Page 20 of Filthy Little Witch
“No thanks to me?” I scoffed. “I’m the only reason you’re still in one piece, Witch.”
Marta opened her mouth to give me some nasty retort, but Wes cut in.
“Stop,” he said, wheezing as he tried to suck in a deep breath. “Stop fighting. We have to get somewhere safe. We need food and rest.”
Leave it to the one who almost died to bring us back to reality.
“Fine,” I said, garnering my strength so I could push upright. Stars twinkled in my vision, and my head spun, but I put my hand out to a tree to steady myself. When my blood pressure caught up to the rest of me, I straightened my shoulders and looked at my wayward companions. “Can either of you stand?”
Marta struggled to her feet, and once she had them under her, she took a deep breath and looked at Wes. I reached out a hand for him, and he grabbed it so I could haul him upright. He groaned and winced against the ache in his chest, especially when I ducked myself under one of his arms to hold his weight on my shoulders.
“Which way?” I asked, glancing at Marta. She looked around and shrugged, holding up her cellphone to move it right and left. I guessed she didn’t have a signal either.
“That way, I think,” she answered.
“You think?” I took a deep breath and swallowed the irritation bubbling in my chest. What good was the witch if she didn’t know where the hell we were?
“Do you know which way to go?” She crossed her arms and raised an indignant eyebrow, jutting a hip out.
I rolled my eyes. “No, of course not. But I’m not the one with magic. Can’t you do some location spell?—”
“It doesn’t work like that,” she said. “After the ritual and then healing Wes, I’m tapped out.”
“Use me,” I said. “Use us.”
“I can’t. Something happened when we got knocked…wherever we are. The bond is gone.”
“What do you mean gone?” I’d had just about enough of her bullshit. We didn’t have to like each other, but we were supernaturally connected regardless. She might as well use that to our benefit.
“The road between us is closed,” she said.
“Well, open it,” I growled.
“I can’t!” Marta closed her eyes and sighed before pinching the bridge of her nose. “Let’s just…go this way and see if we hit the road. Maybe Isobel and Bridge went back to the car to get something to help us.”
I didn’t argue, but in my gut, I doubted Isobel and Bridge were here. I had a sickening suspicion we’d fallen victim to our own spell, that instead of creating a liminal for the Asmodeian demon, we’d done something far worse.
We stumbled through the woods, Marta leading the way while I struggled to carry most of Wes’s weight. He could barely hold himself upright, and it took us nearly double the time to get to the road. But at least he was alive.
At least we’re both alive.
“What do you think happened?” Wes asked. He gasped through the syllables like each word hurt him to say, and based on the horrifying bruises starting to form on his chest, I bet it did. Marta had only put a magical bandage on him. He’d still need time to recover fully.
“Those fucking witches screwed up the magic. Now we’re trapped.” In all my years of hunting monsters, I’d seen some fucked-up shit. I’d seen ghosts and poltergeists that fling people around entire houses. I’d seen undead creatures that burst into disgusting blood bubbles if stabbed with iron. Fairies, vampires, shifters, all of it. But when I woke up in the woods with only the two of them, my internal what-the-fuck-meter blared loud and clear.
“Trapped where?” Wes asked.
I had an idea, but I didn’t want to go wandering down that road until I had more reason to.
Marta cleared the tree line to the street, Wes and I stumbling out after her. Her bike sat in the same spot next to Bridge’s and Isobel’s with Leander’s car behind it. But there was no sign of the other Harlots or warriors.
“Bridge!” Marta called out. “Isobel?”
She held her phone up and squinted at the screen, waving it around as she tried to find reception. I checked mine again but came up short. No WiFi. No connection.
“Fuck.” I slid my phone into my back pocket and hitched my brother higher on my shoulder, glancing up and down the road. “This is ominous, huh?”
“Where do you think they went?” Marta asked.
