon as she breathed in the fresh air, she felt so much better. She stayed up there, helping Malek out and then Ben after he shifted back to his human form. Faye handed over the jacket as they leaned against the brick building wherever the hell they were.
Faye covered the manhole again and walked toward the road from the alley they’d found themselves in. She glanced around, looking up and down the street to try and figure out where they were. Grabbing her phone, she called the only person she could think of who wouldn’t ask questions first.
“Molly.”
“Where are you?” There was a sense of urgency in Molly’s tone, a hint of fear, but also a touch of anger, which was what Faye had hoped to avoid.
“Um…downtown.”
“Where downtown?”
Faye scrunched her nose. “The other side of downtown, in my old neighborhood. Bring the van would you? Malek is—I don’t know, weak. Ben is fine though, but naked if you can bring some clothes.”
“Benjamin is with you?”
“Ben?” Joel’s voice was loud through the line.
“Yeah. Were you looking for him?”
“We’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
Hanging up, Faye wandered back down the alley. She looked at both of the men she was with and shrugged. “Molly said she’ll be here in thirty.”
“You called her?” Ben’s eyes widened.
“Who else was I supposed to call?”
“Joel.”
“He’s with her.” Faye rolled her eyes. “Besides, I’m not going to walk back to the house with you naked and Malek here barely able to stand on his own.”
She saw Malek’s lips part to object, but she cut him off by holding a hand up to stop him.
“Molly was going to find out anyway. This way, we can go into the conversation expecting the interrogation.”
“Interrogation?” Malek questioned.
“Oh yeah. She’s not going to let this go,” Ben added in as he shifted the jacket on his hips.
“So what’s our story?” Faye asked.
Malek shook his head and turned to Ben. “How did you follow us?”
“I uh…caught you talking in the hallway and shifted into a spider and hitched a ride on Faye.”
She tried to hold back her smirk, knowing Ben had done that the entire time, but she let him. It was a good experience for him and good practice. Though, she could have done without being nearly killed herself or being imprisoned.
“You can tell her that,” Faye pushed. “She’ll get mad at me for letting you come with us.”
“I’m not going to dump her anger all on you.”
Faye lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “Might as well. I can use that to my advantage.”
Ben narrowed his gaze at her before he flushed. “I don’t want to know that.”
“You knew it already.” She laughed. “But first I think we all need to hose ourselves off.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“Uh, no. I was worried she’d make us walk home if she knew that.”
“She wouldn’t—” Malek started.
Faye interrupted. “Oh, she would. She’s done it before.”
“You’ve been in the sewers before.”
“Many, many times.” Faye winked at him. Stretching her back, she walked out toward the road again. It hadn’t been that long since she’d hung up the phone, but she had a feeling Joel and Molly were already in a vehicle when she’d called, something about the closeness of Joel to be able to hear Faye and the sounds in the background.
Sure enough, just as she had anticipated, the van turned around the corner up ahead. Faye stepped back toward the alley as soon as she knew they’d seen her. Joel was driving, and he pulled up at the curb. Molly was out of the vehicle in two seconds, anger written all over her beautiful face.
“What were you thinking?” She stopped short of walking right into Faye.
Faye grinned. “Oh, is there something wrong?”
“The sewers? Again?”
Faye laughed. “Got the clothes?”
Joel came around with a pair of sweats from the back of the van, which meant they hadn’t gone home and they had been driving around somewhere when she’d called. Faye grabbed them and stalked to the dark recesses of the alley. Tossing them at Ben, she helped Malek to stand and wrapped an arm around his waist as he wrapped one around her shoulder.
They moved together toward the van. Molly crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the two of them. Faye raised an eyebrow in her direction, daring her to make one more comment about what they were doing out there, but Faye was not going to answer when everyone else was around.
She helped Malek into the back, and he closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall of the van. She patted his knee in comfort before shutting one half of the back doors. Ben jumped in after, the sweats super loose on his hips to the point that he had to hold them up with a hand, but they were at least better than her jacket, which he handed to her.
Faye snorted. She was going to burn every article of clothing she wore including her boots because there was no way she was wearing them again after that experience. She shut the door behind Ben and was about to turn to walk toward the side door when Molly stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“We’re going to talk about this,” Molly’s clipped British tone was clear.
“I’ve no doubt of that.” Faye raised a defiant eyebrow at her.
“You can’t leave like this without telling me where you’re going.”
“Nothing was supposed to happen.”
“Nothing is ever supposed to happen, Faye. This is why we communicate.”
“Look who’s talking about communication.”
Molly’s lips parted in surprise. “I don’t want to argue right now.”
“Then why are we still talking.”
Molly paused before she spoke. Stepping in closer, she cupped Faye’s cheek and brought their mouths together in a tender and brief kiss. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
“I’m perfect. But I want to talk to you about Malek.”
“Did you find something out?”
“Maybe. Later, when there aren’t so many ears.”
Molly nodded sharply and kissed Faye again before she stepped away to get into the passenger seat. The aroma of the three of them in the closed confines of the van was nearly too much. Joel rolled down every window possible but it still reeked to high heavens. As soon as they pulled into the garage, all the doors were opened and Faye shot out of it as fast as she could.
Molly helped Malek to stand and sat him in a wheelchair Faye had brought over. She knelt before him and drew in a sharp breath. “What else is broken?”
“Broken?” Faye’s voice echoed. “He didn’t break anything. He got hit in the head with a rock.”
Molly’s eyes widened as she turned to look over her shoulder at Faye. “His ankle is quite obviously broken.”
Faye bent at her waist and looked at it. Sure enough, Molly was right. Whenever he had done that, she had no idea, but she wasn’t about to ask either. Malek would tell Molly whatever he wanted to. Faye was about to wheel him out of the room when Molly stopped her with a glance.
Molly placed her bare hands on Malek’s disgusting pants and sock and shoe. Faye gagged. Molly shot her a glare, her eyes already turning golden as her magic worked through her body and into him. She drew in a sharp breath and shifted. Faye knew the break lanced through Molly’s ankle before healing itself completely.
Her body glowed for longer as she no doubt made sure Malek had no other injuries. When Molly moved away from him, she stared up at Malek and then shifted her glance to Faye. “It’s far harder to heal yourself than another.”
Faye couldn’t figure out why there was an explanation being given, especially considering Malek obviously did not have the magical ability Molly did, for whatever reason. Shifting in her stance, Faye scrunched her nose.
“Does this mean he can shower on his own now?”
“I don’t see why not.” Molly pushed herself to stand and held out a hand for Malek. “He is well and healed.”
Malek pressed his hand into Molly’s and stood up. His cheeks were still pale, but he was at least moving better than he had been before. Faye rolled her eyes as he stared down at Molly, definitely looking down her shirt. Faye had done that on so many occasions there was no way to count them all.
“Good, because I feel disgusting.” Faye let go of the handles on the wheelchair that they weren’t going to use and stalked out of the garage, leaving the two of them on their own. She beelined it for her room and the bathroom.
Stripping out of her clothes, she dropped them into a plastic bag and tied it shut tight before hopping in the shower, turning the water on as hot as it would go. It might burn, but she hadn’t lied when she’d thought about burning her skin off so it would regrow. She scrubbed and scrubbed her entire body to try and get rid of the stench.
The water at her feet was so murky to begin with she could barely stand to look at it. By the time she’d been in there thirty minutes and was running out of soap, the water was at least clear. Dunking her head under the spray, Faye cleaned out the dust and the dirt she’d accumulated between the cage and the cave, tunnel, alcove, whatever they had managed to find themselves in.
She checked her arm and her leg, finding the skin completely healed. Her stomach still churned at the lingering flavor of Malek’s blood. It was so odd. She’d never been so turned off by blood before. Well, the thought of it, yes, but not the actual blood she’d consumed. She always found that enticing.
The door opened, and Faye popped her head out of the curtain to find Molly raising an eyebrow at her, arms crossed, and her dark curly hair in tumbles around her shoulders. “When you’re done—”
“Yes, we’ll talk.”
“I’ll be outside.”
Faye moved back into the shower. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had hoped Molly would wait for that conversation, but that last hope had been dashed. Distracted by Molly’s presence, Faye finished her shower, wrapped a towel around her middle, glared, and turned her nose up at her ruined clothes and left the bathroom.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Molly sat on the edge of Faye’s bed as she listened to the water turning off in the en suite bathroom. She’d thought about starting with the others, but Faye’s comment outside the van had pulled her in this direction.
When Faye came out, wrapped only in a towel, her skin pink and moist since she hadn’t bothered to dry herself, her hair dripping onto the floor, Molly’s heart clenched. She gripped her hands tightly together in her lap and dragged her gaze up and down Faye’s body.
“Like what you see?” Faye’s voice was strong, edgy, toward a tone of anger.
Molly was breathless. “Always.”
Faye’s hardness softened, and she stepped toward Molly, plopping down on the bed next to her. “I want to burn those clothes.”
Smiling, Molly held open her palm, found a flame in it and then closed her fist. “Done.”
“I wanted to do it.” Faye pouted.
She shrugged. “They reeked, Faye. Trust me, this was the faster and better way.”
“I trust you.”
“Do you?” Molly turned her chin up at Faye, her hair dragging over her shoulder. “I wasn’t sure after tonight.”
“Look, you wanted me to get close to him, so I did. You wanted me to find out information, I did. That’s what I’m doing, nothing more. I really didn’t think anything bad was going to happen, especially since the last time it had all gone to shit, but apparently they had more of those little fuckers hidden around there.”
“Trankyns?”
“Yeah. Though, it started with the trolls.”
Molly drew in a sharp breath. “You met with the trolls.”
“Yes.” Faye’s slate-gray eyes stared straight into her soul. Molly wanted to get out of the conversation without explaining everything, but she also felt she owed Faye the truth.
Molly cupped Faye’s cheek. “I’m glad you’re all right. Truly.”
“I’m fine. Had to drink from Malek. That was gross.”
“Gross?”
“He tasted like rotten, moldy cheese.”
“What?” Molly’s eyes widened as her mind spun.
“Yeah. Most disgusting thing I’ve ever taken energy from, and I’ve got say, I’ve had a lot of nasty things, including already dead things, but this took the cake by far.”
“He didn’t taste good.”
“Yeah. Why? What’s that mean?”
Molly’s eyes locked of Faye’s. “It means he didn’t lie.”
“What do you mean?”
“They bound his magic. They put a block on him.”
“For what? What could he have possibly done to deserve that?”
Molly shook her head. “I have no idea, but it must have been pretty serious. They don’t take this kind of betrayal lightly.”
“Betrayal? Molly, you’re light-years ahead of me here. What’s going on?”
“I haven’t explained much about the fold to you. That’s my own fault.”
“You didn’t want me to know.”
Molly bypassed that comment and moved on. “The fold has immeasurable power if we’re all together. As you witnessed last year.”
“Yeah. That was…something else, though I was mostly focused on you not killing me at the time.”
With a smile playing on her face, Molly brushed a thumb across Faye’s full lips. “One of the punishments for betrayal, well, the only punishment, is to have your powers bound. He’ll still have access to certain magic.”
“Magic like what? Healing?”
“Yes. Because it’s benign. He can’t harm anyone with it.”
“That makes sense.”
“What?”
“Well he had quite the cut to his head since we both got smacked in the face with a giant stone.”
“Faye.” Molly’s voice broke, and she moved her hand up to the side of Faye’s head, trying to look for an injury she intuitively knew wasn’t there. “You should have told me.”
“I’m fine. Why aren’t your powers bound?”
“Why would they be?”
“You left the fold.”
Molly swallowed. “I did, but I had permission.”
“You asked for permission?”
Her head bobbed from side to side as she thought about how to answer that question. “I more insisted on permission.”
“That makes more sense.” Faye grinned.
“We’ll have to find out what Malek did to deserve this.”
“Was it deserved?”
“No doubt.” Molly stared Faye directly in the eye. “The fold does not make these decisions lightly.”
“How would he go about fixing it?”
“Depends on what they told him. It could be anything. I’ve only ever seen this happen one other time in my lifetime, Faye. I mean it when this is a rare punishment for betrayal.”
A drop of water moved from Faye’s hair over her shoulder and down her chest until it vanished into the cotton of the towel still wrapped around her middle. Molly reached a finger, the edge of it brushing along the damp trail the droplet made until she skimmed Faye’s neck. Faye moaned, her head carding to the side.
“Why did you go down there?”
“Thought I could find some answers.”
“Trolls never tell the entire truth.”
“Well, I might know that if you told me there were trolls who lived underneath the city.”
“They don’t like outsiders.”
“Figured that out pretty quick.” Faye smirked, her lips curling up. “But I think they like me, actually.”
“Because of your friend.”
“Yes.”
A stillness came over the conversation. Molly traced the damp trail of another water droplet. She brought the water to her lips, dashing her tongue out to taste it. When she glanced up, Faye’s eyes were locked on her mouth.
“Will you tell me about Pearl someday?”
Molly froze, but the sincerity and curiosity in Faye’s tone told her it wasn’t an attack or a prying for information. She genuinely wanted to know. “Why?”
“You said she was a half-witch.”
“She was my half-sister.”
Faye’s gaze was still locked on Molly’s mouth. “That explains something else Malek said.”
“He told you about Pearl?”
“He told me her name, that she was only a few years older or younger than you.”
“She was older. My big sister.” Once more Molly’s finger traced the trails of water as she distracted herself. “My father had a human mistress got her pregnant. When Pearl was born, her mother died during childbirth, which was not uncommon in those days, so he took her home to raise her.”
Molly blinked slowly, tears forming in her eyes, but she let them. This was the most she had spoken about Pearl in decades, and it felt so good to talk about her.
“We grew up together, but the fold wouldn’t train her because she was seen as impure.”
“Well, she was by their standards, which are fucking high if you ask me.”
“Yes.” Molly’s lips curled up slightly. “I left the fold partially because of her and their hatred of who she was because of her blood and partially because I vehemently disagreed with their way of life. I had to do it under their rules, however, otherwise I would have ended up like Malek.”
“Bound.”
