Page 42 of Hell and Hexes
Chapter 16
Sylvie
“Where are the lions?” Eshu asked, peering around Adrienne as if he suspected she was hiding them behind her back. My sister had arrived right at ten-thirty, giving us plenty of time to head up the mountain and be in place before any midnight werewolf attack took place.
“I couldn’t bring them. My truck is acting up and they won’t fit in my Fiat. Besides, it was steak night at the zoo and neither of them wanted to miss that. I’ll just have to make do with whatever animals are available up on the mountain tonight.”
I grimaced, thinking this was an omen, a warning that tonight was not going to go as planned and would probably end up being a shitshow of epic proportions. But what could I do? Even if Ophelia were here to give me a glimpse into the future, I couldn’t exactly call the whole thing off and just allow Dallas’s group to attack Clinton.
They’d been warned, and I had no doubt that the smaller pack was alert and ready, but Dallas had numbers on his side, and I knew how this night would go if we did nothing but stay at home.
“We’ll take my car,” I told the two, knowing the three of us would have an uncomfortable ride squished into Adrienne’s tiny Fiat. I grabbed my purse and, at the last moment, stuffed the button charms into my pocket, just in case. They’d delivered a chaotic sort of luck at the McDonald’s, but hopefully they could serve in an emergency tonight as well.
For the first time in weeks, I could feel a tiny trickle of magic like the brush of a feather along my skin. It both thrilled and frightened me. My power was returning, but this tiny bit wouldn’t do much against a mob of werewolves. I’d need more. But I tried to trust in whatever that my powers would be sufficient, that things would turn out right. Hopefully Eshu was right and this twisty path I was on wouldn’t lead to a dead end—emphasis ondead.
We headed out of town and as far up the mountain as I felt we could go without detection, then we hopped out and headed into the forest on foot.
A mile in, I was thinking this wasn’t such a great idea after all. I’d downed the rest of Glenda’s smoothie, and Ididfeel much stronger than I had this time last week, but not quite up to a late-night hike up a mountain. We veered off the dirt road and onto a set of winding trails as we kept ourselves on the downward side of the wind to avoid detection from the werewolves’ sensitive noses.
When we were a reasonable distance from Clinton’s compound, we halted, trying to keep the element of surprise on our side. It wasn’t just someone sniffing us out that I worried about. Clinton had wolves in the woods keeping their eyes peeled and ears perked for intruders. Hopefully my luck would hold, and no one would know we were here.
“What are you planning on using, Adrienne?” I asked, leaning against a tree for a bit of rest.
“I’ve got sentries to give us notice of when they’re coming and to let me know from what direction,” Adrienne said. “Starlings. They really get a bad rap, you know, but they’re always willing to help. And they work well together. Two hundred of them are going to be giving us a hand—or wing—tonight. Once the werewolves get here, I’m going to use insects and birds to hopefully get them to turn around and go back home. How about you?”
I fingered the buttons in my pocket. “A hex. I’m targeting plant life.”
And I wasn’t sure what form that hex would take or how helpful it would be. I was hoping for some fur-penetrating thorny bushes, hedges full of briars—that sort of thing. And if I couldn’t manage it myself, I’d take a chance and use the power from the button charms to try something else.
“How about you?” Adrienne turned to Eshu.
“I’m just here to admire my couch-witch’s amazing backside. When this is all over, I’m hoping we can have sex on a nice patch of moss somewhere under the stars.”
“I might need him,” I told Adrienne, unsure exactly how I expected Eshu to help. He wasn’t going to help me power my spells, and his sole contribution seemed to be telling me I was absolutely capable of doing this. Maybe I’d brought him along for a confidence boost? Moral support? To pull my amazing backside out of the fire if needed?
“Have you got any kind of demon weaponry?” Adrienne asked him. “Pitchfork? That sort of thing?”
“I got my pitchfork right here.” Eshu grabbed his crotch. “I guess I can use it as a weapon. I’ve never tried that before.”
“I’m thinking you need to keep your pitchfork in your pants,” I told him. “At least until we’re back home.” I’d gotten rather fond of it and didn’t want to see it sliced up by werewolf claws.
“It used to be bigger,” Eshu commented in a casual tone as if he were discussing the weather and not his penis. “A long time ago I used it as a bridge to help some people cross a river.”
Adrienne snort-laughed and I rolled my eyes. “Your dick is big, but it’s not bridge-over-a-river big,” I told him.
“It used to be,” he insisted. “But those stupid travelers wouldn’t cross one at a time. They were in such a hurry that they all piled on my giant dick-bridge, and it broke so they all fell into the river and drowned.”
“That sounds painful,” Adrienne said.
Eshu nodded. “It was. Thankfully my trouser snake is still an impressive length. The lesson here is never to let anyone use your genitals to cross a river.”
“I’ll remember that.” I shook my head and chuckled.
“You’re weird,” Adrienne told Eshu. “You’ll fit right in with our family. And you’ll certainly make Sunday night family dinner a whole lot more interesting.”
I smiled to hear my sister say that. It was good to know I had one family member on my side as far as Eshu went. Ophelia would always back me up, but I knew she was perplexed as to why I was with the demon. And Cassie…well, maybe someday she’d accept Eshu, although I doubted she’d ever be a fan.
Adrienne tilted her head and put a finger to her lips. “They’re coming,” she whispered. “Up the main road to the south of us. We’re downwind, and I’ll ask some deer to cover our noise as we move closer.”
