Sixpence & Whiskey (13 page)

21

Son
of a bitch.

I start to run, wanting to grab Sy and go, already starting to text Thomas back for details, when a soft cry stops me in my tracks.

I slip in something wet, floundering before I can gain my balance. There is a snarl that sounds more like a laugh. A shadow forms behind the dumpster. This one is not thin and grey. It grows as I step forward and catch sight of a crumpled figure on the icy asphalt.
Sy?
I’m reaching for my magic, opening my mouth when a familiar yellow werewolf slinks into view, wrapping his teeth around Sy’s throat. Not with enough strength to tear, just enough to show me the imminent possibility.

Owen.

My jaw drops, along with my hands. The wolf’s eyes shine triumphantly, black lips drawing back from those gleaming teeth. He tugs and Sy’s body slides slowly over the alley. Inch by inch, foot by foot until more shadows wrap around them both.

I feel the change in the air when Owen shifts, but by the time I run forward to the point they vanished, he is nearly out of sight, blocks away. Sy’s barely visible, limbs hanging limply from his arms.

I can’t hope to catch a werewolf with that kind of a head start, even with magic. With a curse, I race back to the Fiat, but before I can open the door, my phone chimes again.

Where are you
?

Thomas again.

I text back
Beaner’
s
my mind still racing.

Surely Syana has a chance. Surely. But Owen was the werewolf who went after her at my party all those years ago. He knows what she means to me. I barely saved her then.

My hands are shaking so badly, I almost drop the phone when I reach for the door again. But it opens before I can touch it.

In a daze, I look up to see those icy-green eyes I just left looking down at me.

Jack holds out a hand, which I only stare at. I can’t get that image out of my head, those teeth clamped around my best friend’s throat, white as bone, pressing into her tender flesh. If Owen bites her…

“Keys, Seph. Now.”

“Where’d you come from?” I suck in a breath, trying to clear my head. I can’t just blindly entrust myself to Jack, crisis or not. It’s hard to think about anything but Sy at the moment, but I know that much. Jack’s not safe.

“I was with Thomas when he texted you.”

What?
“How do you even know who the hell Thomas is, Jack?” My mind is thick and slow, but all of this feels wrong. Like I stepped into some half-forgotten nightmare.

“Now is not the time, Seph.”

“They took Sy, Jack. Owen did.
Owen
took her.” I stare at him, my eyes filling with tears.

His lips tighten, but he only snaps his fingers impatiently. “Keys, princess. You’re in no shape to drive and I can’t take you on the wind, or you’ll arrive puking and sick. You’re going to need to be at one hundred percent for this.”

“Where are we going?”

“Your house.” His voice is gentle, too damn gentle. “You need to brace yourself, baby. Sy isn’t the only one who’s missing. They got Carly, too.”

Swaying, feeling numb, I make the only choice I can and drop my keys into his hand.

On the way Jack fills me in. Thomas texted me the second he felt the wolves, before he really had a bead on their position. But less than a minute later, he was able to tell Jack that a bunch of them were coming up Tischer Creek. Jack realized they must be heading to my house. I have no idea why Jack was with Thomas at the casino. I’m no longer concerned with explanations. My tongue is locked to the roof of my mouth as I watch the city streak by in abstract streaks of grey and white.

Jack used the wind to check on my sisters right away, already knowing I was in the opposite direction picking up Syana, and assuming I was safe.

Turns out, Owen is smarter than either I or Jack gave him credit for. Or
someone
is. He went after my bestie alone while the bulk of the pack headed for my house.

They timed it perfectly. Carly was just getting home, back from her gamer play date. Ana was in the house and didn’t realize what was going on until the howls brought her outside to find Carly’s scarf on the sidewalk, the pack already out of sight.

I listen to Jack without interrupting once. He asks me if I know where Jett is, because she’s gone missing, too. I shake my head, but honestly, I’m not worried about Jett. If anyone tried to grab her, likely they’re dead already. But Carly—Carly
and
Sy?

I wrap an arm high around my waist, pressing down on the gorge that wants to rise. Where does Luna fit in all this? Do I even want to know?

I feel Jack’s eyes on me as he turns down my street at last, but I don’t meet that icy gaze. “We’ll get them back, Seph.”

I don’t respond to his words.

Because I know we will. But will they be whole…or in pieces?

22

Ana
is damn near hysterical when we enter the house. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen my sister with so much as a hair out of place. Her platinum curls are wild, her eyes rimmed with red. She seizes me with both hands, her nails digging in.

“I can’t get a hold of Jett. And I can’t see Carly, Seph. I can’t see her at all! At first I did—they were in Wisconsin, somewhere on the South Shore. It was just woods and snow, but the lake was there, you know, all flat like it gets along Highway 13? But every time I’ve scried for her since, all I see are teeth. Rows and rows of glistening white teeth.” She releases me, falling back into one of the blue brocade chairs, her face stark white.

“Maybe she’s unconscious? Dreaming?” I suggest. “Maybe that’s distorting your vision?”

“No, she’s awake. What I’m seeing isn’t a dream, it doesn’t have that look…but it can’t be real either, can it?” She throws Carly’s scarf on the table, the bright yellow streaked with drying blood. With a shudder, Ana wraps her arms around herself, looking very unlike the icily composed big sister I’ve always known.

Rows and rows of teeth? No, not real. Unless Carly is in the gullet of some huge monster… Something flickers in my memory.

“
Styx
,” I breathe.

“What are you on about, Seph?” Ana shoots me a puzzled look as Jack gives a low curse.

I’ve almost forgotten Jack is here. I turn to him eagerly. “I thought I saw Styx with Carly earlier. I wasn’t sure—but if it was him, and they
are
friends… He might help us!”

“No,” his voice is adamant. “Trying to enlist that crazy bastard would be like asking a thunderstorm to lend a hand. You really want to take a chance on Carly getting zapped by a stray bit of lightning…or worse? Styx can’t be trusted—“

“Neither can you,” I snap at him, “but I’m a-okay with taking a chance on
anyone
right now, if it means we get Carly and Sy back.”

“We don’t have time for this, Seph. Ana said she thought they were on Highway 13 at some point. That’s close to the Den. We need to get to Georg and go from there.”

Jack gives me a stern look that I return with a glare. He strides out of the room with a curse. I close my eyes, enunciating my next words carefully.

“Ana, I don’t give a shit
what
Jack says, you stay here and try and get a hold of Styx. Tell him Carly is in trouble and where we are headed. Call Thomas, too, and get him here as soon as possible. I want him safe from the wolves.” I expect protests, my arrogant sister scolding me for presuming to give her orders. Instead my eyes fly open at the touch of Ana’s hand. She presses Carly’s scarf into my fingers. The stark fear in her eyes is the same kind filling my heart.

“Get her back, Seph. No matter what.”

I nod, giving her a squeeze before running out the door.
 

He’s waiting for me inside the Fiat. The little pink car does nothing to detract from Jack’s seething masculine vibe. We both know I ignored his advice, but he doesn’t say a word. That’s fine by me, because I’m not in the mood to chat. I get in and slam the doors, content to let him drive to the Den.

Normally, it’s a good two-hour drive, but if I know Jack, we’ll make it there in under thirty minutes. Using the car will slow him down some but not much. Letting him ride the wind would take less time, but like he said, I’d arrive puking my guts out and utterly useless. Jack’s power is cool, but as travel goes, I prefer Jett’s method. I wish she were here now. Jett would know what to do, and she wouldn’t have this fear paralyzing her guts. I give another fleeting thought to my MIA sister, then shove it aside. It’s up to me to figure this out. My thoughts turn back to Carly and Sy. Carly is one powerful witch, but not in any kind of defensive way. Not that anyone’s ever seen, anyway. Still, she has a better shot of making it out of this alive than Syana. Knowing Owen, if Sy is still alive, it won’t be for long.

I let out a small whimper. Jack reaches out a hand, wrapping my cold, shaking fingers in warmth and strength. “Settle down, princess. I meant it when I said we’ll get them back. I don’t think it’s your sister or Syana the wolves are after.”

It takes a minute for his words to sink in.

“You think they want me? Why?” Then I get it. Tyr failed. Owen’s crack about making a buck… “There’s a bounty on me, isn’t there?”

Those grey-green eyes flash my way. Jack gives a short nod, his jaw flexing.

“You
are
a part of the Dark Council. Goddamn it, did
you
put this bounty on me?”

His hand tightens painfully on mine, before dropping away. “I’m not denying I’m one of them. But I only found out about the bounty the night I came into your bedroom, Seph. Hell, I didn’t know about Tyr until you told me.
They went behind my back on both counts
.” This last is spoken in a harsh whisper. Despite the heater running full blast, a chill settles into the air between us.

“Why do they want to kill me?” I feel utterly detached from this conversation, my heart and most of my head with Sy and Carly. “What are they so scared of?” There is no curiosity left in me for this, not fear or anger or…much of anything. I only ask because knowledge is power, and I’ll need every bit of power to get those I love back.

“It has to do with a legend about you—and your sisters.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You’ve heard the rumor about witches and elemental magic?”

“Sure. Who hasn’t?”

“Some people, a lot of people, actually, think that is about your family. There’s a whole story around it. Almost a…prophecy.”

I stare at his profile, watching him swallow, twilight deepening behind him.

“What kind of prophecy?” Ana never brought this up. Did she know about a prophecy? Surely she would’ve mentioned it if she had.

He shrugs. “The details aren’t important, and we don’t have time to get into that right now. But basically it says that there will be four witches, four witch
sisters.
And that each of them will gain mastery over a branch of elemental magic. When they do, there will be a queen for each season.” Jack clears his throat. “You know, like they call me the King of Winter.” 

I blink. I always wondered where his title came from. I thought it was mostly poetic drivel. “Why aren’t there any other
kings
then?”

“There used to be, long ago. Since they disappeared, no other creature has gained mastery over enough magical elements to be worthy of any of the other titles.”

“My sisters have been around a long time. None of them wield elemental magic, Jack. And no one is going after them. Why the sudden interest in
me
? I can guarantee you, if any of us are going to be Queens of elemental magic, I’ll be the last, and the weakest.”

He takes a breath. “Actually, Seph, there are clear indicators you’ll be the strongest.”

“Stronger than Jett?” I raise an eyebrow. “Are you out of your mind? What are these so-called indicators?”

“I can’t tell you that.” He runs a hand over his left forearm as he says it, not looking at me. I frown.

“Why are you telling me this at all?”
Why aren’t you hog-tying me and delivering me to your Dark Council buddies?

“I shouldn’t be, but I wanted you to know Carly and Sy have a chance, Seph.” I must be hearing things, because I could swear it’s reassurance he’s going for. And I can’t afford to let Jack reassure me. “The wolves want
you.
They want to turn you over for the bounty. After what Owen said the other night, I’m sure of it. He’s when I started to suspect the others had been up to something.”

“Well, a heads up would’ve been nice before now, genius.”

“I’m not nice, Seph. Remember?”

That night in the icehouse drifts into my head at his words. “I remember a lot of things that don’t make any sense. Who the fuck are you really, Jack Frost?”

He shakes his head, giving me the same sidelong look he did in my office the other day. The way he looked after he kissed me, like he was on the verge of saying something enlightening, but once again, he doesn’t. “You really don’t want me to answer that, princess.”

I’m so fucking confused my head is threatening to explode. Jack helped me with the wolves, he’s helping me now, or pretending to. He did his damnedest to get back in my pants last night, the memory of which even now makes me squirm.

But with every other breath he also reminds me how dangerous it is to trust him. As if I ever could again. “How would you know?” I ask bitterly, “Have you ever told me the truth, even
once
?”

He hits the brake so fast, the seat belt snaps tight around me, taking my breath away. Before I can get it back, Jack has a hand around the back of my neck, leaning over me, his eyes so bright they burn.

“Here’s a truth for you, princess. Don’t believe what I fucking say, believe what I do. No matter what happens, you’re mine. You’ve always been mine.”

Then he’s kissing me. Hard, viciously, crushing my mouth to his. Not a sweet kiss, or a seductive one. A kiss that burns like cold fire, searing my lungs and branding my heart. I thought Jack was proving something before, but now it occurs to me, he’s never had anything to prove. I
am
his.

It shakes me to my core, and I’m gasping when Jack pulls away. He starts driving again, like nothing happened, but his knuckles on the steering wheel are white.

For a long time, I’m too rattled to say a goddamn word, but as I realize we’re closing in on the Den, I make myself focus. Not on what just happened between us, but on what we’re facing up ahead.

“So,” I mumble, looking out into the darkness, seeing his reflection behind me. “You’re telling me people I care about are in danger because of some half-baked rumor about me and my sisters being magical Queens. It sounds like a crock. Silly fairy-tale stuff.” I almost prefer the apocalypse version to Jack’s story.

Jack gives me a look, because,
duh,
he is a creature from a fairy-tale. Even if they never exactly got him right. As a witch, so am I, but still…

“You don’t believe it?” he says quietly.

I shrug, my lips still buzzing from that kiss, watching the quiet white landscape dotted with deep green swirling past the windows in a mesmerizing blur. Time seems to be rushing forward in leaps and bounds. It’s going to be full-on dark soon; the sky is turning purple. The moon hasn’t risen yet. But it will, and that will give an advantage to the wolves, who already have numbers on their side. My sigh fogs the glass. “It just seem so…unlikely. Why the hell do witches need elemental magic anyway? We’ve got our own, and while it may not be as kick-ass as yours, it does the job.”

Jack is shaking his head. “Your naivety is showing. There are always those who think that one power is
never
enough.”

Like you, Jack? I wonder, thinking of what he did to me, and how it makes oh-so-much sense now.

Luna was right, my Mom was right, Jack was hedging his bets, even back then. He’d heard this story from his Dark Council cronies, and he wanted to be ready for it. So he fucked me and worked his bit of nasty magic all to cover his own ass in case I really did turn about to be some sort of master witch. Excuse me,
Queen.

Something inside me breaks at the mercenariness of it all. But all I say out loud is, “That doesn’t mean
I
am one of them. I’ve no desire to be the queen of anything, Jack. Ask Georg.”

Speaking of the bruin king, I pull my phone from my pocket and scroll for Georg’s contact info, ignoring Jack’s sharp look.

He mumbles something under his breath, but I’m not really paying attention. I don’t think I can handle anything else from Jack right now anyway.

I never have good cell coverage on the South Shore, no one does, but being a witch has its perks. I tap the phone, whispering a snippet of my rhyme. A snippet is all that is needed. Instantly my phone shows five solid circles. We’re in business. I call Georg again. And again.

After half a dozen more times, I get the point. Magic can give me coverage, but it can’t make the stubborn bruin pick up.

“He’s ignoring me.”

“Where’s the boundary?”

“We have to be close….”

“I’d say we are.” Jack gives a short nod in the direction of his window, and I see it. The enormous grizzly pacing us, just a flash of gold and brown behind the black trees. Guess I know why Georg didn’t pick up. Hard to use a phone with bear claws.

“Stop the damn car.”

“What are you doing here?” Georg steps from the trees as soon as we emerge from the car, shifting from a huge, angry beast to a huge, pissed-off man between one step and the next.

Despite the foot of snow on the ground and the frigid November air, Georg has on jeans and nothing else. His open, handsome face is as stiff with fury as I’ve ever seen it. But I’m not in the mood to coddle his ego. I step forward, my chin coming up, only to have Jack curl one hand around the back of my neck, pulling me back from the furious bruin.