The Witching Hour

Chapter 33 - Radar

An overwhelming floral scent hit Ivy's nose before she had opened her eyes. She attempted to shift to her other side, thinking she was on her bed. When she tried to flip over, her arm didn't follow suit.

Hunter must be laying on me, she thought, yanking her arm to no avail.

Ivy peaked out from the bottom of her eyelids, horror befalling her features. Something glowed from a corner of the room providing the only light in the cell. Darkness blanketed the majority of the room, rendering her vision useless. Straining her eyes, she found spiny tree roots that poked out of the wall and encircled her wrists. The more she pulled, the tighter the chains became and the redder her skin grew.

How had she not felt this? Then again, she couldn't feel much of anything. The dirt under her, the temperature in the room, she couldn't tell you a single thing. For all she knew, it was blazing hot and she was sweating out of her clothes.

"A side effect." The voice hit her ears like a song floating through the air. The figure rested in the deepest corner of the room, shrouded in the shadows. "We couldn't risk anything waking you before we could secure you."

"What the...I'm not some package." Ivy trembled her curls, wishing she could run her hands through them and fix the rat's nest. Tangles pulled at her skull causing a throbbing in her forehead, a migraine in its infancy.

"Who are you anyway?" Ivy mused, biting her bottom lip. She twisted her torso in the direction of the faceless voice.

Sucking in a deep breath, a foot appeared in the dim light but kept their face out of sight. Before the person had a chance to respond, a door flung open. Dirt crumbled around it, the light pouring into the cell. Another figure waltzed in, a halo forming around their head.

"Leave us – now," the new voice commanded. Ivy didn't even get a chance to see who had been talking with her. The figure slithered out faster than a snake on the hunt.

The door closed, taking the light with them. As much as the brightness had stung her eyes, Ivy longed for it. Now that she was awake, the darkness pressed down and suffocated her. Ivy's chest heaved, unsure which would be her last breath. Despite not being able to see clearly, her eyes darted around looking for any sign of hope.

"Now, now, no need to be afraid."

The unsaid 'yet' hung at the edge of the sentence, a guillotine waiting to fall.

Light flooded the room, the flames dancing in the air. Ivy squeezed her eyes shut, shielding away from the sudden onslaught of the new lighting source. Blinking a few times, her vision adjusted to her surroundings. Ivy's mouth fell open at the sight of Queen Tatiana of the fairies.

"That's no way to greet the queen," Tatiana purred with a smug smile. The flames lit half her face, giving her more of a sinister look.

"You have me chained to a wall, unable to feel my surroundings." Ivy glowered at the queen, coveting Ella's powers. She'd love to set Tatiana ablaze right about now. "Couldn't greet you even if I wanted to."

Rolling her eyes, Tatiana waved the comment off with a flick of her wrist. None of this meant anything to her. Ivy wondered why Tatiana was here at all. The Pentacle hadn't done anything to anger the fairies.

"Can we please skip the bullshit and you tell me why I'm here?"

Tatiana glared at her and put a hand on her hip.

"Your majesty," Ivy added with a touch of sass and a smirk. Oh royalty and their formalities.

"I knew under that shy and introverted demeanor of yours, Ivy Vale, that we had a fire cracker." Tatiana beckoned a seat out of the dirt floor. Lowering, she crossed her legs and pulled her auburn locks over her shoulder. "I see it runs in the family."