“We would have tried someone else then. There are many ley lines we need to quell, and I am exploring various options with the rest of the guild, sending out Witches to clients that I think may bring about the desired outcome.” This was Charl’s attempt to reassure me somehow - to put me at ease, only I wasn’t feeling soothed.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because as soon as we do and the person enters the relationship with that knowledge, the ley lines do not retreat.”
“How do you know this?” Dimitri’s voice was low and gravelly. “Who did you test this on before Corinne and I?”
Holy shit. He had to be right. For them to have gained this knowledge, a Witch must have fallen for someone of influence.
“That is inconsequential.” Charl rebuffed Dimitri’s question, but he wasn’t easily brushed off.
“What happened to her?” It was a demand, and still Charl remained silent, the only sign that he had even heard Dimitri was the tightening of his lips.
“Did she die?” Once again, Dimitri pushed for answers, and still Charl refused to respond. He growled in frustration.
“Those who lost their magick murdered her.” It was Cort’s sophisticated voice that offered the answers, and it was all I could do not to quiver as I realised that we had unknowingly painted another target on our backs.
Dimitri took a step towards Charl, and he was all wrath and rage. “If I didn’t think the consequences would be dire, I would fucking kill you.” That hatred was fully directed at Charl. “You have deliberately endangered Corinne - deliberately positioned her as a fucking target.”
Charl was unflappable as he grinned up at Dimitri. “It’s a good thing you’re the Pakhan of the Bratva then and you can protect her.”
We walked through the French Quarter, leaving Cort and Charl behind to scheme and discuss their plans of salvation, only I wasn’t certain that this was the entirety of the cost.
As was customary with newly wedded couples, revellers pushed out onto the streets, calling out their well-wishes towards us. But there were more revellers on the sidewalks, for this was no ordinary wedding - this was Dimitri Petkov’s wedding, and he was a figure in the NOLA community.
My feet ached from all the walking, but I simply steeled my spine and soldiered through, ensuring that I looked every bit the Society girl that my parents had modelled me to be - despite the now brown blood on the lace of my sleeve.
As we rounded the next bend, I faltered as I took in the sight of Lauren and Stacey standing amongst the revellers, only they were not rejoicing. Lauren’s eyes were a swollen sunken mess, her left arm seemed to twitch haphazardly, and I couldn’t unsee the drool that seemed to dribble from her lips, down her chin. Dimitri strode towards them, tugging me along.
“You make a mockery of what we are.” Stacey pitched her voice low, the accusation reverberating through my bones because wasn’t I just with a Demon?
Dimitri flicked his eyes over Lauren, coolly assessing her state as he ignored Stacey's accusation entirely. “When you’re ready to put her down, let me know.”
“Fuck. You.” Stacey spat at us, causing those within our immediate surroundings to gasp in false shock.
“I am offering her mercy. When you are ready to take me up on it, you know where to find me.”
And with that, Dimitri stepped away from the Voodoo Witches - away from the ugliness of their stares and the sharpness of the words as he tugged me along, down another winding street.
The cobblestone beneath my feet felt newer somehow, and I realized that I had never walked along this route before.
“Where are we going?”
“Home.” Dimitri’s tone was entirely matter-of-fact.
“Why?” I knew that it was customary for us to walk the full district, and we hadn’t even managed half. Did he fear Stacey and Lauren? Was there another threat that I was somehow unaware of and now we needed to flee home?
His calloused palm brushed against my wrist as he tugged me along with a new wave of determination.
“Because I want to fuck you.”
Words failed me, and I did not fight him this time as he moved at a faster pace - did not argue because in this, we wanted the same thing.