Page 63 of Her Dreadful Will
“Gorgeous? Wow.” His smile widened. “I’ll admit, I got better-looking in college.”
“And you met your girlfriend there. Your ex.”
“I did. I dated her mostly because she was pretty, and she made me laugh, and I’d never been wanted like that before. But eventually, hiding the magic from her became too complicated.”
“I’m—” Soleil stopped herself.
“You’re sorry for me?” He shrugged. “Don’t be. I always knew I’d end up with another witch. Someone who would know me as I really am.”
At the look he gave her, a bolt of excitement raced through the pit of Soleil’s stomach. The air was suddenly heavy, not just with humidity, but with the pressure of unspoken things. Big, emotional, life-changing things shesowasn’t ready for. She hurried to change the subject.
“So what do you use for tethers?” But the minute the words left her mouth, Soleil knew. A chaos witch masquerading as a dentist? There could be only one answer.
“You take people’s teeth,” she breathed, half wonder and half horror.
“You see, this is why I love talking with you. You’re so damn clever.” Angling his hips, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a necklace. Teeth dangled from it, strung by tiny holes bored through their tops. Next to each tooth hung a miniature tag, probably so he could keep track of which tooth belonged to which subject.
Soleil leaned closer, curious in spite of the knot of disgust in her stomach. “Aren’t you afraid your patients will talk to each other and discover that you’re taking teeth from all of them?”
“They might. Haven’t had any complaints so far, though. I replace every tooth I take with an implant as soon as possible. And my hygienist is indebted to me, so she says nothing about the frequency of the extractions.” He held out the necklace of teeth to her. “Here, touch one.”
She stared, shocked. “No witch may touch another’s tether!”
“Really?” His eyes widened. “Oh my god! What do you think will happen? Will the sky darken? Will thunder roll and lightning fry your little fingers?” His mock horror melted into a wicked grin. “Go on, touch one. I dare you.”
She stiffened, primming up her lips. “I’m immune to dares.”
“But not immune to curiosity.” He shifted nearer, his eyes burning with eagerness. “Do it, and see what happens.”
Soleil eyed the necklace and extended a finger toward one of the teeth. She could feel the low vibration of power emanating from it. A sliver of charged air separated the molar from her fingertip—
“Not that one.” Achan’s voice was taut with warning, but Soleil latched onto the tooth before he could pull it back.
A window opened in her mind, and through it she saw a bedroom—the footboard of a bedframe with tall spindles of polished wood. A fan spun smoothly above an antique light fixture.
And then, like a shocking wave of ice water, Soleil could feel the panic of the tooth’s former owner—the urge to call someone, to scream for help.
A figure moved at the corner of the mental window—bleach-blond hair and a leathery face, with a cigarette pinched between seamed lips.
Soleil gasped. “Zillah Dean?”
The tooth vanished from her grip, and the window disappeared.
Achan held the tooth in his own fingers, regret edging his expression.
“You’ve been spying on Zillah Dean?” Soleil asked. “Did you—do you like her or something?”
“Not exactly. You see, she’s—” His face tensed, his eyes going vacant. “Oh god. Oh no.”
“What is it?”
“She’s going to kill you, Florence!” he hissed. “Get up! Fight her! Oh damn—” He leaped up from the table so fast he knocked his basket of tacos to the ground. “I have to go. Something’s happening, and I can’t do anything about it through this damn tether.”
He dashed between the tables, half-sliding across one of them. Soleil unfastened Carebear, snatched her things, and raced after him, catching up with him in the parking lot just as he slapped his hand onto the hood of her car.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You can’t follow me.”
“What do you mean? Did you just mess with my car?”
