Blaze knew he’d poked the wound of Jett’s past so he let it slide. He hopped into his truck and took the short drive into Salem.
It was lucky, really, that the relationship between the Marblehead and Salem packs was good. The elders of both wolf packs had always insisted that it was beneficial to make good with the neighbors. Not just because the pack borders nearly overlapped, but because the packs could lean on each other in situations just as this.
Blaze would help the Salem pack, but he was also making sure his own people and land were protected from this witch hunter threat. No one threatened the Marblehead pack and lived to tell the tale.
Chapter Three
Astra
“What the fuck?!” Astra took a few steps back, but it didn’t matter.
Mrs. Gellar was still pointing a weapon at her. The little old lady holding a huge handgun was quite the sight. The image would have been comical if it wasn’t so downright disturbing. The gnarled fingers were already on the trigger as if she was seconds away from firing at Astra.
“Watch your language, you little shit.” Mrs. Gellar’s reprimand took her by surprise, almost as much as the gun.
“Are you seriously giving me crap for swearing while aiming a gun at me?”
Mrs. Gellar laughed. It gave Astra all kinds of shivers, and her legs wanted to run as far and as fast as possible.
“It’s the perfect time,” the old broad slid off the massage table. “At least I have your attention. You should respect your elders. Your kind are vicious, but you don’t have to be crass.”
“M-my kind?” Astra’s mind was reeling. She hadn’t been chewed out for swearing in a very long time. That was one battle her mother had given up on. But she also didn’t understand just what in the hell Mrs. Gellar was talking about. “My kind? Do you mean holistic practitioners?”
Mrs. Gellar’s entire demeanor changed, going from pleasantly psychotic to completely deranged. “Witches.” She spat the word like it was full of poison. Like it hurt to say.
“Witches?” Astra repeated. She felt her cold skin break out into a sweat. Her heart rate kicked up a few notches as she tried to remember if she had ever accidentally done some magic in front of Mrs. Gellar.
But she was drawing a blank. That had never happened. She was sure of it. Well, not anything that could be seen anyway. Astra had done quite a bit of protective magic in front of the old lady, but it was always just so that Astra could protect herself from the intense way Mrs. Gellar seemed to draw her energy right out of her.
“Witches aren’t real,” Astra pointed out. Her voice cracked and squeaked, completely betraying her.
“Didn’t I just warn you that you need to respect your elders? Don’t lie to me, girl. I know what you are. I know what your kind does. You’re a blight on this town. All of you witches have always tried to run this town into the ground. We’ve had enough of it. Now, you’re going to be a good girl and come with me.”
Astra nearly swallowed her tongue in surprise. “Why in the hell would I do that?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll shoot you right here. Then I will shoot your sister.”
The gun poked her in her side as Mrs. Gellar pushed the barrel into her. For an insane second, Astra thought about pushing Mrs. Gellar down. But the massage room was so small and hallways so narrow that she'd be a huge target for a bullet to find even thirty feet away.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t get the hell away from her when they got outside. That she would do.
There was also no telling just how far Mrs. Gellar was going to take things. There was no way Astra was going to put her sister in any sort of danger.
“Okay,” Astra put her hands up defensively in hopes of appeasing Mrs. Gellar. “I just want to know what is going on. Please, I’m confused.”
She was trying to keep her would-be attacker calm and talking. Then maybe Selene would walk in and they could… Shit. Her mind grinded to a halt. And then what would they do? Overpower an old lady? How would that look to the cops?
Not great.
None of the plans that Astra came up with were great in her circumstances.
“Can you tell what you want from me?” Astra asked, trying to keep her voice steady. The old woman was off her rocker.
Mrs. Gellar turned her nose up at Astra. “You’re a witch. Just like all of the other Bishops that poison Salem. We don’t want your kind here.”
“I’m not saying I’m a witch. But if I were, what would you want with me?”
“You’re going to come with me.” She nodded as if she was talking to Astra and someone else in the room.
Astra glanced around to make sure she was alone with the crazy old woman.
“And then?” Astra couldn’t believe that if she went anywhere with Mrs. Gellar, she would live to tell about it.
“Oh, you’ll see.” Mrs. Gellar blinked and smiled. “You’ll see.”
The look made Astra extremely uncomfortable. The tiny hairs on her arms stood up. Her entire body was very aware of the threat in front of her.
Little old ladies could be killers, too.
Astra wasn’t sure if Mrs. Gellar was going senile and imagining the existence of witches. Or, even more frightening, if Mrs. Gellar had somehow discovered the existence of witches and magic.
“I don’t understand what you would want from a witch,” Astra pressed.
“We want you all dead and gone.”
“We?”
Mrs. Gellar smiled maliciously, her dentures sparkling in the light. They moved in her mouth and Astra almost threw up. “You think I’d attack a witch without some kind of help?” The cackle was loud and grated against Astra’s nerves. “I’m from the Order of Salem, you silly little witch. We’re are an entire community fixing for your extinction.”
“The Order of Salem?” A cold panic gripped her heart. “Witch hunters?” Astra’s voice was nothing more than a whisper.
“That’s right.” Mrs. Gellar let loose another cackle.
“You’re going to kill me.” Astra didn’t need the old woman to confirm what she already knew.
“Not before we get somethings out of you. That’s why you need to come with me. I don’t mind killing you right here. There’s plenty more witches we can torture to get the information from.”
Astra tried to swallow, but her entire body was tight. There was nothing to do but stand there and listen to Mrs. Gellar talk about torture as if it were nothing.
There was no way in hell that Astra was going to walk away or run away from this situation. Not if that would put another witch in trouble. She had a choice, and that was to follow Mrs. Gellar then try to thwart the Order of Salem as their captive, or to sic then onto another unsuspecting witch.
What if that witch turned out to be Selene? Or one of her cousins? No, Astra believed in fate. She believed in destiny, and that everything happened for a reason. But she could still try to get away at the first chance.
Mrs. Gellar had always been her client. Astra had been accosted first. There was a reason for that. She was taking on this responsibility.
“Fine,” she said, making sure her voice was loud and steady. “If you swear to leave my sister alone, I will go with you.”