#WitchcraftWednesday | ✔

Chapter 16: Nothing but Candles

Before Nathan can think of anything to say to the woman holding them at gunpoint, Jamie speaks. "Not gonna lie, bestie, I'm a little disappointed right now. Thought we were really bonding over poker for a few hours there."

Eva's eye twitches. "It's not like I enjoy doing this, but it's what I get paid to do. Derek's my boss and I do what he says." She turns to Nathan. "Maybe you should've done the same. It would've been better for you."

"Absolutely not," Nathan replies, tone clipped. "You don't know what's good for me. I don't even know what's good for me. But I'm done being a tool for Derek to use as he pleases. Only right thing to do with a bastard like him is give him up." He pauses, remembering something that may help their case. "And for the record, I'm sorry about hitting you in the face with my bag. What happened on the subway wasn't personal."

He and Eva were like friends, once. It may still mean something here and now. Nathan hopes it does.

Jamie blinks. "Sounds like a fascinating story. Tell me about it sometime."

"Shut up, both of you," Eva barks. "You're going to come with me and we'll wait for Derek to–"

"No, Eva," Nathan snaps, sending a scalding glare in her direction. "We're not waiting for Derek and you have to let us go. This ship will sink soon and unless you want to go down with it, let us leave. If you want to die for Derek, that's for you to decide, but please don't drag everyone here along with you."

Eva's eyes widen. "You're bluffing. How... Why would the ship sink?"

"Magic." Nathan holds her gaze and takes a bold step forward. "Powerful magic Derek wants to have. Do you think that's a good thing, Derek with so much power? Is that what you want?"

"What my opinion is doesn't matter. What I want doesn't matter. I do what Derek says–"

"It does matter," Nathan interrupts, "it matters more than anything else ever will. This is your life, it's your fucking life, and is this really what you want for the rest of it? Doing a deranged criminal's dirty work, always fearing what he might do if you step out of line? Do you want to live in whatever world Derek's envisioning? Is that how you're going to live and die?"

Eva grits her teeth, shakes her head. "You don't understand, Nathan. Derek was good to us, did you forget that? He was good to you, to me, to Patch. We could get ahead in life because he gave us a fighting chance."

And Nathan remembers now that he asked Eva once how she and Patch ended up working with Derek McLaren. He'd always thought she could've done better, so much better, than running drugs for their supplier. He hadn't expected an honest answer from her then, but Eva had stiffened and stared at the pills in her hands uncomfortably, and told him her story in a few short sentences.

The foster system is broken, she'd said. I never could count on anyone but Patch, and he got involved with Derek, said we'd be rich and safe and everything we wanted to be. I wasn't that optimistic about it at the time, but he's my brother and he wouldn't have lasted a day without me. Someone had to look out for him.

She'd told him that, and Nathan had understood, because there'd been a time when Derek was less of a man and more of a promise, a gateway to wealth and opportunities and a future that didn't look so bleak. What he hadn't comprehended was Eva's devotion to the likes of Patch Booker, why someone would enter a life of crime and danger out of love for someone like him, but he thinks he gets it now. Maybe it's just the cruelty of caring about other people. It's inevitably going to ruin you, in a good way or a bad one, and you don't know which it will be until you try.