Chapter 14

Anna

The first few drops of rain hit glass walls of the meeting room, giving us a clear view of the water that surrounded us. I looked out to see the wind whipping the ocean into choppy waves that hit the side of the vessel. The rain started to come down harder until it was pounding the deck and the glass walls that protected us from its onslaught. The boat started to rock with the force of the wind and water, making me hope that I wasn’t one of those people who were susceptible to sea sickness.

A flash of lightning flashed outside and was quickly followed by the rumbling of thunder. Austin glanced at me as I rose out of my seat and stepped closer to the large windows. I’ve always had a fascination with storms, but ever since the day my father had shown me how to draw power from lightning, they had an even stronger draw for me and I had lost my fear of them. Maybe it was my fae side, but I felt the urge to step outside and welcome the storm with open arms.

Arminius chuckled. “The witches are being escorted out to us now, and they’re in for a bumpy ride.” There was an undercurrent of enjoyment there that made me turn to watch him more closely. He had a ghost of a smile on his face, and a definite glint in his eye. I was getting the impression that maybe he wasn’t such great allies with the witches after all. He looked up at Len. “Perhaps you should prepare some hot tea for when our guests arrive.”

Len nodded and gave a slight bow. “As you wish, sir.” He left the room and I gave a loud sigh. While Arminius might be getting some amusement out of their uncomfortable demise, I was becoming more nervous. Austin and I needed these negotiations to go in our favor. Having the witches bedraggled, miserable, and prodded into agitation by Arminius would not go well for a harmonious resolution to the debt that we owed them.

Austin patted the seat next to him. “Anna, come sit and relax.”

Arminius glanced up. “Yes, it would be best if we show them a relaxed and united front.”

I huffed but took the seat that Austin had offered. I wanted to get this meeting over with as soon as possible. Being on a yacht was fun at first, but I was more than ready to get back to my pack. I kept feeling little tendrils of dread swirling around in me at the thought of Gemma being left alone with the twins.

A sharp crack accompanied the next flash of lightning and I heard shouting on one of the lower decks. “Sounds like they’re here,” Arminius stated, steepling his fingers to partially hide his grin.

Austin picked up my hand and gave it a kiss before rubbing his thumb gently over my skin in reassurance. “I can do most of the talking for us,” he offered gently with his bond. I could feel his concern bleed through into the thought that he had sent to me.

I sat up straighter and stiffened my spine. The last thing I wanted to project was weakness and insecurity. I did not want to be the weak link that would cost us a good deal. “I got this.”

Angry footsteps pounded on the stairs that lead up to the deck that contained our meeting room. Two women entered the room, both of their faces obscured by the heavy cowls of the black cloaks they were wearing. It looked like they dressed the part of what I had expected a ‘witch’ to look like.

Water dripped down their cloaks and I watched them with interest. In their situation, I would have used my magic to prevent any of the rain from touching me. I thought back to what Arminius had told me about how I used magic differently than they did. Did they not have the ability to use magic for simple tasks? Or were they merely conserving it?

Arminius didn’t stand to greet them, he instead lounged comfortably in his chair as they lowered their hoods to their shoulders to scowl at him. Great, we were off to a fantastic start here. They were already pissed off.

The first woman looked to be in her forties or fifties with grey streaks throughout her dark hair and a frown that seemed to be permanently engraved on her face. The second woman was younger – maybe in her late teens or early twenties. I saw a brief flash of amusement on her face at the first woman’s unhappiness, but she quickly settled her expression into something neutral.

Len took both of their black cloaks and offered to dry them. The older woman gave him a glare that probably should have set something on fire but the younger one gave him a small smile and a word of thanks.

Arminius waved his hand. “Anna, Austin, you have the unique pleasure of meeting the Maiden and Mother – Ilyanna and Wysteria. The old Crone couldn’t make it out?” I was started to realize that everything Arminius said and did was carefully calculated to produce a reaction. He had intentionally introduced us as if the witches were the outsiders and not the strong allies that I had thought they were. He was making it clear that he trusted us above them.

Wysteria snorted in irritation. “She’s not going to come all the way out here just to meet with a couple of your pet wolves.” I bristled. Wolves were never pets.

“Yet, here you are…” Arminius said softly.

Ilyanna gave me a small smile and a nod while Wysteria complained loudly about their journey here. Apparently, she was not a fan of the ocean, boats, or anything in general.

Len served all of us tea while Wysteria continued to complain and everyone else ignored her as if this was completely normal. Arminius eventually interrupted. “Let’s get to the reason why we are all gathered here today.”

“Yes,” Wysteria hissed. “Your pets owe us something.”

Arminius raised an eyebrow. “Careful. I let it go the first time, but I’m not going to continue to let my friends be insulted.”

Wysteria gave an irritated huff, but Ilyanna shot me an apologetic look. It looked like not all the witches were bad, I was started to like Ilyanna.

“Careful,” Austin cautioned me. “This might just be a case of good cop/bad cop.”

I sighed. I hated politics and mind games. I’d rather be straightforward and honest with my intentions.

I cleared my throat, deciding that it was my time to speak up. “We’re prepared to reimburse you for the favors that you’ve done for us, but what you’ve asked for is not comparable.”

Wysteria shot me a withering look. “I thought the females of your kind were just slaves to the males – they let you speak for yourself?”

I narrowed my eyes at her, but kept my temper under control. “Apparently so.”

Austin gave my hand a gentle squeeze under the table but let me continue to take the lead. I wasn’t about to let him down since he was trusting me to manage this. I raised my chin. “I’m willing to help you do two minor spells of your choosing as long as the purpose of the spells doesn’t conflict with my code of ethics.”

“Minor spells?” Wysteria said in disbelief. She turned to Austin. “You’re going to allow her to speak for you? This agreement will have consequences for your kind as well as your pack,” she threatened.

Austin casually shrugged. “Anna has the right to decide how she will use her power and our pack will back any decision that she makes.”

“I think that’s a pleasant change from some of the other packs we’ve dealt with,” Ilyanna said with a smile. Wysteria shot her a death glare but Ilyanna didn’t flinch.

“The witches did two spells for us,” I said firmly. “And the second didn’t even work. We should really be offering one, but we want to foster a good relationship with your kind.”

I could see red infusing Wysteria’s face. Ilyanna shook her head at me slightly in warning, but I was done playing these games. Wysteria gripped an amulet in a tight grip and muttered angrily to herself, her knuckles turning white.

I ignored it at first, assuming she was just working out her rage. But my gaze snapped right to the amulet as I felt magic start to seep out of it and head in our direction. I immediately snapped a shield around her that trapped the magic from her amulet in a small bubble with her. She gasped as the bubble filled with a light green mist that looked like it was made purely of magic.

I stood up. “I don’t know what you intended to do to us, but I’m going to stand here and wait to see what happens to you.”

Ilyanna looked at me in alarm and extended her hand to the barrier that I had erected around Wysteria. She touched it and looked at me with surprise. “You never even murmured a spell!”

Arminius laughed. “You witches have been isolated for far too long, there are far more dangerous things out there than you.”

Ilyanna watched me carefully, but I could see the panic start to set in Wysteria’s eyes as the green mist seeped into her every breath. I crossed my arms and waited, she had done this to herself. “Fine!” she shouted. “Let’s make a deal.”

“Two minor spells,” she ground her teeth in frustration.

“That require my approval,” I added. “And I have the ability to veto them if they conflict with my morals or my goals.”

I could see the rage bubbling up inside of her and I wondered why she wasn’t attacking. If she were another fae, she could have probably shattered my barrier and attacked by now. Could she only do magic if she had a specific spell for it? Did my puny little barrier made by a baby fae with barely any magic skills really deter her that easily?

Austin stood at my back protectively, ready to move on her if I needed him to. Arminius just sat back in his chair and watched with obvious enjoyment. I wondered if he had ever been on the receiving end of some of her shady magic and been unable to protect himself. I was starting to understand why he had seemed gleeful at the thought of them being trapped in the storm. Wysteria was a very unpleasant person to deal with. She had no sense of honor or respect for others.

I just stood there and crossed my arms, waiting patiently for her to say the words that I wanted to hear. Wysteria’s eyes started to glaze over and I felt a twinge of worry. Just what kind of spell had she tried to place on us?

I kept a stoic look on my face to make it clear that I wasn’t going to waver in my determination to let this play out, but what would happen if this spell ended up seriously harming her? Would I be blamed? Would it cause a war? Some of my worries must have trickled over to Austin when I reached out to him with our bond because he placed a comforting hand on the small of my back. “She’s about to cave,” he reassured me.

Wysteria slumped back in her chair. “Of course we agree,” she murmured lifelessly. “That sounds like a good deal.”

Arminius let out a bark of laughter and gave me a wink. “I wish I could have you at all of our meetings.”

I shrugged uncomfortably. “We should probably open one of the windows so I can force the magic out to sea when I drop the barrier.” There was green mist still hanging around Wysteria’s languid body. I knew that I didn’t want to breathe in any of that stuff.

Arminius cocked his head in question and looked over at Wysteria again while Austin strode over to the large window. “He can’t see the magic like we can,” Ilyanna explained. “He might be able to sense that magic is present or being used, but the males lack the ability to use magic.”

Arminius gave her an irritated look. “I’ll write up the agreement as the neutral party present.” Len brought forward a stack of thick cream paper and a heavy gold pen from wherever he had been hiding them.

I focused on dropping my barrier and quickly used wind to gather up the remnants of Wysteria’s spell that had turned on her. I motioned for Austin to open the floor-length window, which might have actually been a door, so that I could sweep it all outside into the storm. Wind and rain swept into the room, bringing the fresh scent of the storm inside. Again, I felt the urge to go out and bask in the fury of the sea, but stayed put. Austin shut the door quickly, cutting off the storm and leaving an uncomfortable silence.

Wysteria looked like she was blissed out on the spell she had tried to cast on us, but was otherwise unharmed. Austin held out his hand. “I think I’d feel more comfortable hanging onto that amulet for now.” Wysteria nodded mutely and docilely handed it over.

Ilyanna slumped down in her chair next to Wysteria and the only sound in the room was the scratch of Arminius’s pen as he wrote. Austin handed the amulet over to me and I examined it closely. I couldn’t feel the presence of magic in it, and I couldn’t feel that it was wrapped in a cloaking spell or anything. It looked like the magic was used up. I kicked myself for not being able to sense the magic before Wysteria had activated it.

Talen had just shown me how to uncover inverted magic; I should have been looking for it the second the witches had stepped into the room. Sadness crept over me when I realized that I should have suspected that they would try to betray us somehow. I needed to get over my stupid naivety and realize that the rest of the world was not going to play nice.

People were going to come after us and I needed to be on guard to protect my pack. I had been telling myself that I wasn’t the sweet little Anna anymore, but there was still a shred of innocence that clung to me. I needed to be harder, more suspicious of everyone that I came in contact with. I needed to stop thinking of new people as potential friends or allies and start assuming that everyone was an enemy until proven otherwise.

Arminius finished writing and I let Austin read through the document first. While he read, I glowered at Wysteria and watched her for more signs of treachery. Ilyanna gave me a timid smile, but I just included her in my glare. It seemed very unlikely that she had no idea that Wysteria planned on drugging us to get us to agree to the deal they wanted.

Austin gave me a nod before he handed the paperwork over to me. I read through Arminius’s elegant script with a small amount of envy. My penmanship looked more than chicken scratch than art, but I guess that was one advantage of living for centuries. The agreement was written pretty straightforward, I didn’t see any wiggle room for them to screw us over again.

I took the pen that Austin offered and signed my name at the bottom before handing it off to the witches. Ilyanna signed before helping Wysteria do the same, she still seemed drugged and overly compliant compared to her abrasive nature earlier.

Ilyanna stood. “The document is signed, but we need to seal it with magic.”

I eyed her with suspicion. “You expect us to trust you to work magic on us?”

Ilyanna flinched. “Okay, we deserved that. But it is standard-”

“They use the spell on all the agreements that they make with us,” Arminius interrupted. “I’ll recognize it if they change anything.”

I gave him a nod and sighed. “And I’m guessing that you’re going to need my magic to accomplish it?”

Ilyanna blushed. “Our magical stores have been running low… and Wysteria used a lot of it to infuse her amulet with that spell. So… yeah, I need your magic to do the spell.”

“I really hope you’re not waiting for me to feel sorry for you,” I snapped at her. It wasn’t my fault that they used all their magic to try and put a sneaky spell on us.

I saw a flash of irritation in Ilyanna’s eyes before she lowered her head and took a deep breath. “I’ll guide the spell, I just need you to donate a little magic.”

I nodded at her and took the hand that she offered. Austin looked at me worriedly, but I was ready for anything that she might try. “I got this,” I assured him with our bond. He gave me a nod but I could feel his concern through our bond.

Ilyanna reached into her cloak and drew out an ornate athame. Just what kind of magic did she need a knife for? I must have visibly stiffened because she gave me a reassuring smile. “In order to seal the spell, we both need to bleed a little. Our blood will mingle together and set the spell.”

I sighed. More blood? I allowed Ilyanna to make a small cut on the palm of my hand and flinched when she pressed her hand to mine. Maybe it was the human-educated healthcare professional inside of me, but I couldn’t help but worry about any bloodborne diseases that she might be exposing me to. If she did this with everyone she performed magic with, who knows what she might be carrying. In the hospital, a simple accidental needlestick was enough to send someone to the Emergency Department for post-exposure prophylaxis. Would I be out of line in asking when the last time she was tested for HIV? A couple drops of blood dotted our agreement as blood flowed.

I opened myself up to my magic and let a tiny bit trickle out toward Ilyanna. She started chanting words in another language and I watched carefully as the magic swirled around us and the agreement. I felt a snap as the magic settled into place, and there was a brief moment where it felt almost as if my skin was too tight. The feeling quickly dissipated and left me feeling no different than I had before the spell. I flexed my hand and Austin passed me a napkin.

Ilyanna smiled at me sadly. “You should have put something in the agreement that prevented her from coming after you. Once she snaps out of this, she’s going to want revenge, and she can be a vindictive bitch.”

“You’re telling us this now?” I asked in disbelief. Why wait until the agreement was already signed if she wanted to be helpful? I angrily wiped the last of the blood off my hand, pleased that the cut was already healing nicely.

Ilyanna shrugged. “She would have skinned me alive if I had helped you before the agreement was in place. But I get the feeling you’re good people and you deserve a warning.”

I huffed in irritation. “Is a warning the best you can do?” Austin asked quietly.

“Essentially,” she said apologetically.

“Well, at least half of our obligation is already done,” I said snarkily. I was over this entire interaction. Austin looked at me in surprise. “The agreement stated that I would lend them power to perform a spell twice, which I just did. So, they have one spell left.”

Ilyanna’s jaw dropped. “That-”

“That was the agreement,” Arminius interrupted with a grin. I wondered if he had phrased it that way in the document, knowing how the witches usually sealed their agreements. He clapped his hands together. “It looks like it’s time for you both to go.”

He must have made some kind of a signal because several men dressed in black combat uniforms came into the room. Ilyanna helped Wysteria stand and it looked like she was starting to come out of her stupor. It was definitely time for them to go if that was the case.

“We’ll be in touch,” Ilyanna told me stiffly.

I just gave her a nod and watched as the men escorted them out. It was still raining outside, but the wind had slowed so it looked like the storm was passing. Their boat ride back would probably be a bit more gentle than the way in, but still unpleasant. They had used up every last drop of compassion that I could have felt for them, so I didn’t feel bad at all at the thought of them suffering through an uncomfortable boat ride.

Arminius smiled at Austin and me. “That was even more enjoyable than I had expected. Please, continue to enjoy my hospitality until the storm passes. I have business to attend to, unfortunately, so I will have to leave you to entertain yourselves for the next few hours.”

I murmured my thanks to Arminius, but truth be told, I was looking forward to spending more time alone with Austin before we went back to Seaside.