Page 44 of Hell and Hexes
Chapter 17
Sylvie
“So, I really screwed things up,” I told Cassie.
We were meeting at the diner early in the morning. Cassie had her business suit on and was shoveling down a plate of scrambled eggs like she hadn’t eaten in a week. I was in my usual jeans and tank top, fiddling with a plate of pancakes that I just couldn’t muster the appetite to eat.
Eshu had done his best to quell my anxiety last night, but I was still fretting over it all. Our actions had delayed the attack on Clinton’s pack, but not stopped it. And I was sure we’d made an enemy of Dallas who, although he’d never been a huge fan before, had at least been somewhat cooperative with us.
“Sylvie, relax,” Cassie said around a mouthful of eggs. “Things have been heading in this direction with the werewolves ever since I granted Shelby asylum and protection as a lone wolf. Actually, things have been heading in this direction for over a hundred years. I’m just the first witch with the attitude to tell those furry jerks to bring it.”
“I’m worried this is going to pit Dallas’s pack against all of us. He’ll see it as us taking sides, as an attack. He said it was war.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “The drama. Like hornet stings, wolfsbane, and bird poop are a big deal to werewolves. You said Eshu did nothing more than chase Dallas back home, so they’re fine this morning except for their pride and a few boils from the wolfsbane. If that’s enough to start a war, then I would have burned them to a crisp over the thousand bar fights they’ve started over the last few years.”
I chewed on my lip and scooted bits of pancake around my plate.
Cassie let out a whoosh of a breath. “Look, I’ll call him this morning once he’s had time to cool down. I’ll let him know that we’re not going to allow any war inside the wards, whether that’s in town or on the mountain.”
“I hate that we need to deliver an ultimatum,” I told her. “I wanted us to find a compromise, a way for Dallas and Clinton to come to an agreement and have both packs live in harmony with the rest of Accident.”
“I love that you’re so optimistic, that you’re always striving for a collaborative solution to every problem. When we were kids, you were always the peacemaker. We need that in this town, we need you. I need you. But there are times when a heavy hand is needed, and I truly think this is one of those times. I’ll get in Dallas’s face over this, and if he doesn’t back down, he’ll find that hornets and bird poop are the least of his worries.”
I understood what Cassie was saying, but I also saw the long-term repercussions of that sort of approach. There would always be an us-versus-them atmosphere between the werewolves and the rest of Accident, and it might take us centuries more to ease back from that. I’d worked so hard to understand them, to gain their trust as clients. I didn’t want to have to threaten them to achieve peace; I wanted them to come willingly to it, understanding that it was in their own best interests as well as ours.
But maybe I was a fool to want that when Dallas was so set on a violent solution.
“Stop beating yourself up over last night.” Cassie reached out and gripped my hand with hers, stilling my fork on the plate. “You saved lives, and honestly, sweetie, you didn’t make things worse. It’s all going to be okay.”
It wasn’t. No matter what Cassie or Eshu said, I had a horrible feeling in my gut that it wasn’t going to be okay. At best, the werewolves would chafe under the threat of our combined might, taking pot shots at each other and continuing to do what they’d always done even farther from our gaze. I wanted a solution. Ineededa solution. But Cassie was resigned to her course, and Eshu kept telling me to trust whatever, and that everything would work out in the end.
He wanted me to have faith, but after my death, I didn’t have faith—not in me, not in anything.
I glanced down at my watch and pushed my plate away, sliding my hand from under Cassie’s. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve got a client to meet this morning.”
At least IthoughtI had a client to meet this morning. Tink might not show up if Dallas had told her what happened last night. Either way, I needed to be at my office, just in case.
“You didn’t eat your breakfast,” Cassie said, waving away my attempt to put some money on the table for the bill.
“I had a big dinner,” I lied. Then I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek and headed out for my office, hoping that Tink would show up and that maybe after our session, I could convince her to let me know Dallas’s mood and whether or not there was any hope in salvaging this huge mess I’d helped create.
