Page 63 of Do You Even Hex, Bro?
I inspect the door, checking for a lock. There's an old-fashioned skeleton key in the keyhole, which I turn experimentally. It works, but it's hardly secure against shifters. Especially ones as big as these ones. Sean in particular is stupidly huge. He could just press against this door and it would cave in.
As soon as I have enough energy, I'll need to set up some basic wards. Not that I expect them to burst in on me, exactly, but old habits die hard. Those years wasted with Kyle and his shitty coven taught me the value of enforceable boundaries.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and my stomach drops when I see who it is. I've been avoiding this conversation for days, but I can't put it off any longer. I take a deep breath and answer.
"Hey, Cadence."
"REGINA ELIZABETH COOK!" My sister's voice blasts through the speaker with enough force that I have to hold the phone away from my ear. "Where the actual fuck have you been? I've been calling and texting and thinking you were in a gutter full of used needles and serial killers."
"How much room do you think gutters have?"
"Not the point!"
"I texted you,” I point out weakly.
“That could’ve been your creepy cult boyfriend for all I knew. You know he called me, right? Trying to find you? You should’ve heard the bitching and guilt tripping. Hecried,Regina. Cried. Complete with sniffling and snot. The whole nine yards. Gross as fuck. I don’t know what you even saw in him. He looks like he smells weird. Does he smell weird? My money’s on onions. You know you can do better than that, right? I know you’re upset about… about… well, you know, the scars and?—”
“I’m sorry,” I sigh, sinking onto the edge of the bed. “I was... it's been a lot.”
"Tell me everything," she demands, her volume dropping from ear-splitting to merely intense. "Right now."
"It's a long story."
"I have time."
I drag a hand through my hair, trying to figure out where to even begin. "I left Kyle," I say finally. "For good this time."
"About fucking time," Cadence says, and I can practically hear her trying to choke down the “I told you so” that must be burning a hole in her throat.
"Please don't," I mutter. "I know, okay? I know you were right about him. About all of it. I just... I can't hear that right now."
There's a pause, the silence heavy with all the things she wants to say but is holding back. I love my sister fiercely, but subtlety has never been her strong suit. Everything with Cadence is big, loud, and colorful. Not just her perpetually changing hair colors, either. She’s like fireworks in human form.
"What happened?" she asks finally, her voice gentler.
"I caught him with Rebecca." The words still burn in my throat. "In our bed."
"That motherfucking piece of shit," Cadence hisses. "I'll kill him. I'll literallykillhim. I've still got those poppets Aunt Meredith taught us to make. I'll stick pins in his dick until it rots off."
Despite everything, I feel the corner of my mouth twitch upward. "I'm pretty sure that's not how poppets work."
"Don't underestimate my rage," she counters. "Or my creativity."
“I would never. Besides, he lost an arm. So he does have one less appendage than he used to.”
“He fuckingwhat,Regina?”
“If I talk about that right now, I’m gonna get sick, and I need to eat something tonight or I won’t be able to keep my glamour up,” I grumble into the phone, picking at the edge of the blanket.
"Where are you now?"
"Stormvale."
"Stormvale? What the hell are you doing inStormvale?"
"Neutral territory. I figured it would be harder for him to find me in a bigger city."
"Did it work?"
