The hotel lobby has doubled in bodies and noise since we arrived. I’ve only been to New Orleans once before, and that was for a bachelorette party for one of Lou Ann’s clients. I hardly knew the bride-to-be, and I remember only going because all I could think about was drinking. I admit, since having Caz around, I haven’t felt the urge to drown myself in liquor. He’s been my new addiction—the feel of his arms wrapped around me, hot kisses on my skin, and his presence completing me.
But I suppose that’s what happens when you become addicted to something…eventually you’ll have to kick the habit to the curb…or perhaps you develop a new addiction.
When Caz and I first arrived, there were only a few squatters lingering around the bar. Now, there are dozens of people in groups, clinking glasses after making toasts, or men cursing at the sports game on TV.
I scan the bar, complete with a dozen wooden stools, and spot an empty one toward the end. I push through the rowdy crowd until I finally reach the empty seat. When I sit, I let out a loud sigh and focus on the lineup of liquor on the glass shelves. One of the two bartenders comes in my direction, a woman with pink hair. She’s petite, wearing a black camisole and leather jeans. Sleeves of tattoos embellish both her arms and even crawl up to her neck, and the neon red sign above glints off her septum piercing.
“You alone tonight, hun?” she asks, eyeing me as she dumps an empty glass of ice into the sink.
“Yes.”
“How much you plan on drinking?” She sets the glass upside down while I hesitate with my response. I can’t tell if she’s serious or not. When a slow smile spreads across her lips, I relax. “I’m kidding,” she laughs. “I don’t give a damn how much you drink. Just make sure you have a ride beforehand, ’kay? I’ve seen too many chicks come in here, get drunk, and not have a ride. Then I have to shoo the drunk guys off and make sure she gets home safely. Call it the angel in me.”
“Ah. Well, I should be okay,” I tell her. “I’m staying in this hotel. As long as I don’t fall and bust a knee or something, I’m good.”
“Say no more. What can I get you?”
I request a gin and tonic, and she nods, turning away to get to work. “Want a tab?” she asks once she’s concocted the drink.
“Please.” Because I’ll definitely need it tonight. I pick up the drink and take a long swig. The alcohol burns going down, bringing on that delicious heat I crave when I’m stressed. I release a slow sigh. Yeah, I’ll need about four more of these before going back to the room to face Caz.
I can’t believe Caz is so willing to give up—to give it all to Decius. I get he wants to protect his family, protect me, but what’s the use in us doing all this (running to Virginia to talk to Phil, coming to NOLA to find some mysterious woman, getting nearly attacked by a cobra and God knows what other vessels are on the way) if he’s just going to go back to Vakeeli and turn himself in to Decius? It makes no sense, and the thought of it makes me take a bigger swallow.
The bartender slides me another glass, and I look into her eyes. “Seems like you need it. Name’s Noni. Call for me if you need me, babe.”
I smile at her as she turns to assist someone else. The doors of the hotel swing open and more people file into the bar, meeting with friends, laughing, living their lives. It’s all so simple for them. Simple human beings doing simple, simple things. Eating hot wings and guzzling beer. Sipping colorful, blended drinks with silly smiles on their faces. I face forward again, sipping the remainder of my first drink.
I can’t help wondering why I’m so upset. It can’t just be about Caz and his willingness to turn himself over. No, it’s something deeper, and I stew in it, sipping several times until it dawns on me.
After Warren went missing and before meeting Caz, my life had no purpose. Sure, I worked with Lou Ann, and I hung out with Faye, but what was my purpose, really? All my life, I’ve felt like I don’t belong here, and after meeting Caz, I understand why.
Now that I’ve met him, my life has meaning again. There’s someone to share my time with, someone I’m unconditionally, irrevocably in love with, no matter how hard I try not to be. In my hands is someone who I’m willing to go to the ends of the earth—or any universe—for, and if I lose him, what will be left of me? There’s a possibility my brother is in Vakeeli, yes. But if Caz dies, how will I ever find Warren? Would I even want to, after all this? Or will I end up like Phil, trapped in a psychiatric detention center, thinking of all the what ifs?
That’s why I’m angry. Because the one man I’ve fallen madly in love with may not be mine forever, and to be frank, it fucking sucks. Everyone I love either leaves or is forced to go. I didn’t ask for this life, but I’m putting up a fight for it, damn it, and so should he.
I finish off my first drink and dive right into the second. After a large gulp, I take my phone out of my bag and send Faye a text.
Made it to NOLA. Mad at Caz.
Faye responds almost immediately with:
Why? Did he try to kill someone AGAIN?
No, but he’s contemplating getting himself killed just to stop Decius.
Ugh. Seriously, he is super dramatic and complicated
I chew on my bottom lip, my thumb hovering over the keyboard.
If that’s what he wants fine. Whatever. If I didn’t love him it would make letting go so much easier.
Faye isn’t so quick to respond this time, and I keep reading my message, slowly regretting sending it, until her conversation bubble appears to show she’s typing. Her message pops up:
He’s yours, Willow, and he needs you.
But if you don’t want that life, don’t be in it. Find a way for him to go back and be done with it. You don’t have to subject yourself to that kind of life if you don’t want it. It’ll be hard, I’m sure, but it’s possible.
I read her message several times, blinking my tears away. God. I have never felt so much aching in my chest. My heart yearns for this man, to rush up to our hotel room and collapse in his arms. But a part of me also wants to run away because Faye is right. I didn’t ask for any of this. Why should we be Tethered? Why does our love have to be so damn complicated?
I feel warmth on my back as someone hovers behind me. Arms wrap around me from behind and draw me back so that my back is touching his chest. The arms mold around me, as they’ve done many times before, and when I smell him, a sigh escapes me. He somehow still smells like Vakeeli, like it lingers in his skin and hair—ocean air, salt, and a little bloom.
He drops his chin to my shoulder, and I shut the screen of my phone off, melting in his arms. Ugh. Who am I kidding? I can’t run away. This is what I crave, what I want most. Even now, I’m supposed to be mad at him, but how can I be? His arms are where I belong. I’m centered within them and don’t want to be anywhere else.
“I’m sorry, Willow.” His deep voice falls into my ear, sending goosebumps crawling up my arm. He plants a kiss on my cheek. “I’m very sorry.”
I remain quiet, staring at the ice in my glass tumbler. “Should I just go back home and forget about all this?”
“Absolutely not.” He steps to my side, his body still close to mine. He tips my chin with his forefinger, and I carry my eyes up to his. “I’m fighting,” he assures me. “I panicked about my family, but it was only for a moment. They mean a lot to me. My wolf. Blackwater. All of it matters to me much more than I realized.” He strokes my chin. “But you also matter.”
“I get why you want to sacrifice yourself, but I don’t want Decius to take you, Caz.”
“What if it comes down to it? What if it’s the only way to save you all?”
“If we have to run to Selah ourselves, we will. I don’t care how we do it, but it can be done. Decius isn’t unstoppable. As long as we’re together and fighting, we’re safe.”
“You’re right.” He drops his head, dark lashes touching his cheekbones. “If I can get back to Vakeeli and send a contact to The Council, perhaps they’ll give me another spell of protection.”
“Yes, like they did last time,” I return, hopeful. I’m glad this is where the conversation is going. Filled with hope and tenacity.
“But something tells me that as soon as Decius senses I’m back in Vakeeli, and if the Council doesn’t get to me in time, I’m out of luck again.”
“Maybe Beatrix can give us something.”
“Maybe.” He takes my hand, wrapping both of his around it and bringing my knuckles to his lips. He kisses them as he looks into my eyes. “I won’t give up.”
“Promise?”
“With my whole heart, I promise.”
Satisfied, I pull my hand away and lace my arms around the back of his neck. He plants a kiss on top of my head just as someone yells, “Get a room!”
I laugh as Caz finds the culprit and grimaces at him. “They’re just joking,” I laugh. “Just people being drunk and stupid.”
“We have a room,” Caz says. “What he said doesn’t even make any sense.”
“Oh, boy. Here we go.”
“What? It doesn’t, not if he’s speaking literally.”
I fight a laugh as I pull my arms away and pick up my drink, downing the rest of it. As I fish into my purse for some cash, someone walking past roughly bumps into Caz. Caz grunts as he catches himself before stumbling into me, and the person stomps away.
“Oi! Jackass! You just bumped into me!” he shouts at the man’s back.
I look past Caz at the man who is rushing through the bar in a brown hoodie. He doesn’t look back as he leaves the hotel, and I frown, watching him go, and then there’s that itch on the back of my neck again. I give it a scratch before placing cash on the counter.
“I hate this world,” Caz grumbles. “Can we get back to the room now? Prepare for tomorrow?”
“Yes. Let’s go.” He helps me off the stool, leading the way out of the bar and toward the elevators.
“I didn’t take the elevator down, by the way,” he says. “Couldn’t figure it out, so I took the stairs.”
“Did you really?” I feel that annoying itch on the back of my neck again, and when I press the button for the elevator, Caz rubs the area.
“Why do you keep scratching there?” He pushes some of my locs out of the way. “Leave it be. You’re causing a rash.”
I rub the irritated patch of skin as the elevator doors spring open and we walk inside. As we ride up to our floor, a pounding builds in my head, and then the elevator comes to an abrupt stop. Ice splinters up the walls, cracking the mirrors and freezing the buttons. Caz grips my hand, pulling me into him and holding me close.
“What’s happening?” I gasp.
Caz says nothing as the elevator darkens, minus a flickering light above. The elevator begins to rattle, then it lurches and causes us to buckle, going at a speed that’s much too fast. Caz pulls me even closer as a voice croaks, “You will be mine, Caspian Harlow.”
Decius.
The elevator continues to rattle a few seconds longer and then it just…stops. The ice fades, and the elevator illuminates with the original LED lighting. The cracks in the mirror are gone, and the buttons are as they were.
When the doors separate, dumping us onto our floor, we hurry to the room and lock the door behind us, though I’m not quite sure that’ll save us.
“He’s found another vessel,” Caz pants, peering out the window again.
“How do you know?”
“He’s getting stronger. He’s using something. Or someone. He has to be close.”
I scratch my neck again then hiss when my nails break the skin. Caz rushes to me, pushing my locs out of the way again. He stiffens at my side. “Willow,” he breathes.
“What? What is it?” I ask as he stares at the back of my neck.
“How do you take pictures on you cellphone thing?”
I dig into my tote, fishing it out, showing him how, then dropping it in his palm. He snaps a picture of the back of my neck. When he brings it down and I see the picture on the screen, my breath stalls because it’s no longer a rash on the back of my neck. They’ve turned into veins.
“Does this mean he can get into our heads again?”
Caz works his jaw, head shaking. “Do you think we should go to the Effie woman tonight?” he asks. “If all these people are partying, surely, she’s up too.”
“We can try, but the hours for her shop said one to five p.m.”
“Sure, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t there. Look, if he’s found a bigger vessel, there’s no way of me knowing it. A snake is easy, but if it’s a person, it could be anyone, and if they capture me, that’ll give him way more energy. He’ll take us right back to Vakeeli, back in his grasp, I’m sure of it.”
I slide the straps of my tote onto my shoulder. “Let’s go by her shop and see what we can find.”
Caz has his gun in hand before I even turn for the door.
