Page 48 of Twisted Fates
Fatigue washed over me. I swayed and fell back into the chair. Damian grabbed the lid of the cookie tin and slammed it on.
Then, with his staff, he touched the top of the tin, and it began to glow. The paint on the outside of the tin burned offimmediately, and I caught a whiff of it as it dispersed. Then, I watched the tin transform into a smaller, denser box.
Finally, only a tiny, glowing orange cube remained. Damian touched his staff to it. The little cube attached itself to the top of his staff, and the whole thing disappeared back into Damian’s hand.
When it was done, he shook his head. “I think we’ve got some serious problems. I hope you’re ready for a fight.”
Chapter thirty-five
Damian
Ihad not beenprepared for the world I’d stepped into. I should’ve recognized that Owen had been tagged. The fact that it took the witches to find it, even after he and I had slept together repeatedly, told me how out of my depth I was.
The ritual, however, was easy enough. It required that I drain the poison out of his arms. Unfortunately, it’d grown, so I knew there would be more pain to remove it now than if we’d caught the tag early.
The four witches in Owen’s law firm had already begun the process of removing the poison, so I decided it was easier to use their spell and finish it with my own than it was to take him back to the attic and use my powers on him. I intuitively knew the witches’ way would hurt less and could be done quicker than my method.
I had a vast knowledge of the witches’ magic. One of my predecessors had been a witch. That’s what it felt like, at least. The knowledge must’ve come down from her.
Mugwort was needed to relax the muscles, and cayenne to force the blood to flow through the spell and drain the nastiness out of him and into the tin.
Luckily, tin was one of the metals that could be manipulated to hold magic, at least temporarily, and I sensed Cary had a tin container in his desk.
Once the spell was over, I collapsed on one of the chairs beside Owen, the four witches doing the same. “That was intense, and I’m afraid a glimpse of what’s to come,” I said.
“What do you see, wizard?” Mr. Harrison asked.
“There’s a group of vipers gathering on the edge of town. They’re angry. That’s what I sense.”
Mr. Stage’s forehead creased, and I looked around the room to see the other three witches were equally concerned. “The vipers,” Mr. Stages said. “They are a modern-day gang of thugs. Most aren’t magical. All are somehow associated with the darkness. I…well, none of us thought they were a real threat to the overall balance of power.”
“Apparently, they are or want to be. My friend Molly has been taken, and I assume so has our mutual friend Shadow, although I’m not certain. I went to Molly’s place and was confronted by a disembodied entity. He told me to trade the man for her, although I don’t know what man he meant.”
I could tell they were all as confounded as I was. I’d taken Owen’s hand and slowly sent him healing energy. He appeared very relaxed and maybe just a bit high from the act. But Ifigured that was fine, especially considering what we’d just put his poor body through.
“We need to figure out what man he meant,” Mrs. Paterson said.
Owen replied. “I-I sorta think it’s me.”
We all turned toward him and stared for a few moments. I let go of his hand, afraid maybe I’d sent too much energy into him.
“I… I was the one who was attacked, and that guy tried to attack me again. They also came to me in my dream. They wanted me to come outside and kept enticing me. Cary even had to drive one of them off when they impersonated a taxi driver. If they’re looking for a man to trade for Molly and Shadow, doesn’t it make sense it would be me?”
The tag put on him certainly explained how they got past my wards. That mystery was solved, at least. What didn’t make sense was why they wanted Owen. “I’m sorry, Owen,” Cary said, saying the same thoughts I’d just had. “Why would they want you?”
He shrugged. “To screw with Damian? You all? I don’t know. It seems like a good way to create havoc.”
Cary chuckled. “Sorry, Owen, the powers that be never pay attention to nonmagicals. Not even those who are light or dark sources. No offense, but you don’t even register on the chessboard as a pawn.”
“Cary,” Mrs. Patterson chastised, but Owen just laughed.
“I get it, and I’d agree, but I was the one attacked and tagged, as you called it. The man wanted me. He was trying to get to me and would’ve, had it not been for your necklace. Why would they want me otherwise?”
“Bait,” I said before I could catch myself. “I’m so sorry, Owen, but I have to agree with you on that. They want you because of me, and just like Molly, they’d use you to get to me, to all of us.”
I sighed at the reality of that. “Maybe you should consider staying somewhere else for a while. I-I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. Maybe, you would be safe if they think we broke up.”
“Psst,” Mr. Harrison said. “They know you care about him. Even if you were to break up, he’d still be vulnerable because they know you’d come for him. No, Owen needs to stay put, and now the tag has been drained from him, they won’t be able to cross your boundaries.”
