Chapter Five-Kenna

I'd never had a warm shower before; we always used cold water from the ocean to clean ourselves. After struggling with the damn knob things for a few minutes the Jag's witch friend barged in and set it for me so that the room filled with steam in seconds.

At first I was sceptical, it looked dangerous. But after stepping under the water I felt like I was experiencing heaven on earth. The tingling sensation of the warm water pouring down onto me gave me goosebumps and I sighed as I let it run through my hair and over my closed eyes.

The last few hours played over and over in my mind. I thought of my last conversation with Addy and started to choke up. The emotions I fought so hard to bottle in came crashing down like a ton of bricks, crushing me with despair as I leaned back and sunk down onto the tiled floor.

I hadn't let myself feel the pain. Perhaps shock had something to do with it, however there was no holding back the tears now so I let them flow freely as I mourned my sister, not caring if anyone heard my cries of despair.

I vowed to take revenge and knew that I'd probably end up dead, but before then I'd make damn sure that the person responsible for Addy's death suffered; the blood oath with the Jag made sure of that.

I thought back to the moment we were both cursed and I just couldn't understand. Why would anyone want to place a curse on me? I understand why they'd want to curse him; no doubt a form like his has done some terrible things in his long lifetime but I'd only been around for a few years and it's not like I had any enemies.

Swallowing the lump in my throat when my thoughts drifted back to my sister, I attempted to distract myself. I wiped the mirror so that I could just make out my features in the still-steaming room; I had no idea how to work that thing so I left the water running. No doubt the witch would be able to turn it off.

I grimaced as I gave my body a once over. I had an ugly purple bruise just above my eye where I must have hit my head on the rock, my arms and legs

were covered in scratches. At least the bruising from the guard that attacked me was starting to fade.

For the millionth time I wished that I had the ability to heal like a purebred. hexbloods healed so slowly in comparison but at least we didn't heal as slowly as the humans.

Biting down, I tried to ignore the pain as I pulled a brush through my long hair and worked my way through what felt like hundreds of knots. Eventually I was left with a head full of frizzy hair that stood up in all directions.

The witch told me what to do with a bottle labelled conditioner, but I'd never used it before so I didn't see the point. Instead I used the bar of purple soap that smelled absolutely divine.

I looked at the clothes that were given to me and looked back at the clothes I'd worn almost every day of my life. Out of pure stubbornness I put my old clothes on before braiding my hair and tying it up into a knot on top of my head.

"You can do this," I whispered to myself, although even I didn't believe me, "you have to do this." I rephrased, "for Addy." My eyes stung as I looked up and fought hard to shove the emotions down. I had to numb myself to everything around me if I was to get through all that lay ahead. After a few shaky breathes I was able to compose myself and walk out into the hallway.

I expected them to be waiting, armed and ready to go as promised, instead there was nobody in sight and I was left alone in the narrow passageway.

Hushed whispers sounded from the living room and I slowly made my way towards the sound when I recognized them as the voices of the Jag and Delilah.

They were seated at a large oak table in front of a roaring fire in the living room. Delilah had a cup of something in front of her while the Jag sipped on a dark liquid in a short glass.

They hadn't noticed me yet, or if they did they didn't care enough to look up from the map spread out on the table, so I took the opportunity to look around.

The large windows travelled from one side of the house to the other, reaching from floor to ceiling as the rain pelted down outside, leaving beautiful droplets on the clear glass. The surrounding trees looked greener than ever compared to the soft baby blue of the ocean lapping up onto the sandy beach just a few steps ahead. It was beautiful.

Anger surged through me as I realized just how these people lived in comparison to the villagers and humans. It wasn't fair that they had hot water and lavish living spaces when we suffered in the winters, huddling together for warmth our small huts held such little of.

For the millionth time I vowed to take revenge, not only for Addy but for the people living under the Queen's rule. I had no idea how I'd do it, but for as long as I was alive I'd make it my mission to kill as many of these horrid creatures as possible, and once the curse was lifted I'd start with these two.

"Come here. Sit." A soft voice called to me.

I whipped my head around to find Delilah watching me from in front of the fire. She gestured to a seat opposite theirs and I made my way over slowly.

The jag didn't even glance my way and continued to frown at the map and sip his drink. "You didn't change into the clothes we provided?"

"I want nothing from you. Just keep to your side of the bargain and I'll keep to mine." I said.

Delilah raised an eyebrow as I spoke and looked to the jag who said nothing except, "Very well. Walk around smelling like a dead squirrel if it pleases you to do so. Although I must say that it is rather unappealing."

I smiled sweetly and squinted my eyes at him, "Good thing your opinion matters as much to me as a bucket of shit."

Delilah burst out laughing and the jag's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he schooled his expression once more, "Right, Delilah," he said, turning to the witch. "Where exactly is this woman located in New Orleans?"

"Well, she owned a souvenir shop there about ten years back, I haven't spoken to her since my last visit but rumour has it she's still around. A friend of mine mentioned that she'd moved her shop to Bourbon Street a few years back." She explained.

I leaned forward to see the pins marking various parts of the map and tried to make out the notes scribbled all over. "Who exactly are we going to see?" I asked, directing my attention at Delilah. She wasn't my favourite but I'd much rather be dealing with her than her jackass companion.

"She's a witch," She told me, "She's the one who's going to help us break the," she glanced nervously at the jag, "curse. She owns a shop selling various types of souvenirs for tourists that visit the city but also has a lot of knowledge about situations like this. I'm hoping she's seen something similar before and knows how to fix it before it's too late."

"Too late? What do you mean?" I asked.

Again, she looked to the man sitting beside her who seemed extremely uninterested as he gazed out at the window. "Did Jed explain anything about the curse at all?" She asked turning her attention back to me as she began using an elastic band to tie her long, blonde hair into a ponytail.

I shook my head, "Not much, just that the only reason I'm still alive is because there's a possibility the curse that was placed on both of us had linked us in some way."

She nodded slowly, her expression thoughtful as she spoke, "Yes well, like with any binding spell, if it's able to be lifted but is not in a certain amount of time there's a chance those two people could be linked for life."

"So you're telling me that if we don't get this curse lifted as soon as possible, I'll be linked to Sunshine over here forever?"

She looked wholly uncomfortable as she pursed her lips together and nodded, "Afraid so." she mumbled.

"I don't feel any different though? Surely we could just get out of here, go our separate ways and be done with it?" I asked hopefully.

"Not exactly—" she began,

"After even just a week things will begin to worsen, there doesn't need to be an emotional connection for there to be a physical need to be close to one- another. The curse does not influence your feelings, it takes away your free will to leave to move around the world as you please without pining for the person you're linked to. Essentially it robs you of your freedom to a certain extent." His golden eyes bore into mine intensely and I pretended not to notice the way my heart started beating a little faster as he spoke.

"It's not like I had much of that anyways." I told him before rolling my eyes and turning to Delilah, "So that's it? There's no other way to do this?"

Delilah shrugged, "Afraid not."

"Well that's just great!" I said as I threw my hands up in the air. "How quickly can this woman lift the spell?"

"It all depends on whether not she's seen or even heard of something like this before," She said looking down at her watch, "which is why we must leave immediately." Delilah stood up and walked over to the kitchen before rummaging through a purple rucksack and stacking items onto the kitchen counter.

"Hold up," I said as the Jag stood and walked over to her, "We had a deal! First, you help me find my sister's killer then I go with you to help find this
woman."

"No," said Jed simply as he walked through to his bedroom and grabbed a bag of his own, "you come with us to find this witch, lift the curse and only then will we help you find the person responsible for killing your sister."

"That wasn't the agreement!" I shouted as he pushed past me and began walking back to the kitchen.

"Yes it was," he said, turning to me until we were face to face, "I agreed to help you find your sister's murderer if, and only if, you assisted us in lifting the curse. The placement of words implies that the completion of your part of the deal is required prior to us fulfilling ours."

"You lied." I stated angrily.

"You're surprised?" He chuckled as he turned and walked over to stand beside Delilah, "Now, what will it be, little hexblood? Will you come with us and get revenge for your sister or will you let your stubbornness be the death of you and the means to a happy life for her killer?"