The raw, empty place deep at her core was gone, and what had returned… Well, it wasn’t the golden well of Power from before, but it wasn’t nothing either. More than that, her senses had cleared, and she felt surrounded by a steady glow of magic.
It was everywhere. At her feet, overhead, on all sides. Josiah had said the basement had protection spells. Why the basement? Why not upstairs too?
The furnace kicked on, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Coughing out an unamused laugh, she searched for more light switches until she stood in the middle of the unfinished section that blazed with illumination. There was the open door leading to the bedroom, the bathroom, the microwave sitting on an old cabinet, a minifridge, a washer and dryer, a furnace, water heater—and a closed door with a high-end electronic lock.
She frowned at the locked door. Then, leaning heavily on the railing, she climbed the stairs to a narrow landing and looked out the window at the back door. A large, unkempt lawn led to a tangle of trees. Three more stairs took her to a large kitchen that was badly in need of being updated.
She stared around. It was a really empty kitchen. There was no stove, fridge, or microwave. She opened a couple of cupboards at random. They were all bare.
Moving her stiff, protesting body as fast as she could, she inspected the upstairs. Aside from two chairs and a television on a simple stand in the living room, along with a few lamps on timers, the rest of the large house was as empty as the kitchen. The television wasn’t even plugged in.
When she had finished, she sat thoughtfully in one of the armchairs and looked out the large picture window. This was the only house, and it sat at the end of a country lane. It would be easy to defend. Easy to isolate. Nobody would hear screams coming from this place. The thought made her shudder.
Still, she wasn’t barred from leaving. She could put on her shoes and walk down that country lane if she wanted. While it had been terrifying to watch Josiah pocket her phone, he hadn’t tried to imprison her in any way.
She tapped a thumbnail against her teeth. In fact, there were only two things he had barred her from doing. She couldn’t make any phone calls, and there were any number of reasons he might have wanted to keep her from calling out. Some were more sinister than others.
And she couldn’t open that locked basement door.
Or could she?
Pushing out of the chair, she went back into the basement, and the warm, steady glow of spells surrounded her again. Okay, she was still rattled, but she had to admit the magic felt good.
A deep shakiness had set in, and the hollow ache in her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since early Saturday. Impatiently, she attended to her body’s needs and nuked water in the microwave to make a mug of double-strength instant coffee while she ate soup straight from the can.
The cold soup felt slimy in her mouth, but it stopped her stomach from complaining. She glowered at the locked door as she drank the coffee. The medication had done its job, and her pain had eased to a bearable ache. While she didn’t exactly get a burst of energy from the caffeine, at least she no longer felt like she was going to fall over.
Most importantly, she could feel a small trickle of returning Power. Would it be enough?
Setting aside the half-empty mug of coffee, she went to the door to lay a hand on the electronic lock. Even if she had enough juice, should she do this?
Whether or not she was successful, this was going to make Josiah angry. And while he had manipulated and offended her, he had also helped her tremendously. She thought back to Monday’s kiss and discovered the memory had changed.
This time she remembered how he had held very still as she had gently, tentatively moved her lips under his, and then he had shifted to deepen the kiss. She had been the one to push him away.
He had tightened his arms, not to overpower her but in protest before he let her go. And of all the ways he could have chosen to get her riled…
Her mouth widened in a wry smile. As tactless and manipulative as it had been, he had meant that kiss.