“Girl, you better let him pluck that cherry. You don’t see men like that these days. If you’re not going to fuck him, let us know. He’s yummy.”
“You can have him,” I stated. “I’m going to bed.”
Chapter 6
Brander showed up before the sun even appeared in the sky. I opened the door, staring at him as I cleared the sleep from my eyes. We’d spent the entire night in the front room, getting drunk. Not because we’d been afraid of the dark, but because we spent most nights drunk together to ignore our personal issues. It was just easier.
The truth about witches was, we liked to party a lot. We liked to be loud and let loose. It was just easier to ignore the intense strain magic had on us than dealing with it. We compartmentalized it, stowing it away until it became too hard to contain, and we ended up letting it out at the worst time possible. That could be dangerous, considering we were supposed to keep our existence secret from the humans.
It was residue from being created, being manufactured into the most perfect magic casters this realm had ever known, or would ever know. Hecate herself was a party-driven goddess. She’d enjoyed living life fast and hard, and held back very little from the realms she’d lived within.
“You must be Brander?” Sleepily, I covered my mouth to protect him from my morning breath as I yawned.
“I am. I hear your wires got chewed, and you need some assistance?” I’d changed last night, unwilling to sleep in the dress I’d bought for my homecoming. In hindsight, that had been a terrible idea because Brander’s heated gaze slid down my body before looking over my shoulder into the front room where limbs mixed in a mess of bodies, whistling low in his throat. “Lord have mercy, how many of you are there?”
“Sixteen; eight sets of twins.” Crossing my arms over my black Snitches Get Stitches tank top, I studied him.
Brander didn’t look a damn thing like Knox, other than being the same ungodly height. Where Knox’s hair seemed to absorb the light and become lighter or darker based on it, Brander’s was jet black and shined with a blue hue that made his blue eyes stand out more, if it was even possible. Brander’s skin was lighter, as if he didn’t spend his time in the sun and instead preferred the indoors. He had similar tattoos on his arms, but each one had been done in a different color of ink. The top he wore was dark blue, hiding little of the sleek build that pulsed beneath the fabric. I stepped aside, indicating he should enter.
“The electrical box is this way.” He narrowed his baby blues on me, and I noted his hands were empty. “Did you bring tools?”
“I need to peek at the mess first. See what I’ll need to get the job done.”
I nodded, realizing it made sense for him to look at what was wrong before dragging his tools around. At the kitchen, I frowned at the dried blood and observed as he moved past it without blinking despite there being a fair amount.
It still made no sense why there was fresh rodent blood in the house when we arrived. I also couldn’t explain the creature that had vanished without leaving a magical trail or a thumbprint in the air when we had arrived. I’d been unable to sense anything, other than the scent of cinnamon, which had been so faint I hadn’t been sure it had been there.
Once down the staircase, I stepped aside, noting his eyes slowly took in the heavily lit altar that was being prepared for tonight.
Homecomings meant increasing the power to the altar, strengthening the connection from it to the house, which would protect us if the need arose. The skeletal figure had been refreshed, dusted off, and bathed in fresh, clean water. Quartz and Amethyst stones now circled the surrounding floor, with candles placed in the pentagram to strengthen the spell using the five-pointed star.
On the altar, next to the skeleton, were shards of Moonstones for protection and obsidian crystals for grounding magic and adding power, as well as protection for energy. Smaller, polished rocks in an impressive array of colors were styled into symbols, as a single piece of vellum sat rolled into a scroll in the skeleton’s hands.
Tilting his head to the side, Brander looked at the altar before turning back to look at me. “The fuck you guys into?”
“It’s strengthening the house.” I ignited the sage that sat in small rose quart bowls. “Sorry, that may stink a bit. Are your senses heightened? I can extinguish it if they are.” I was fishing, searching for any clue that would fill me in on what Knox was.
“I don’t mind a little sage now and then, little witchy.” Shrugging, he moved to the box to study the wiring.
Standing behind him, I stared at the damage done to the wires. “There’s no way a rat did that kind of damage.”
The wires weren’t exposed, they were gnawed through, tied together to short the entire house the moment someone flipped the breaker. I had somehow narrowly escaped being electrocuted last night. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic since I’d had rubber soles on my boots, but someone had dripped blood from the kitchen to the electrical panel. Gauging from the appearance and damage to the panel, they’d drained a giant rodent right in front of it, creating a pool of blood for some lucky asshole to stand in as they flipped the breaker.
“No, a rat couldn’t have done this. This was done by a human. You see how the wires are braided? They intended to knock out the power to the house, but I’m guessing something stopped them before they succeeded in doing so. The nasty pool of blood, right there? That would have fried the poor bastard who flipped the switch since the power isn’t off at the main breaker, it’s just been redirected. This won’t be an easy fix. See here?” Brander pointed at one of the wires behind the box. “They cut the power to something, probably a room. You will need some serious rewiring considering the age of this box.”
“How much will that run us?” I asked, chewing my lip absently.
“Knox said to fix it.” Rubbing his thumb over his mouth, he calculated the materials cost in his head. “Probably about three something, or so.”
“Three hundred dollars?” That wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be.
Laughing, he shook his head. “No, it’s going to run you about three thousand or so. Not too much, considering the amount of damage.”
“No, that’s not bad,” I swallowed hard, hating the way my stomach flipped with the idea of finding that much money without touching the Hecate account our mother used. If we used that account, she’d know right where we were. I could overdraw a different account, but I had no idea where I’d get the money to pay it back. The shop hadn’t made money since Amara vanished, and no deposits had been posted since she’d arrived here. It was another reason we’d come back. “I’ll get it.” Brander’s lips curved into a dark smirk with my words.
Giving the skeleton a once over, he started up the stairs. “I’ll be back tomorrow to pick up the money.”
“Thank you.” Glancing one more time at the box, I started up the stairs after him. Reaching the kitchen, I looked at Brander before I spoke. “Is Knox home?”
“Yeah, he’s the prick who woke me up and sent me over at the asscrack of dawn to assist you ladies.”