The Witching Hour: 11 Enchanting Novels Featuring Witches, Wizards, Vampires, Shifters, Ghosts, Fae, and More!, page 189
“I am not selling out,” Kane said.
“Think about it,” Dante said.
“Wren, we should go and get dinner,” Dante said.
Kane grinned and put his arms out along the back of the sofa, a territorial gesture if ever there was one.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
32
By some miracle, dinner went off without a hitch. We ate in a nice little restaurant hidden in a corner near the perimeter walls. The food was absolutely divine, good enough that it made up for the complete lack of conversation. The guys kept glaring at each other or sniping, and, in the end, I left them to it and headed back to the apartment alone.
It felt as though someone was following me, but I couldn’t pinpoint a bloodsong that stood out. Yet there was the feeling of being watched that raised the hairs on the back of my neck and made me keep pausing and looking into the shadows. I stopped checking when the torrential rain started again and ran the last stretch back up the steps to the warm, dry apartment.
Inside the apartment, the feeling of being watched continued. I shrugged it off as being paranoid. There were no bloodsongs there, and I was just being ridiculous and paranoid. I made the most of having the space to myself and took a luxuriously long, hot shower where I lathered myself in a wonderful lemon and chili shower gel. It was the little things.
I was just crawling into bed when Dante got back.
“Wren?” he called from the hallway outside my room.
“In bed,” I called back.
“Sweet dreams,” he said before I heard him pad to his room.
I knew that night wasn’t going to go well. I should have listened to my instincts. Instead, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall into blissful dreams. The world was beautifully vivid and technicolour, everything was perfect. I didn’t have to worry about money or the Council, I could go on whatever adventure I felt like without any restrictions. Then I woke up to find a shadowy figure leaning over my bed with a blade in their hand glinting in the faint moonlight coming in from the open window.
“I was having such a nice dream,” I groaned.
The attacker thrust their dagger at my face. Nothing wakes you up quite as quickly as a dagger being thrust at your face. I rolled away and the attacker’s blade caught in my pillow, giving me time to grab my own daggers.
“You really shouldn’t try and stab people in the face. Not only is it rude, but it’s also inefficient,” I said.
The attacker pulled their dagger free as I was trying to push up into a standing position on the bed. They leapt onto the bed and swiped at my stomach. I shifted my weight just enough to stop the blade from slicing me open, but it still cut through my favourite sleeping cami. Their bloodsong was deep and rich. I was sure it would taste like high end chocolate if it had a taste. It was so tempting to grasp onto their blood and squeeze, to crush the life essence out of them. Dante was in the room next door. He’d be able to feel the magic. And I wasn’t like that, I reminded myself as I hopped to one side as the attacker slashed at my stomach again. I wasn’t a monster.
I managed to get a better footing, although the bedding was in a messy heap and it made it difficult to step clearly. The attacker darted right, and I caught sight of a dark mask covering their face. Fantastic, another one of those. They tried to circle around me and push me towards the edge of the bed. I took the risk and leapt off the bed, glad to be back on solid ground again. Well, it was solid until a vine appeared out of nowhere and ensnared my ankle.
“Now you’re not playing fair,” I said.
I expected a maniacal laugh, but it didn’t come. The vine sank sharp claws into my bare leg, and I cut myself free of it, which gave the attacker an opportunity to try and stab me through my ribs.
“That’s not even where my heart is,” I said as I moved away.
Their dagger drew blood and cut through muscle, but it glanced off my ribs.
They stood in a cocky stance with their feet too wide and their stomach exposed. They thought that I was an easy target. That pissed me off. I spun my blades and grinned at them, a positively feral grin. It was enough to make them tense and shift their balance. I shot forward as though I was going to gut them. They side-stepped to the left, which I anticipated and side-stepped with them to slit their throat.
Deep blue smoke curled around their ankles and hands the moment my blade bit into their skin.
“No, don’t you fucking dare!” I shouted as I grabbed onto the black shirt they were wearing.
“Wren!?” Dante shouted as he burst into the room.
The attacker was nothing but a wisp of smoke when he raced over to me.
“You’re bleeding? What happened?” Dante asked, putting his hands on my upper shoulders and looking me up and down.
“Someone tried to kill me. They were wearing a dark mask and black clothes. As you just saw, they turned into fucking smoke, so I don’t have anything to trace them with,” I said.
“Hey,” Dante said gently as he pulled me to him.
He stroked my hair, and I allowed myself to be calmed and soothed.
“We’ll call Kane, and he can heal your injuries,” he said as he caressed my cheek.
“I suppose this means we’re on the right track, if they’re trying to kill us again,” I said.
Dante smiled, and I didn’t miss the flicker of amber in his eyes. “Yes.”
I sighed and looked around the room. It didn’t feel safe anymore. I knew the world was never that safe, but my bedroom was where I was vulnerable, as the attacker had demonstrated.
“Damn them, I was having a nice dream too,” I said.
Dante laughed and led me out of the room.
“Was I in it?” he asked.
I thought for a moment.
“No, you weren’t,” I finally said.
He smirked at me, clearly unconvinced.
“Kane is going to be pissed,” I said.
33
Kane burst in the door like a hellhound was on his tail, skidded across the tile floor, and bundled me into his arms.
“Don’t do that to me, don’t worry me like that,” he said as he held me close.
I rested my head on his shoulder and allowed his bloodsong to wrap around me, enjoyed the familiarity of it. The anxiety of the evening slowly faded in his presence. He carefully pushed me down onto the sofa, where he set about inspecting my injuries. It was quite a rigmarole trying to treat the cut on my ribs without lifting my cami too high.
“Have you given her some sugar? She’ll need sugar after an incident like this,” Kane said to Dante.
Dante raised an eyebrow before he went and fetched me a bar of chocolate.
“You’ve been hiding this from me?” I teased.
Dante grinned back at me. “I was keeping it for a special occasion.”
The cool fizzing sensation of Kane’s salve settled into my ribs and made me squirm. It felt wrong and ticklish.
Kane placed his hands on my shoulders and looked at me, his face a mask of concern
“Stay still, let the salve work,” he said firmly.
It took everything I had to stay still and not fidget as the fizzing sensation got deeper under the skin and in between the ribs. I picked at the bar of chocolate while I waited for it to stop. The chocolate was a brand I couldn’t normally afford to look at, let alone eat. It was rich, velvety, and had a wonderful fruit note that sat on my tongue. Dante watched me eating it with a delighted smile on his face.
Once Kane had finished applying his salves, he sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders.
“I can’t lose you,” he said softly.
I grinned at him. “It’s going to take more than one measly assassin to get rid of me.”
He kissed my temple.
“Let’s not tempt the gods,” he said a little too seriously for my tastes.
“Do you have anything from the assassin that will allow us to find out who sent them?” Dante asked.
He couldn’t stay still, kept looking between me and Kane.
“I think some of their blood is still on my dagger,” I said with a frown.
“Don’t you think it would be best if you collected that for analysis, Kane?” Dante asked.
Kane tensed and narrowed his eyes at Dante.
“We don’t want another assassin coming after Wren. The more information we have, the better,” Dante said.
Kane sighed. “Where’s the dagger?”
“My room,” I said.
He stood without another word. Dante came and crouched in front of me, he took my hands in his and rubbed small circles over the base of my thumbs with his.
“How are you feeling? Really feeling?” he asked gently.
I squeezed my eyes closed and saw the dagger coming at my face.
“Like I’m not safe here. I’m used to being the one hunting down the bad guys,” I said.
“You don’t have to worry, I’ll be here,” Kane said as he returned with my dagger in his hand.
“I can take care of her,” Dante growled.
“Clearly you can’t,” Kane said.
“I can look after myself, thank you very fucking much,” I snapped.
It was too harsh, and I knew it, but emotions were running high, and I didn’t need their dick-swinging right then.
“Sorry,” Dante said as he squeezed my hands.
His warmth spread through my veins and I smiled. Kane scraped the blood off my dagger into a small vial, which he bottled and put in his witch box.
“It will take a couple of days to get the answers from this blood. The local community is making my life difficult,” Kane ground out.
“Do you think they’re in on whatever’s going on?” I asked.
Kane shrugged. “Maybe, or maybe they just don’t like my bloodline. Witches are very political.”
He’d spoken of the political bullshit he and his coven went through back in Inverness, and witches sounded insufferable.
“I’m sure Dante’s bloodline would loosen their lips, though,” Kane said pointedly.
Dante laughed, a harsh dry laugh.
“The witches have no love for me. I left my coven. I am a warlock, a betrayer,” he said coldly.
I reflexively reached out and stroked his cheek. It sounded so awful to be cast out like that by your own family. It felt a little too familiar. Even if my parents hadn’t driven me out, they had left me alone in the world. Dante looked at me with a gentle smile. He turned and brushed his lips over my inner wrist, sending a delightful shiver through me.
“I’m staying here with Wren tonight,” Kane said as he took the seat next to me on the sofa once more.
“I’ll find you some blankets,” Dante said, standing.
“No need, it’s not the first time we’ve shared a bed,” Kane said with a smirk.
Dante stiffened, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“If you need me, Wren, shout,” he said before he went upstairs.
I poked Kane in the ribs.
“Don’t be a dick to him,” I said, frowning.
Kane ran his thumb along my jawline.
“I thought you found him to be an arrogant dick,” he said.
I looked away. I didn’t know how I felt about Dante any more. There was a warmth to him, and his smile could make me melt.
“Come on, we need a good night’s sleep,” Kane said.
I allowed him to lead me back to the bedroom. I went around and triple checked the windows were closed and the door was slightly ajar, complete with a small ward Kane had made to act as an alarm system. I changed into a fresh cami and curled up in Kane’s arms, trying to keep away the feeling that this wasn’t the end of the assassination attempts.
34
I woke up in Kane’s arms with my head on his chest. He looked down at me with a warm smile, and I stretched, running my feet down his calves as I did so. Dante wandered down the stairs, and I remembered where we were and what had happened the night before.
Kane ran his fingers through my hair.
“I’m going to work on my paints and ink today. I’ll make something to help keep you safe,” he said before he kissed my cheek, his lips lingering longer than I expected, not that I was complaining.
We headed downstairs to find Dante glaring at his phone. Kane hadn’t put a shirt on, the smirk on his face looking like a spoilt cat. I frowned. Was he winding Dante up because he didn’t like Dante, or because he wanted something more between us? I groaned and went looking for coffee. It was far too early to be trying to untangle those knots.
Dante handed me a fresh cup of coffee, the last one in the pot.
“Did you sleep ok?”
“Yea, thanks. You?” I asked.
He shrugged.
“I slept lightly. I won’t let anyone else hurt you,” he said, his eyes flicking to Kane.
“I’m heading back to my place, I’ll work on the blood and the inks. I’ll catch you for dinner,” Kane said as he hugged me and kissed behind my ear, leaving a trail of goosebumps beneath his lips.
“So, what’s the plan for the day?” I asked Dante.
“First, I’m taking you for crepes and gelato, then we’re going to see what the Olapireta have to say. There’s a reason why everyone who’s been taken has been one of them, and they’re likely to know why that is.”
Well, the crepes and gelato part of that sounded good.
The gelato brought out a happy wistful side in Dante that I liked. He relaxed and smiled as he enjoyed the simple joy of the gelato. We didn’t touch on work until the gelato was finished. It was an unspoken rule that the food was sacred and not to be sullied by work.
“We’ll begin with Darijo’s father and go from there,” Dante said.
I held back the sigh I desperately wanted to give. This plan sounded positively hellish. It was going to be verbal sparring with creepy assholes who wanted both me and Dante dead.
The drive over to the beautiful house was quick and painless, the views over the ocean taking the edge off my nerves. Dante knocked on the door, only to have it slammed in his face when the man saw who it was. Dante knocked again and wedged his foot inside the doorway so the man couldn’t slam it again, not that it stopped him from trying.
“Every single one of the missing people is Olapireta. You’re going to tell me why,” Dante said.
“Cambion scum!” the man spat before he slammed the door again, this time on Dante’s foot.
Dante didn’t acknowledge the pain that must have caused. Instead, he forced the door open and stepped inside. He towered over the Olapireta man.
“That was very rude. I am working with the Council to try and bring your son home,” Dante said coldly.
I leaned against the doorway, trying to look cool and nonchalant, like I belonged.
“You clearly know something. And you care about your son, else you wouldn’t have let the Council know he’d gone missing,” I said.
“We have many enemies. We are but a small faction. We don’t have the spare people to hunt our missing people down,” the man said stiffly.
His hands were trembling, and he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot as his eyes were glued on Dante. I wasn’t sure if he was furious or terrified. I supposed it could have been a bit of both.
“Narrow it down,” Dante said.
“If I could do that, I would have done so by now,” the man snapped.
“Maybe it’s an inside job and they killed the people themselves, maybe this is a really shitty attempt at covering that up,” I said.
“How dare you!?” the man shouted.
“Look at it from our point of view,” I pushed.
“The Council was supposed to send us strong, pure warriors, not a fucking cambion and his whore,” the man snarled.
Dante pinned the man against the wall by his throat, the man’s feet dangling uselessly.
“Never call her that again,” Dante said in a harsh whisper.
The man had turned white, the deeply unpleasant and familiar smell of urine filled the space. Dante dropped him like a hot potato before he stepped back, his lip curled in disgust.
“I have no answers for you,” the man said between gasps for air.
Dante gestured out to the car. “We’re done here. We’ll try one of the other families.”
Oh, what fun that sounded. There had to be a better way. The people were creepy and unpleasant, but they clearly weren’t warriors.
“Does this usually work?” I asked Dante once we were back in the car.
“Sometimes.”
“Is this just an excuse to hurt some Olapireta?”
He exhaled slowly through his nose and pulled the car onto the side of the road. A storm was rolling in over the turbulent ocean, and it felt all too fitting in that moment. I watched the deep purple-grey clouds on the horizon as they crept closer and the waves whipped themselves into a frenzy, crashing onto the rocks below us.
“I’m sorry, Wren, you deserve better from me. I allowed my past and my emotions to get the better of me,” he said quietly.
“It happens to all of us,” I said gently as I placed my hand on his.
“I can’t bear to see you hurt again,” he said as he cupped my face in his other hand, his eyes soft.
I laughed.
“I’m a hack-and-slash girl; if we’re going to work together, you’re going to have to get used to me being hurt,” I said with a smile.
He caressed my cheek, and I allowed my eyes to half close as I felt his bloodsong wrap around me, speaking of safety and comfort.
“You can’t wrap me in cotton wool,” I said in barely more than a whisper.
He frowned.
“Then perhaps we’ll get you some robes and a mask,” he said, his face twisted into a grin.
“I’ll settle for a badass sword,” I said with an equal grin.
“That can be arranged…”
“It has to set on fire or something and have an awesome name.”
“I have people who could make you such a thing.”
“Now you’re teasing me. I could never afford that.”
