Page 85 of Wickedly Ever After
“Four,” Ida said.
“I won’t take less than five.”
“Perhaps you can sell it to the next good witch who comes to stay at your hostel. I’m sure you get so many here.”
“Ha!” Sebastian grinned so wide, he split his skull. He held the jaw and moved it with his hands to finish his sentence. “You drive a hard bargain, Your Goodness. But I think I hear your gnome gnashing his teeth outside the door, so I’ll take it. I keep the heart until I’m satisfied.”
“Hector’s heart stays with me, or you’ll find your pleasure spells won’t work.”
“My dear woman, you are a formidable negotiator, but I’m sure I could find a wicked witch who’d love this heart—roasted, on a spit. Agatha East, perhaps?”
“I wonder how much salt it takes to melt a ghoul.” She leaned forward, hissing through her teeth. “I’ve always wanted to find out.”
“Fine.” Sebastian stuck the first cervical vertebral body out of his mouth like a tongue. “Keep the blasted thing. But I want those spells first thing in the morning.” He rose and carried his head out of the room.
Ida breathed a sigh of relief. “You can come in now, Hari,” she said.
Hari did, slamming the door behind him. “Ugh. He spilled his guts in front of me, anus first.” He shuddered. “Gross. I hope you didn’t give him what he wanted.”
Ida dusted the fragments of earth from Hector’s heart. “I gave him what he deserved.” For the most part, it seemed as if she’d been wrong about Hector and his people. Now that she’d met them, she felt she’d misjudged their hearts and Hector’s too. But this ghoul! It looked like Hector actuallydidhave one truly evil creature in his employ. It was oddly satisfying to think she was the one who got to dispense a fitting punishment. But for now, she needed to find a safe place for Hector’s heart.
She thought of her own heart tucked safely away under her bed at home. That would’ve been the best place to keep Hector’s heart—locked away with hers, where nothing could touch it. But hearts weren’t books. A witch couldn’t send a heart across time and space—anything might happen to it. There was only one thing for it, only one place it would be safe no matter what happened.
She put it in her chest.
39
Hector
My dear Adair,
I plan to be at your home by Sunsday evening at the latest. Hopefully we can sort out this situation before more harm is done. Please don’t write back—this left the castle shortly before I did. I don’t trust delivery at Sebastian’s. His bats are all vampires. What I need most from both you and Morga is patience, and probably a flight to Alistair’s lair. I hate to ask, but I see no other alternative.
Your friend,
Hector
Hector left Tinbit curled up in the heavy quilts on the sleeping sofa and donned his black wool robe. Mornings in the mountains could be chilly, and he wouldn’t take a chance on Sebastian’s kitchen providing a decent cup of coffee or tea. Tinbit had probably packed a coffee press. If he was lucky, he’d find his tea too.
It was cold outside, and he pulled his robe tighter around his shoulders as he gazed out at the sun-kissed snowy peaks. The valleys were dark. Even the knob where the hostel stood wouldn’t be in the sunlight for a few more hours. He shuffledinto the stable, lifting the latch with chilled fingers.
Horsey warmth spilled out as he walked through the door, and he shut it quickly to keep the heat inside. The pony, a shaggy black creature not much taller than Spot, greeted him with a hungry whinny. He ignored it and turned his attention to the packs slung over the dividing wall.
Another gust, cold and smelling of meltwater, and the door shut.
“Tinbit? Is my tea in here?” he asked, digging out the coffee press and setting it aside.
“If you find it, I wouldn’t say no to a cup,” Ida said. “Even if it’s that smoky stuff you like so much.”
He straightened, bumping his head on the saddle rack. “Good morning.”
She came around the corner wearing a pair of green pants and her thick gray sweater. “Morning.”
“You slept well, I hope?”
“Tolerably. But I won’t be sorry to leave the hostel, no offense to your innkeeper.”
“I’m quite sure if you wished to leave him a bad review, he’d weep tears of joy,” Hector said.
