Witch Hunter Olivia (12 page)

“Just let me know what you want me to do, Liv, and I’ll do it,” Heath responds, glancing over in my direction.

“Thank you for trusting me.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just try not to make me regret it, okay?”

“Well, shit. I was beginning to wonder when I’d bump into the twins again. They’re most likely looking for me,” I groan as we pull into The Reaping’s front lot. There was no mistaking the twins’ trademark souped-up matching purple crotch rockets, which we passed as we searched for a parking spot.

“The twins? They’re here?” Heath asks while swerving into one of the empty spaces near the alleyway that runs behind the bar.

“Didn’t you see their bikes back there? Kind of hard to miss those things.”

“Damn, Liv. You can’t go inside with those two around. That’s like throwing a bucket of chum into a pool of great whites. They’re dangerous, and if they’re here for you, this is
literally
the last place you want to be right now.”

When Heath shows worry like this for my well-being, it makes me smile. Other than the fact that he finds me intriguing, I’m still not sure why he hangs around acting all protective. I must admit, I do love having him around though. He’s like my walking, talking conscience.

“Thanks for the warning, but I see Topher’s car right over there, which means he’s inside, and he’s the only person I can think of who might know where my brother is. I’ll be careful. Don’t worry, okay?”

“Wait … you think you’re going in there alone?” he asks, putting inflection on the word “alone.”

“I work better that way,” I say, and then cut him off when he tries to butt in. “Look, if you’re out here waiting and I get into trouble, you’ll already be in the getaway car.”

His face turns serious with a hint of frustration present in his eyes as he stares at me. “The very second shit goes down, you get the hell out of there, all right? Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Damn, it aggravates me how stubborn you can be sometimes, Liv,” he groans.

“Well, I’ve been told my stubbornness is one of my best qualities … or was it one of my worst? I get that confused all the time,” I say with a snicker, which is met with one serious glare.

“Can’t you just call Topher and have him meet us somewhere?”

“Would if I could, but when I got the new phone, I lost all my contacts,” I reply.

“What about Facebook?”

“Lying low, remember? No social media.”

“All right. Well you better go before I change my mind about this whole thing.”

“Trust me, I’ll be fine.” He raises his eyebrows at me with a pointed stare. “And if everything goes to shit, you’ll be right here, ready to save my life like the hero you are.”

“Quit patronizing me, Liv,” he says as a laugh slips out. “Just be careful in there.”

“Always am,” I answer, to which he murmurs, “Mmmhmm.”

I didn’t want to say anything in the car, but my heart is beating, like, a million times per minute. I think this is the first time I’ve ever done something I wasn’t at least mostly positive about beforehand. Sure, I’m not a planner by any stretch of the imagination, but I at least have some idea of what I’m going to do. This time, though, not so much. My only focus is on finding Topher.

While moving down the alleyway behind the bar, attempting to keep to the shadows and out of sight, I make my way to the back entrance. I hear two faint voices as I continue to inch closer. They sound familiar, and one of them I recognize as Topher. Sure enough, as I hunch down behind a stack of pallets full of milk crates and cardboard boxes, I see Topher standing there with Sasha the Vampire Hunter. As far as I can tell, they’re chatting over a cigarette break. They were always the only two smokers of the group, and nicotine was the only vice Topher seemed to have since he didn’t care for alcohol. He hung out at The Reaping with the gang because they liked to drink.

I watch Sasha hand the cigarette back to Topher before patting him on the back and re-entering the bar. When it closes behind her, Topher relaxes back against the brick wall of the building and takes another drag. He looks pensive about something, and I realize this is my chance to confront him. I’m sort of loving my good luck right now.

After checking if the coast is clear one more time, I step out from the shadows and approach him. “Hey, you,” I whisper in a playful manner.

“Olivia?” he asks, flicking away the cigarette. “What are you doing here? You better leave. The twins are inside and if they see you, you’re pretty much fucked.” His eyes glance toward the door with a sense of nervousness before landing back on me.

“I’ve got more important things to deal with right now, Topher. Have you seen my brother?”

He shakes his head and moves in closer like he has a secret to tell me. “I haven’t seen him since last night when we hung out here, and he was spouting off about how he let you go, and he was worried the Guild would punish him for it.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“He was saying that you thought he was possessed or something and trying to kill someone. It was weird, to say the least, but there was also something off about him. His eyes shimmered purple for a split second when he leaned in to hug me. He accused me of being like you and got defensive when I asked him about it, so I dropped it. What the hell’s going on, Livie?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“Look, for what it’s worth, I’m completely against this whole witch hunt they have after you. I don’t think you had anything to do with Tobias’s death.” I smile at his words with a great sense of relief. “But the majority don’t share my opinion, so you better get out of here. This is not the place you want to be right now.”

“Thank you, Topher. I knew I could trust you,” I say, drawing him in for a hug.

“I’ve missed you, Livie. Things haven’t been the same without you around. I’m sorry you’re mixed up in all this,” he says over my shoulder.

“I’ve missed you too,” I reply as we part. “Hey, can I see your cell phone real quick? I got a new one with a different number. I want you to call me if you find anything out, or when you see my brother again, okay?” he nods and digs into his pocket for the phone.

I take it from him and change the number saved in his contacts under my name to the new number before handing it back to him. “Remember, call me if you hear anything.”

“Of course,” he answers, taking the phone back from my outstretched hand. “Livie, I—”

Topher’s interrupted by the back door swinging open and slamming hard against the brick wall. “Topher, will you hurry your ass u—” the tall beautiful brunette begins to say, but then stops when she sees me standing next to him. It’s Lexi, one half of the Torres twins. Her eyes hone in on me and I notice a second person standing right behind her. Lexi struts outside and the other person steps into the light. I’m not surprised to see it’s her sister, Carmen. Well, damn … so much for loving my luck.

The Torres sisters are serious brawlers. They fight a little dirty, but their motto in life is “Whatever it takes to get the job done.” They’ve held the record for most successful hits in the Guild between the two of them, and have earned their badass badges with flying colors, especially the color red for blood.

The moment Lexi cracks her knuckles, Carmen follows suit, and I cringe. Lexi speaks up first. “Olivia Adams. Just the person we were looking for.”

Topher tries to say something, but is shushed by Carmen and ordered inside. They outrank him, so by Guild code he has to listen to whatever they say.

“We can do this the hard way or the easy way, Olivia. Your choice,” Carmen pipes up.

“The hard way wouldn’t by any chance be you trying to catch my quick ass as I run away, would it?” I ask.

Both of their faces show confusion as they glance at each other and back at me. The instant our eyes meet again, I turn on my heel and haul ass down the alley back toward the parking lot. I’m smart enough to know that tangoing with those two will only result in one outcome, but luckily I’m younger and quicker than they are.

I hear the sound of their heeled boots smacking against the blacktop behind me as it bounces off the walls on either side of the alleyway. Making a beeline for Heath’s car when I emerge into the parking lot, I yell out his name when I notice his window is down. He turns and shouts “fuck” when he sees who’s after me. Peering back over my shoulder, the twins are no longer there, but are now instead mounting their motorcycles. The rumble of Heath’s car engine fills the area, followed by the roar of the twins’ bikes.

Flinging open the passenger side door, I jump in and whip my seatbelt across my chest to buckle up. “Go,” I shout. Heath doesn’t even hesitate, gunning the car in reverse and peeling out onto the main road.

“I guess it went well.” His words drip with sarcasm.

“Look in your rearview mirror. That’s how well it went,” I say, turning around to look out the back window. The twins are right behind us, weaving in and out of traffic in order to catch up.

“I think I can lose them,” he says, speeding up slightly.

“No offense, but I’m going to need that ‘I think I can’ to change to ‘I’m going to.’”

“On it,” he replies with a soft laugh.

The light directly ahead of us turns yellow, and Heath swerves to the far right-hand lane, speeding up around a car going slow as molasses in front of us. We fly through the intersection as the light goes red. Peering back, I see the twins blow right through the red light with no regard to traffic safety.

“Those two are relentless,” he remarks.

“That’s putting it lightly.”

Arcadia College passes as a blur when we drive by it. We’re headed toward downtown, which means we’re bound to run into some heavier traffic. This definitely won’t bode well for us since the goal is to keep moving forward.

“Do you have a plan?” I ask, looking back to see the twins hot on our tail.

“Did the person who wings everything just ask me if I have a plan?”

“Maybe,” I respond dryly. “You are Planner McPlanny Guy, right?”

“Well, it looks like at this very moment we’ve got something in common, because no, I haven’t the foggiest fucking idea what I’m doing. I’m just driving, and thankful that we have a full tank.” When I sigh, he says, “Wait, scratch that. I might have something.”

“And that is?”

“Trust me, you’ll know if it doesn’t work,” he cracks.

Heath takes a sharp left into a residential area. My shoulder slams into the door from the sudden movement. He speeds up even more before abruptly turning the car to the right, barreling down a long, winding street lined with houses. I begin to feel dizzy from all of the sudden direction changes. Left, right, left, right, right, left. It seems like every few seconds we’re on a new road until we leave the subdivision and appear back on a main street.

I pan around and don’t see the twins anywhere. “Well, I’m impressed,” I comment. “I think you lost them.”

“It was a long shot, but—”

Heath stops as something in the rearview mirror catches his attention. I spin around and look out the back window and see two bright purple motorcycles burning up the road in our direction.

“I guess I spoke too soon.”

“Hang on, a backup plan just sprang to mind,” Heath says before slamming on the gas pedal and flying through a light that turned red. The twins swerve around all the traffic and manage to make it through.

The sound of their bikes grows louder and louder the closer they get to the car. Before I know it, I’m staring at a sister on either side of us, almost like they’re trying to corral the vehicle.

“My mother taught me to never hit a girl, but she never said anything about my car,” Heath says before giving the steering wheel a slight jerk.

Raven swerves to the right, almost ramming into the twin’s bike, but she reacts quickly and moves out of the way. Heath then pulls the car to the left and veers toward the other twin. She slams on her brakes just in time to fall back behind us, joining her sister, but neither of them gives up the pursuit.

Heath takes a sharp right turn and drives down a narrow one-way street. I look back and see the twins miss the turn and speed past. When we reach about halfway down the road, he takes a quick left through an open metal gate and we end up in an apartment complex parking area. He hits a button on the small grey remote attached to his car’s visor as he speeds toward one of the many garages surrounding the building. One of the garage doors in front of us slowly begins to open as we near it.