(FREE TO READ) Bad Moon

chapter 57; queen

  "What the hell is etchi...naysha?"

Sadie gave the bottle in her hands a quick shake and chucked it aside with the others. She'd cleared the entire medicine cabinet in search of anything to help with Alex's headaches, but the Sigvards didn't seem to keep things like painkillers or migraine medicine. Just strange bottles with strange pills inside, and even stranger names like etchinaysha.

"Echinacea," he corrected her, with his palms pressed into his eyes. "And it's for colds."

"Alex," Sadie peered into an unmarked bottle, gave it a sniff and wrinkled her nose at the pungent stench of dirt and herbs. "I can't help unless you tell me what's wrong."

"It doesn't matter, none of that will help."

Sadie shut the mirror, her own frown staring back at her. She forfeited the search and took a seat beside him at the edge of the bath, nudging him with her knee. "Can you tell me what happened at least?"

"I tried to read her thoughts." Alex pulled his hands from his face finally, closed his eyes to shut out the light. "It's like a jackhammer in my skull. That's never happened to me before."

"We should go down, Alex. We should see what's happening down there."

"We can't." When Alex opened his eyes, she saw the redness in them. Strained and bloodshot, like he'd lost a full night of sleep. "You're a witch, Sadie. You're like Ziya's mortal enemy."

"Well, we can't stay here." Sadie hopped to her feet and crossed the room, popping the lock on the bathroom door. She cracked it slowly, silently and Alex scrambled to his feet.

"Sadie wait!"

But Sadie hadn't the patience to heed his warning. She pushed the door open and slipped out of her shoes, socks soft and silent against the hardwood. The floor didn't groan this time. It didn't make a sound in fact, as she crept her way down the hall and towards the banister of the stairs. Alex followed her like a shadow, nearly clinging to her ankles until they reached the balusters, and there Sadie crouched and peered down into the foyer.

Mrs. Sigvard had pulled out a chair from the dining table and perched there with one slender leg crossed over the other, high heels clicking against the dappled floor. She puffed from her cigarette holder and released the smoke with a hiked brow. Four gray wolves surrounded her, jowls wrinkled back in snarls of animosity, but Lisa didn't seem to mind them. Or at least, she pretended not to. She just reclined and puffed on her cigarette, watching the woman who stood before her through the unwelcoming slits of her eyes.

"You can if you so please," Ziya was saying, "but we'll only be back again and again. And by calling the police, you'd be in direct violation of the human-co-inhabitants, non-disclosure agreement. If you've ever met Qamar, you know there will be punishments for violating your contract. And if you've never met her...well, I envy you."

"Fine." Lisa shrugged somewhat, twirling her cigarette in the air. "Stay. It won't get you what you want any faster."

"I think you're overestimating your worth here." Ziya clapped her hands and the wolves pressed forward, once obediently calm, now snapping and snarling within inches of her flesh. Mrs. Sigvard jumped—just barely, but it was there. "You realize I could kill you now and there would be no quarrels? You are the second-hand citizens of this society—of my society."

"Sorry to interrupt, your shiteness." Felix leaned against the entry of the kitchen, looking better than he'd been; still a little pale, but stronger. "You're the one in direct violation of your own laws by threatening our reticence." If he was nervous at all to challenge her, Felix didn't show it.