The Witch's Key

Episode 8: What I Wanted You To See

"You found her?" I shouted, likely loud enough for Martin to hear me all the way across the house.

Kai shook his head.

"I haven't found her yet, but I have some suspicions about where she might be," he said. "And who might have taken her."

My stomach knotted. "And you want us to go somewhere to do what? Free them? Right now?" I looked down. I'd changed into some baggy sweats and a baggy shirt after I left Martin earlier. "I'm not exactly dressed for demon slaying. Besides, I just got in huge trouble for even talking to you about this."

"Do you want to help save Peyton and the others, or not?" he asked.

I put a hand on my hip. "Of course, I want to help save them, but this is a bit more complicated than that, isn't it?" I asked. "First of all, we don't have the support of the Witch's Council on this, so there aren't any Slayers coming to help us. Second of all, this is some big bad demon who has done this many times before, likely for the purpose of gaining more and more power. You said that yourself."

"What's your point?" he asked.

"My point is that even if we do happen to find them, how are we going to save them if it's just the two of us?" I asked. "Unless you have some incredible fighting powers I don't know about, we're going to be severely mismatched. We'll just get ourselves killed."

"So, what are you proposing? That we just let them die like the Council wants?" There was a storm inside his dark grey eyes, and I had the sudden urge to touch his arm and comfort him.

I didn't. I just kind of wanted to.

Instead, I turned and walked the other way to put a little distance between us.

I'd never had a guy in my bedroom before, and it was awkward. He could learn so much about me just by being in here, if he decided to pay attention.

"I want to save Peyton as much as you do, if not more," I said. "But I don't think we can do it alone. Not if this demon is as strong as you say they are."

I took a deep breath, trying to think through all the likely scenarios.

Rushing in against a dangerous demon was not a great idea unless we had a lot more firepower on our side. That or a masterful plan in place.

That meant talking to the one person I knew was going to be on my side.

"I need to tell my uncle what's going on," I said. "You told me he could hold his own once. Maybe he'd be willing to stand with us if I asked him to. Or maybe he could call in a few favors with some of the Slayers he knows."

Kai nodded.

"We're going to need the help, once we know for sure who has them and where he's keeping them," he said. "But we don't want to take an army into battle when we don't even know if I'm right or what we're up against. That's why tonight is a recon mission. We're not going to fight anyone or try to save anyone. We know he's not going to hurt them yet, so we have time. All we need to do is go in there and see if my suspicions are right or not. If I'm right and the girls are there, then we call in the cavalry."

I took a deep breath. I'd literally just had a conversation with Martin about not sneaking around or lying to him. I didn't want to betray his trust just hours after I said I wouldn't do it again.

"Okay," I said. "I'll go with you, for sure, but I at least need to tell Martin I'm leaving the house."

"Sounds fair enough," Kai said.

"And you should know that the Council has forbidden me to so much as talk about this, much less investigate or interfere," I said. "I don't know why they're turning a blind eye to this demon's activities, but if I go with you tonight, they're going to know about it the same way they knew I was at your house this morning. I don't know what will happen to me after that."