CHAPTER FOUR

Calla woke to light streaming over her face and a warm body next to her.

Hannah.

The blond must have crawled into their bed during the night when Calla was too deep in her dreams to notice. That, or Delphine had kicked her out. Calla was betting on the latter.

The bright morning light flooded the small space of her room in a way that washed out the dingy paint and made the walls seem cleaner than they were. She absentmindedly rubbed at her left arm until she suddenly remembered the events of the night before. She turned over and snuggled closer to Hannah, trying to bury the spike of fear the new number incited in the back of her mind.

Hannah and Calla had always shared a bed while Delphine usually opted for her own space. Calla was grateful more than ever, in Estrella’s cold winter, that she had someone to share warmth with at night. She hadn’t always lived like this. Calla had once belonged to a coven that took care of anything she needed—before the Fates ruled her life, that is. Although, considering how low the odds of being born with the Siphon curse were, perhaps they had always ruled her life.

Calla had known the exact moment she had to leave her coven: when their fear of what she might become if the Fates had chosen her as their sixth—and final—Blood Warrior was so palpable she could feel it in the air. Once whispers of her third roll being a six started to make the rounds, she felt the weight of everyone’s stares following her everywhere she went. Covens were only so big, and rumors spread fast. Words that were once kind turned venomous, and eventually her coven members stopped speaking to her altogether. She had known once the silence began that it was only a matter of time until those who made it no secret they disapproved of her Siphon abilities would inform Myrea that she had rolled a six yet again. While covens would often do all they could to protect their own, there was no protecting anyone when it came to the Blood Warrior curse. Calla wouldn’t have been the first person one of the Witch Queens slaughtered to keep Fate from claiming its final warrior, and she wasn’t going to put those she cared for in any more danger.

To make life more complicated, there were only a few places she could travel to by land once she left the Witch Realms. The Land of the Valkyries, which bordered the northwestern side of the Witch Realms, hadn’t been an option due to their rivalry with witches. The fae courts and human territories may have been less than welcoming to a witch but still wouldn’t have been an awful choice if it wasn’t for the fact that she was a Siphon. In Estrella, slipping up on her glamour meant being run out of town with scowls, but in the fae courts up north, separated from Estrella by the Neverending Forest, being a Siphon meant constantly dodging people trying to use her abilities for their own gain. Worse, in the human territories south of Estrella, Siphons had a nefarious reputation, which meant there was a fifty-fifty shot she’d be safer shouting that she was a Blood Warrior in the middle of a mortal village than she would be walking around with her single, amber-colored eye. Though Estrella had been the most appealing choice, it was also the most obvious. There had always been a clock counting down her time here. And it looked like her time was up.

Calla studied the new pattern of dots residing on her arm. She reached out and scrubbed her hand over them, rubbing and rubbing until the skin turned blotchy and red.

“Ugh!” she groaned when they didn’t disappear.

“Mmm, Calla?”

Calla watched as the other witch blinked sleepily in the morning light.

“What time is it?” Hannah asked, her voice gruff as she sat up and stretched.

Calla shrugged, but judging from the amount of light flooding the room, she assumed it was still pretty early. Good, she needed to get dressed so she could bring their landlord, a human named Jack, some of the spéctrals she had won the night before. It would be the last month of rent they ever paid for this apartment—a detail Calla was still dreading telling the girls about. While she and the girls could usually slip out of town with unpaid tabs, Calla had heard enough about Jack to know he had loyal patrons scattered across Estrella. If he put a hit out on the three of them, they would be even more screwed.

She climbed over Hannah and out of the bed. Rummaging through the tiny closet the three of them shared, Calla pulled on a high-neck black tunic, matching leather pants, and her usual weathered boots.

Just as Calla finished lacing up her shoes, Delphine’s silver head popped through the doorway.

“Are you both up?”

“Yes,” Calla answered. “I was about to go out to give Jack our rent money.” She figured the rest of the conversation could wait until tonight. She looked around, trying to locate where she had thrown the bag full of coins last night.

“Here,” Delphine said, bending down to pick up the black pouch and tossing it to her.

Calla caught it easily and slipped the bag into its place over her head and across her chest.

Hannah opened her mouth to say something, when she caught a glimpse of Delphine in her tiny lace nightgown. The nightgown was probably one of the shortest things Delphine owned—which was saying something given the siren’s preference for showing off her legs. The nightgown was also one of the most see-through articles of clothing their friend owned.

Calla could see two pink spots blooming on Hannah’s cheeks as she turned her head toward the wall so Delphine wouldn’t see.

“Well,” Calla said nonchalantly, intentionally moving Delphine’s attention to her, “I’m heading out. See you both later?”

“Wait, I’ll tag along. I’m supposed to be meeting Allex anyways.”

Calla resisted sliding a glance in Hannah’s direction at the mention of Allex. “Okay, I’ll wait while you get dressed.”

Delphine disappeared back to the living room, and Calla kicked the door shut as she sat gingerly on the corner of the bed. Hannah released a miserable sigh.

“How is she still with them? They’re not even immortal! This is just going to lead to heartbreak.”

In order to have an immortal life span both parents had to be immortal. Allex would live much longer than most mortals as a half-human witchling, but they would still eventually grow old and die; Calla didn’t think that was the point to be made here.

“Playing the immortality card isn’t the solution, Han.”

Hannah pouted and lay back on the bed.

“You know I’m right,” Calla said gently.

A mumbled “I know” came from the witch’s lips just as Delphine reentered the room.

“What do you know?” Delphine questioned.

“Nothing.” Calla easily waved off the question as she stood from the bed.

Their friend was dressed in a floor-length emerald skirt that had a slit all the way to the top of her thigh and a matching sleeveless top—despite the frigid temperature outside. Calla noted that the deep green of the garment complemented her friend quite well, and told her as much.

“Thank you.” Delphine beamed at the praise before clapping her hands together. “All right, let’s get going, I don’t want to be late to see Allex.”

“Are my eyes good?” Calla waved a hand over her face, a cautious habit she had developed after one too many slipups. Since her naturally mismatched irises were a dead giveaway to her Siphon curse, Calla had to constantly glamour the right one, the dark-honey-colored one, to match her left’s violet hue. Calla sometimes found herself begging the stars to just let the glamour stick permanently. It never did.

“Yep, perfect match,” Delphine assured her.

Calla threw a quick sympathetic smile at Hannah before slipping out the room after her friend. Calla shivered from the coolness in the air, though the temperature wasn’t nearly as bad as it was during nightfall. Delphine was unaffected.

“Where’s your cloak?” Delphine inquired as they began their walk down the cobblestone road toward the northern district.

“I left it at the inn. I’m going to have to stop for another one after I visit Jack. Even with the sun shining, it’s getting too cold to go without one.”

“Do you want to go back to the inn and check for it?”

“Absolutely not,” Calla said. “I won’t be going back there for anything any time soon.”

“Do you think Ezra will try and bother you again?”

“No. I think he’s done with me this time.”

His last words echoed through her mind again.

Myrea says hi.

She quickly pushed them away.

“He better be if he knows what’s good for him,” Delphine muttered as she lifted a hand to check her nails.

When they reached the first row of makeshift tents that indicated they were entering the shopping streets of the northern district, they hooked a left. The market ahead of them hummed with bustling patrons, the crowds of people growing thicker the farther they traveled.

“I don’t think I’ll have to worry about seeing him again.”

“I hope he accidentally wanders into a bad part of the Neverending Forest one day and gets eaten by kelpies.” Delph smirked over at Calla.

A surprised laugh burst from Calla as she bumped shoulders with Delphine conspiratorially. “One can only hope,” she said.

They weaved through the market’s crowd, watching as merchants and buyers went through their usual song and dance. Calla loved the shopping streets. There was just something about the constant hubbub of the crowd and the smell of flowers and herbs that some of the vendors sold. The girls sidestepped a centaur who was haggling with a merchant over the price of fish when Calla cleared her throat.

“So, Allex . . . it seems like you two have gotten awfully close.”

Delphine hummed a bit before saying softly, “They’re nice.”

The girls finally passed through the other side of the crowd. The roads were lined with small bricked storefronts where wealthier patrons shopped. Ahead to the right Jack’s home sat, tucked behind a few well-placed pine trees.

“Well—” Calla began.

“Delph!”

Calla watched as the mortal in question came striding toward them.

Delphine smiled and rushed forward to meet them halfway. Allex circled her in an embrace, and she easily gave them a kiss on the cheek since they stood barely an inch taller than the siren. Calla took in their wiry frame, all gangly limbs and lean muscles. They had short sandy hair, bright blue eyes, and a hint of a two-toned beard growing in, and though they weren’t necessarily Delphine’s usual type, Calla definitely saw the appeal.

Delphine’s silver hair swished as she turned back to Calla. “Are you good from here? We were going to go grab a few pastries from the bakery.”

“I’m good,” Calla assured them with a smile.

“C’mon, you, there are sticky buns to eat!” Delphine said as she pulled Allex toward their new direction. “See you later tonight!” the siren threw back to Calla.

Calla raised her hand in a half wave before continuing toward Jack’s place. As she walked up the sidewalk toward the front door, she was cast in the home’s shadow and had to keep herself from gawking at the towering architecture not for the first time. She bounced up the white quartz steps and paused in front of the door, pushing herself up on the tips of her toes to knock with the heavy brass knocker that was shaped like a fox’s head.

She waited a few moments before knocking again.

Maybe he’s out this morning, she thought.

Calla had just turned to leave when she caught the curtains in the window to her left fluttering. She reached up to knock again, lurching unexpectedly when the door flew open.

“Hello, little witch.” Boone grinned menacingly.

Run.

Calla straightened up as her instincts screamed at her, but before she could take another step, something smashed into the side of her head, and everything went black.

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