Page 50 of Resurrecting the Witch
“Run back and keep your brother in check, I just need to change, and I’ll be right over.” I looked at Patrick who hadn’t taken his eyes off Merrick since he showed up. “Patrick, can you go with him. Drew might listen to you until I can get there.”
“I will not leave you.”
“I’m not giving you a choice. Do not let Drew kill a resident or it will create a complete shit show for me, and I will blame you for being a stubborn ass instead of listening to me. And then there won’t be a repeat performance of tonight.” I got in his face as much as I could when I only came eye level up to his chest.
He might have been able to dominate me in bed, but I was High Priestess now and couldn’t let anyone forget it, even someone who I was literally drooling on only a few minutes prior.
Patrick reached out and touched my face, his skin instantly lulling me back into a state of calm. “I promise I’ll be right behind you in my Beetle, and I promise anyone who tries to come at me when I was woken up in the middle of the night without a single coffee has a death wish themselves.”
My boyfriend (Is that what we were now that I sat on his face?) looked me up and down once more and then nodded to Merrick. “Let’s go stop your idiot brother.”
* * *
I arrived only twenty minutes later to the Hemlock residence. The sky had shifted from pitch black to a darker blue, signaling the impending sunrise. I texted Guillermo to meet me there but hadn’t heard back; I figured only one of us should have to wake up at this unholy hour, so if he didn’t get the message, I at least had Patrick as backup.
That was a nice thought. I couldn’t remember the last time I trusted someone enough to keep me and my residents safe. I sent Patrick ahead to give me time to put myself together instead of showing up like a hot mess. It was something Guillermo, Lennox, and I had discussed at length in the past: my image as the future, and now current, High Priestess of Ó Cuinn HOMES; I couldn’t look like a slob. I had to have my act together in public even if I loathed my image being something folks cared about when their safety was most important.
The Hemlock house was off the beaten path in the deep woods up the side of a peak a little further from town than my cottage. While it was isolated overall, it was still only a thirty-minute walk from town, or about a five to ten-minute drive depending on the weather conditions. The entryway was curved in switchbacks to scale you up and I hated coming up here in a bike, or anything else other than something with four wheels. I never met them here in the winter unless one of the boys was driving for this very reason. The terrifying turns that felt like you were going to experience flight before your untimely death if you hit one rock wrong. The frost hadn’t settled too deeply in yet, and the snow we had seen at this point in October was so minimal that it wasn’t too dicey to climb yet.
Approaching the driveway, I saw the crazy amount of cars the Hemlocks had at any given time. Matteo and Massimo ran an auto repair shop in town and collected old cars as a hobby. I couldn’t appreciate every vehicle in their driveway, but I knew their monthly Cars and Coffee at The Witch’s Brew in town was always a hit and folks never got enough of their collection.
The magick in my chest tightened as I opened the oversized, dark wooden door and walked into the Hemlock house. I felt a level of nostalgia I hadn’t expected and took a deep breath at the memories resurfacing. I hadn’t stepped foot in this house in over five years, not since Mamma Adelaide and Papá Otto were killed during Hunter’s attack. I was surprised Drew had demanded the Hemlock pack stay in this house with all these memories constantly reminding them if what they lost.
That was the thing about grief though, wasn’t it? Where Drew clung to his family and reminders of his parents, I burned all of my reminders to the ground and ran away to my cottage in the woods. Drew chose to remember out of respect for his parents, while I chose to swim deep in my need to forget.
“You’re lucky you weren’t ripped to shreds by the time I got here,stronzo.” Drew growled the words from the kitchen in a tone I’d only heard from him when we were hunting the Jacobs coven five years ago. I made my way down the hallway covered in more pictures and memories of the entire pack growing up but ignored them best I could as I made my way to the raised voices.
“Come at me, you piece shite,” a new voice, sounding more Scottish than Irish, so definitely not Patrick, added to the mix. I guessed it was Warren. He hadn’t had much of an accent that I remembered, but I’d only met him a few times.
“I am a wolf and will shred you apart if you don’t shut the fuck up,” Drew replied in that same unusually dark tone that was almost like a growl.
“Chill bro, Cliona is on her way,” I heard Sergio or Sebastiano say. They were twins, but unlike Matteo and Massimo, they were identical, down to their voice. I stopped trying to tell them apart years ago after they tricked me more times than I cared to admit.
“Cliona will be here in a moment, everyone just calm down,” Guillermo said. So he had gotten my message.
“If these mutts would ju—”
“Shut the fuck up, Warren. I will roast you alive if you say one more disagreeable thing in my presence.” Great, Dom was here too. We were having a mini council meeting in the Hemlock kitchen this morning then. Maybe Grom and Arch would show up with donuts.
I didn’t wait any longer and swaggered into view with as much bravado as I could muster. “What in the actual fuck is going on here?” Something I would never tell Guille or Lennox is that they were right about the appearance. I put on my usual all black ensemble, but this time wore ripped black jeans with fishnets underneath, a tight-fitting tank top that made my boobs like fantastic, covered with the black leather jacket I only wore on Bad Bitch occasions, which it seemed from Merrick’s face this called for. I even took the time to spell some makeup on my face, so I didn’t look like I rolled out of bed to be here. My smoky eyeshadow was a gradient of light to darkest gray with winged liquid liner that I wouldn’t have been able to do without magick. I had watched hours of YouTube videos before I took the magick way out most times when I was in a rush, then just resolved myself never to tell Lennox about my cheating ways. My lips were even painted a deep scarlet that looked almost black in the right light. I took in my surroundings and didn’t let my shocked reaction show. Warren was pinned against the wall with Patrick and Guillermo on either side. Drew was on the other side of the big island in the middle of the open floor plan kitchen with Merrick, Mateo, and Massimo holding him back, even though it looked like they wanted to let him go and take a piece of Warren for themselves. Dominic was in the living room area with Gioia behind him as if he was going to kill anyone if they even took a step toward her. Sergio and Sebastiano were lounging on the couch, taking it all in.
No tension to diffuse here. Nope, none at all.
“You all interrupted something I’d like to get back to, so go ahead.” I motioned with my hands for people to talk and no one took my request to heart. Everyone seethed looking at one another until I made eye contact with Patrick who narrowed his eyes at me with a different type of emotion. He looked like he wanted to fuck me right here in front of everyone, and he licked his canines to show me just how true that was.
“Come on, keep it in your pants, Gallagher,” Dom said from the living room and shook his head in disappointment. “You can’t seriously be turned on right now?”
“What do you think you bastards interrupted, you ice fire breathing beast.” My cheeks heated at the admission, more so how he refused to take his eyes off me despite the situation. “And she shows up here now dressed like—”
“Like a right whore is what,” Warren murmured and I swear the entire room froze.
“You are so fucking dumb, dude,” Gioia said from behind Dom, and I saw Merrick shaking his head in disbelief as well. And as confirmation, Patrick moved his hand from Warren’s bicep to his throat and began to squeeze as he pinned him against the wall. Guillermo stepped back and seemed pleased to let him continue, so I guessed it was my turn to be the grownup of our little leadership duo.
“Patrick,” I commanded before he had a chance to murder him too. “Do not murder the idiot before we get answers.”
He snarled back at me, and I saw his eyes usually bright blue turn almost black with black veins stretching from the corners of his eyes. This wasn’t normal, even for fae, and I guessed this had something to do with the zombie powers he talked about. I stepped up to him and grabbed his forearm, pinching him until he looked down at me again. “Release him or I won’t return the favor of what you did to me earlier.” I saw as my words registered and the veins sunk back beneath his skin and the blues of his eyes came back to normal. Apparently mentioning me sucking his dick is all it took for him to get control.
“Sorry,mo grá.” Patrick said and looked embarrassed.
