Black Magic (Howl #4) (18 page)

Chapter 22

The next day at around seven thirty, Samara thought,
Luke, I need you. Can you come to my house right now?

Sure thing
, he replied.
Is everything okay?

Yeah, everything’s fine. Just come, please.

She paced around the living room as she waited for him. Since her parents weren’t home, she called her mom.

“Samara, honey? Is everything okay?” her mom asked into the phone.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just wanted to tell you that I love you,” Samara replied quietly. “Is Dad with you?”

“No, he’s not. Why, did you need to speak to him?”

“Um . . . yeah, sort of. Can you just let him know I love him, too?” Samara asked.

“I can do that,” her mom replied, “but it doesn’t sound like everything’s okay to me. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Mom, don’t worry. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. We’re supposed to celebrate Christmas at Colby’s house. Luke, Emma, the pack, Colby’s mom, and Aunt Rae are all going to be there. Will you come?”

Her mom hesitated. “Well, I was going to make your favorite honey glazed ham for Christmas.”

“You still can,” Samara replied. “Trust me, you’re going to be having Christmas dinner with a pack of wolves. Literally. The more food there is,
the merrier everyone will be.”

“Okay,” her mom agreed, and Samara could hear the smile in her voice. “We’ll be there.”

“Good,” Samara replied. “I have to go now, but I’ll talk to you later.” She thought about telling her mom that this could be their last conversation and that she was going to do something that could be really dangerous tonight, but she didn’t want to worry her. And with any luck, things would all go according to plan, and she would still be able to make it to Christ
mas dinner the next day.

She glanced out the window just as Luke pulled in the driveway. Samara rushed outside and hurriedly climbed into the car. “Good, you’re here. I need you to drive me somewhere . . . and leave me there without asking me any questions.”

Luke’s head whipped over in her direction and he furrowed his brow. “What do you mean leave you there without asking questions? Where is it you’re going?”

“You’re asking me questions. You can’t ask me questi
ons,” she muttered, frustrated
.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to just drop you off somewhere without finding out where you’re going first,” Luke said, shaking his head firmly. “I’m not leaving until you tell me the truth.”

Growing impatient, she turned to him. “The truth is there’s something I need to do . . . and I need to do it alone. If you’re not going to drive me, I’ll just walk there, but you would make my life so much easier if you would just take me there. Please.” She was about to tell him that as his Alpha, he was ordered to drive her, but she didn’t want to force him to do anything that he was really against. Especially when, the truth was, she wasn’t sure how she would feel if s
he were in his shoes right now.

Luke hesitated for a long while. Finally, he muttered under his breath, “Fine . . . I’ll take you. No questions, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Samara whispered. When he glanced over at her, she noted the reluctance in his eyes. He didn’t want to take her, but he knew that she was going to end up where she wanted to go, whether it was with or without his help. “I need to go to Old Mill Road. You know, to the same place where we had our first date.”

Raising his eyebrows, he glanced over at her curiously. “Why would you need to go there? It’s out in the middle of nowhere.”

“Luke, you promised me you wouldn’t ask any questions,” Samara snapped at him, more defensively than she meant to.

He stared at her quizzically for a moment before tearing his eyes away from her and pulling out of the driveway. “Fine, Sam. I can’t even hear your thoughts like I usually can, so I know you’re blocking me out. Be as secretive as you want to be, but just know that I’m onto you. I know something’s going on, I just can’t put my finger on what it is.”

Samara didn’t say anything back. She didn’t want to start an argument with him because she knew, deep down, that there was a chance this could be the last conversation that w
ould ever have with each other.

When Luke pulled up to the dirt lot that led to the place where she would be meeting Jason—and probably the rest of the Vyka members—in a half hour, Samara turned to Luke. “Okay, once I get out of the car, you need to leave. Don’t wait for me, okay?”

She glanced down so that she didn’t have to see the pained expression in his eyes.

“How are you planning to get home?” Luke asked her calmly.

Samara shrugged. “I haven’t thought about it yet. I guess I’ll call you once I’m ready.”

“So, wouldn’t it make more sense for me to just wait here for you until you’re done with whatever it is that you’re doing?”

She shook her head. “N-no, it wouldn’t make sense.” Glancing up into his eyes, she placed a hand on his chin. “I love you, okay?”

“I know you do,” Luke mumbled.

“Trust me then, okay? I’m just doing something I really need to do. It will help out everyone in the end.” Samara leaned in and pressed her lips against his; she felt a wave of fiery coldness wash over her body as his mouth came down on hers with a
mix of uncertainty and passion.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Luke ran a hand through her hair. She could tell from his hesitation that he wanted to ask her if he could come with her, but he didn’t . . . and she didn’t give him the opportunity to.

She swung the car door open and climbed out onto the gravel. Closing the door behind her, Samara put her hands on her hips and stared at Luke expectantly. Even though the reluctance had lingered
in his eyes, he seemed to take the hint right away; he backed the car up and pulled away, glancing at her over his shoulder.

Samara closed her eyes. Letting Luke go like that without even explaining to him what she was about to do was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but it was the only way she could do what she was about to do without worrying him too much
. . . or getting him involved.

Once she heard Luke put his foot on the gas pedal and saw the car pull down the road, she darted across the grassy field and into the woods. Reaching under her sweatshirt to make sure that her wolfsbane was still around her neck, she breathed a sigh of relief when she found it still was.

Samara pulled the white candles and the box of matches that she had packed out of her tote bag. If there was any way she was going to beat Jason, she was going to need to call upon the Trusted Ones . . . and hope that they would actually be summoned.

She tried not to think about what was going to happen tonight if the Trusted Ones
didn’t
answer her. The thought that she may have to try to figure out how to fight Jason—and the black magic that he would surely be using to fight—all on her own made her nervous. The only bright side was that she wouldn’t have to fight the
rest of the pack, unless . . .

It hadn’t even occurred to her until just now that this whole thing could be a setup. What if Declan had lied to her just so that Jason could get her here? Maybe all of the members of the Vyka were planning to gang up on her and the rest of the Ima, who they probably would have guessed she’d bring with her.

Samara decided that she didn’t have time to second guess him. She had to focus on what was most important right now . .
. and that was killing Jason.

Samara found a rock that wasn’t surrounded by any trees or brush and decided that it was the perfect spot. She set the white candles in the center of the rock and lit them with one of the matches. When the flames rose from the wick, she smiled and closed her eyes.

“I’m going to need you tonight, Trusted Ones. Please come when you’re summoned,” she quietly begged. She hoped that she had enough faith in them to summon them.

Crouching behind one of the trees near the lit candles, Samara waited. She watched as a pair of headlights drove up the driveway, stopping at the end of the road.

It was Jason. It had to be.

The breath caught in the back of her throat; she wasn’t ready for this. Even though she wanted to be ready for this, she didn’t think she could ever possibly be prepared enough for the fight that was about to take place. Her l
ife was going to depend on it.

Samara hoped that, no matter what happened tonight, she made her pack proud. She wasn’t going down without a fight, and she hoped that even if something bad happened, the Ima would at least know she had given her all.

As she heard the sound of footsteps crunching over the dried up leaves on the ground, Samara felt her heart begin to beat louder; it beat so loudly that she was sure it was going to give away her spot in the woods.

She watched as a dark figure approached and stood in the center of the field. He lit a bunch of candles and strategically placed them in a heart shape. Samara realized that although the candles were surely crimson candles, she knew that Jason was putting them in a heart shape so that she would believe that Luke was being romantic; a heart of candles to go along with the special Christmas present that he needed to give her in the pri
vacy of the middle of nowhere.

She rolled her eyes at how foolish Jason must have thought she was to buy into this whole plan he’d come up with.

Deciding that she couldn’t hide from him any longer, Samara stepped out from her place behind the trees
. “Hi, Jason,” she said coolly.

“Samara,” Jason said with a smirk on his face. “Funny running into you here in the middle of the night.”

Samara shook her head forcefully. “Not funny at all, if you ask me. Are you really stupid enough to think I’d fall for a fake email? Luke and I never talk to each other through emails. We’re mates. We have no reason to.” Putting her hands on her hips confidently, she added, “I figured out your sneaky little plan.”

“I must say I am surprised that you put two and two together on your own,” Jason replied, his dark eyes appearing even darker under the shadows cast by the trees. “I mean, I know your brother’s been a good pack member to have recently, but I really thought he was a lot weaker than he is. I expected him to go running back to you with the information I’ve been feeding him. I guess you can say this has been somewhat of a test for him, but he has proven where his loyalty lies.”

“If you’re trying to rub it in my face that my brother chose you over me, don’t even bother,” Samara replied. “What type of Alpha are you for your own
twin
brother to leave your pack in favor of his enemies?”

Jason smirked. “My brother is a sorry excuse for a werewolf. You would have learned that on your own in time . . . if things weren’t going to turn out the way they will tonight for you. It doesn’t matter, though. Soon, he’s going to be a part of my pack again, whether he likes it or not. And he won’t have some pathetic Alpha girl to ask him to join her pack if he decides he wants to leave again.”

Taking a step closer to her, Jason added, “Next time, if he decides that he wants to disobey me, I’ll just kill him. The s
ame way I’m going to kill you.”

“I don’t believe it,” Samara murmured.

Jason smirked. “You don’t believe I’m going to kill Josh? He’s a wimp. I have no reason to keep him alive if he’s not going to work for me. I think our father would be pleased with my decision to kill him, too. Josh never was his favorite son.”

She took a step backwards, feeling a little too close for comfort. “I meant, I don’t believe you’re going to kill me.”

Jason licked his lips. “Nothing would give me greater pleasure. It’s what I’ve wanted to do for so long, my whole life, really . . . kill Joe McKinley’s granddaughter. It’s been one of my greatest ambitions. Now you’re here, and it’s finally going to happen. I have to say, I’m a little excited.” His lips twisted into a sinister smile.

“I mean, you’re not werewolf enough to kill me on your own . . . without black magic,” Samara replied.

Jason’s eyes flickered with a look of anger, but it quickly passed. “Any way to get the job done, right?”

“No, you’re wrong, Jason. Why don’t you try being a real man for once and fighting a battle on your own? Why would you want to rely on your demons to do it?” Samara questioned.

“They’re not ‘demons’, as you put it. They’re like pets,” Jason replied. “We have something to offer each other. As long as I can keep them happy, they’ll keep doing what I want. It doesn’t matter, though. They’ve already heard all about you . . . and to be hones
t, you’ve really angered them.”

“How have I angered them?” Samara asked. It didn’t make sense how she could piss off spirits that she had never even met.

“They’ve been waiting too long for you. You see, I promised them that as long as they could kill you for me, they could feed on your blood. They prefer the blood of a human because it’s so pure and innocent, most of the time, but . . . there are rare cases when they crave the blood of a werewolf, too. This is one of them.” Jason smiled. “They’re just dying to get their hands on Joe McKinley’s granddaughter’s powerful werewolf blood. It will make them even stronger than they already are.”