Page 37 of Witch's Betrayal
You can?
Yes. I can just whisper an incantation in her ear now. Give her something to sleep and we'll leave her somewhere safe before we split. She'll never know she was here.
I chewed my lip as I thought about it. It could save us a lot of trouble. But it could also give the coven more ammunition to use against us.
And that spoke nothing of the feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.
"Let her go, Raum."
His expression made it clear that he disagreed with me, but he did as I said. The lower half of Juno's face was red from where his hand clamped down and her knees buckled as he moved away.
She stood frozen like a deer in headlights for a few moments before taking a few shaky steps toward the door. When none of us moved to stop her, she made a break for it without looking back. With a flick of her wrist, the deadbolt slid under the force of her magic and she was gone.
I stood looking at the ajar door as if expecting her to come back. Deep down I knew she wouldn't but a part of me still asked why. Why would a friend turn against me just because of who I loved? When those I loved did nothing against her and had been treated like feared monsters for the last two thousand years? Friends should be there for each other, even if they didn't fully understand or agree with each other.
Sal's shoulder stiffened under my head and he turned to me with frustration in his eyes.
"We've gotta go, beautiful. She's not the only one who's got to live with the consequences."
I looked up at him, challenging his gaze.
"So you think Raum should have wiped her memory?"
"That certainly would have made things easier for us." He spoke calmly as he crossed his arms in front of his chest but the heat from his aura told me how badly he was trying to control his temper.
"So how does it help our cause to take cheap shots like that, huh?" I mimicked his crossed arms. "Why not accept that demons are master manipulators and just want to control people?"
"This isn’t even close to the same thing." Sal clenched his jaw. "We exist because wedon'tfollow the rules. We're not above taking cheap shots to keep you safe."
"It takes away her free will!" I yelled in his face. "It's exactly what a human would do to date rape someone and I will not allow it to happen! And that's exactly how the coven will see it, which only hurts our cause."
My whole body shook like a leaf. Every emotion inside me felt like a jumbled up mess. I was angry and hurt, sad and scared. I hated that Raum and Sal felt so strongly that I made a bad call and maybe on the surface, it was. But I couldn't even begin to entertain the thought of wiping Juno's memory. I didn't want to exert that kind of control over anyone.
"Sal's right. We can't dally here." Raum broke the tense silence after remaining quiet during our argument.
"I know." I sprung into action, rifling through my pants pockets under I found my phone.
After pulling up Nona's number, I turned in a slow circle to look at my shop, knowing it would likely be the last time I saw this place.
This building was where I poured my blood, sweat, and tears ten times over, and even maybe a little magic before knowing I had any. And now I had to leave it for good. My already bruised heart pulled painfully in my chest. I might as well had been forced to abandon my child in the woods.
"Baby."
Raum's voiced reached an urgent pitch. He reached for my arm but I yanked out of his grasp. At that moment, his touch was the last thing I wanted to feel on me. I couldn't place the source of my emotions with everything clouding over my brain, but all I knew was my desire for him was, at least temporarily, completely gone.
"We need to get moving. Now." I ignored the sharp edge of hurt in his voice.
"I know," I repeated. "I just need to do something first."
With that, I hit the call button and brought the phone to my ear, waiting for Nona to pick up.
