For the past fifteen excruciating minutes, I’d been pulling out my hair, walking around the cages, checking for weak spots in the magical prison wall. I’d even climbed up on top of the cages, thinking there might be an opening. No such luck.
In between, I tried to wake Agnes and Layla. I had my doubts if either of them could help. I would bet that Agnes didn’t have her powers either. I didn’t think Maeve or even Roman was stupid enough to throw a witch into a cage knowing she could cast a spell or wave a hand to free herself.
Layla might become our savior if her powers were unlocked. I was reaching for a miracle. Even if Layla whipped up her magic, the only exit out of here was through the same door Adam and Roman had used, which would lead us right into their hands. On top of that, we were being watched. As soon as our enemies saw us trying to escape, they would converge down here in seconds. I couldn’t worry about that now though.
Agnes stirred, blinking several times and holding her head.
“Finally.” I stood in front of her cage, keeping my burnt hands away from the bars even though my skin was growing back. “Where are we? How do we get out of here?” My pulse was off the charts, and my patience was running on thin ice.
She rose, wobbling as she cinched her dirty pink robe closed. “Slow down.” She grabbed on to the bars with confusion in her brown eyes. Then she glanced at Layla. “Is she alive? I gave her my blood when they threw us in the car.” Horror was etched in her tone. “But then they knocked me out.”
“Her heart is beating. We need to focus and work together. Your evil sister, Maeve, or your niece, Patricia, put a spell around us.” I slapped my hand in the air where the wall was. “Can you take it down?”
She clutched the back of her neck, wincing. “Maeve stole my powers.”
“Patricia took mine. And let me guess. The only one who can return them is the witch who zapped us?”
Her nod mimicked a bobblehead.
Fucked didn’t even begin to describe the situation we were in. Not to mention, I had no earthly idea where Orion and Luna were.
“How do we get out of here?”
“There are two escape routes, but both require magic. There’s a tunnel through the cement wall behind the cage.” She flicked a thumb behind her. “It leads to the house where Orion and Luna had been. The other exit is through the wall behind Layla. That one leads to the outside.”
A maniacal laugh bellowed out of me. There wasn’t a witch around to help us. Panic wasn’t something I succumbed to, but it rose from the depths of hell, consuming me as I began to pace once again, frantically pounding my booted feet on the ground in an agitated rhythm.
Agnes released an exasperated sigh. “I’m exhausted from all this. I hate my sister and niece. I can’t stand Roman and Adam.”
“Join the club. But why are you with your sister, and why did you even leave your husband?”
Frankly, I didn’t give shit why or what her reasoning was. I just needed noise. It helped me think.
“That’s a story for another day.” She had a faraway look in her brown eyes.
I cracked my knuckles, still pacing like a nutjob on steroids. “Then tell me why Adam is in charge and Maeve hasn’t killed Layla yet. I mean, that’s your sister’s goal, right?”
Her jaw hardened. “Last week Maeve made a deal with Adam. She would leave Layla alone until Adam gets his brother Fred and his scientist, Carly.”
Maybe that was why Maeve hadn’t tried to murder Layla in her dreams a second time.
I stopped and folded my arms over my chest. “How does Maeve know Adam or even Roman?”
Agnes hugged herself. “Fred paid us a visit about two years ago. He was looking for my great-granddaughter Abbey. He claimed she had special abilities, and he and his brother, Adam, wanted to help the child.”
Help my ass. The Emerys were out to use Abbey for her unique genetic makeup.
“Did you know about Abbey before Fred showed up?” I asked. I was getting the impression she had.
“In a roundabout way, yes,” she said. “I knew my granddaughter, Rachel, was pregnant by a vampire. After she graduated from boarding school, Rachel took off to explore the world. That was when she met a vampire. But Rachel’s mom, Vanessa, and I didn’t know much more than that. At the time, we only knew of the prophecy that a Monroe witch would give birth to quadruplets, and the seer had seen one of these children turn the entire Monroe coven into vampires. We were afraid for Rachel. We thought it was best for her to disappear. If Maeve had learned that Rachel was pregnant by a vampire, regardless of whether she gave birth to one baby or four, Maeve would’ve killed Rachel. And any witch in our community would’ve helped Maeve since they thought that if the Monroe coven could turn, then maybe their covens could as well. Keep in mind that the Mystic prophecy hadn’t surfaced yet.” She took a breath. “We even advised Rachel to consider terminating her pregnancy.”
I silently cursed that a two-hundred-year-old prediction had severe consequences that affected Abbey, as well as my wife and children.
I clutched my neck. “Abbey’s father, Edmund Rain, ended up killing Rachel—and not because of some prophecy either. He was livid that Rachel had hidden Abbey from him. That’s how sick in the head he was.”
Tears welled up in her brown eyes. “Fred Emery had told us Rachel died but never said how. I should’ve protected Rachel. But my hands were full when Vanessa found out she had ovarian cancer.”
In my book, Agnes was a lost soul looking for redemption and hoping to correct the wrongs of her past. Yet, I understood her desire to protect Rachel.
