Beware, p.7
Beware, page 7
“Surely you have one in mind.”
Faye stood up in front of her, zipping her pants up with a few small jumps and then flopping onto the couch next to her, their thighs grazing.
“I have several.”
“Care to share with the class?”
“If you had a wyrm, I’d suggest that.”
“Got rid of my last one, sorry.” Molly’s accent was thicker because she was beyond annoyed. It was as if nothing he had just witnessed made a dent of difference in his thick skull, and Faye trailing fingers over her bare arm and belly was not helping her distraction any. In fact, Faye hadn’t said anything since she’d asked. Turning to Faye, Molly narrowed her gaze, trying to see how jittery Faye was because of the amount of blood she’d consumed that week.
“Then I have the perfect idea.” Malek stepped into the room now that everything seemed calm. He grabbed Molly by the forearm on the opposite side of Faye and dragged her upward to stand.
Molly nearly protested but swallowed the retort quickly enough. Faye was up like a shot not two inches behind Molly. She was pretty sure this was the quietest she had seen Faye in ages. Confused by everything, Molly decided to deal with one problem at a time.
“I think I have the perfect beast. Faye, would you mind assisting?”
“Sure.”
Molly wrenched her wrist from Malek’s grip and led the way out of her office. The sun was already coming up over the horizon, and when she made it down to the secondary level, Benjamin was coming out of his door. His hair was skewed from sleep, his eyes puffy, and his pajamas a mix of wrinkles.
“Ben,” Molly said by way of greeting as she passed him to make for the second stairway.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to mention, Aunt Deidre is coming for a visit.”
Molly’s lips parted. “Now?”
“Soon.”
“Do you think this is the proper time for a visit?”
He shrugged. “I know you don’t like her, but she’s the only family I’ve got.”
“She’s not—”
“She’s staying here. She can have my room, and I’ll crash somewhere else.”
Molly’s lips thinned at her dislike. “Fine. We’ll discuss this later.”
Without another step, she made her way to the main floor where the elevator was. Slipping inside with Malek and Faye following, she pressed the button for the habitat floor. “I believe the warthog-like creature I have will suffice.”
“For today,” Malek answered. “He’ll need enough to get through a long hibernation.
“I’m aware. I’ve done my own research.”
“Not enough.”
Once again tamping down her own anger, Molly shifted her gaze to Faye. Faye’s gaze flicked back and forth between Malek and Molly, eyes wide as she watched.
“Faye, are you all right?”
“Fine.” Her voice broke on the word. Faye cleared her throat and tried again. “Fine. I’m fine.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I’ll need your help to move it.”
“My brawn to your beauty?” Faye snarked with a glint in her eye.
There was the woman Molly had come to adore. Taking the chance to make her plan full, Molly stepped up to Faye as the elevator doors opened and pressed their mouths together in a heated embrace. When she backed away, she grinned. “Always.”
Chapter Eight
Faye swung into Ben’s workroom and pressed her hands to his shoulders. “What’s happening, Benny-boy?”
“Don’t call me that,” he grumbled.
She smirked and pressed a kiss to his cheek loudly. “Molly said your aunt is coming. I didn’t know you had an aunt.”
He shrugged and continued to focus on his computer. “She doesn’t like my aunt much.”
“Why’s that?”
“Have to keep everything hidden from her.”
“You mean she doesn’t know about Tainted?”
Ben shook his head and typed a bit on the computer, still not making eye contact with Faye. She couldn’t quite get a read on him or what he was doing. If she narrowed her own gaze at the screen, she was pretty sure he wasn’t actually doing anything, which for Ben was abnormal.
“Is something else bothering you?”
“No.”
“All right then.”
“It’s my aunt.”
“What about your aunt?”
Ben sighed and finally turned on his stool to face her. He squinted at her, but Faye ignored it largely, not wanting to point out what he was doing.
“I just…I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to see her.”
“Is she old?”
“Well, I guess. She’s not really old, but you know our work.”
“I do.” Faye narrowed her gaze. “Did something happen?”
“You nearly killed Molly. If she hadn’t taken the brunt of whatever the hell you were doing, you could have killed all of us.” He stared directly at her, his words like ice daggers to her chest.
Faye sat on the stool opposite him, the one she would normally sit on when they would work a project together, but this time they weren’t working, they were talking, about very real things, which was something she sucked at. But she wanted to make this work, make this good. Sighing, Faye bit her lip and shook her head. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“I get that,” Ben muttered. “But it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, and I was fucking useless to help.”
“Is this about whatever happened to me or whatever didn’t happen to you?”
He refused to look up at her. After a good amount of silence, Ben finally spoke, “I just think I should see my aunt before anything else happens.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“I don’t know, Faye, but that’s just the thing, isn’t it? We don’t know.”
“I’m not going to attack you. And you said you wanted to start learning your Tainted side months ago when I got back. If you still want to do that, you can.”
“To what end?”
“What do you mean?” Faye was utterly confused. She’d never thought they’d have deep conversations like this and it was trying her brain. She was someone who acted, not someone who discussed feelings.
Ben sighed and then rubbed both his temples. “If I start shifting, if that’s even an option at this point, then Molly will start putting me on more dangerous missions.”
“I’m pretty sure capturing a centivalk was a pretty dangerous mission.”
He glared. “You’re only proving my point.”
“What point?”
“That we don’t know when it’ll end, so I want to visit with my aunt now.” Tension rose in his voice, and his eyes were closed the entire time.
Faye put her hands up in a defensive motion then pressed them back into her jean-clad thighs. “All right. So visit with your aunt.”
“Please don’t pull any stunts when she’s here.”
“Is she staying here?”
Ben nodded. He still didn’t open his eyes.
“Are you okay?” Faye repeated, concerned there was something else going on that he wasn’t telling her about.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just a headache.”
“Headache?”
His chin bobbed up and down twice before he settled. Faye reached forward and brushed fingers across his cheek.
“You’re sure that’s it?”
“There’s an aura around you.” His words slurred slightly, and his speech slowed down.
“An aura? I don’t think anyone has ever told me I have an aura.” She giggled but remained concerned, wanting to figure out just what was going on.
Ben didn’t answer her. His shoulders slumped and then tensed. His jaw clenched tightly, not letting up. Faye kept her gaze on him the entire time. “Ben?”
He didn’t answer. His body rocked forward and back a few times before he convulsed. His shoulders jerked; his legs flailed. He fell to the cold cement floor, his head cracking against it with a loud thud. Faye jumped up and back, panic welling in her chest. She shoved the stools aside as his feet tangled in his and knocked it over, but she was fast enough to keep it from hitting him.
Every muscle in his body was tense as the seizing fit captured him. Faye ran for the door and slapped her hand against the alarm, hoping someone would show up sooner rather than later because she had no idea what to do. Alarms echoed all around them, some loud that were nearer to where they were and some softer the farther away they were.
“Ben!” Faye knelt next to him, keeping his head from smacking into the leg on the metal work bench he used daily. “Ben!”
He didn’t answer. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, drool moved out from between his lips. His hands clamped down on themselves so tightly she worried he’d break skin. Faye used her superior strength to keep him centered on the floor and not about to hit anything, but she still worried about the initial smack of his head against the cement.
She could hear footsteps against the ground outside, starting down at the elevator. It wouldn’t take long before someone was there. Molly, she was sure of it, with her heels clacking rapidly as she ran. She was the only one.
Ben continued to convulse, whatever seizure had gripped him not letting up at all. Nothing about it seemed to be easing or getting better. The door slammed open. Faye looked up to see Molly standing before her, hair wild around her shoulders as she assessed the situation.
“How long?” Molly asked.
Faye shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“Stay here. Keep him from hurting himself.” Molly raced from the room again, but Faye had no idea where she was going.
She did as she was told and kept Ben as still as she could and away from anything that might injure him. Soon enough Molly was back. She took the long way around the workbench so she ended up on the other side of Ben. She pulled some type of liquid into a needle and pressed it into Ben’s leg through his clothes, depressing the plunger.
“It’ll take another minute.”
“What’d you give him?”
“Something to end this, hopefully.” Molly carded her fingers through his hair as Faye held him as still as she possibly could.
True to her word, it did take a minute or two before Ben’s body began to calm down. The convulsions became less. His body relaxed. Faye pressed her hand to his shoulder lightly, wanting to know what the hell was going on. When she looked up at Molly, the question was on the tip of her tongue but it died there.
“Tell me what happened,” Molly spoke as she checked Ben’s vitals.
“We were just talking and he started doing this. He fell off the stool and hit his head pretty good.”
“I’ll have Amachon check that when he returns.”
“He’s coming back?”
“As soon as he can. He has some patients to deal with at the clinic.”
Faye bit the inside of her lip. “What happened?”
“He told you he wanted to learn to shift, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“He stopped his medication. He’s been completely off it for months now but unable to shift—though I’m not sure how much he’s actually tried—this is not uncommon in pubescents when they’re coming into their shifting abilities. I expected this.”
“You did?”
Molly nodded. “Yes. Now, help me get him to the medical bay.”
Faye scooted her hands under Ben’s body and lifted him almost effortlessly. It would have been far easier if she’d been in her vampiric form, but she didn’t want to do that to him. They made their way to the medical bay slowly, and Faye put him onto a bed. Molly went to work. Faye wanted to stay, she really did, but the sight of Ben’s limp form was almost too much.
“Does Joel know?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“Out.”
“Want me to find him?” Faye asked, wanting something to do other than just sit there.
“Yes, please. You can finish what he’s doing?”
“Which is?”
“Call him, and he’ll fill you in.”
Faye spun out of the room and headed for her bedroom with the phone pressed to her ear. It wasn’t a phone call she really wanted to make, but it was something she knew she was going to have to.
###
Molly was sequestered in her office. It had been a long day of work, and emergencies, but she worked still. She was exhausted. The rest of the house was quiet. She’d forced Joel to his own room after sitting with Ben for hours. Amachon had shown up, thankfully, to make sure Benjamin would recover.
Sighing, Molly stood up and got herself a drink of wine from her cabinet, selecting one of her favorite bottles to open. She needed it. The conversation she needed to have with Faye was not going to be a pleasant one, and she’d been avoiding it for as long as she could, but they needed more information.
She sat on her couch and was halfway through her glass of wine when Faye slipped into the office, locking the door behind her this time. Molly was curious if their evening was going to end like it had the other day, although she suspected it wouldn’t. Faye’d had enough blood to last her months unless she was injured, and Molly had seen her struggle to keep control over her vampiric side. In fact, she was pretty sure Faye hadn’t even known she was transforming when she lifted Ben’s form from his work area and carried him down to the medical bay.
Faye sat next her, stealing her wine and chugging the rest of it. “It sucks to be a vamp sometimes.”
“If you want to get drunk, love, you’re going to need something far stronger than wine.”
Smirking, Faye shook her head. “I could probably drink all the alcohol in this room right now and not feel a lick of it.”
Molly hummed, standing and refilling her glass so she could at least have more to drink. She needed to relax after a day like the one she’d had. Once again seated next to Faye, Molly rolled her shoulders. “Find anything with Malek?”
“No. Not yet. You?”
“Aside from his incessant need for me to rejoin the fold, which I was already aware of, no.”
Faye settled her head on Molly’s shoulder. “You still think there’s more to it?”
“Yes. He’s never been this insistent about the fold before.”
“Perhaps they need you for something.”
“Then he’d tell me that. Or Reina would.”
“You’ve been in contact with Reina?”
Molly chuckled at Faye’s wide eyes. She turned Faye’s chin up to look down on her and brushed her thumb across Faye’s lips. “Yes. Haven’t you been?”
“Well, yeah, I just…did she tell you?”
“That you and she and Corbin had an exchange of energy? Yes. We keep no secrets in the fold.”
“No wonder you don’t fit in.” Faye moved back to her previous position. “Is Ben okay?”
“I suspect he will be.”
Faye didn’t answer, not that Molly expected her to. They sat together in silence, Faye staring at something and Molly sipping at the wine she had refilled until it was nearly empty. She finished it off with a flourish and settled the glass on the table in front of them.
“We need to talk about the other night.”
“O…kay. I didn’t…I’m sorry about asking. I didn’t think you’d mind, and I figured it might help.”
“Are you speaking of the other night with Malek?”
“Isn’t that what you’re talking about?”
“No. But I didn’t mind that. I think it may have worked to our advantage in several ways because I suspect, like Reina and Corbin, he knows this will be better with the three of us.”
“Better?” Faye almost spat the word.
Molly narrowed her gaze. “They really didn’t tell you everything, did they?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You wouldn’t know what to ask.” Molly sighed. “Witches in our fold are matched.”
“So you’ve said.”
“We’re matched for life. With that comes the same ability you and I have, but with a vampire added in, it’s intensified.”
“Oh.”
“Reina and Corbin got as much out of you as you did them.”
“I guess that’s good to know.” Faye shifted uncomfortably. “What did you think we were talking about?”
Molly sighed and moved to look directly at Faye. She pulled one leg up onto the couch as she turned, her knee bent slightly and her ankle under her other knee. She wanted to have this conversation without making Faye feel as though she was being attacked.
“About the capture the other night.”
Faye’s nose scrunched. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“You were high.” Faye refused to look at Molly. “Please be honest with me. I don’t want to have to go in search for information. I’m not looking to condemn you.”
“You said no more drugs in this house.”
“Well, you weren’t in the house, to be fair.” Molly quirked her lips up, hoping it would lighten the mood a bit and make Faye a little more amenable to talking. “What did you take?”
“Heroin.”
“I’ve never seen you act like that on heroin.”
Faye shrugged. “Maybe it was spiked with something.”
“Did you get it from your regular dealer?” Molly knew it was an odd question to ask, but she wanted to know. Between what Amachon had told her and the rumors she had heard for months now, she needed more information.
“I did.” Faye fiddled with the edge of her shirt.
Molly leaned forward and stilled Faye’s fingers. “What did you take?”
“I bought heroin from him.”
Narrowing her gaze, Molly ran a quick judgement. She’d agreed, at one point, never to manipulate Faye into telling her the truth again, but it was frustrating when she knew Faye was lying or at least avoiding the truth itself.
“What did you do with that heroin?”
Faye’s lips thinned, and she rolled her eyes. “Fine. Joel and I went to visit the troll, and I gave him some. Joel was with me when I bought the heroin. I don’t know why you haven’t just asked him about it. He was with me the entire night. It’s not like I could have done anything stupid without him knowing.”
Faye stood up in front of her, zipping her pants up with a few small jumps and then flopping onto the couch next to her, their thighs grazing.
“I have several.”
“Care to share with the class?”
“If you had a wyrm, I’d suggest that.”
“Got rid of my last one, sorry.” Molly’s accent was thicker because she was beyond annoyed. It was as if nothing he had just witnessed made a dent of difference in his thick skull, and Faye trailing fingers over her bare arm and belly was not helping her distraction any. In fact, Faye hadn’t said anything since she’d asked. Turning to Faye, Molly narrowed her gaze, trying to see how jittery Faye was because of the amount of blood she’d consumed that week.
“Then I have the perfect idea.” Malek stepped into the room now that everything seemed calm. He grabbed Molly by the forearm on the opposite side of Faye and dragged her upward to stand.
Molly nearly protested but swallowed the retort quickly enough. Faye was up like a shot not two inches behind Molly. She was pretty sure this was the quietest she had seen Faye in ages. Confused by everything, Molly decided to deal with one problem at a time.
“I think I have the perfect beast. Faye, would you mind assisting?”
“Sure.”
Molly wrenched her wrist from Malek’s grip and led the way out of her office. The sun was already coming up over the horizon, and when she made it down to the secondary level, Benjamin was coming out of his door. His hair was skewed from sleep, his eyes puffy, and his pajamas a mix of wrinkles.
“Ben,” Molly said by way of greeting as she passed him to make for the second stairway.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to mention, Aunt Deidre is coming for a visit.”
Molly’s lips parted. “Now?”
“Soon.”
“Do you think this is the proper time for a visit?”
He shrugged. “I know you don’t like her, but she’s the only family I’ve got.”
“She’s not—”
“She’s staying here. She can have my room, and I’ll crash somewhere else.”
Molly’s lips thinned at her dislike. “Fine. We’ll discuss this later.”
Without another step, she made her way to the main floor where the elevator was. Slipping inside with Malek and Faye following, she pressed the button for the habitat floor. “I believe the warthog-like creature I have will suffice.”
“For today,” Malek answered. “He’ll need enough to get through a long hibernation.
“I’m aware. I’ve done my own research.”
“Not enough.”
Once again tamping down her own anger, Molly shifted her gaze to Faye. Faye’s gaze flicked back and forth between Malek and Molly, eyes wide as she watched.
“Faye, are you all right?”
“Fine.” Her voice broke on the word. Faye cleared her throat and tried again. “Fine. I’m fine.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I’ll need your help to move it.”
“My brawn to your beauty?” Faye snarked with a glint in her eye.
There was the woman Molly had come to adore. Taking the chance to make her plan full, Molly stepped up to Faye as the elevator doors opened and pressed their mouths together in a heated embrace. When she backed away, she grinned. “Always.”
Chapter Eight
Faye swung into Ben’s workroom and pressed her hands to his shoulders. “What’s happening, Benny-boy?”
“Don’t call me that,” he grumbled.
She smirked and pressed a kiss to his cheek loudly. “Molly said your aunt is coming. I didn’t know you had an aunt.”
He shrugged and continued to focus on his computer. “She doesn’t like my aunt much.”
“Why’s that?”
“Have to keep everything hidden from her.”
“You mean she doesn’t know about Tainted?”
Ben shook his head and typed a bit on the computer, still not making eye contact with Faye. She couldn’t quite get a read on him or what he was doing. If she narrowed her own gaze at the screen, she was pretty sure he wasn’t actually doing anything, which for Ben was abnormal.
“Is something else bothering you?”
“No.”
“All right then.”
“It’s my aunt.”
“What about your aunt?”
Ben sighed and finally turned on his stool to face her. He squinted at her, but Faye ignored it largely, not wanting to point out what he was doing.
“I just…I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to see her.”
“Is she old?”
“Well, I guess. She’s not really old, but you know our work.”
“I do.” Faye narrowed her gaze. “Did something happen?”
“You nearly killed Molly. If she hadn’t taken the brunt of whatever the hell you were doing, you could have killed all of us.” He stared directly at her, his words like ice daggers to her chest.
Faye sat on the stool opposite him, the one she would normally sit on when they would work a project together, but this time they weren’t working, they were talking, about very real things, which was something she sucked at. But she wanted to make this work, make this good. Sighing, Faye bit her lip and shook her head. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“I get that,” Ben muttered. “But it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, and I was fucking useless to help.”
“Is this about whatever happened to me or whatever didn’t happen to you?”
He refused to look up at her. After a good amount of silence, Ben finally spoke, “I just think I should see my aunt before anything else happens.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“I don’t know, Faye, but that’s just the thing, isn’t it? We don’t know.”
“I’m not going to attack you. And you said you wanted to start learning your Tainted side months ago when I got back. If you still want to do that, you can.”
“To what end?”
“What do you mean?” Faye was utterly confused. She’d never thought they’d have deep conversations like this and it was trying her brain. She was someone who acted, not someone who discussed feelings.
Ben sighed and then rubbed both his temples. “If I start shifting, if that’s even an option at this point, then Molly will start putting me on more dangerous missions.”
“I’m pretty sure capturing a centivalk was a pretty dangerous mission.”
He glared. “You’re only proving my point.”
“What point?”
“That we don’t know when it’ll end, so I want to visit with my aunt now.” Tension rose in his voice, and his eyes were closed the entire time.
Faye put her hands up in a defensive motion then pressed them back into her jean-clad thighs. “All right. So visit with your aunt.”
“Please don’t pull any stunts when she’s here.”
“Is she staying here?”
Ben nodded. He still didn’t open his eyes.
“Are you okay?” Faye repeated, concerned there was something else going on that he wasn’t telling her about.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just a headache.”
“Headache?”
His chin bobbed up and down twice before he settled. Faye reached forward and brushed fingers across his cheek.
“You’re sure that’s it?”
“There’s an aura around you.” His words slurred slightly, and his speech slowed down.
“An aura? I don’t think anyone has ever told me I have an aura.” She giggled but remained concerned, wanting to figure out just what was going on.
Ben didn’t answer her. His shoulders slumped and then tensed. His jaw clenched tightly, not letting up. Faye kept her gaze on him the entire time. “Ben?”
He didn’t answer. His body rocked forward and back a few times before he convulsed. His shoulders jerked; his legs flailed. He fell to the cold cement floor, his head cracking against it with a loud thud. Faye jumped up and back, panic welling in her chest. She shoved the stools aside as his feet tangled in his and knocked it over, but she was fast enough to keep it from hitting him.
Every muscle in his body was tense as the seizing fit captured him. Faye ran for the door and slapped her hand against the alarm, hoping someone would show up sooner rather than later because she had no idea what to do. Alarms echoed all around them, some loud that were nearer to where they were and some softer the farther away they were.
“Ben!” Faye knelt next to him, keeping his head from smacking into the leg on the metal work bench he used daily. “Ben!”
He didn’t answer. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, drool moved out from between his lips. His hands clamped down on themselves so tightly she worried he’d break skin. Faye used her superior strength to keep him centered on the floor and not about to hit anything, but she still worried about the initial smack of his head against the cement.
She could hear footsteps against the ground outside, starting down at the elevator. It wouldn’t take long before someone was there. Molly, she was sure of it, with her heels clacking rapidly as she ran. She was the only one.
Ben continued to convulse, whatever seizure had gripped him not letting up at all. Nothing about it seemed to be easing or getting better. The door slammed open. Faye looked up to see Molly standing before her, hair wild around her shoulders as she assessed the situation.
“How long?” Molly asked.
Faye shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“Stay here. Keep him from hurting himself.” Molly raced from the room again, but Faye had no idea where she was going.
She did as she was told and kept Ben as still as she could and away from anything that might injure him. Soon enough Molly was back. She took the long way around the workbench so she ended up on the other side of Ben. She pulled some type of liquid into a needle and pressed it into Ben’s leg through his clothes, depressing the plunger.
“It’ll take another minute.”
“What’d you give him?”
“Something to end this, hopefully.” Molly carded her fingers through his hair as Faye held him as still as she possibly could.
True to her word, it did take a minute or two before Ben’s body began to calm down. The convulsions became less. His body relaxed. Faye pressed her hand to his shoulder lightly, wanting to know what the hell was going on. When she looked up at Molly, the question was on the tip of her tongue but it died there.
“Tell me what happened,” Molly spoke as she checked Ben’s vitals.
“We were just talking and he started doing this. He fell off the stool and hit his head pretty good.”
“I’ll have Amachon check that when he returns.”
“He’s coming back?”
“As soon as he can. He has some patients to deal with at the clinic.”
Faye bit the inside of her lip. “What happened?”
“He told you he wanted to learn to shift, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“He stopped his medication. He’s been completely off it for months now but unable to shift—though I’m not sure how much he’s actually tried—this is not uncommon in pubescents when they’re coming into their shifting abilities. I expected this.”
“You did?”
Molly nodded. “Yes. Now, help me get him to the medical bay.”
Faye scooted her hands under Ben’s body and lifted him almost effortlessly. It would have been far easier if she’d been in her vampiric form, but she didn’t want to do that to him. They made their way to the medical bay slowly, and Faye put him onto a bed. Molly went to work. Faye wanted to stay, she really did, but the sight of Ben’s limp form was almost too much.
“Does Joel know?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“Out.”
“Want me to find him?” Faye asked, wanting something to do other than just sit there.
“Yes, please. You can finish what he’s doing?”
“Which is?”
“Call him, and he’ll fill you in.”
Faye spun out of the room and headed for her bedroom with the phone pressed to her ear. It wasn’t a phone call she really wanted to make, but it was something she knew she was going to have to.
###
Molly was sequestered in her office. It had been a long day of work, and emergencies, but she worked still. She was exhausted. The rest of the house was quiet. She’d forced Joel to his own room after sitting with Ben for hours. Amachon had shown up, thankfully, to make sure Benjamin would recover.
Sighing, Molly stood up and got herself a drink of wine from her cabinet, selecting one of her favorite bottles to open. She needed it. The conversation she needed to have with Faye was not going to be a pleasant one, and she’d been avoiding it for as long as she could, but they needed more information.
She sat on her couch and was halfway through her glass of wine when Faye slipped into the office, locking the door behind her this time. Molly was curious if their evening was going to end like it had the other day, although she suspected it wouldn’t. Faye’d had enough blood to last her months unless she was injured, and Molly had seen her struggle to keep control over her vampiric side. In fact, she was pretty sure Faye hadn’t even known she was transforming when she lifted Ben’s form from his work area and carried him down to the medical bay.
Faye sat next her, stealing her wine and chugging the rest of it. “It sucks to be a vamp sometimes.”
“If you want to get drunk, love, you’re going to need something far stronger than wine.”
Smirking, Faye shook her head. “I could probably drink all the alcohol in this room right now and not feel a lick of it.”
Molly hummed, standing and refilling her glass so she could at least have more to drink. She needed to relax after a day like the one she’d had. Once again seated next to Faye, Molly rolled her shoulders. “Find anything with Malek?”
“No. Not yet. You?”
“Aside from his incessant need for me to rejoin the fold, which I was already aware of, no.”
Faye settled her head on Molly’s shoulder. “You still think there’s more to it?”
“Yes. He’s never been this insistent about the fold before.”
“Perhaps they need you for something.”
“Then he’d tell me that. Or Reina would.”
“You’ve been in contact with Reina?”
Molly chuckled at Faye’s wide eyes. She turned Faye’s chin up to look down on her and brushed her thumb across Faye’s lips. “Yes. Haven’t you been?”
“Well, yeah, I just…did she tell you?”
“That you and she and Corbin had an exchange of energy? Yes. We keep no secrets in the fold.”
“No wonder you don’t fit in.” Faye moved back to her previous position. “Is Ben okay?”
“I suspect he will be.”
Faye didn’t answer, not that Molly expected her to. They sat together in silence, Faye staring at something and Molly sipping at the wine she had refilled until it was nearly empty. She finished it off with a flourish and settled the glass on the table in front of them.
“We need to talk about the other night.”
“O…kay. I didn’t…I’m sorry about asking. I didn’t think you’d mind, and I figured it might help.”
“Are you speaking of the other night with Malek?”
“Isn’t that what you’re talking about?”
“No. But I didn’t mind that. I think it may have worked to our advantage in several ways because I suspect, like Reina and Corbin, he knows this will be better with the three of us.”
“Better?” Faye almost spat the word.
Molly narrowed her gaze. “They really didn’t tell you everything, did they?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You wouldn’t know what to ask.” Molly sighed. “Witches in our fold are matched.”
“So you’ve said.”
“We’re matched for life. With that comes the same ability you and I have, but with a vampire added in, it’s intensified.”
“Oh.”
“Reina and Corbin got as much out of you as you did them.”
“I guess that’s good to know.” Faye shifted uncomfortably. “What did you think we were talking about?”
Molly sighed and moved to look directly at Faye. She pulled one leg up onto the couch as she turned, her knee bent slightly and her ankle under her other knee. She wanted to have this conversation without making Faye feel as though she was being attacked.
“About the capture the other night.”
Faye’s nose scrunched. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“You were high.” Faye refused to look at Molly. “Please be honest with me. I don’t want to have to go in search for information. I’m not looking to condemn you.”
“You said no more drugs in this house.”
“Well, you weren’t in the house, to be fair.” Molly quirked her lips up, hoping it would lighten the mood a bit and make Faye a little more amenable to talking. “What did you take?”
“Heroin.”
“I’ve never seen you act like that on heroin.”
Faye shrugged. “Maybe it was spiked with something.”
“Did you get it from your regular dealer?” Molly knew it was an odd question to ask, but she wanted to know. Between what Amachon had told her and the rumors she had heard for months now, she needed more information.
“I did.” Faye fiddled with the edge of her shirt.
Molly leaned forward and stilled Faye’s fingers. “What did you take?”
“I bought heroin from him.”
Narrowing her gaze, Molly ran a quick judgement. She’d agreed, at one point, never to manipulate Faye into telling her the truth again, but it was frustrating when she knew Faye was lying or at least avoiding the truth itself.
“What did you do with that heroin?”
Faye’s lips thinned, and she rolled her eyes. “Fine. Joel and I went to visit the troll, and I gave him some. Joel was with me when I bought the heroin. I don’t know why you haven’t just asked him about it. He was with me the entire night. It’s not like I could have done anything stupid without him knowing.”
