Page 63 of Her Soul for Revenge

This poor Raelynn girl looked oblivious as hell. She kept glancing out the window, a little restless in her seat, chugging down an iced black coffee at a rate that would have given me a heart attack. She smiled and nodded politely as Victoria carried on about some asinine story. Did she have family here? Other friends?

People who would realize if she went missing?

I was so focused on the two of them, it took me nearly a minute to notice the woman with long blonde hair standing outside the cafe. But eventually, she stood for so long in my peripheral that my eyes flickered over to her. The rain dripped down her hood, dampening the strands of her hair that had been plucked out of shelter by the wind. Bright blue eyes, a long black skirt…

It had been years, but I knew her face.

Everly.

She’d been watching Victoria and Raelynn, but the moment recognition clicked in my brain, her eyes darted over to me.

Her eyes widened. Her face was stricken with fear.

And she ran.

I followed her immediately. I didn’t want to make a big fuss as I left, but the moment I was outside the door, I sprinted down the sidewalk. I barely caught sight of her jacket whipping around a corner ahead. The rain was pouring now, and most people had taken shelter inside so my way was clear as I chased after her. She was always one corner ahead, dodging down narrow side streets, taking an ever-more convoluted path in an attempt to lose me. But I was faster, gaining on her with every step.

She turned again, and I was only a second behind her. But the moment I turned, I stopped. It was a dead end.

She was gone.

I frowned. The narrow path stood between three buildings, with no way out butup. The old stone and brick buildings had fire escapes, but the ladders were pulled up, and it would have been easy to see her if she’d somehow gotten up there. There were a couple small trash cans, a pile of cardboard boxes — nowhere a fully grown woman could hide.

How the hell?

I walked down the alley, looking even in the places she couldn’t possibly fit. There were no doors, no crawl spaces, no vents. I stared up at the building at the end, frowning. There was no way she’d gotten up to the roof in merely seconds. It was impossible.

There was a strong scent of berries in the air. Berries and sugar. It was overbearingly sweet, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

The bricks in front of me looked strange. They were slightly misaligned, their edges not quite lining up properly, the surface of some of them strangely smooth. I reached out toward them, eyes widening in disbelief. There was no fucking way...

As if from behind a curtain, Everly reappeared, her back pressed to the bricks. Something hit me, a pulse that compressed my chest, shoving me back and giving her the room to run past me. I grabbed for her, seizing the strap on her bag. She pulled back hard against me, her eyes wide with fear. Her bag burst open, spilling contents across the wet ground, but she was free of my grip.

This time, when I got to the mouth of the alley, I had no idea where she’d gone.

“Goddamn it!” I scanned the entire street, but there was no sign of her. She could have been right in front of me,invisible, and I’d have no fucking idea.

I wasn’t too surprised by weird, magical, paranormal shit anymore. But if these witches could turn themselves invisible, that was going to be a real problem. Everly had always been so quiet, so timid — at least in high school. But that meant nothing now. She’d been there that night in the church. She’d watched with all the rest. Just like her parents, she’d learned to turn a blind eye to pain and torture if it was for her God.

Back down the alley, I examined the items that had dropped from Everly’s bag, and pulled out my cell to call Zane. But I hadn’t even managed to unlock the screen when I was suddenly aware of someone standing behind me.

He was already here.

“What have I told you about sneaking up on me?” I said.

“Awww, the mortal can’t hear massive footsteps on a wet street.” I tried to smack him in the balls, but he turned so that my palm smacked his ass instead. “Ooh, yeah, do it harder next time.”

“You completely missed the witch,” I said with a heavy sigh. “She was right here.”

“Why do you think I’m over here?” He picked up a tube of chapstick, sniffed it, and carelessly tossed it away. “She used magic. I could smell it a mile away.” He paused as I picked up a damp, folded piece of paper from the ground. “Did she hurt you?”

“No. She looked scared.” I unfolded the paper as carefully as I could, but it was soaked from the rain and ripping at the slightest touch. I laid it down on top of a metal trash can lid, and my eyes widened as I realized what it was.

A map of Western Washington, covered in scribbles of blue ink. The ink was blooming from the rain, but I could make out little notes, X’s, and lines through vast sections of empty forest.

“Jackpot,” I said softly. “I don’t think you’re going to need to track her anymore, Zane.”

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