Page 83 of The Witch and The Cowboy
With protection charms and crystals hanging around my neck, I stood proudly in my mother’s Kevlar suit. Cadence wore my old one, complete with the Goddess’s emblem stitched on the chest. Hecate’s three faces blazed in swirling, golden embroidery. The suit was a hair too big on Cadence, but its durable material and intense defensive spells would protect her.
I hoped.
None of my coven had yet to arrive.
Arion hadn’t shown either. I missed the little demon as much as I craved his support.
I double-checked that Arachne’s web was hidden in the pocket on my thigh. My other last resort was nestled beside it, and daggers were strapped to both of my legs. Cadence squeezed my hand in a death-grip, but I didn’t complain. She stared straight ahead and squinted in determination. I followed her gaze.
Vampires, golems, and dark witches walked leisurely through the front gates of the Reids’ property. The golems’ broad, sandy bodies cast huge shadows, and they wore their usual emotionless expressions. The vampires occasionally glanced at the monsters in disgust and picked at invisible flecks of dust on their clothes. Clearly, they would have no idea how to fight alongside each other.
It was one small advantage, but it was better than nothing.
Leading them was Josephine.
She was more stunning than usual. Her long, ebony hair shone in the dim light, and her red lips curved into a feral smile. She wore a green velvet dress with a slit that ran to her hip, and a neckline that dipped nearly to her belly button. A glimmering ruby hung around her neck, and power radiated from her.
Her once kind eyes promised violence.
I waited for her to arrive, though it made my skin itch to give her the grand entrance she desired. I needed to placate her for a while. If I could convince her to keep this fight between us, no one else would have to get hurt.
She grew nearer. Her cheeks were round, and her forehead was perfectly unlined. The few markers of age she’d developed throughout the centuries were gone, undoubtedly because of all the witches she’d so ruthlessly killed. Surely, she hadn’t broken our most sacred law just for a face-lift.
She really had Embraced them.
Josephine must’ve kept the fallen witches’ power somewhere safe, like a cauldron, and siphoned it over time. If she’d absorbed it too quickly, she wouldn’t have been able to hide its effects for as long as she did. Now, the evidence shone through her like a beacon, and power shined from her very pores.
When Josephine was only ten feet away, she stopped. Her cronies halted in perfect unison. Amid the golems and vampires, witches shed their magical camouflage and flickered into existence. I studied their faces and was horrified by what I saw. The dark witches sneered at Josephine’s side, but worse, a few of our coven members—my coven members—stood among them.
“Lydia?” I asked.
My peer—a girl I’d known since I was out of the womb—lowered her blonde head and refused to meet my stare again. As the other betrayers did the same, I ground my teeth.
“Good riddance,” I snapped. “Our coven has no use for the disloyal, but especially not for cowards.”
Great job placating her, I thought and cursed myself.
Walker brushed his hand against mine. It was a reminder of what was at stake if I failed.
Walker, Cadence, their father, my coven, the whole town…
When Josephine laughed at my display, I didn’t flinch. I just met her wild, green-eyed gaze unflinchingly.
“You’ve always been such a hot-tempered girl,” Josephine chided. The familiarity of her voice crushed my withered heart. “I’ve always known it would be your downfall.”
“Really?” I said and casually strolled closer. Cadence reluctantly dropped my hand. “Because I thought my downfall was going to be trusting such an insufferable bitch.”
The witches behind Josephine gasped. Though humans tossed the insult around like it was a common name, witches did not use male insults on each other, and especially not to their superiors.
“Call me all the childish names you can think of,” Josephine snapped. “It won’t bring your mother back.”
I bit my tongue so hard it bled. Before speaking, I waited for the coppery taste to subside and counted to ten. Walker fidgeted in my periphery, and grass crunched under his feet.
“Why?” I asked. “Why did you do it? Why have you done any of this?”
Josephine’s sneer melted. For a moment, the ghost of my goddessmother stood before me.
“I had no choice,” she said and stepped closer. Only six feet separated us. “You must see that—you must listen to me.”
