Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 85

The gem shop, located in Sabrebite, was a small light pink and wooden paneled shop. It was almost as small as the bakery. The inside of the shop was filled with everything from crystals to gemstones and so much more.

Out of all the months I’ve lived in Sabrebite and all the years I’ve come to visit Sabrebite as a child, I have never been inside the shop before. However, I knew of Willa because she was part of the Sabrebite pack. She took over the gem shop from her late grandmother, who passed away a few years ago.

Jade was a young woman in her mid-20s, with a petite figure who always wore the coolest clothing. She wore a lot of the clothing her grandmother owned, and that woman always had a certain style about her. She wore crystals along her arms and around her neck; she had her sleek dark hair pulled out of her face, but it fell down her back and landed around her waistline. Embroidered throughout her hair were different colored gems which highlighted her bright features and olive skin.

I always told Jonathan that Jade reminded me of an Egyptian goddess.

As we entered the shop, she was standing behind the counter reading some kind of book I couldn’t see. Her golden-brown eyes shot upward and into our direction; her olive lips turned into a pleasant smile.

“Jess told me you were going to be coming,” Jade said, her tone silky. “Welcome to my shop.”

“Did she tell you why we were here?” Jonathan asked, approaching the counter.

Willa leaned across the counter; her eyes flashed something of a mystery as she looked between the two of us.

“Said something about a black cufflink and wanting to know what kind of witch would make such a thing,” Jade said, keeping her tone low.

“Yes,” Jonathan confirmed. “Without saying too much, we are worried there is another witch at play. This couldn’t have been Naomi’s work.”

“I supposed not,” she said; she was in deep thought as she spoke. She placed the book on the counter and pointed at the image in the book. I was the same black cufflink that Jessica and Greggory wore. It was plain, but looking at the image up close, I realized it had a symbol on it I didn’t recognize. It almost looked like a snake. “Is this the cufflink?” She asked, still eyeing us.

I nodded.

“What is that symbol?” I asked, pointing at the snake-like symbol engraved on the black cufflink.

“The symbol of trickery,” Jade said, amusement in her eyes as she spoke; she was loving this.

“Trickery?” Jonathan asked, taking a closer look at the image.

“As in the Witch of Trickery,” Jade said, raising her eyebrows.

“This witch made this cufflink?” I asked. “Who is she?”

“Did you know that Naomi had a sister?” She counter asked.

Both Jonathan and I looked at one another and then back at her. Of course, we knew she had a sister; part of the origin story of Naomi, when she first met Benjamin, she was on her way to the Amaranthine Cliff to obtain a flower to save her sister, Willa, from death by poison. Not much is known about Willa, but we know she was saved and that she has everlasting life basically.

“Willa, right?” I asked.

Jade nodded.

“She was poisoned by black magic. She almost died but Naomi saved her life,” Jade explained. “However, she never fully recovered. Her powers changed and so did her attitude. Willa turned against Naomi. Became almost the anti-Naomi. She did whatever she could to knock Naomi down.”

“Are you saying Willa is working with black magic?” Jonathan asked.

Jade nodded.

“At this point, Willa is the black magic. There’s no telling what she’s capable of. But she became one of the most powerful dark witches known. I’m surprised you haven’t heard more about her,” Jade said.

“So, how is she connected to Greggory?” I asked, peering up at Jonathan.

He was still staring at the image in the book, lost in thought. He looked as confused as I felt.

“I’m not sure,” he said softly. “Maybe his family had a run-in with Willa like mine had a run-in with Naomi.”

“So, where is Willa now?” I asked, cautiously.

“Nobody knows. She disappeared a long time ago. But some say she’s hiding in plain sight,” Jade said with a smile spreading across her face.

Jonathan and I looked at one another nervously.

“Jade?” Jonathan asked, looking back at her. “What does Willa look like?”

Jade’s smile widened as she flipped through the pages of her book. She stopped once she found the page she was looking for and turned the book to face us. There was an image of a young woman standing beside Naomi. Willa. She had dark curly hair that landed at the small of her back and bangs that almost covered her eyes. She wore a black dress that ended right above her knees; her features were tan, yet bright from the moon shining in the distance behind them. Her eyes were emerald green and yet they looked so icy. Her dark red lips were turned upward in a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes.

She had a snake tattoo on her front shoulder blade and some other marking on her chest, and forearms. She had jewelry along her wrists and neck. One, in particular, stood out with a dark blue pendant with a golden chain around her neck.

It looked familiar.

“That pendant,” I said, pointing at it. “I’ve seen it before.”

“It’s her signature pendant. She gives them out to those she marks for death,” Jade explained. “It helps her keep track of them without being distracted by others in her sight.”

I frowned.

“She has the same powers as Naomi?” I asked. “The sight?”

“Supposedly, yes,” Jade answered. “She can see past, present, and future.”

“What do you mean she gives these pendants to those who she marks for death?” Jonathan asked; he was fixated on the image for a long while.

“I mean she literally gives them a pendant just like that. It helps to narrow her sight; I can imagine the gift of sight is overwhelming when you can see everything at once. She wants to make sure she’s tracking the right person and only sees that one person so that there are no mistakes,” Jade explains. “That pendant is enchanted to allow her to do just that. She usually gives them to her victims in the form of a bracelet from what I’ve heard.”

I frowned.

A bracelet?

I thought back to when Nikini was explaining to us about her relationship with my mother and when we were going through my mother’s belongings. I saw a pendant that looked just like this, and it was in the form of a bracelet. I remember finding it beautiful and familiar; it was the same bracelet my mother once had. I never knew where my mother got it; she never told me, and I never really asked. I just know she’s had it for as long as I could remember, and she never took it off.

Could it be possible that my mother had a run-in with Willa, and she was given this bracelet? That would mean that my mother was a victim of Willa. Which meant somehow Willa was involved in her death.

If Nikini had the pendant as well, that meant she was also going to fall victim to Willa.

I suddenly didn’t feel so well.

“What are you thinking about?” Jonathan asked as he assessed my face.

“I’m thinking Willa might be a lot closer than we think,” I told him.

Nikini mentioned that it was her maid that gave her the pendant in the first place; my mother had a small history in Silverside. I wondered if she came across Willa while residing in the Conway manor.

“Arina?” Jonathan pressed; they were both staring at me with concern on their faces.

“Nikini has this pendant in a bracelet form,” I told him. “As did my mother.”

Jonathan’s eyes widened as he realized what I was thinking. He turned back to Jade.

“Can Willa disguise herself to look like anyone?” He asked her.

She laughed with actual humor; it annoyed me at how much fun she was having with this.

“Of course, she can; she’s the Witch of Trickery. It’s in her nature,” Jade answered.

“Even a werewolf? Scent and all?” Jonathan asked again.

“Yes. She can disguise herself so well, you’d never be able to tell I was her. Especially based on scent,” Jade explained. “She’s the Witch of Trickery,” she repeated.

“So, she could literally be anybody?” I asked, staring at Jonathan with panic clear on my face. “Including a maid at the Conway manor?”

He thought about it and then nodded; his eyes darkened as he met my eyes.

“Not just a maid at the Conway manor. She could also be disguised as the luna of an Alpha. One who falls victim to abuse to keep up with her ruse. Someone we know for a fact that already committed a murder…”

He stopped once he saw my face; I was realizing what he was getting at. My heartfelt heavy in my chest and I thought I was about to throw up. My breathing became shallow, and the walls were beginning to close in on me.

He couldn’t mean…

It couldn’t possibly be…

Could it…?

Melissa.