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Felix swallows hard and shakes Jaxon’s hand quickly. Of course, the talk had to end with a threat.
I’m very happy that we now have a plan that works. I know Jaxon would never let anyone hurt me, but I always had this nagging feeling that the coven could get to me. I don’t know how much more supernatural pain I can take after the vampire attack and the nightmare spell.
Maybe I can get out of this mess alive and unharmed if my friend and my partner work together.
Perhaps.
After a lot of talking between Jaxon, Ezra, Williams, and some of the head pack warriors, everyone has agreed to let another member of the coven onto pack lands. I wasn’t there for the meeting, but the warriors’ sour faces when they left made it clear that they weren’t happy with how things were going. But they have to do what their Alpha says, so they act like they’re okay with the order.
I get where they’re coming from; every time they’ve talked to a coven member, it hasn’t been pleasant. But they don’t know Felix like I do. They don’t know about all the times he has tried to keep me safe since he made that one choice to hurt me for the coven. I trust Elise because Felix does. I hope we can get to know each other better in the next few weeks before the coven comes for me.
I still don’t know when the magic users will try to kill me, which isn’t a good feeling. The unknown creeps into my mind and haunts me with every breath I take. I am scared for my own life, but what really bothers me is the thought of people I care about putting their lives in danger for me. Skyler, Ezra, Williams, and Charlotte are all coming to protect me with Jaxon. I care a lot about all of them, and just thinking about them getting hurt while protecting me makes me sick.
Being the only human among supernaturals is very annoying. My boyfriend turns into a wolf. A warlock is my friend. I’ll always be the weak link.
I’m just glad that Felix and Elise have said they will help me. Felix is texting Elise right now to let her know that she can go straight to the pack house. I can tell that Jaxon is worried about our bond. I hold his hand and smile at him. He holds my hand tightly while we wait in the living room, which has been cleared of all pack members who aren’t needed.
Jaxon is getting ready too much for Elise to come. There are ten pack guards in the room with us and Felix, all there to “make sure my safety.” Does he really think that one witch can come in and kill everyone? A witch who has already said she would help me?
I roll my eyes at the precautions, but I don’t say anything because I know he only does this because he cares. We are all quiet in the room as we wait for the portal to open.
Felix’s voice cuts through the tense silence. “I just texted her. She should be here any second.” The only sign that Jaxon is getting more anxious is that his hand is getting a little tighter on mine. Otherwise, he looks like a stone statue: his lips are pursed, his jawline is strong, and his posture is impressive. The warriors in the pack change their stance. Felix’s words make them think about the situation in a more realistic way.
We wait one minute, then two, and then a third. The tension in the room is unbearable by the fourth minute. I think Elise should have already arrived. Felix is worried that he will be beaten to a pulp again because she hasn’t shown up yet.
Jaxon clears his throat after five minutes, and his eyes go from black to silver and back again.
“Where is she? You said she would portal to you, but she hasn’t shown up yet.” His tone makes it clear that you need to find her or else you’re in trouble. Felix calls her right away. Everyone is waiting for Elise to answer the phone, which is ringing softly. But she doesn’t.
Felix looks up in a panic. He knows he’s weak and surrounded. “Hey, I told her to come straight to me like you asked. She’ll be here any second now.”
When Jaxon grabs the front of Felix’s shirt and pulls him up to his level, Felix stops talking. I stay close by to make sure Jaxon doesn’t do anything too stupid.
“I told you what would happen if you tried to mess with me.”
Felix has trouble in the air, and then he looks to me for help. The door from the kitchen crashes open just as I’m about to tell Jaxon to calm down. It swings open, and the knob breaks through the wall next to it.
Elise is standing there in her usual unique way: a neon orange top, a black leather jacket, and combat boots. She wears more jewelry than I do, with several chain necklaces stacked on top of each other and too many rings to count. She has a half-eaten chocolate pop-tart in one hand.
She looks at the hole in the wall she made and says, “Oops,” with a mouth full of food. She doesn’t eat very gracefully; most of the crumbs end up on the floor. I vaguely remember that the pop-tarts were Skyler’s. He won’t be happy that she ate them.
Jaxon still has Felix in his grip as he looks at the witch who just walked into the room.
“Hey, let go of my brother.” She sounds calm, but I can see the fire in her eyes—the power. Jaxon very slowly lets go of Felix’s shirt. Felix smooths out the wrinkles that are the size of Jaxon’s fist, and then he walks—more like limps—over to Elise.
He still looks hurt a lot. He can stand now, but he looks like he is in a lot of pain. One look at him makes Elise’s eyes harden.
“F**k.” Her hands automatically give off blue magic as she taps into her power. Her eyes also shine a bright blue, which tells her enemies to get ready for a fight. “You said the coven members messed up your face, not that they almost killed you. I would have made you heal faster if I had known.”
“I know. I didn’t want you to get in the way of me and her.” From the knowing looks the twins gave each other, it’s clear that they both know exactly who this “her” is without needing to say anything. I really want to know what’s going on, but I know it’s not right for me to ask in front of a lot of pack members. I’ll ask in a more private place.
Elise checks out Felix’s wounds as she leads him to the nearest couch. He sighs in relief and falls back into the cushions.
“Who followed the order?” Her voice is low as she starts to use her magic on Felix. Her hands glow blue with healing magic. She only looks at the part of the room she’s fixing, but she still waits for answers.
“It was Maeve, Lucy, and Ridley.” I lost. That’s all Felix says to me. He knew these people well. I didn’t think Felix was the kind of person who had a lot of friends, but maybe he did when he was younger. Could they have been friends with Elise?
As she finished healing her brother, the witch only slowly nodded. When she’s done, sweat is dripping from her forehead. She sits down next to Felix and takes deep breaths to calm down.
“That was a lot of work for me. You were all kinds of messed up, brother.” She pats him on the arm, and he laughs, a sound of real joy that I don’t hear from him very often anymore. For a moment, she stops acting like she’s not serious. “You have my word that they will get what they deserve.”
Felix nods, gets up, and takes Elise with her. They come up to Jaxon and me. Elise looks me up and down, paying close attention to me. The way she looks at me doesn’t make me think of an enemy; it makes me think of an unwanted advance.
“I forgot how hot you were. But we did have fun at that club, right?” She has the same smirk that Felix always gives me, but it feels five times worse when she does it. Maybe it’s because she makes it so clear that she’s flirting with me, while I know that Felix is just joking.
“The three of us, grinding on each other among all of those sweaty bodies. That dress.” She licks her lips, and I hear and feel Jaxon’s growl in the air. He squeezes my waist harder and glares at the witch who doesn’t know what’s going on.
“That was fun. Well, before we staged the vampire attack.”
Then Jaxon gets to work.
Four pack members stand right in front of me to protect me while Jaxon, Ezra, and a few other wolves I don’t know the names of move toward the two magic users. Three wolves go after each member of the coven, pushing them against the wall.
“Jaxon, stop!” I groan as I try to get around the walls of muscle that are in my way and fail. I can see Felix and Elise being held down by three wolves each through the arms of two guards. Even though they have magic, they can’t fight off all of them without dying.
Elise doesn’t enjoy being scared; instead, she lets out a loud cackle. “I knew you’d react that way.” She and Felix share a smug smile, but he just shakes his head. “That’s why this ‘partnership’ will never work.”
Jaxon stands still for a moment, then slowly tells the guards to let Felix and Elise go. Both of them push the guards away because they are angry at how they are being treated. Even though I didn’t get into a fight, my heart is still racing. I push guards out of the way and stand next to Jaxon, who looks at me with disapproval because I’m too close to the twins. Noogies are hard.
“Listen,” Elise says, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one leg. “Thanks for letting me fix my brother on your pack lands. But I didn’t come here to get thrown around every time I say something bad about your girlfriend. That’s not how I make friends. My brother has grown a conscience, but I haven’t.”
Felix turns to Elise in a panic because he is shocked by what she said. I don’t think he thought his sister would say no to helping me. Elise is my only hope of getting through all of this, and if she doesn’t tell us what she knows, it will be like signing my death sentence. I breathe a little more heavily now as I try to think of a way to save myself.
Jaxon is already angry. He looks like he’s going to blow up at any moment. He knows that he might have to make Elise cooperate if she doesn’t want to, and I don’t like that. We need to find a way to get her to see that helping us is in her best interest.
“Please, Elise,” Felix begs. “You said you’d help if—”
“No, Felix. Did you see how they all turned on us? Like that,” she snaps her fingers angrily. She shakes her head and stares him in the eyes. “It will always be us against them.”
“Really?” I say as I step forward. She looks at me in shock that I’m talking. Well, I’m not the same quiet girl she met a month ago. I know about the supernatural world, and I’m not afraid to say what I think when I know I’m right. Jaxon tries to stop me, but I just push his hands away and walk right up to Elise. I don’t let the fact that she’s 5 or 6 inches taller than me scare me or stop me.