The only thing keeping Ivy upright were the roots encircling her wrists. Her eyes bulged out of her skull as the figure slid into the room. She couldn't believe what she saw.
"Hey babe." Hunter met her glare with a wry smile.
"Babe? Babe?" Ivy seethed, chest heaving up and down. "You have the audacity to call me babe while holding hands with that...bitch?"
The same gaze that once adored Ivy, that resembled the same coffee he drank every morning, now took on a sinister tint. Leaving Queen Tatiana's side, he approached the torch, flames licking his high cheekbones and morphing into him an unrecognizable man. Her Hunter still stood in front of her, but this was not the Hunter that she loved and slept next to every night.
Queen Tatiana giggled, rubbing her hands together. She joined Hunter's side, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"As much as I'd love to see this lovers' quarrel, I must be off. I think you'll find this quite enlightening." Chuckling, she leaned closer to his ear keeping her glare on Ivy. "Even days later, she still reeks of the mutt," Queen Tatiana hissed, the sneer never leaving her face.
Hunter's lips curled into a snarl, his eyes growing darker. Ivy shrunk against the wall in an attempt to make herself smaller. She almost feared him over the queen. Scorned lovers couldn't help but be unpredictable.
Queen Tatiana spared one last smug glance before exiting the same door her boyfriend had entered through. Once it closed, Hunter dropped the act, the snarl vanishing from his visage.
"Are you okay?" His words came out fast as he rushed to her side. With a flick of his writs, the roots slithered into the dirt walls. "Did they hurt you?"
He put his hands out, but Ivy used her freedom to bolt from his reach. She rubbed her raw wrists, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. At the pain or his betrayal, she couldn't say. Rejection lingered in Hunter's irises for a half second before they glossed over with the same ambivalence fairies were known for.
"You don't get to pretend like you care when you got me into this mess." Ivy crossed her arms over her puffed out chest. "What the literal fuck is going on? Why are you with the fairies?"
Hunter grew rigid under her severe glare and turned away with a sigh. "I haven't been completely honest with you – "
The flick of the wrist, the roots disappearing.
Ivy had her answer.
"You're a fucking fairy?" she screeched, the dirt absorbing the high-pitched sound. At least she wasn't in a concrete cage. She wanted to jump on him and shake him senseless. If she had her vines, she could only imagine what she'd do to him.
His face froze, eyes and mouth wide like a dear caught in headlights. Ivy didn't need to see his face to know his mind searched for a response.
"Yes," he admitted sheepishly, his coffee-colored irises peeking out from under his lids.
In a normal situation, she would have swooned at the look he gave her. More often than not, it led to them spending hours in bed. Now, it revolted her.
Ivy stepped forward, pushing back the hurt that threatened to bubble over. "Has this," she motioned between them, "all been a lie? Was I just a part of a scheme to you?"
"Not at all!" Hunter jumped toward her, taking her hands in his. He ran his thumbs over her knuckles. "No, you weren't just a mark."
"Because this sure feels like an undercover operation straight out of the Russian playbook in The Americans," Ivy snapped, yanking her hands back.
"You were a mark." Hunter swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing up and down. Ivy's mouth opened, ready to hurl more obscenities his way. He spoke fast. "But I broke the rules of espionage and fell in love.
Ivy's face scrunched up. Wrapping her arms around her shoulders, she willed her body to breathe. Her head needed to be clear for this conversation.
"You have to believe me," Hunter pleaded, stepping toward her. She sidestepped him and moved further away, physically and metaphorically. Sighing, he stopped the pursuit. "The Queen wanted me to get close and keep an eye on you."
"Why didn't you say no?"
The question escaped her lips, sputtering out between them like a fish out of water. Hunter ran a hand through his hair and over his face, stopping at his jaw in hesitation.
"You don't say no to the Queen." Hunter's eyes slid past her. His body shuddered at a memory.
"No, you are not Sabrina and the Queen is not Lucifer." Ivy shook her head, exaggerating the side-to-side movement reminiscent of a 5 year old.
Two pop culture references, Ivy would be proud of herself if she weren't distracted by a treacherous boyfriend.
"She might as well be – if not worse."
"What changed?" Ivy pressed on. She needed to be prepared for whatever came next. Escape plans wouldn't formulate themselves.
"Cassie's death upended the plan," he said. "The Queen saw a real opening, and I had already fallen for you by then. She knew this and took advantage of the situation."
"And the Queen?"
Ivy couldn't let his feelings for her derail her line of questioning. She anticipated curling up into a ball and sobbing until kingdom come once he left. She would let herself wallow in the pain, but she needed to stay strong at this moment.
"With the Pentacle seemingly broken, she didn't want to lose a powerful witch." Hunter wrung his hands and shifted on his feet. "You specialized in earth so you would have made a great addition to the Court. I just needed to get you to that point."
"How?"
Ivy ran her hands across the dirt wall, hoping there would be some way through this. Roots and worms wove around one another, creating their own ecosystem. Never a fan of warms, Ivy recoiled from the sight. She never liked the slimy feeling when she held them. She let them do their thing in her garden, but she avoided touching them.
"I don't know. You were close to forcing everyone out then Cassie came back." His tone took a malicious turn, his eyes narrowing like it was Ivy's fault. "You got it in your head that Cassie was still alive and went back to those other witches."
"Those other witches are my sisters," Ivy snapped, whipping her head around.
Hunter's upper lip twitched, but he refrained from voicing whatever comment had popped into his head. As she watched him transform into a distorted version of himself, she couldn't help but wonder how much of this had been there under her nose. How much had she ignored the signs, if there were any? He must be good at his job if he was willing to go almost five years deep.
Realization dawned on her. Her eyes grew to saucers, her lips forming a small 'o.'
"How much have you told the Queen?" Ivy thought back to everything she had told him in confidence, specifically the strong connection to her plants and her ability to heal. She hoped he had loved her enough to keep some things a secret.
"I kept a few things to myself." Hunter read her frightened gaze like an open book.
Ivy let out the breath she had been holding and gave him a small, appreciative smile.
"Yet you still went behind my back and betrayed me." Hunter's irises darkened to a deep hickory color, face angling downward. Under the torchlight, he seemed even more predatory, straight out of a warning story a mother would tell her daughter.
Ivy's face blanked, her muscles releasing all tension. She hadn't even processed the events of the last 24 hours – or 72, she couldn't be sure with them knocking her out – nor did she want to under the backbreaking weight of Hunter's stare. She felt his fury and frustration in waves. They lapped against her legs, threatening to pull her under and plunge her into their darkest depths.
"I didn't mean for anything to happen," she conceded, breaking the eye contact first. The deference died in her throat, conviction taking its place. "Even so, it pales in comparison to what you did. You lied to me for five fucking years!"
Ivy pulled at her scalp, doing her best to remain in control. If she had her vines, she imagined them snaking around his ankles first, rooting him to the ground. Next, they would slither up his calves, around his thighs and over his torso until they reached his neck. To finish it off –
"I still loved you. I gave you everything." Hunter yanked Ivy out of her thoughts.
"Everything but the truth."
"At least I didn't cheat on you with some random mutt."
"That mutt is my mate, you traitorous asshole."
The words had flown out of her mouth. She face-palmed internally, wishing she could take them back. Regret pooled in the base of her mouth, the taste of acid flooding it.
A deafening silence settled over the two of them. Crackling flames and heavy breaths provided the soundtrack for the moment. Ivy searched Hunter's face for a sign of the man she loved. Over the course of the conversation, that man had disappeared bit by bit. To top it all off, now all she saw were his faults – his jaw too angular, eyes too big, nose too straight. At the heart of it, she saw a man broken doing the bidding of another. Still, she couldn't shake the sense that she was partially responsible for the transformation.
"Were you always planning on leaving me for him?" Hunter's nostrils flared, the snarl growing across his face. He didn't bother to hide jealously. "What, it's been a few weeks since the floral shop incident. Had he been itching that scratch for you?"
Hunter's voice stayed even the whole time, rising in hysteria at the last bit. Each word hit Ivy like a stab to the gut. None of what he accused her of was true. If anything, she had wanted to stay with him. She had pushed Griffin away despite the undeniable chemistry. With Hunter, she had envisioned a life with him, complete with having kids and growing old together. One conversation with Griffin hadn't changed those feelings.
A few tears betrayed her and slid down the planes of her cheeks, now bright red from screaming. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, hoping Hunter hadn't seen.
"Crocodile tears. What a nice touch." He snorted, a devious grin spreading over his lips.
"You're wrong and there's nothing more I can do or say to prove that to you." Ivy used the calmest voice she could muster. "I loved you like you loved me: completely and all consuming. I had picked you. You."
A category-5 hurricane of emotions whirled in her chest. She did her best to keep the clouds from her eyes, but they were fast approaching. The rain would be falling soon enough. She wished that the numbing potion they had given her were still in effect. Maybe it would have kept her from feeling any of this. Either way, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of witnessing her breakdown.
Sucking in a deep breath, Hunter crossed the room and placed a hand on the dirt. Door opening, he went to exit the cell.
"Wait," Ivy called out. Her eyes went wide when he turned to face her. She hadn't expected him to stop. "What treat was used to subdue me?"
"Your favorite – a chocolate chip cookie," he deadpanned. Not sparing another second, he disappeared through the doorway.
Ivy bolted for the opening and smacked up against the dirt as it closed in her face. She slammed her fists into the wall until mud caked her forearms and got under her nails. Tears ran unopposed down her cheeks with her attention focused on beating the wall. She wanted out. She wanted her powers back. She wanted to beat someone's head into this mud. She wanted all these things, but she wouldn't get any of them.
She ceased the failed assault and slid onto her knees. She wiped her cheeks, forgetting about the state her hands were in. The cool mud spread across her face and sent her into a fit of hysterical giggles.
"Mother fucker," she muttered, still chuckling.
The laughter morphed into tears in seconds. Ivy went from the self-depreciation straight to breakdown mode. Her knees couldn't keep her upright, and she fell against the wall. Ivy's shoulders curled over her knees. Sobs racked her chest, but she refused to yell out. She silently bawled, muffling her cries with a fist. In that moment, Ivy yearned for her vines to blanket her, but she'd have to get through this moment alone.
A/N
Please keep California and really the entirety of the West Coast in your thoughts. Fires plague us up and down the coast. In California alone, we have been battling over 1,000 fires since Aug. 15. Less than a month and already 1,000 fires. On top of that, we've already burned over 2 million acres of land, up more than last year at this same time. AND we're not even in thick of fire season. (As of Sept. 9, 2020, and fire season is in full swing October to November)
Didn't feel like making y'all wait too long. teehee. soooo back to the story...
oooo, how many of you thought it was Hunter? What do we think of him now???? Some of y'all liked him, but others didn't trust him.
What do you think happens next?
Also fun fact, Hunter had always been this double-agent in every draft of this story. I never not envisioned turning out like this. As much as I loved him early on, he was always going to turn on her.
Hard to believe I began this journey over a year ago. I began writing this piece on Aug. 20, 2019. Like whoaaa, where has this year gone?!
Thanks again for all the love you've shown my piece. Much love everyone <3