SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, henry mills

chapter ten

CHAPTER TEN
A PROPER LADY

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Josie stared at the place where Morgana and Zelena had disappeared in what she really wanted to be shock. From the moment they'd laid out their plan, Josie had a bad feeling about it, she knew something would go wrong or wouldn't go their way and now here they were, standing in the abandoned home, having failed at doing the one thing they had set out to do.

To no one's surprise, Regina was not happy. She had demanded answers out of the air, questioning no one about where her sister was taken. As Josie sat down on the nearest surface she could in order to catch her breath, Abraham was patient in trying to calm Regina, assure her a second attempt once they find Morgana's new hideout, would be a success. Josie wanted to believe her father as much as Regina did, she was sure, but after their failure, the young vampire hunter just didn't have it in her.

Nicholai sat down next to her, just close enough that their arms brushed. It was a silent way of offering comfort when they were both too tired for anything more. Judging by the look on his face, he was getting close to needing to feed. He hadn't fed since before the quake and the collision and with how much energy he'd needed to exert in that time, Josie questioned just how safe it was for him to be around all these people, especially with how angry Regina was. She would never deign to question her best friend's control, but she knew that if he waited too long, it didn't matter how much control he had.

"No, she knew that we were coming," Regina said, suddenly rounding on Kate. "You told her, didn't you? Warned her that we were coming."

"I did no such thing!" Kate protested.

"How else could she have escaped us?" Regina demanded.

"Regina," Robin said softly, placing a hand on her arm.

"No one had to inform Morgana of our plan," Josie said, finally looking up and meeting the eyes of those around her. "As far as she was aware, two of her prisoners managed to escape. Why would we not have come for the one remaining with immediate haste?"

Everyone exchanged glances before Emma spoke up. "She knew who she was up against."

"Of course, she did. We are heroes, are we not? She assumed, correctly so, that we would do the heroic thing and rescue Zelena," Josie continued. "We might as well have walked into a trap."

"What are we supposed to do now, then, just let her keep my sister captive?" Regina asked, her tone still heavy with anger.

"No," Abraham said. "We will find out where Zelena is and get her back from Morgana. Only this time, we will do our proper research so that we are properly prepared."

With that said, Abraham was able to easily turn the topic of conversation to them all getting out of the woods and back home. It wasn't safe to linger in the woods of Nightmoor, after all, and they couldn't say whether they were near or far from a part of the woods that had originated in Nightmoor. Emma was quick to agree with Abraham, which helped get everyone on board to get out of the woods.

Though Josie was more than eager to get out of the woods, instead of doing what everyone else was doing and making sure everyone had everything they would need, she pulled Nicholai aside where no one else could hear them but they were still in sight of the group.

"You should remain while we all head back to the city so that you can feed," she said.

"I appreciate your concern, but—"

"Nic, it has been three days. Three rather treacherous days, I know you hate having to do it, but..." Josie said, trying to meet his eye as he avoided her gaze. "What would you do if I hadn't eaten anything in three days?"