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Chapter Twenty-Three

Ena and Ty looked at each other, then frantically moved to fix their clothes and stand up.

“Coming!” Ty replied angrily. He clearly had tried to keep his voice steady, but even she could tell it sounded annoyed and tight with unspent desire.

Ena glanced at the window and could just barely see the early-dawn light peeking out from behind the curtains. It was morning already? She smoothed her shift and went to sit down casually on the chair as Ty threw on a shirt and strode to the door, pulling it open.

Steig stood in the doorway with a concerned, suspicious look on his face. He glanced over at Ena, then back at Ty, who was standing in front of him.

“Can I speak to you in the hallway for a minute?” he asked, his voice clipped.

Ty glanced at Ena, his eyes flicking briefly to the window behind her. She knew he didn’t like leaving her alone and was considering whether there was a chance she’d run again, but he clearly decided it wasn’t likely, so he closed the door behind him and stepped out into the hallway.

The door wasn’t very soundproof. Their voices were muffled slightly, but Ena could hear Steig clearly when he spoke in a hushed voice.

“What the fuck did I just interrupt?”

“It was nothing. We were sleeping,” Ty replied defensively.

“Don’t give me that shit. I could sense the lust leaking from that room a mile away. What the fuck are you doing? Do you just have a thing for witches or something? Please don’t tell me this is some mommy-abandonment shit…”

“What? No! I don’t…I don’t have a thing for witches. It’s…” She heard Ty release a big sigh. “Okay, look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier, but it’s her . She’s the same witch.”

Steig went eerily silent on the other side of the door. Ena couldn’t see his face, but the silence was heavy with anger. When Steig spoke again, his tone was low and menacing.

“Are you fucking serious, Ty? This whole time, you didn’t say anything? I left Lara and the kids home alone for this. I followed you on this fool’s errand because you convinced me things could be different— better . Tell me the truth. Was that all an excuse so you could find this girl again?”

“No!” Ty answered loudly before quieting down again. “ No . I promise, it wasn’t. I didn’t go looking for her on purpose. It was pure chance that she found us, and then I did have a good reason for taking her. I promise, we are still doing this, finding the amulet—it’s still my main goal.”

“Really? Because last I checked, we kidnapped her and burned her house down. She has every reason to hate us. Yes, we need the information she has, but you can’t trust her, Ty. What if she’s manipulating you?”

“What? No, she’s not. And besides, I haven’t told her anything.”

There was a weighted silence from Steig on the other side of the door.

“Look, I hear you,” Ty continued. “It was a mistake, and it won’t happen again. She’s going to help us get the amulet, she knows it’s not worth her effort to try and escape, and then we’ll let her go and we’ll be long gone before she tells her Coven about us. That’s still the plan.”

“It better be, Ty. Because I’m not gonna watch you get all torn up again over this girl. Need I remind you, you almost died the last time you refused to let her go? This won’t end well. For either of you.”

She heard Ty sigh again on the other side of the door. “I know,” he said. He sounded resigned and exhausted.

“Good,” Steig said, sounding annoyed but convinced, then she heard him mutter something about going to get Turner, but Ena wasn’t listening anymore.

She stood up hurriedly and started putting on the clean dress she’d been given. Now that the desire had drained from her body, she was flooded with shame.

What the fuck had she been thinking? Her sad, lust-addled brain had led her so far astray it wasn’t even funny.

This was bad. It was worse than bad—it was fucking delusional.

She and Ty couldn’t do this. They could not be together.

She needed to get her shit together and focus on why she was here, why she had chosen to stay.

She needed to find a way to get the amulet before them and take it back home to her Coven. That was her path.

Ty opened the door and came back into the room. She could tell in an instant that things had changed between them again. This was no longer Ty, the man who’d comforted her; this was Ty the daemon, who would complete his mission at all costs.

He looked her over once, taking in the fact that she was dressed, then said sternly, “Come on. Let’s head downstairs. We’ll meet with Steig and Turner over breakfast.”

He turned, and Ena followed him wordlessly out the door and down the stairs.

The tension between them was palpable. Clearly, they were both having second, third, and fourth thoughts about what they’d just done.

They’d gotten way too carried away, too lost in their own world, and now that Steig and Turner were back, all the reasons why they couldn’t and shouldn’t go down that path came screaming back at her.

You’re mine.

The words he’d whispered to her as he made her come ran through her head. Had he meant them? Fuck, did it even matter if he had?

They walked into the dining room to find Steig and Turner sitting at a secluded table near the fireplace.

Ena and Ty sat down, and the same woman they’d met yesterday brought them some ale and a delicious-looking breakfast of eggs, sausages, and bread with apple preserves.

Ena ate greedily as she listened to the three men catch up, and tried desperately not to think about the fact that she could still feel the ghost of Ty’s fingers inside her.

“We’ve been scouting out the Occidens Coven’s village and we think we found the house the witch described,” Steig explained, gesturing harshly at Ena.

They were back to this? It all seemed ridiculous at this point, and Ena was tired of it.

“My name’s Ena,” she said. “No use pretending everyone doesn’t know it anymore.”

Steig turned slowly to look at her. “Okay, fine,” he replied, giving her an untrusting look. She wondered mildly why he seemed to hate her so much. Was it just because she was a witch?

Turner, sensing the tension, interrupted with a practical question for Ty.

“The issue is, we need to find a way to get into the house and look around for a while without being disturbed. We saw several witches coming and going from the house, but there’s no major gatherings coming up that will ensure everyone is occupied. ”

“It might help if we had more specifics to go on,” Steig said bitterly. “Did you see anything else in your vision? Anything specific about where the amulet might be in the house?” he asked Ena.

“I already told you everything I saw,” she replied curtly. It was a lie, of course. She had a very specific idea of where the amulet was, but since it was the only advantage she had at the moment, she was keeping it.

“I could start a fire as a distraction,” Turner offered. “We could sneak in while everyone’s busy putting it out.”

“I don’t think we should alert them to our presence unless absolutely necessary.

There will be too many variables to control,” Ty explained, his tone taking on the assuredness of a commander.

Ena again wondered vaguely what his position was among the daemons that enabled him to command such respect, but before this debate could go on any further, an idea occurred to Ena. It was risky, but maybe for the best.

“I could help with that,” Ena said.

All three heads swiveled towards her.

“What do you mean?” Ty asked sternly.

“My Gift is visanis . I could use it to…temporarily incapacitate the witches that live in the house. Make it easier for you to search for the amulet without attracting attention.”

“Your Gift is visanis ?” Steig asked in shock. “Did you know about this?” he asked Ty.

“Yes, but I only found out recently. It’s a long story,” he said dismissively.

“But I figured there was no way she’d use it to help us.

” He pinned her with his gaze. “Why would you help us?” Ty asked her, clearly suspicious of this offer.

He knew about her restrictions around using her Gift, but this was different.

She knew this was the safest and best way to get out of this whole mess—a mess, she’d acknowledge, that was partially her fault at this point.

She had done the spell that had led them here.

And she’d do what she needed to do to get out of it while causing the least amount of harm possible.

“I figure this way, if I use my visanis , I can ensure that no witches get hurt. I can put them to sleep or something. Clearly, you all are going to go search for the amulet no matter what I do, and I’d rather it not descend into a bloody battle or a forest fire,” Ena explained, looking pointedly at Turner.

“So I’ll help, but I want something in return. ”

There it was. Ty leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed defensively. “Okay…” he responded. “And what’s that?”

“If I help you break into the house using my visanis , I want your word that you’ll let me go whether you find the amulet there or not.”

The three of them looked at each other, clearly calculating whether or not that was a good idea.

“And why wouldn’t it be there?” Steig asked skeptically.

“Any number of reasons. You only gave me a vague description of it, so the spell might not have worked properly. Or they could have moved it since then. Take your pick. I did my part, but I can only control so much, so if I do this, that’s it. You let me go afterwards.”

Ena needed this guarantee. She knew Ty planned to let her go when they found it, she didn’t doubt that, but if everything went according to her plan, they wouldn’t find it, and she didn’t want them dragging her all over creation indefinitely searching for it. She needed this to be over.

“Fine,” Ty replied. “I think you’ve proven to be about as useful as you’re going to be, anyway.”