Page 115 of How To Take Down A Cult At The End Of The World

“You wouldn’t miss your friends?” I know Jaak is concerned that I’ll miss them, and it’s sweet of him but there’s ways around that.

“We can make the journey. Sweet Tooth isn’t that far away, right?” I ask.

“A hop, skip, and a jump.” Sunday shakes her head. “It was only half an hour by car.”

Elijah clears his throat. “Not to correct you, sweetheart but it was only half an hour because of how fast you were driving. One might say it was…well above the speed limit.”

“I was driving perfectly normal.”

Wrath gives her a look that says ‘no the fuck you weren’t’ before he says. “You were going over a hundred miles an hour. I do not think Meadow wishes to sustain whiplash on her journey.”

“I’d say Sweet Tooth is more like an hour away, little more,” Elijah says.

“An hour isn’t far, and we could always teleport. That had us here like that,” I say, snapping my fingers.

“Wait, are you telling me we could have teleported?” Nina asks.

Buffy holds up a piece of bacon. “Don’t look at me. I don’t have that upgrade.”

“Wrath is hurt, which means I’m the only magical ride around and I’m not carrying you three through the speedways of time and space. It’s too dangerous. I wouldn’t be able to protect you all,” Sunday explains. She’s right, it is dangerous. I remember the Auger and how scared I was of it. I’d be okay now, though. I might even get to look around.

“An hour, or however long the journey is, is fine.” Jaak hugs me close. “We will make our home where you wish and this is as fine a house as they come.”

He’s right. It is. It’s the best house.

“We’ll be safe here and there’s plenty of room for a visit whenever any of you want to come. I know Ms. Donna and Mrs. Landry will want to come for a stay. It’ll be perfect,” I telleveryone while I happily start planning what days with a full house would look like.

I’m midway through planning my imaginary girls’ staycation when Eri starts talking, her voice muffled by the gag I slapped on her. The silver of the magic sparkles against her skin in the sunlight when she leans forward to stare me down.

“Do we ungag it?” Charlie asks. “I’m totally fine if we don’t. Could just turn her chair around and really put her in time out.”

“No. We may as well,” I mutter and flick my hand to take away the gag. The second I do, Eri is talking.

“You think you won? That you’re going to get to play house in a place like this? This is an ancestral seat of power. The first magic bringers of this region lived here. You are not worthy to use their power.”

Sunday jabs her knife in Eri’s direction. “Actually, she is. This is a bonafide witch house and the girls back then weren’t that particular. I partied here more than once with that coven and let me tell you, the stories these walls could tell you if we hadn’t spelled the house to be silent.”

“You did what?” I ask.

“I partied hard in these four walls once upon a time with some powerful witch bitches.”

“I meant the house.”

“Ohhhh, well, loose lips sink ships. We had to do it. Don’t you dare look at me like I’m a monster, this house was not this chill when it was younger. The things it said then would have had you clutching your pearls. Be glad we silenced it.”

The dining room door slams twice, telling me Sunday probably isn’t wrong. I look at the house and make up my mind that I’m going to find a way to bring its voice back but that’s going to be a quest for another day. Right now, we have Eri to deal with.

I flick two fingers at her and slap the magical gag back on her. Eri’s eyes nearly bug out when I do that and she starts to scream and shake her chair trying to get up. It’s no use. I bound her tight with my magic. She’s one thousand percent stuck.

I stare at Eri and a thought starts to form. “Let’s lock her up. Bind her. Put her somewhere she can’t cause trouble and no one will go looking for her.”

Sunday sips her mimosa and nods. “I like it. Where would we find that kind of place though?”

Jaak and I look at each other. When he grins I know he’s thinking what I am. “We’ll show you.”

Chapter Forty Five

“So we’re putting her in a big rock?”