26 Chapter 26: In Good Faith (1/2)
SALEM: The sounds of urgent hoofs faded into the rain. Syrus and Julia were gone. Whatever Elina did to Julia Abernathy, it had scared the wits out of her. My eyes landed on Elina's mouth.
She had a way with words.
A tongue like a sword.
But I don't think she just talked with Julia. Any professional witch hunter, male or female, would know how to resist the words of a witch. Elina must've done something.
But what? I had to find out.
”What do you want?” I asked.
Elina leaned back into her chair, her smiling eyes resting lazily on me. She crossed her legs and rested her hands on them. Like a queen.
”Your sister,” she said.
”??”
”In exchange for telling you what I did with Julia, I want to meet your sister. Yulia Udell.”
When you don't know what to say, it's better to say nothing. And that's exactly what I did.
Elina said, ”You seem surprised.”
I took a breath. I asked, ”Why would you want to see Yulia?”
”Most men become witch hunters because they hate witches. Some kind of grudge they can't let go. But you are different. You risk your life because someone you care about needs the money.” She smiled. A smile I couldn't quite describe. A mix of kindness and madness. ”And I want to meet the kind of person who can drive a man this far.”
I was difficult for me to read her intentions. Her demands seemed random. Her words playful and dangerous at the same time.
I said, ”If you know that much, then you should know that I can never let you meet her.”
”Hmmm...”
Elina closed her eyes. Her silver hair changed back to chestnut brown and when she opened her eyes, they had changed to human form. Like a normal townsgirl. The kind of girl any man would find endearing. Dangerously so.
”Does this solve the problem?” she asked.
”Your appearance isn't the problem.”
”Then what?”
”How do I know you won't kill her to extract revenge on me?”
A moment of thought. She scratched her chin. The handcuffs clinked. ”You don't. You'll have to trust me.”
”The day I trust a witch is the day I die.”
She sighed. She shook her head and muttered something under her breath.
She said, ”Why don't you sit down? The rain won't stop for a while.”