Read Online Witch's Diary: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Tale (Lost Library Book 4) by Kate Baray - Free Book Online
Authors: Kate Baray
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a quiet table near the back. While she waited to order, she pulled out her phone and sent Walter a quick text: Arrived at hotel.
When he didn’t immediately reply, she figured his flight hadn’t landed.
Gwen smiled at the pretty young waitress approaching her table.
“What would you like this evening, ma’am?” the waitress asked.
“I think a cosmo this evening.” Gwen paused, giving the question the serious consideration it deserved. “Yes, a cosmo.”
“You’ve got it.” The girl wrote in a small notebook. “Room number?”
“Three-twelve.”
Walter still hadn’t returned her text when a different waiter delivered her drink.
Gwen was halfway through her drink when she saw the young woman who’d taken her order mixing a drink at the bar. She gave the shaker one last flick with her wrist and then poured. Coming around the bar, she delivered the drink a few tables away. If she was doing double duty as bartender and waitress—okay, it was a quiet night in the bar—where was the man who’d delivered Gwen’s drink?
Some time later, Gwen looked down to see her drink gone—but she didn’t remember drinking it. When did she finish it? How much time had passed? Had she fallen asleep? She was so tired. But she couldn’t sleep here. She wasn’t at home. She was in a hotel. Her eyelids were heavy. She tried to rub her eyes, but she couldn’t lift her hand. Drunk? But just one drink.
A man put his arm around her. “That’s all right, Mom, I’ll give you a hand up to your room.”
She tried to say no. Say that wasn’t right. She didn’t know him. She blinked. She did. He had delivered her drink earlier. And then—she knew. Drugged.
Goddammit. How could she be so careless?
She knew she was angry, but she didn’t quite feel it. The emotion was like the arm wrapped around her shoulders, there but not.
They were walking. Maybe? She couldn’t feel her feet. She’d feel her feet if she were walking. She must be floating. Her eyelids fell closed.
~*~
Gwen woke slowly, a cottony feeling in her mouth and a gritty feeling in her eyes telling her something wasn’t right. She tried to swallow, but that only made her throat hurt. As she lifted a hand to rub her eyes, pain shot through her fingers and then her head. Dammit. Memories of her abduction rushed back. Drugged. She was an idiot. No, she’d become complacent.
Eyes still closed, Gwen took silent stock of her situation. Hands and feet bound, which explained the numbness in her limbs. Her ass was numb from sitting on the floor of the vehicle. She cracked open her eyes just enough to see that she was in the back of a delivery van. Two drivers. She winced as the van hit a rut, sending pain shooting through her skull.
As soon as the pain subsided, she called her fire. If she could burn the cloth around her wrists—
Her heart stopped and she smothered the choked sound trying to escape her lips. Panic streaked through her, followed by a cold burn on her wrists. No fire. Dammit. She twisted her wrists and the cold burned again. But the pain helped clear her head.
Her restraints were imbued with some kind of magic that kept her fire at bay. A magic that felt wrong and burned, but like ice instead of fire. Now that she was fully awake, now that she knew the restraints had some magical property, she could feel the wrongness crawling on her skin. Gritting her teeth, she blocked it out. She needed to plan.
A few minutes and several jarring bumps later, she had a plan. Not a great plan, but better than having her brain shaken into jelly and her ass turned black and blue waiting for some less-than-desirable fate. If they’d drug and kidnap her, who knew what else they’d do.
She needed her hands hidden from view as she worked at the restraints around her wrists, and that wasn’t happening propped up against the wall of the van with her hands in her lap. She allowed the jostling caused by the van’s poor shocks to mask a fall onto her side. The
When he didn’t immediately reply, she figured his flight hadn’t landed.
Gwen smiled at the pretty young waitress approaching her table.
“What would you like this evening, ma’am?” the waitress asked.
“I think a cosmo this evening.” Gwen paused, giving the question the serious consideration it deserved. “Yes, a cosmo.”
“You’ve got it.” The girl wrote in a small notebook. “Room number?”
“Three-twelve.”
Walter still hadn’t returned her text when a different waiter delivered her drink.
Gwen was halfway through her drink when she saw the young woman who’d taken her order mixing a drink at the bar. She gave the shaker one last flick with her wrist and then poured. Coming around the bar, she delivered the drink a few tables away. If she was doing double duty as bartender and waitress—okay, it was a quiet night in the bar—where was the man who’d delivered Gwen’s drink?
Some time later, Gwen looked down to see her drink gone—but she didn’t remember drinking it. When did she finish it? How much time had passed? Had she fallen asleep? She was so tired. But she couldn’t sleep here. She wasn’t at home. She was in a hotel. Her eyelids were heavy. She tried to rub her eyes, but she couldn’t lift her hand. Drunk? But just one drink.
A man put his arm around her. “That’s all right, Mom, I’ll give you a hand up to your room.”
She tried to say no. Say that wasn’t right. She didn’t know him. She blinked. She did. He had delivered her drink earlier. And then—she knew. Drugged.
Goddammit. How could she be so careless?
She knew she was angry, but she didn’t quite feel it. The emotion was like the arm wrapped around her shoulders, there but not.
They were walking. Maybe? She couldn’t feel her feet. She’d feel her feet if she were walking. She must be floating. Her eyelids fell closed.
~*~
Gwen woke slowly, a cottony feeling in her mouth and a gritty feeling in her eyes telling her something wasn’t right. She tried to swallow, but that only made her throat hurt. As she lifted a hand to rub her eyes, pain shot through her fingers and then her head. Dammit. Memories of her abduction rushed back. Drugged. She was an idiot. No, she’d become complacent.
Eyes still closed, Gwen took silent stock of her situation. Hands and feet bound, which explained the numbness in her limbs. Her ass was numb from sitting on the floor of the vehicle. She cracked open her eyes just enough to see that she was in the back of a delivery van. Two drivers. She winced as the van hit a rut, sending pain shooting through her skull.
As soon as the pain subsided, she called her fire. If she could burn the cloth around her wrists—
Her heart stopped and she smothered the choked sound trying to escape her lips. Panic streaked through her, followed by a cold burn on her wrists. No fire. Dammit. She twisted her wrists and the cold burned again. But the pain helped clear her head.
Her restraints were imbued with some kind of magic that kept her fire at bay. A magic that felt wrong and burned, but like ice instead of fire. Now that she was fully awake, now that she knew the restraints had some magical property, she could feel the wrongness crawling on her skin. Gritting her teeth, she blocked it out. She needed to plan.
A few minutes and several jarring bumps later, she had a plan. Not a great plan, but better than having her brain shaken into jelly and her ass turned black and blue waiting for some less-than-desirable fate. If they’d drug and kidnap her, who knew what else they’d do.
She needed her hands hidden from view as she worked at the restraints around her wrists, and that wasn’t happening propped up against the wall of the van with her hands in her lap. She allowed the jostling caused by the van’s poor shocks to mask a fall onto her side. The
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