Chapter 13: Aiden

 

 

 

When I heard the knock at the door, I thought it was the Chinese food I'd ordered not even five minutes earlier.

That was quick, I was thinking when I opened the door, only to find that it wasn't Chinese delivery at all. "Rowan?" I said in disbelief. "How do you know where I live?"

Rowan was waiting there, dressed head to toe in black with her purse slung over one arm. She shouldered her way past me and came to stand inside my apartment. "Please. Witches love gossiping and knowing everyone's business. You should know that." She glanced around and remarked that she liked my taste in décor.

I shut the door and crossed my arms. "If you're looking for Erick, Josh already picked him up."

"I'm not here for Erick. I'm here for you."

"For me?"

Rowan walked over to my living room couch and sat down, crossing her legs at her ankles. She was still wearing her boots. Wrinkling my nose, I decided not to say anything about it.

"You're not going to tell the coven about the past few days, right?" she said.

I sighed and sat down on the other end of the couch. "I already promised I wouldn't, didn't I?" Honestly, I'd considered it, but I feared doing anything that would risk angering the Black Paws.

"Okay, good," Rowan said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Is that the reason why you came here? To make sure I wouldn't go blabbing to the coven?"

At my words, Rowan smirked. "No. There's something else. I want to know how loyal you are to the coven in the first place."

"I mean," I began. I didn't even know the answer to that question myself. "I feel like I owe them for curing me and keeping me employed." Then, I shrugged. In the end, they were witches who looked out for themselves. And I was not a witch. I wasn't one of them at all.

With her eyes shining hopefully, Rowan drew a loud breath and continued, "Because I could use your help breaking into their center of operations."

I felt my face go numb as I cycled through about a dozen emotions at once.

"It's at the spa, isn't it?" Rowan continued excitedly. "At first, I thought they were operating out of Eliza's house, but we figured out that wasn't the case when we broke in a few weeks ago to rescue Belle—"

"Rowan—"

"And the only other place I can think of is the spa," Rowan continued. "It's safe, secure, and big enough to host every member of the coven. I'm right, aren't I? The spa is where the coven does all its rituals."

"I mean, you're right. But what do you think you're going to find?" I finally said.

"I know the witches are working on something big. The Black Paws know it, too, and hell, so do the Graybacks. The Black Paws know all about intimidation and interrogation, but I'm the only one who knows about magic." Rowan's eyes seemed to be glowing with a sort of manic energy at this point, magnified slightly by the lenses of her glasses. "If I can get into the coven's ceremony space, I can figure out what they're doing once and for all. So can you help me or not?"

I slumped back against the couch and gazed at the blank television screen, thinking quickly. Sure, it was possible. I had the keys and the security codes from all the times I'd opened and closed the spa. But…

"I'd be risking my job," I said with a shake of my head. "And to be honest, I want no part of any of this. I already made the deal with the Black Paws. Erick is providing back-up for them, and I'm out."

To my surprise, Rowan laughed. "If you didn't want to be part of this, you never should have come to Riverrun."

"That hurts," I said, even though deep down, I knew she was right.

Rowan laughed again and stood up. She hitched her purse strap up to her shoulder, making it look like she was about to leave. "It's too bad we couldn't make a deal, either, Mr. Wheeler. You might have been able to squeeze out a favor of your own."

"Like what?" I said incredulously, rising so I could show her to the door.

Rowan shrugged and faced me but didn't move towards the exit. "Oh, I don't know. You know Erick is depending on me to send him back to the Wood, right? I'm getting pretty close to perfecting a spell to do just that, but who knows what could happen between now and then. I could get forgetful all of a sudden and lose the spell…"

It felt like I got punched in the gut. "You…you can?" I said weakly.

Rowan turned around and began making her way to the door. "Of course I can, but if you'd rather not get involved—"

"Wait!"

Rowan froze and looked at me over her shoulder, raising her eyebrows expectantly. "Yes?"

I stared at her while my heart threatened to drill a hole through my chest. Her offer shocked me so much, I couldn't think straight, and part of me was afraid that it was too good to be true.

If Rowan was telling the truth, though, it meant that Erick would be forced to stay here longer.

I bit my lip, my face growing hot as Rowan waited for an answer.

"Let's talk about it," I finally said.

Rowan spun around and dropped her purse on the couch. "Sure. Let's talk about it," she said with a devilish smirk.

Just then, there was a loud knock on the door. "Ming Palace!" the voice of a teenaged delivery boy shouted from the other side.