Beneath the Watching

18. Mabel

18

MABEL

The sunrise was immediate, the sun crashing through the trees and brightening the skies while the stars winked away. I paced in a circle, trying to decide what to do next. I’d given up on waking in my own bed at home and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to return to the place anyway. I’d asked to be here, and now I was. If I left I knew I’d instantly want to return and it was more a sense of familiarity encouraging me to return to the Third Realm.

The forest was silent as I began walking. Leaving the glittering brook behind me, I tried to walk back in the direction I’d come but when I saw a tiny cottage, I knew I was heading the wrong way. For how much searching I’d done the afternoon before, there was no way I could’ve missed it.

The home reminded me of a gingerbread cottage, with its little picket fence, cobblestone walkway, and cheerfully painted trim. I paused at a tiny gate that’d seen better days, debating whether or not I should ask the voice for help when the front door popped open, and a woman called out. “Come on in child, get out of the cold!”

I looked around, surveying my surroundings as a chill swept over me. It was probably a good idea to get warm, I decided, and unhooked the latch and swung the gate open.

The woman stepped onto the porch, a cheery smile on her face as she wiped her hands on her apron. She had dark hair pulled back from her face and friendly eyes, reminding me of a grandmotherly type, though something told me she was either much younger or much older than her appearance.

Waiting for the voice of guidance in my head, I slowly made my way forward. The woman waved a hand at me, beckoning me to move faster. “Let’s go inside,” she said.

With nothing but silence in my head, I followed the stone pathway. Skipping up the short staircase, I wondered if I was heading to my own doom.

The inside of the cottage was rustic and cozy, decorated with colorful pieces of cloth and multiple trinkets. Small glass vials and other curiosities lined her shelves and I peeked at them, wanting to pick them up for a closer look but holding myself back. The human-looking skulls gave me pause, casually mixed in with the heads and bones of other animals. A wave of discomfort washed over me while I tried to watch the woman out of the corner of my eye.

“I’m making tea,” she announced. “These occasions always call for a steaming cup of herbal tea.”

My hand wandered to a moonstone sitting amongst other gemstones and I forgot my reluctance. I lifted the rock, turning it over in my palm. Cursed , I heard in my head. Instantly, I dropped the stone and watched it careen across the floor. Flicking my eyes up, I waited to be reprimanded.

“Here, come sit.” The woman ignored my fumble and led me to a sheet-covered table, and I took a chair. When she returned with two porcelain cups, I eyed the beverage with suspicion, my discomfort unabating. “You’re a cautious little thing, aren’t you?” she chuckled.

Returning the smile, I said, “Thank you.” I nodded toward the cup.

“I’m Colette,” she introduced herself. “I can’t believe there’s another of you. Well, yes, I can. It was foretold.”

“I’m Mabel,” I replied, staring into the tea. I’d almost expected the reflection of a black-clad man but all I saw were the gas lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

Colette lifted her cup. “Don’t speak much, do you? No, you watch.” She took a sip and then placed her cup back down.

“Unlike the last woman, you’re not scared as you should be. Oh, don’t get me wrong, you’re cautious.” Colette laughed. “But you’re not scared. You’re dead inside.”

The woman howled with laughter as anger built inside me at her words. I wasn’t dead inside, not at all. I was merely highly skilled at keeping everything at a distance, that’s all it was. I stood up. “You’re a crazy lady.”

“Sit down!” she barked at me. I didn’t move. She huffed before she continued, “Fine time to get a backbone.”

Still standing, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“Your path is different than hers. You’re a witch too, but she was lost before she was ever found, and she’ll stay lost. You’ve been found before you were lost and you’re lost now, but you’ve been found. And you’ll be found again.”

My head spun over the word salad. “What the fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “Thank you for the tea,” I said, pushing my chair back under the table.

“You haven’t touched a drop.” She gestured at my full cup. “What does the voice tell you?”

Stopping halfway across her kitchen, I turned my head. She had a gentle smile on her face until her eyes rolled back in her head. “Go back to the beginning,” she mumbled.

The beginning is unchangeable . The voice answered Colette in my head.

Colette’s eyes returned to normal. “You’re an oracle.”

“I never asked for that,” I said.

The woman got up and poured herself some more tea while I wandered back toward the table. “You haven’t asked for a thing in your whole life,” she proclaimed.

Ouch .

She ambled towards me. “You were transferred. After your parents died. Transferred. An aberration moved you to the Third Realm.

“How do you know my business?” I gripped the edge of the table, staring at the thin gold threads weaved into the fabric covering. It was a comfort to hear the reason I was in foster care nearly my entire life. Sad, but a comfort. The strange woman had given me an answer to a question that’d followed me around like a shadow.

The voice chuckled in the back of my mind.

Aberration .

“What did the voice just tell you?”

My eyes narrowed. “That’s none of your business.”

Colette’s eyes widened to the point I wouldn’t have been surprised if they popped out of her head. “They don’t want you talking. They don’t want you to interfere. Great evil is coming for you.” Her eyes squeezed shut and reopened. “Or, not.”

Her back went rigid before she relaxed, her shoulders slumping forward. She shook herself and stood up. “How about some more tea?”

The front door slid open, and I turned my head. Stefan walked in, his gait suggesting calm, but I felt the threat rolling off him in waves. Moving my hands from the table to the back of my chair, I waited to see what he would do. His eyes never found mine, laser-focused on Colette instead.

“You,” she accused. “You imposter. Fraud. Sham. Counterfeit.” The teapot she clutched trembled slightly.

“Witch,” he replied. “What nonsense are you filling people’s heads with today?” He gave her a small smile. His clothing was slightly rumpled, which was an oddity for him. I had to wonder what had happened since I last saw him. Had he been looking for me? My heart gave a little leap.

Colette set the china down on the table. “You monsters must leave these women alone.” Stefan gave a barely perceptible start at her words. “You cannot change fate. Or your species,” she proclaimed.

“You’re wrong, siren.” He took a step toward the woman.

She crossed her arms. “You’re a holy man, you wouldn’t hurt an old lady.” Her features transformed into a more matronly woman, rather than the middle-aged countenance I’d just spent time with.

“Perhaps,” he countered, taking another slow step.

The air was charged with electricity and my gaze flicked between the two. “The ten commandments. Thou shalt not kill. You have to obey your own words for the sake of the people,” Colette insisted.

“The people would’ve perished and died out ages ago if anyone had complied with a single edict of the scriptures you refer to,” he remarked, leaning down to pull a long blade from his leg.

I backed away from the table and glanced at Stefan. His eyes burned bright, and the aggression in the air built to near intolerable levels. When Colette lifted an arm toward Stefan, the pot she’d been holding dropped to the floor and I jumped backward, hitting a shelf. Trinkets fell to the floor, and he lunged forward, plunging his blade into her heart. Luminous red liquid poured from the gash, and he yanked the knife out, letting her body drop. “Too bad you weren’t an old lady,” he said. “Now who’s the imposter?” he growled.

Colette fell in a heap on the floor, her body and clothing liquifying into some form of slime before the ooze slipped through the floorboards and disappeared.

Stunned, I stared for several seconds and then I lifted my head. “You killed her?”

He took the edge of the tablecloth and wiped his blade clean. “Nothing here ever seems to die,” he spat bitterly. He tucked the knife away and crossed the room, stopping in front of me. “Why are you here? I told you to stay at home.”

“So, she’ll come back to life?” He held out his hand and I took it.

He paused, appearing to listen for something. I pictured the woman rematerializing in whatever dirt lay below the floor and figured he was anticipating her return. “She will. Answer my question and don’t look back.”

He hustled me out of the cottage, down the path, and through the gate before I looked backwards. The small home had vanished as if it’d never been there. In its place, trees, flowers, and low bushes stood as if they’d always grown from the forest’s floor.

“Where’d the house go?”

“I told you not to look back. It’s not safe to make eye contact with those kinds of witches when they’re in their base form. I’ll explain everything later.”

Stefan moved me to face him, gripping my shoulders and I let out a gasp at the sudden, stiff contact. “Why did you leave?” he demanded.

My first thought was of his men. “You didn’t hurt Benjamin or Jack, did you?”

“Why did you leave?” The pressure of his fingers increased while he stared at me with his swirling crimson eyes. “You need to start speaking up, I need you to talk to me. I can’t help you if you don’t let me in.”

“Lucian made me feel uncomfortable, something was wrong with him.” I thought for a moment. “It was probably just the voice.”

His eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

I shook my head. “It's probably just me trying to get used to being here. Where were you? You were gone a long time.” I glanced toward where the little cottage once stood again. “Where’d that lady go?”

“It would seem she’s gone, for now, sucked into the dirt.”

Everything was quiet and still. “She won’t come back?”

“She would’ve already. She still might.”

Stefan scanned our surroundings before he turned to me. He looked at me with such desire my knees weakened, and I grabbed his arm to keep from collapsing into the mossy dirt. I’d missed him. A lot.

Another emotion flickered through his eyes. Something had happened while he was gone, something important and something bad. He looked as if he feared losing me.

The next thing I knew, he’d shoved me up against a tree and grabbed my neck and thrust his tongue into my mouth. With his body pressed against mine, he curled an arm around my lower back, tilting my hips to meet his and kissed me deeper.

My mind went blank until all I could do was feel him, everything was erased and only he and I were present in these dark woods. Stefan took my lower lip between his teeth and pressed down, drawing blood before licking it away while his hand traveled lower to squeeze my ass and pull my body against his.

I was delirious from his kisses, one hand tangled in his hair while the other tugged his shirt from his pants. “Do you need something from me?” he asked, his voice low and husky as I ran my nails across his abs.

Something was different about the man, but I couldn’t place what it was. His eyes seemed like they had a different light to them, the energy around him felt unfamiliar. It was still him, still my mysterious dark lover, just enhanced in some way. I didn’t voice my thoughts.

“Just you,” I said softly.

Stefan trailed kisses across my cheekbone and then down my neck, pausing to nibble at the flesh behind my ear. “We can’t stay here but don’t think for a single second your foray into the woods will go unpunished.”

“You’re going to punish me?”

His irises swirled red. “I haven’t decided yet if I’ll use my teeth, a belt or my hands on your precious ass.” He twisted me around, so my back was flush with his chest, and he rubbed his very eager erection against my rear. “Or perhaps another part of me?”

I stayed silent, enjoying the attention, and waiting to see what he’d do next.

“Don’t tell me Al hasn’t already claimed that part of you?”

I swallowed. “He hasn’t. No one has.” I pulled away, creating several feet of separation between us. My butt was a no-go zone, for anyone . “He can do that with Madison if he wants to.”

Confusion spread across Stefan’s face. “Why would you allow that?”

“I wouldn’t. You’re the one that told me they’re sleeping together.” It wasn’t something I liked to think about, but I couldn’t help it, not after what Stefan had said.

He reached for my hand, turning me around. “You’re going the wrong way. And I never said they were sleeping together.”

“You said I was betrayed.” Irritation crept up my spine.

His gaze burned hot. “You were, I didn’t lie to you about that.”

My step faltered, and then I stumbled. I would’ve fallen if he hadn’t steadied me. “I don’t understand,” I said, my heart thumping. He stared long enough for me to begin feeling self-conscious.

“I betrayed you. I watched you for so long it became impossible to stay away. There’s nothing pretty or romantic about my feelings for you, I’m the monster hiding in your closet, waiting in the shadows to grab you and drag you away.”

I opened my eyes and was faced with his sincere gaze. “I don’t care that you deserve better, I don’t care that Al was faithful to you, I still would’ve lured you into the dark and consumed you.”

“You could’ve just asked me,” I replied quietly. “Instead of saying you want to get rid of me.” The knowledge that he’d purposely organized his words to make me think things that weren’t true both annoyed and impressed me. I knew it was wrong of him. Oh, it was very, very wrong—but he cared so much that he was willing to do it. Nobody in my entire life had gone to so much trouble for me.

On the other hand, what else had he lied about?

Stefan bowed his head, staring at the ground as he led us back to the castle. “It's not you I want to be rid of,” he said carefully. “Its people. I don’t get close to anyone.”

“But you’re a priest. Or pastor. Isn’t it your job to be close to people?”

“That’s not why I’m a pastor.” He turned his head toward me slowly, an amused glint in his eyes. “I’m a pastor for the same reason I said you were betrayed.”

I stopped walking and began laughing. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

I couldn’t stop giggling; it took me nearly a minute to calm down. I glanced at the castle coming up in the distance, just past the break in the trees. “It's funny because you're an unholy pastor, which most are anyway, and plus you’re a demon and you’ve got everyone fooled. But you’re the best candidate for being a pastor because you’re a demon.” I took a breath. “Who better to lead a congregation? I mean, obviously you know what you’re talking about.”

He looked surprised. “I hadn’t thought about it like that. Makes sense, in a roundabout way.” He smirked. “But you know that’s not why I do it.”

I grinned back at him. “I know.”

He whirled on me, grabbing the nape of my neck, and holding his lips over mine. “Are you sure you’re not unholy yourself?” Something flickered in his eyes but as quickly as I spotted it, it disappeared. “I know you’re a witch—my witch.”

Stefan’s hand moved from the back of my head, and he gripped my face with both hands, crushing his lips to mine. A tiny tremor ran through my body that excited him more than even my acceptance of him had.

His kiss was fervent, his mouth claiming me as his tongue slid against mine. The familiar taste of him filled me while my body relaxed into his when he dropped his arms to curl them around my waist.

When he finally let go of me, I was panting against his mouth. He lifted a hand and smoothed his knuckles down my cheek before he spoke. “If I can keep my hands off you long enough, we need to discuss your ability to hear voices further.”

The reminder was like someone dumped a bucket of ice over my head.