27
Viv POV
The men grab me and shove me into a car. I can hear Travis screaming my name, but then it stops. He tried to help me. I look to see if he is okay, but he is lying on the ground. They hurt him.
Two of the men are definitely wolves, but the third one is something else. He is not human, but I cannot figure out who or what he is even though he does look familiar. As I am staring at him, trying to place him, he smiles at me with a ridiculously evil grin. He is trying to intimidate me. Sorry, that will not work. I have seen much more sinister creatures in my life, and you do not scare me.
A car pulls up, and I see a woman making her way to the car I am in, waiting to see what they will do to me. Hell, I wonder what in the hell I have done to these people. Is this over Ozzy and the council? I bet all of this is about Ozzy. Then I see her. It is Gia. Why is this woman so dead set on hurting me?
"Hello, little witch," she says. She reaches into the car and touches my face. I jerk back from her.
"What the hell do you want with me?" I ask her. Gia laughs.
"Oh, I do need something from you, but first, we need to get you away from here and away from Ozzy, my little witch," Gia says.
I am stuck. Travis is lying on the pavement, and three men, plus Gia, have me. I cannot move or get away from them. I sit back in the seat. Right now would be an excellent time for Ozzy to pop up, but he is with the council. I hear Gia talking to the men. I try to listen. I listen to her say something about a house and the council, but I cannot make out anything else she is saying.
The men get into the car with me, and then one of them puts a hood over my head. Great. I will have no idea where I am when I get there. That will make escaping these assholes fun. Even if I can figure out a way to get away from them, I will have no idea where I am and where to run.
I close my eyes and listen as we drive. If I hear something or recognize the driving pattern, I might be able to figure out where I am. The only familiar sound is the buzzing noise from the old town bridge. I recognize it when we cross it. I know we are going into wolf territory. Great! A witch with the wolves. I am as good as dead. They hate us.
We pull down a long gravel driveway. I hear the rocks hitting the car, and then we finally come to a stop. The men pull the hood off of my head and then drag me out of the car. "I can walk. No need to be assholes," I snap at them.
The man with the evil grin throws me to the ground. He gets down in my face and slaps me hard. "Shut up, witch!" he screams at me. Another man pulls me to my feet and proceeds to pull me into the house.
They take me through the central part of the house and then down the steps into the basement. There is a table with ties and hooks. He puts me on the table and ties me to it. "You will answer all of my questions, witch, or this will not be a fun night for you," the evil grinning man says.
I have no idea what kind of information I could possibly have that they or Gia would want from me. None of this makes any sense. I lay still as he ties me. I do not fight him. The evil grinning man starts doing something around the room. He is doing a barrier spell: one way in and no way out for me. The evil grinning man is a witch.
I hear someone else coming. Click Clack. It is Gia and her high heels. She comes down the steps. She walks over to me. She smiles, seeing me tied up to the table. "Now, look at you, little witch," she says.
I do not respond to her. I close my eyes and try to ignore her. She slaps me as I try to think of anything except where I am and what is going on right now. "Stay with me bitch!" she screams at me.
I open my eyes and look at her, but only for a moment. She slaps me again. This time I completely block her out. "I want to know everything she knows about Ozzy and Travis. The two men are important to me, and I bet she knows all of their secrets," Gia says.
Secrets! What secrets? I know nothing about either of them except that Ozzy is a wolf and Travis is a witch. What secrets does Gia want from me?
"You could tell me what I want to know, little witch. It would save us time and you a lot of pain," Gia says.
I open my eyes and look at her. "Gia, I have no idea what it is you want to know, but I do not know anything about either man," I say to her.
She does not look pleased. "You are in both of their beds. You know something. I want to know about Ozzy and the council," she says.
Ozzy and the council, I am so confused. I feel something touch my leg. It is the evil grinning man. "My friend here will get you to talk, and I can promise you that," Gia says.
"None of this makes sense, Gia. I know Ozzy went to the council about our relationship, but nothing more," I answer her.
Gia hits me across the face hard. "Liar," she says. My ears ring from the blunt force of her strike. "What is Ozzy up to?" Gia asks me.
"I do not know. Why don't you ask him?" I ask Gia.
Gia strikes me again across the face. "I want her talking and soon," Gia says to the evil grinning man. She goes back up the stairs. Her heels Clicking and Clacking as she walks away.
The evil grinning man comes over to me. He touches my face where Gia struck me. "That is going to leave a mark, dear. But nothing compared to what I will be forced to do if you do not tell me about Travis and his magic and about Ozzy," the evil grinning man says.
I swallow hard. "I do not know anything," I say to him.
"Well, I guess we need to get acquainted then. I am Stallone, and I am a very old witch. I have no patience, and I am on a deadline. So we should get started," Stallone says with his permanent evil grin.
"What do you want from me, and what are you going to do to me?" I ask him.
"Simple. We need to know what you know. I am only going to administer a truth spell. Trust me, and if you lie, it will hurt like hell," Stallone says.
Stallone goes to work with his ritual. I am not sure exactly what he is doing or what his truth spell is. I have never practiced my magic much. I wish I would have now, maybe I could fight back, but I was always afraid of my magic.
Stallone works for hours. I lay on the table and try to put myself into a deep meditation. I want to be somewhere else. I want to be far away from here. I wish I knew how to connect with my ancestors, but now all I can think of is Stallone or Gia will kill me.
I go into a deep trance. I go so far down into my mind that I hear a car coming down the driveway to the house. I can hear Ozzy speaking, and then I hear Travis coming in the basement door. I open my eyes. Stallone is gone, and Travis is freeing me.
Travis and I try to get out of the basement, but Stallone's spell secures the door. "It is spelled," I say to Travis.
Travis pulls something from his pocket. It is a dark powder. "That will not work," I hear Stallone's deep voice say.
Travis turns around and blows the powder into Stallone's face. The powder sends Stallone into a deep trance. The door unlocks and opens. "Go!" Travis says to me.
I go out of the basement door, and Travis follows me. "Ozzy is with you?" I ask him.
"Yes, he is talking to Gia," Travis says quietly. We make our way to the front of the house. Ozzy is still at the front with Gia.
"Get that bitch!" I scream.
Travis tries to stop me, but I make a run for it. I am going to kick her ass. I run up on the porch. Gia looks shocked to see me. Ozzy tries to stand between us. "She tried to torture me," I say.
"You cannot touch me, little witch!" Gia screams at me.
"Want to bet?" I ask her. I grab her and start hitting her. I want to kill her for taking me from my home and scaring the hell out of me. Ozzy pulls me off of her. Travis comes up behind me and pulls me down the steps.
"We should leave now while we can," Travis says.
"I am going to the council," Gia says.
"Make sure you tell them you kidnapped Viv," Ozzy says.
"No one will believe her or you, Ozzy," Gia screams at him.
Ozzy and Travis help me back to the car. The two men on each side of me. They both care so deeply for me, but Ozzy may be more trouble than he is worth. I cannot handle all of this drama. I have to wonder what kind of magic Travis is practicing that the wolves are so interested in also. I think both of them are hiding a lot from me.
I get into the backseat and move close to the window. "You can stay with me tonight," Ozzy says.
"No, I want to be alone," I say to him.
"Ozzy is right. You do not need to be alone," Travis says.
"Okay then, take me to Conrad's, please," I say.
The two men look at each other. They have to know that I blame both of them for tonight. This is too much to deal with, and I cannot do this right now. I need rest, and I need to think. I cannot do either if they are both watching me.