Page 60 of Knot Cursed

I stayed in my wolf form and walked to Prue’s side.

She ran a hand over my back absentmindedly and I reminded myself that I was in wolf form and that was normal. Prue wasn’t doing this to be cruel, but I’d been there before. My tension was so high it was letting old insecurities creep out and I shoved them back where they belonged.

“Ready?” Merrick in his Prue form asked. It was weird hearing his voice come from her mouth.

“I will never get used to that,” Rook said with a shudder, glancing from Prue to fake Prue and back.

“I’m as ready as I can be. I’ll go in first and stay out of sight. If you hear me say ‘cheese pizza’ come in,” she explained.

“‘Cheese pizza?’” Merrick asked and raised one of his fake Prue eyebrows. It was uncanny to see her look dry and aloof like Merrick could pull off.

“What? I’m not going to try and fit pineapple into a sentence,” she answered as she blew out an anxious breath.

“Are we really going to stand around here and discuss safe words?” Rook asked.

There was a scream from Blake in the distance and that snapped us all back to reality.

“Dorian, lead us,” Rook ordered.

If he says good dog when I do, I’m going to bite his ass. I snorted at him, but headed off in the direction where the screams came from.

There were dim lights coming through the cracks of the boarded windows and I heard a male voice getting louder with each word. He was losing it just like I’d explained earlier. I just hoped he kept his hands to himself.

Her name echoed out from his ranting at least every few words and that had the hair on the back of my neck rising. The hate he had for his sister was visceral.

Now that I knew her, I couldn’t imagine anyone knowing her and feeling that way.

Prue let out a breath before she took the first step into the building. I followed right behind her. The lobby was empty and musty. Tendrils of moonlight showed a billowing of dust particles hovering in the air.

The old chairs were collapsed and some clearly had been gnawed at by wildlife. Large cobwebs stretched from every corner and coated the ceiling. I could hear the skittering of tiny paws but wasn’t about to tell the others. Even my wolf ignored the hunt in favor of keeping tabs on our surroundings.

The barriers had been pulled down over the ticket desk but I knew he wasn’t behind there now. He was further in the building, his voice just distant enough to know we hadn’t found him quite yet.

Something crashed against the wall and Merrick moved ahead, keeping ‘Prue’ at the front of our procession while she pulled a hood over her head just behind him.

“Tripp? Are you here?” she called and the rest of us ducked into an open doorway as the one at the end of the hall creaked open.

A man stepped out with a wide smile on his face. His hair was dark like Prue’s but his eyes were cold and hollow, the only light in them was downright unsettling. His hair was long and shaggy, dirt hanging in the oily locks. There were sharp angles to his face and gaunt cheeks that truly set them apart. Aside from eye color and hair color, there weren’t many similarities in the two.

Likely because this sibling was a true psychopath. One with magic, which made it far worse.

“Finally, you realized it’s me?” he asked with a flourish and a crooked grin. With the dark clothes and gaudy rings and potion bottle strapped to his belt, he was really going for the demented wizard look.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked, not moving a muscle. He didn’t notice it wasn’t ‘Prue’s’ mouth moving asking the question. He was too busy looking behind him to take in his handiwork.

“Well, I’ve always had a flair for the dramatic. I had to make an entrance, didn’t I?” he laughed a little too loudly.

“A phone call would have worked just as well,” she stated. “I’m not that hard to find. Not to mention, no one seemed eager to keep in contact.”

“What fun would that be? How about I show you what your friend and I have been up to?” He questioned, waving her in. I didn’t like how eager he was to get her alone.

Rook waved his hand, hiding the true Prue from sight so she would stay invisible as they passed into the room.

“If you hurt her, I swear I will kill you,” Prue started before he cut her off quickly with a clicking of his tongue.

“Now, now, sister dear. Not in front of our guest. Manners, remember?” Tripp giggled like they were kids at their family table.

What the fuck was wrong with this guy?