Chapter Twenty—Sweeny

Theo tossed Sweeny a trap and she baited it before lowering it into the water of the bayou.

Dana sat on the bucket seat across from her and wiped her brow. “Hopefully we won’t have any hurricanes come through today.”

Sweeny smiled. “Hopefully. You found yourself a boy that likes crawfish girls, yet?”

She laughed. “No. How about you? You got a boyfriend?” she asked.

Sweeny smiled. “Yeah, I do. You go to Slidell; you probably won’t know him.”

“Maybe, I will. We’re rival schools, ya know,” Dana said.

“Lucas LeBlanc.”

Dana dropped her bait and fumbled around to catch the wiggling worm. “Jesus, Sweeny. You captured the unobtainable Lucas LeBlanc? I can’t explain to you how many girls that I know that toss themselves at him.”

Sweeny shrugged. “Good thing they didn’t succeed.”

“Yeah, no crap,” she said, giving her the side eye. “You got a golden vagina over there?”

“Stop.”

“Yeah, please stop,” Theo said.

“You’re friends with Lucas,” Dana said. “You would know if she had one.”

“Lucas doesn’t know anything about my vagina,” Sweeny said. “Now, we can stop talking about it.”

Theo tossed her a look. “For now, at least.”

She threatened to slap him.

“Alright, let’s put another trap down,” Derek, the other guy on the boat, said. “And stop talking about Sweeny’s vagina.”

“I agree,” she said.

Dana helped Derek while Sweeny elbowed Theo.

She glanced over at him in his tank top with cutoff sleeves. She followed his gaze toward an overgrown island in front of them. Standing in an undergrowth of trees was the woman from the street.

Her dark hair wavered in a wind that Sweeny couldn’t feel, her bare feet pure white against the muddy bank.

“Come to me,” she whispered, beckoning Theo forward.

Theo stepped toward her, getting ready to jump, when Sweeny pulled him back. He knocked her backward where Derek caught her. “Geesh,” Derek complained.

Sweeny lurched forward and jumped onto Theo’s back, knocking them both into the bayou. When he came up, he looked at Sweeny with wide eyes.

Sweeny watched the woman over the top of the water. She smiled and disappeared into the woods.

“Can we go one day without jumping into the bayou?” Dana yelled, water covering her clothes.

Sweeny swallowed and pushed the murk from her eyes.

“Who was that?” Theo asked.

“The woman I saw in front of my house. I think she’s the one saying my name, and sending the snakes.”

Their boss pulled up beside them in a boat. “Come on, kids, I need you both to get it together. No more diving in. This ain’t funny, no more!”

Sweeny let Dana help her into the boat. “Seriously though,” Dana said. “You need to knock it off.”

Sitting down, Sweeny glanced over at Theo who looked white as a ghost. Which was appropriate, since she was sure the woman stalking her was one, too.

***

Sweeny scooted into the passenger seat of his parents’ pick-up, trying to avoid the rip in the leather against her legs.

“Thanks for the ride,” she said.

His door creaked as he shut it. He laughed. “It’s better than nothing, I guess.”

Sweeny knew that feeling. Their boss paid them fifty bucks a day, which wasn’t bad considering it only took them a couple of hours, but didn’t help her money problem.

It sucked Momma knew where her dad was and refused to talk with him. A little child support wouldn’t hurt, would it? She pulled out her phone but there were no missed calls.

It’d probably been a wrong number anyway.

Theo glanced over. “Haven’t heard from your Dad?”

“No,” she said, sliding her phone back in her pocket. “I doubt it’s even his number. That check was from over a decade ago.”

He didn’t say much but sometimes the silence made her feel content like he understood. They rode to Sweeny’s house and parked in the driveway.

With the engine idling, Theo said, “Thanks for today. I know Jaxson and I were hard on you but sometimes people fear what they don’t know.”

“I get that,” she said. “I’m kind of afraid of myself right now.”

Sweeny went to get out and noticed Jeremy walking into the woods behind their house. She glanced at Theo. “What the—”

He killed the engine and got out. “That’s where he was headed the day we caught him looking in your window.”

Sweeny shivered. “I’m scared to know where he is going.”

“He told us to stay away,” Theo said, giving her the side eye. “Want to follow him? I could sniff him out, stay far enough that he doesn’t notice.”

Sweeny shrugged. “If you swear to take him out if he comes at us. My powers are sometimey.”

“Come on.”

They started walking behind Sweeny’s house ,past her fence, and through the weedy field. The deeper they walked through the woods her nerves grew.

Theo stopped her, lifting his nose, he guided them to the left. The Cyprus blended into pine trees and needles littered the forest floor.

“Where is he going?” she asked.

Theo shrugged. “It can’t be good. I smell herbs.”

“What kind of herbs?”

“Magic.”

Sweeny couldn’t smell anything, but the pine trees around them, and she couldn’t hear anything other than her erratic heartbeat. A few hundred yards into the woods, Theo stopped her, crouching down behind a tree.

She followed him, glancing in-between a thicket of bushes, she saw Jeremy. She’d been scared when she saw the woman, and petrified at the demon, but this, it sank to her bones.

Jeremy sat on his knees in front of what looked like a burn pile. Ashes scattered around the ground. She couldn’t see his head because a deer carcass covered it, blood oozing down his shoulders.

She grabbed Theo’s hand and he squeezed.

Jeremy began talking in a foreign language, his body shaking and his head bowing. Sweeny wanted to leave. This wasn’t what she thought when she imagined magic. What happened to the Matilda magic? Or Sabrina the Teenage Witch—the 90s version?

That’s how she imagined herself. Not this. This was witchcraft. Devil worship. It wasn’t right. It formed a knot in her stomach the size of a baseball.

“Theo, I’m scared.”

He stood up. “We need to go tell Lucas.”

Theo turned to leave when Sweeny’s phone rang.

Jeremy’s head snapped toward them and in an instant, he stood on his feet.

Theo cursed, dropping Sweeny’s hand; he shifted in front of her eyes, clothes torn to shreds beneath him. Theo stood tall on his back legs with auburn fur covering his entire body and face. The only way she could recognize him was his dark eyes. They weren’t the same color but his soul showed through to her.

Theo reached down and swept her into his arms, dashing out of the woods and toward his pickup. She prayed no neighbors looked out of their windows. They’d see a big hairy monster carrying her like a baby.

When they reached the truck, he tossed her inside like a ragdoll. He whined when he shifted back into his human form.

“You’re naked!” Sweeny screamed, looking out of her window.

“That’s the least of our worries, Sweeny,” he said backing out of the driveway.

She searched the field as they backed up. Jeremy stood at the tree line, staring at them with the deer carcass still on his head.

“Holy crap. What kind of voodoo do y’all have in this town?”

“That’s not from our town,” he said. “That’s straight from Hell.”

Theo floored it to Lucas’ house, missing stop signs and slanging rocks. He'd hardly killed the engine when he jumped out and raced toward Jaxson and Lucas standing on the porch.

Sweeny followed quickly behind Theo. She made it halfway to the porch when she felt it—something was wrong.

Lucas jumped from the porch. “Why are you naked with her Theo?”

“Listen—”

But he didn’t. He slugged him.

“No,” Sweeny said, trying to pull Lucas from him but he backhanded her.

She slung to the ground, holding her cheek. “What—” she whispered, unable to form a sentence.

Lucas turned to look at her with dilated eyes the size of saucers. Sweeny fumbled to stand, staring at Jaxson who walked toward them in the same state.

She glanced at Theo. “Is that normal?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, not at all. He did something to them."

Lucas smiled wide and reached out to grab her waist. “Come on, Baby. Let me bite you, huh? Or did you let Theo do that already? I can smell you on his wolf.”

“We haven’t did anything; he saved me from Jeremy.”

“Jeremy who?” Jaxson said. “Stupid little witch. I told you she was no good, Lucas.”

Theo motioned for Sweeny to follow him. Something had gone completely wrong. Why didn’t this harm Theo?

There were too many questions but she knew the man looking at her wasn’t Lucas.

She turned and ran toward Theo’s truck. She shivered as they laughed behind her. She hardly made it inside by the time Lucas slammed his head against the door. Blood smeared the glass between them.

He smiled at her, but looked right through, slamming his head again.

Theo backed out of the driveway quickly.

Jaxson and Lucas laughed at nothing, shifting as Theo put the truck into drive, and high-tailed it out of there.

“Oh my God,” she said, tears spilling from her eyes. “What was that?”

Theo shook his head. “I have no idea. We need help, and I don’t know who to ask.”

Sweeny bit her lip. “Do you know where Kurt lives?”

He glanced at her. “Why?”

“Because I think he knows more about this than we do.”

“He’s a hunter, Sweeny. He’ll try to kill me,” he said.

“Maybe not,” she whispered. “He's had time to kill y'all and hasn't. Let me do the talking.”

He didn’t think it was a good idea but he turned left at the nearest four-way. Kurt lived in a one-story house with a screened-in porch, surrounded by fields and dogs running in his yard. His old pick-up was in the driveway and he sat on the opened tailgate with his feet dangling. A lot like the first time Sweeny met him.

He jumped off when Theo parked and got out. “Dude, you’re naked.”

“We need your help, Kurt,” Sweeny said.

He hesitated by his truck, taking off his hat to run his palm over his hair. Sweeny noticed a long thin scar that ran across his forehead.

Kurt put his hat back on. “Why are y’all here?”

Theo braced his palms over his junk. “Sweeny thinks you know something about what’s going on in town.”

Kurt walked toward his truck and pulled out a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt. “Put this on.”

Theo dressed while Sweeny walked closer. “I guess you know about The Trios Loup,” he said.

She glanced over her shoulder at Theo. “Obviously. But this isn’t about that.”

Kurt leaned against his truck. “It’s about the new kid?” he asked.

“How do you know this stuff?”

He gestured toward his house. “Come on inside and I’ll show you.”

Theo and Sweeny followed him inside his wooden house with old rocking chairs and the type of furniture that you see in ninety-year-old’s home.

Sweeny stopped cold in the living room. An elderly woman sat in a worn green recliner, her hands folded over her tiny stomach. She wore her white hair curly and her face withered with age. “This is my Gran.”

Sweeny waved. “Hey.”

She opened her eyes. Bright green orbs stared back at her. “You’re the witch.”

“What—I—”

“It’s alright,” she said unmoving. “I know you don’t know. But ya daddy does.” She laughed. “The things that man gets into. You ever met yo Poppa, Sweeny Harper?”

“No,” she said softly.

She nodded. “And this is one of those ugly rougarous that roam the woods at night? This your mate?”

“No,” Theo said. “Her mate has been cursed or something. So has the other one. We ran up on the new kid performing voodoo in the woods, by the time we got back, he’d gotten to them.”

She sat up slowly with Kurt’s help. “This has nothing to do with the new kid and everything to do with her.”

“Her who?”

“The girl that’s been haunting you. She’s calling you to free her.”

Sweeny took a deep breath. “Free who? The girl I’ve been seeing?”

“She’s the witch that tried to ruin Abita Springs long ago, before my time. Louisiana has its number of supernaturals but the southern parishes take the cake.”

“Well,” Sweeny cleared her throat. “How do we stop this? We don’t have help, it’s just us.”

“That’ll have to work,” she said, trying to stand up, stumbling against the wooden paneling. “You have to dig her up, doll, and kill her.”

Sweeny covered her face with opened palms. “How do you kill a witch, Mrs. I’ve just now found out that I am anything other than human.”

She smiled on her way to her kitchen table. “Kurt, go get me that box on top of my closet, the one with the engravings.”

Kurt sprinted down the hallway coming back with an oblong wooden box. She took her glasses from her hair and straightened them on her nose.

“Witches are a lot like the undead. No offense.”

Sweeny felt alive—at least she thought she did.

“You have to stake her, but be warned, because this kid she recruited has a demon in him. He’s going to do everything in his power to stop you, and he might just succeed.”

Sweeny’s heart raced. “Is there a way to get Lucas and Jaxson back to normal?”

She sat back in her chair. “I’d have to have them come over—”

“No, Gran.”

She shooed him with her palm. “Don’t go talking like yo daddy and bossing me. I can cure them if you can calm them enough for their wolf to come to the surface. They got a demon in them, and he’s gonna go batshit when I try.”

Sweeny swallowed. “How could I calm a wolf?”

Her eyes shifted to Sweeny’s. “You let him bite you. The only thing that would put his wolf in control over a demon would be biting his mate.”

Theo patted Sweeny’s back in reassurance, but what was reassuring about a demon-possessed wolf biting her?

She shook her head. “I can’t do that. I don’t want to be a werewolf. I haven’t even mastered this witchy stuff. Plus, doesn’t it get intimate when he bites you? I don’t want an audience for that.”

“Your hormones will go crazy. They’ll be an—urge but I’m sure us being here will stop you from letting him. It just takes one bite. It’ll be fine.”

A bite. Theo made it sound simple.

Sweeny wiped the tears that threatened her eyes. “I can’t. We have to find another way.”

Theo nodded, but didn’t say anything to comfort her. Was it selfish of her?

Kurt watched her frightened face from across the room. “Will she kill everyone in the town?”

Gran interlaced her fingers on the table. “She wants to possess everyone in the town. Make them her puppets. I don’t know who she’ll kill or keep. It’s up to her.”

“Is she buried in the swamp?” she whispered.

“Has she been calling you?” Gran asked.

“That was my first dream. I dug through the swamp for her.”

A vehicle door slammed from outside and Sweeny’s heart dropped to her butt. Theo turned toward the door. “They found us.”

Gran didn’t move. Kurt grabbed a gun from the kitchen drawer and cocked it.

Thoughts of Hattie, Sara Beth and her own Momma stormed through her brain. What would happen to them if the witch got out? What would become of her? Would she kill her once she awoke, or make Sweeny use her powers for evil?

Where was her dad when she needed him?

“I’ll do it,” Sweeny whispered.

Gran nodded and slowly stood up. They banged on her front door but none of it seemed to bother Gran. She pulled out a match and started crushing some stuff on the table. What is she? Sweeny wanted to ask, but there wasn't any time for it. Theo looked at Kurt. “I’ll let Lucas inside, can you keep Jaxson busy?”

He grinned. “I’ve been doing it for years.”

Theo opened the door to Lucas standing in the doorjamb, leaned against it, like someone she didn’t recognize. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air.

“My mate is hiding from me,” he said with a snakeish grin. “Why you running, cher? You don’t wanna play?”

Kurt walked out of the side kitchen door and rang a shot into the air. Jaxson left the porch and raced around the house to see.

Sweeny took a careful step toward Lucas who stared at Theo. “You trying to steal my mate?” he asked. “I’m the Alpha, or do you need another reminder?"

Theo never faltered for a second. Lucas slung his arm, sending Theo flying against the wall, leaving a hole behind.

Sweeny pushed her fear behind her and stepped forward. “Bite me, Lucas.”

He jerked toward her; his black eyes glistened in the lighting of the living room. “Bite you?” he asked with a laugh. “Didn’t that pussy promise not to do that?” he asked.

She knew it wasn’t him but talking in third person reassured Sweeny that this wasn’t Lucas LeBlanc. Theo stood up from the ground but didn’t walk toward them.

Sweeny stood still as he paced around her. “This mating stuff feels crazy good,” he whispered. “I can’t imagine what’s it’s gonna feel like to slide between your legs?”

He lifted her ponytail and rubbed it between his fingers.

“You smell like honey. And sun,” he whispered. “Where do you want me to bite you?” he asked. “Here?” He trailed his fingers up her thigh but she smacked it off.

He laughed at her. Laughed. It hurt her heart even if she knew it wasn’t him. “You bite me anywhere other than my neck and I’ll make sure to kill you both myself.”

Lucas smiled. In one quick moment, he lifted Sweeny and braced her against the couch in the far corner. She glanced at Theo in the crook of the room. He looked at her with pity and fear, which didn't reassure her in the least.

“Don’t look at him,” he said, gripping her neck in his palm. How badly she wanted that to be Lucas she stared at. He was in there somewhere but nowhere obtainable.

Gran stood in the doorjamb with a bowl of something and a frown. No one wanted this to happen.

Chuckling, Lucas lowered his head and slowly sank his fangs into her neck. Sweeny arched her back into him, feeling every emotion known to man rush her.

Lucas braced her wrists against the couch, trapping her there. After the thought of her blood in his mouth, she relaxed, her body wanting it. She felt the warm liquid flow into his mouth and she felt her hips shivering against his.

Lucas pulled back from her neck with her blood dripping down his chin. She didn’t care that Theo or Gran stood in the room, she wanted him to deflower her on that old green couch that smelled like mothballs and mold.

He grinned with bloody teeth. “I smell you, cher.”

Gran crept up behind him, eyes closed, and tossed the powder onto his back. He didn’t seem to notice. He leaned in and kissed her senseless. His rugged breaths turned softer and his grip loosened. When Lucas pulled back, he stared at her with green eyes.

“Sweeny?” he asked, rubbing his forehead. “What—what happened?” His eyes lowered to her neck and he tensed. He jumped up from the couch and glanced around the room at Gran and Theo. “Where are we?”

Sweeny sat up, covering her bloody neck with her palm. She didn’t feel any different. Will it happen immediately? Since the hormones were gone, she felt undeniable dread fill her.

I'm going to turn into a beast.

Gran tapped his shoulder and examined his eyes. “Good.”

Sweeny watched her walk out of the living room and sit at the kitchen table as if nothing happened.

Lucas turned to her. “What’s going on? Did I—did I bite you, cher?”

Sweeny shifted on the couch, her palm still covering her bleeding neck. “It’s complicated. Do you remember anything?”

He shook his head. “I remember going back to my house this morning and lying down.”

Sweeny stood and Lucas caught her from falling. “You’re weak; I can’t believe I bit you. Why? Why did you let me do that?”

“Sweeny and I followed the new kid into the woods. He was performing voodoo. We raced over to your house to tell you and y’all turned on us. He cursed you both. Kurt’s Gran said she could help you if you were calm. It was the only way to put your wolf in control.”

Lucas’ face pained and he dropped to his knees. “No, cher. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was gonna make it special.”

Sweeny stood up and took his jaw in her palm. “It doesn’t matter now, Lucas. We have bigger fish to fry. Jeremy is here to release a witch buried under the bayou. I’m a descendant.”

Lucas stood up and tried to control himself. “Where is Jaxson?”

“Kurt is luring him away on his horse,” Gran said.

“How do we kill Jeremy?” he asked.

Gran tsked. “That’s gonna be no good,” she said. “It isn’t him—it’s her, Mena. She sent that boy here to get Sweeny’s power. He can’t raise her without Sweeny. And you can’t kill her without raising her.”

“Then what are we going to do? Send Sweeny into the lion’s den? She’s been through enough. Tomorrow she’ll wake up and be a rougarou because of me.”

Gran tapped her palm against her table. “Sweeny can handle herself. Now get yourself together, boy. Y’all have a town to save.”