2 Hungry, Hungry Hoodoo (11 page)

I hadn’t seen more than Sy’s living room and small kitchen. In fact, I couldn’t swear there was more than a living room. “Are you sure you don’t mind us staying with you?”

“I’m glad to have you guys here.” He slung one arm around my shoulder and one around Katrina’s. “I could use some extra help around the bar. I’ll teach you guys the business.” He went back behind the counter.

I laughed and shook my head, flopping down on a stool. “How do you like the new place?” I asked Katrina, my eyes filling with tears again. “What am I going to do?” I laid my head in my arms.

Kat patted my shoulder.

“Well, first, stop crying. What kind of elf goes around crying all the time? Pull yourself together,” Sy said, sliding me a drink. “Second, find yourself an occupation, like, say, bartending. Have I mentioned I could use the help? And if you could break up fights between wound up bounty hunters so your dear old cousin could take a night off . . . Well, that’d be perfect.”

“I used to tend bar in college. I’m your girl,” Katrina told him.

“You bet you are.” Sy winked.

I groaned. “Fine. Teach me what you can before Jaron gets here. We have to go back to the castle during the day. Keeping up appearances.” I rolled my eyes.

Sy patted my arm. “I’m going to have to hire bouncers with the two of you in this bar.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to convince myself we’d be fine. “Have you heard from Femi? Any news?”

“She should be around soon. She said something about bringing Olivia and Holden, too.” A worried line creased his forehead. “You know who would really like to see you again? Mom.”

“Aunt Lorelei?”

Sy grinned. “You remember!”

Katrina had turned around in her seat to inspect the tables of bounty hunters, though I could tell she was still listening to us.

“Yeah, I had a memory the other night about my father. I think I remember everything before that now. I remember Aunt Lorelei smelling like cinnamon and vanilla. I remember my bedroom was a deep royal blue. I remember us fighting and playing hide-and-go-seek.”

“I didn’t know you met your father.” Sy leaned on his forearms against the counter. “What happened?”

As I told him, he looked at me with sad eyes.

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Kat said, no longer interested in our surroundings, but it was Sy’s stare that began to crack my emotional walls. I looked away. I couldn’t take it. I understood why I stayed away from Sy and Aunt Lorelei before. I loved them both too much. I felt safe with them and that made me let down my guard. They loved me just for me, unconditionally, and I couldn’t bear the idea of them being hurt. I forced a smile and changed the subject. “So what’s the deal with you and Femi?”

Katrina took my cue. “Femi?”

Sy smiled. Not his typical confident, charming grin, but a sweet, dreamy tilt to his lips. “She’s great, isn’t she?”

I nodded. “Are you two …” I raised my eyebrows.

He rolled his neck. “Our world is complicated. Sometimes things just don’t work out.”

I shrugged. “Seems like you’re giving up pretty easily to me.”

The door opened and Olivia and Holden walked in. “Who said I was giving up?” Sy said.

“Whoa,” Katrina breathed.

“Hi.” Olivia smiled and waved, radiant as ever. Holden’s eyes scanned the room, calculating threats. “Are you okay?” she asked when she got closer.

I bit my lip and nodded.

“Hi, I’m Liv and this is Holden,” she said to Katrina.

“Katrina. I’m Selene’s friend.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Olivia looked back at me. “No offense, but there’s something off about you today.” She motioned her hand vaguely around me.

“She left Cheney,” Sy told them and I gave him a look. He made a face at me.

“They’re bonded magically, so though she’s hiding it, she’s hurting,” Kat said, ignoring me.

I rolled my eyes. “Neither the bond nor my leaving is public knowledge. You two obviously can’t keep secrets.”

Holden gave me a withering look. “I don’t think Liv or I know anyone who would care.”

Olivia shook her head. “No, I think what Holden means is we’re sorry you’re in pain.”

Holden didn’t look like he meant that at all. I laughed. “Actually I appreciate his candor. Reminds me of my coven.”

“Well, your secret is safe with us.” Olivia smiled sadly, studying the area around me. “I might be able to do something. Do you mind?” she asked, her hand hovering over me. I shook my head. She pressed her palm flat against my chest, just above where it hurt, and a lovely white light poured from her and blanketed me. Katrina gasped and started whispering furiously to Sy. Any remaining tears dried and my mind eased, but her effort did nothing to help with the deep festering pain.

Olivia frowned. “Hmmm. I don’t have any experience with magical bonds.” She looked over her shoulder at Holden. “What do you think?”

Holden came up behind her and looked at her hand just above my breasts. “What exactly do you have in mind, Liv?” A slight smile ticked his lips.

Olivia rolled her eyes and stayed focused on me. “He can manipulate emotion—I can’t. If your bond is emotionally based, he might be able to tweak it. It wouldn’t be a permanent fix, but it could help.” She looked back at him. “You can do that, right?”

Holden’s face turned serious as he studied me with a detachment that made me want to squirm.

“I feel a lot calmer now. That’s enough. I can deal with this. Thank you,” I told her and she released me.

Holden sat down on the stool beside me. “I might be able to do something. I know nothing about magic, but emotions are emotions and yours are running high. But this isn’t a decision you should make lightly. You need to be sure you want me to meddle with your feelings.”

My stomach twisted, and I fought against the nerves. “What exactly would you do?”

The door slammed against the wall. “I love the smell of stale beer in the morning,” Femi proclaimed loudly. “So team, what do we know?”

“Just a sec, we’re fixing Selene,” Sy said, winking at Femi.

“Is she broken?” Femi walked up and stood next to Olivia while Holden inspected me again. “What’s wrong with you, Hermione?”

“Nothing.” I crossed my arms over my chest. I tried to ease the irritation boiling up inside me—these people were helping me—but it simmered and popped inside of me. “I just need to figure out how to break this stupid bond.”

“Who brought the human?” she asked.

“This is Katrina. She’s in my coven.”

Femi tilted her head and eyed Katrina. “You’re in my seat.”

Katrina shifted. “I guess you’ll have to find a new one.”

Femi smiled. “You might be all right.” She looked back to me. “Why do you want to break the bond?”

I gave a quick rundown of the fight Cheney and I had, and Holden scoffed. “We told you to keep doing what you were doing, not confess everything you know. Did you even find out where they’re holding his father?”

“No, I didn’t have chance. And I didn’t tell him everything, but I had to tell him this. I didn’t mention Jaron by name, but I did tell him that the rebels aren’t responsible for my studio or Michael. You don’t understand. He hates them and blames them for everything. Cheney would have come after them and I could prevent it. I saved lives.”

“So the human’s life is worth preventing an attack that may never have happened?” he asked.

I ground my teeth together, stunned. I hadn’t even considered the danger I’d put Michael in. Why hadn’t I thought things through better?

Holden continued on in a flat, emotionless voice. “If Cheney’s responsible for Michael’s abduction, he now knows you don’t believe his story. That makes the human worthless unless Cheney confesses his involvement and holds his life over your head for cooperation.” Holden gave me a cold glare. “Did you want the human to die? If so, why are you wasting my time? I have other matters to take care of.”

I looked over at Katrina, who was staring at her feet with a contemplative expression.

“Hey,” Sy said. “She’s had a rough morning. Don’t be a dick.”

“We all make questionable decisions when it comes to the heart,” Olivia said, raising an eyebrow. “Even you.” Holden looked at her and nodded.

“Sorry,” he told me in a stiff way that made me think he didn’t apologize often.

I didn’t want his apology. If he was right, then I’d royally messed up and needed to hear what he had to say. I let my past confuse my present and I’d made another bad decision. “Don’t apologize. You’re right.”

“So what have you found out?” Femi asked, and I was grateful for the subject change.

“There wasn’t much at the studio. But we did find this at your house.” Holden produced a letter and handed it to me. “Basically it says blah, blah, blah, do what we want or we kill the human.”

“What do they want?” My hands shook too badly to read the letter. Sy took the paper from me, studying it. “Who sent it? How long has it been there?”

“There was nothing at your house the night I called you,” Femi said. “Jaron has been hard to follow with all the transporting shit you people do, but as far as I can tell, he goes to one of three places: here, his home, and a church.”

“What church?” I asked.

Femi shrugged. “I think it’s where the rebels meet, but I could be wrong. I haven’t gone inside yet. What does the letter say?”

“They want her to give Jaron to Cheney for a public execution as punishment for leading the rebellion.”

It didn’t help me trust Cheney more that the note’s demands worked in his favor. It mirrored his plan for defeating the rebels a little too closely to be a coincidence. “Does the note ask for him by name?” I asked.

Olivia shook her head.

Did Cheney know about my involvement before I told him? Did he think I confessed to starting the rebellion to save Jaron? I tugged at my lip, not wanting to believe what my mind was thinking. If it wasn’t Cheney, then perhaps the letter wasn’t referring to Jaron at all. Perhaps the letter was meant to get me to expose myself. “I’m not killing anyone on either side. Has Baker found out anything about Alanna?”

Holden shook his head. “Not yet. Who else are you supposed to kill?”

“Jaron wants me to kill Cheney and take the throne.”

“Huh,” Sy said. “So they both want you to kill the other one.”

I shook my head. “Cheney never asked me to kill anyone.”

“Unless he wrote this letter,” Holden said.

“So you’re definitely thinking Cheney is behind all of this?” My head immediately shook. “It isn’t possible. That isn’t who he is.”

“We don’t have enough information to make judgments,” Holden said. “Right now we’re just working out the possibilities.

“What about you, lover? Have you found us any more suspects?” Femi asked Sy.

“Actually, no. Elves aside, the rest of the fae seem to like Selene more than they like Cheney. I’m actually surprised he let you leave him.”

I resisted the urge to lay my head down. “He couldn’t even look at me when I left. Sebastian is the one who told me I still have to perform my queenly obligations. Whatever the hell that means.”

Holden rubbed his jaw. “It means you need to be careful. Cheney might have let you go so he can keeps tabs on you and on who you’re meeting now that he knows you don’t blindly trust him. Making you keep up appearances leaves him as a hero in the public eye. He still has all the appearance of forward thinking while gaining information on his enemies. It’s actually an elegant plan. He gets public sympathy, the appearance of good will, and the traitor exposed all without lifting a blade or spilling a drop of his people’s blood.” He cracked his knuckles. “Jaron should watch his back if he’s going to keep meeting with you.”

“He’s supposed to come here tonight. I’ll warn him,” I said.

“I found something else.” Olivia grimaced and looked away as Holden pulled a severed finger in a plastic baggie from his jacket pocket.

“You cut off someone’s finger?” Katrina squeaked.

“Not recently.” Holden winked at her and tossed the bag onto the bar. I glanced over at Katrina. She was staring at Holden with a slightly dreamy expression. “I’d be willing to bet it’s the human’s.”

“That’s … oh, God.” I couldn’t look away. Once I swallowed down my revulsion, I had an idea. “I can find Michael with that.” I reached for the bag, but Sy pulled it away from me.

“What if they know that? If all of this is a trap to draw you out? Burning down the studio got you out of the castle, and now a finger any witch could use to cast a tracking spell. It seems too convenient.”

I snatched the bag from him. “I’m not going to let them kill him because he had the bad fortune to think he was in love with me,” I snapped.

“You’re not running head first into traps.” Sy plucked the baggie back from my fingers. “I’ll put this on ice until we’re ready for it.”

“Why are we waiting?” I demanded. We finally had a lead.

“We need information,” Femi said. “If we charge in there now, we might save him and learn nothing. Then we’ll have to start from the beginning when your next friend is kidnapped. You’ve already tilted our hand to Cheney enough. Until we have a pretty good idea that Michael is in real danger or who is behind this and what they want, we aren’t doing anything.”