Chapter 20
S
eb lit the candles, put himself in the center of the circle and let his mind wander to where Rogue’s mind was being held captive.
It horrified and fascinated him that the wolf could remain still for so long, that he hadn’t gone completely insane yet.
Eventually, it would happen, although it could take hundreds of years. And Seb had nothing but time.
He studied the wolf’s prone body as he did his own version of the dreamwalk through the eyes of the mare.
The markings on the side of Rogue’s face were growing—the dark side attempting to take hold. No doubt failing miserably. But it would keep trying with inky black marks that swirled around the wolf’s eye and cheekbone, snaked down his neck as if attempting to obliterate any trace of his skin.
“Let me go, Sebastian. If you don’t, my brothers will find a way. You’ll just get deeper in the hole with the trappers when that happens.”
“You know it’s useless.” The mare spell was tied to Seb’s life and death, and without Rogue, stopping the Dire ghost army would be next to impossible. Rogue refused to look at him and Seb couldn’t blame the wolf.
“Get her off me, Seb” was all he said. Seb traced a finger down the markings along the side of his face and scalp, saw the lines of blood the mare trailed as she laughed.
“My punishment’s far worse than yours.”
“Says you,” Rogue bit out. “You fucking bastard. I’ll rip your throat out.”
The demon inside Seb bubbled up with laughter, and Rogue finally did look at him, a glance so full of hatred the demon rejoiced.
“You unleashed our ancestors against us.”
“It was always going to happen. The Elders left you so much unfinished business.”
Rogue closed his eyes, and Seb knew his thoughts went to the young witch. Purposefully, perhaps, because Rogue knew Sebastian could see everything he thought. Knew when Rifter and Gwen visited, knew that Gwen had touched Rogue several times and heard him speak.
Seb had the mare caress Rogue’s hair, mimicking the way the new Dire queen had. But when he spoke, it wasn’t about Gwen at all. “You think I can’t get to her, Rogue?”
The wolf eyed him. “You couldn’t stop her when she was your lover.”
Seb’s insides burned. If Rogue knew that, did the other Dires? And did it matter? She’d been lost to him forever a hell of a long time ago, when he’d refused to go back to the covens.
* * *
“What the hell happened out there?” Rifter demanded, managing to keep his voice down as Kate cleaned herself up with Gwen’s help in the bathroom.
Stray longed to go in there and clean the wounds himself, but Gwen was the better choice. She looked up at him and nodded in his direction, as if to assure him Kate was in good hands.
He finally turned back to Rifter and answered, “Seb was pulling her. I heard the Adept’s voice in her head.”
“How does he have power over her?” Rifter asked as he ran a hand through his wet hair, his tone of strangled frustration mirroring Stray’s feelings. Kill watched in uncharacteristic silence from the corner, his expression unreadable.
“I’ve got to talk to Jinx,” Stray said.
“He’s out hunting the ghost army—get him on the line,” Vice interjected. “It sounds like Seb thinks she can really hurt him and he’s trying to lure her in.”
Stray glanced at the silver-eyed wolf and confirmed. “She’s been to the otherworld.”
Rifter blew out a low whistle, mainly of respect. Those who’d seen the light, as they called it, were to be revered. “Then she can help Jinx and Rogue for sure.”
“Technically, yes.” Stray pulled out his phone and dialed Jinx. The wolf answered on the sixth ring, sounded out of breath and not all that well.
He explained what happened and Jinx paused for a long moment before he spoke again. “Because the brand is there, it means her powers haven’t fully integrated. Basically, as far as we know, once the brand disappears, Kate’s power conversion is complete.”
“It hasn’t even faded a little,” Stray told him. “Maybe something’s wrong. I mean, has something like this ever worked before?”
“From what I’ve learned, several times. The witch always picks a dying thirteen-year-old and saves him or her by pouring the magic inside the body. By the time the child’s twenty-three, it’s ready to fully emerge. Kate just needs the right instruction and to let down her defenses.”
“Good luck with that. She’s half pissed and the same amount scared,” Stray muttered.
“Then you fix it. You found her and your Brother Wolf doesn’t want anyone else near her, so you have no choice. Seb’s coven’s attempting to claim her,” Jinx explained. “Since she has a familiar, she can fight them.”
“What do I need to do?” Stray asked.
“Make sure no one gets to her.” Jinx paused for a moment and then continued. “Look, I did a little research on Kate myself and discovered something else.”
“Tell me what you found. And how you did when I couldn’t,” Stray demanded.
“I used some old coven connections of Seb’s,” Jinx admitted. “They can’t stand what he’s done and they were only too happy to help confirm what I suspected. I was planning on telling you, just not this soon.”
“Talk, wolf.”
Normally, Jinx would bristle at that, but told Stray quietly instead, “In her past incarnation . . . she was Seb’s lover—a witch named Lila.” Stray grabbed the chair in front of him and nearly broke it with a tight grip.
“You are fucking kidding me.” His voice rose and the room silenced. Because Lila wasn’t just Seb’s lover—she’d been the love of his life, although Seb hadn’t seen her for thousands of years before she’d killed herself.
“Steady, wolf. I thought it better you know,” Jinx said.
“Yeah, better,” he repeated numbly.
“She’s not bound to Seb. She doesn’t have Lila’s love for him—it doesn’t work like that. She’s got her powers, but she’s not the same witch reincarnated.”
“You know that for sure?” Stray asked. Jinx wanted to say yes, but the turmoil in his mind told Stray that his brother Dire wasn’t one hundred percent sure. “It’s okay, Jinx. Don’t say anything else about it. Not right now.”
Jinx’s next words kept his unspoken promise. “You’ve got to go find the grimoire fast. It should bond to her—respond to her touch only. If she doesn’t make an instant connection to it, Seb can definitely control her using their past bond. With it, she’s got a great shot at resisting him, using it to her advantage.”
Stray turned, noted the bathroom door was nearly closed. Kate must be changing into the dry clothes Gwen lent her. “We’ll go now.”
“Take Vice and Liam with you. I’ll send Cyd back to the house.”
“Where are you?”
“Busy,” Jinx told him and the next thing Stray heard was silence. The wolf had hung up on him, but he didn’t have the time to mull that shit over. Instead, he shoved the phone in his pocket and went to find shoes and a shirt while Gwen finished up bandaging Kate.
Kill followed him. Stray heard the wolf behind him the entire way, refused to acknowledge him. When he got to the door of his room, he turned and shoved Kill against the wall.
“You stay the fuck away from her.”
“Does your new pack know you have the hots for a sworn enemy?” Killian asked as though his throat wasn’t being compressed.
“My new pack knows a hell of a lot more than you ever did.” He pushed away from his brother and went back down the stairs without grabbing what he’d come for. “Don’t you fucking follow me, Killian.”
“You can’t avoid me forever.”
True. But for tonight, Stray definitely would. When he got back into the living room, he saw that Gwen had moved into the kitchen with Rifter and Vice as Liam watched over Kate.
As he approached her, he noted she now wore a pair of black jeans and a black sweater. The jeans were short on her but the sweater fit her well. And when she looked up at him, she suddenly stood. Liam tensed, but Stray waved him off and watched her get that same trancelike look in her eyes.
She remained in place for a long second and then went to the door. Instead of trying to open it, she stared out the door, her palms splayed against the glass like a little kid wishing she could go outside.
It was happening again. Stray’s blood went cold. There were no eyes in the woods this time. It was just Seb’s siren song, calling out to Kate. And it was working.
Come on out, Kate.
She shook her head. The voice was so clear that Stray wheeled around, expecting to see Seb in the house, when he knew damned well the witch couldn’t get in. Even when Seb had been their friend, he’d never come in here. He’d kept his own place at a guest cottage that used to be a quarter mile away until Rifter burned it to the ground six years ago.
Come to me, Kate. I’ll teach you everything.
Kate looked at Stray, the confusion apparent. “Can you hear him?”
“Don’t listen to him,” Stray implored.
“I think he’s trying to help me.”
“It’s definitely a trick. That witch, Seb—I told you he was working with Shimmin.” Stray took her hands in his. “Listen to me. You called your familiar for a reason—let me help.”
“How?”
“Let me in.”
She cleared her mind to allow it, to let him hear the calm, reasoning voice that urged her to step outside and meet him. Stray held her hands tightly, then pulled her into his arms.
The sensation of being wholly and completely safe enveloped her. She breathed in his scent, felt his heartbeat, fast but steady against her cheek.
Get the fuck out of her head, Seb.
Seb chuckled, an eerily demonic sound.
Not a chance, wolf.
But then Seb was gone and suddenly Kate was back to . . . being Kate. No longer in the clutches of Seb, but she was still upset.
She looked half stunned. Backed away from him. And Stray didn’t want to go back to where they were.
“You’re safe now. I won’t let that happen again.”
“He was inside my mind.”
“I know. But he won’t be for long.”
“He scared me.”
So do you.
He winced, hearing her unspoken thoughts, and she did too when she remembered nothing was unspoken between them. “I never want to scare you.”
“I know you don’t mean to. It’s just—”
You’re a beast
, his mother’s voice echoed in his ears.
You can’t be trusted
, was told to him in answer to his question of why he couldn’t play with the other children or live inside the house when he was two and three and four.
By the time he’d turned five, he’d stopped asking.
“Yeah, I get it, Kate.” He pushed away, hated hearing the hurt in his voice. He should be past it.
Besides, she was a witch. He couldn’t trust her.
No, you’re just bound to her forever.
Under some circumstances, a familiar could be released from service, if warranted. But because of the depth of this bond and the power of the previous witch, it was a tenuous hope at best.
Besides, this was the best way to keep an eye on her. Keep the pack and the Weres safe. By default, the humans would be safe too.
And if she decides to move to the dark side?
He had no way to answer his own question, so he didn’t bother trying.
“There’s so much to take in.”
“Shimmin’s been calling your phone,” he said. There had been undercover officers at Bite and Howl too, according to Liam’s werespies.
The Dires hadn’t had much time for partying—their futures didn’t seem to call for it either.
Her eyes looked old as time, hunted and innocent, all at once. “You’re safe with us.”
She crossed her arms in front of her and, just like that, the distance between them returned. “Seb says you’re keeping me prisoner here. And I don’t want to believe him.”
Her unspoken words were
, Give me a reason not to
.
That was it. He picked her up, carried her to the garage and put her into the truck, even though he’d rather have put her on the back of his bike. He planned on taking her someplace to make her finally understand he was telling the absolute truth.
Chapter 21
K
ate settled herself into the passenger’s seat. Stray barely waited for her to buckle up before he raced out of the garage.
He also didn’t take time to get dressed, save for jeans. She could do nothing but notice, although she’d thought she was being sly. Until Stray said, “I’ve got clothes in the backseat if this bothers you.”
Shit. The mind reading thing was really a problem. “It doesn’t. It’s just, where are you taking me?”
“Your apartment.”
“You said I couldn’t go home, and now you’re going to leave me there?”
“No, I’m not leaving you anywhere. I just need to show you exactly how much danger you’re in, in case tonight didn’t teach you,” he said.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be going out right now.” In truth, she was partially terrified, even though his truck was built like a tank. She watched another one follow them out of the garage and down the back road in the rearview mirror.
“We’re fine. The Weres have retreated. The trappers won’t send more of them to attack us. They’re trying to distract us instead, so they can get to you. You’re the damned weak link, Kate, and until you start realizing we’re here to help and not hurt, we’re going to have huge problems.”
She hugged her arms around herself.
“There’s a sweatshirt in the back, too.”
“Stop doing that,” she snapped.
“What? Saving your life or reading your mind?”
She almost said
both
but stopped herself. “I’m sorry, Stray. This is all new to me.”
He didn’t answer her, but even as his hands gripped the wheel harder, his driving slowed to a more manageable level for her. She took a few deep breaths. It was probably a good idea to see her apartment. Although the attacks should’ve been enough, she still wasn’t convinced this was all about her.
“It’s not all about you, but you’re a big part of it,” Stray said. “Sorry, but, man, your thoughts—it’s like you’re talking directly to me.”
“Is there a way out of all of this?”
“I’m it, Kate. You can’t get another familiar until I’m dead, and I’m not going anywhere.”
She blanched, knew she couldn’t lose her one source of protection. Then again, from what she’d seen, Stray couldn’t deny her when she called him. “You got upset when I mentioned that you might be human.”
He glanced at her. “There’s no part of me that’s human. I can take this form to function in the world at large—that’s the way it’s always been—but make no mistake, I have no human frailties.”
“But Gwen does?”
“She’s been made immortal, but the mix of human in her blood along with the wolf makes her a rarity. We have no idea what would’ve happened to her if she hadn’t been touched by the Elders,” Stray said. “They’re in charge of us. Our deities, so to speak.”
“So this human form is . . . fake?”
“It’s part of my shift. Brother Wolf’s other form. His other half.” He smiled. “I know it’s hard to take in. But this form is stronger, faster, and indestructible. Any medical exam you performed on me would blow your mind.”
“But Gwen . . .”
“She’d show human signs. A blood type, which we don’t have. Now it’s my turn. Does your anger and fear always work on people the way it did with Shimmin in the woods? Because you didn’t try it on me.”
And you damn well deserved it
, she thought, and he snorted. “You going to answer my question?”
“Honestly, I’ve never thrown grown men like that before.”
“What exactly has happened before?”
“Well, objects can fly around. Things shake. And with people, they kind of freeze. I mean, they can talk but they can’t move. But that’s only happened twice in my life. I was probably the angriest I’d ever been—it happened to the same person.”
“That’s a type of binding spell.”
“That’s bad, right? That I can’t control those things. Powers. Whatever.”
“You’ll learn, and fast. But no, anger’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s the most valuable thing you’ve got, especially when it’s saving your life.”
“I know you think that I was trying to make good on my threat to put a spell on you, but that was honestly the farthest thing from my mind. I didn’t try to make you my familiar,” she said finally, after a long pause. “But suppose I do get control and I use it against you by accident—or your brothers?”
“It would take a lot to spell us.”
“Okay, so I can’t hurt you, and you’ll keep me safe until I save your brother. At least I know I’m useful to you for a little while.”
“There’s so much more to it than my brother. If you’d let me explain, I think you’ll understand.”
“I don’t seem to have a choice.”
“Neither did we,” Stray told her.
They rode in silence for a little while until he pulled into the alley behind her apartment. The other truck pulled in directly behind them. She waited until Stray gave her the all clear before she tumbled out basically into his arms.
“Forgot the truck was so high.”
“I don’t mind,” he told her. His eyes shifted to the wolf’s for just a second, and that hot coil in her belly threatened to unfurl again.
Seeing him fight turned you on.
And damn, he heard that too. He had the sense not to mention it, just raised his brows and gave a satisfied grin. “You should put a shirt on.”
“I’m not cold.” He tugged her behind him into the back doorway, no key necessary. “Besides, I might need to fight again.”
Bastard.
“You already called me that,” he said.
When they walked, her following him through the narrow hallway that led to her apartment, she swore his shoulders brushed the walls of the hallway. Brother Wolf’s eyes watched her, and she stopped herself from reaching out to touch him, although it wasn’t easy.
She brought her mind back to matters at hand. She wondered if her landlord was searching for her. Rent was due soon and she’d need to empty the place out . . .
But that thought was soon gone. Once Stray opened the still-unlocked door, the mess inside wasn’t what she expected.
There was nothing left. There were scratches, deep grooves, along the floor and the walls, and there was blood, but there was nothing else left of hers. She hadn’t had much of value, but it had been hers. “Where did my stuff go?”
“Shimmin’s people probably came back and got rid of it.”
“Why?”
“You’re . . . erased, Kate. From the police databases. From social security. For all intents and purposes, you’ve fallen off the map.”
“You had nothing to do with that?”
“No, but I would’ve done it if they hadn’t.”
“For my own safety, of course.” The anger built inside of her, this time at the right people, the ones who’d tried to hurt her.
“The witch who passed her powers to me—she died so men like Shimmin couldn’t use her. If she hadn’t died, she might’ve been forced to work with them. Or she might’ve agreed to, like Seb did. What makes you think the same thing won’t happen to me?”
“When she passed the powers, she strengthened them,” he told her. “You won’t be as susceptible.”
But there were still no promises. “I want to know more about her. Why she picked me. I want to know everything.” The lights flickered wildly and the floor began to shake under them. And for once, she didn’t care that it was happening, didn’t care that Stray was witnessing it this time. For the first time, she liked this power, because at least her feelings were known.
She waited for Stray to argue with her, but strangely, he didn’t, just led her out of the apartment into the cold air. Before they got into his truck, he cleared his throat and said, “I need to touch the brand.”
“Oh. Okay.” She glanced at Vice and Cyd. Stray must’ve motioned to them to get into their truck and they did so. When she turned her back to him, she lifted her shirt a little and asked, “Why?”
“Because I have to find your grimoire—your book of magic. It belonged to your witch, and now it’s yours.”
“And it’s going to help me?”
“It’s a book of spells. Each witch has their own personal one, and sometimes it’s passed down by generation, through families. You practice them, add to it. You make it yours,” Stray explained. “It’s one of the final puzzle pieces for you.”
“How do we find it?”
“I can track it. I’ve been sensing it for half the day, but I can’t quite scent it.”
“You can track it?”
“That’s something I’m really good at. I tracked you and look where we are now.”
Where indeed. Somewhere between magic and reality, hanging on to both by a tenuous thread.
* * *
Stray was really trying not to invade her privacy, but Kate didn’t realize how loud her thoughts were, how they were basically directed at him like darts to a board.
Why she wasn’t able to do the same to him when he left his mind open, well, he didn’t know if she was being polite or if she was simply distracted. But the fact that Seb could get to her . . . well, Stray needed to protect himself better.
Kate stood there, looking over her shoulder at him. Waiting for his touch. He rubbed his hands together, but it wasn’t necessary. His body ran warm, like the wolf he was, and when he touched the mark, his fingers lined with the witch’s, a current ran through him, far stronger than he’d felt earlier, a sensation of belonging, both him to her and her to him.
And that was different, a confirmation of what he’d been feeling the entire time. Everything clicked. The need for more threatened to overwhelm him, and he didn’t want to be denied. Wouldn’t, not for much longer.
“Ah, Stray?” she asked, because his hands slid around to her belly and his face lowered against her neck. He bent his head, suckled, marking her lightly on the side of her neck, enough to make her shiver against him in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. “Is this because of your wolf?”
“He likes it, but this is my show now.” He turned her in his arms and kissed her then, his tongue stroking the roof of her mouth, teasing her until she moaned against his mouth. Her hands gripped his biceps and he pressed his arousal to her belly, wanting her to feel him. To know that she wasn’t scaring him off any longer.
He’d had hours to think about the familiar aspect to all of this—and strangely enough, he wasn’t running screaming for the hills.
Yeah, she wasn’t scared of him any longer. No, sir, because he could smell her arousal, sweet and hot and all for him, and there was no fear. “Let’s find your book.”
“And then?”
“And then . . . I’m going to do this again. And much, much more.”
She didn’t protest. And then Brother Wolf nudged him. He caught wind of another trail, and this time, it was exactly what he needed. “Come on. I’ve got a lead on the book—a good one.”
She scrambled into the truck and he climbed in and took off down the alley with Vice and Cyd following. He noted that she kept touching her lips with her fingers lightly.
And then suddenly the mood changed and everything shifted. “What’s wrong?”
She drew in a tight breath. “That part of the dream—where I die—that’s new,” she said softly.
He gave a quick glance in her direction. “You never remembered that?”
“No. Is that important?”
“Very.” He drummed his fingers on the wheel as the truck barreled down the highway in the dark, Brother Wolf guiding him on this hunt. “You’re
other
, Kate, because you’re a witch but also because you’ve seen the afterworld. That’s going to give you a connection to the spirit world that most don’t have.”
He thought about Rogue. He could help her with all of this so much better than Stray could. Jinx, too.
But she chose you. She wants you.
And he wished he could believe it was of her own free will, because her scent was killing him. He wanted to stop the truck, drag her across his lap and take her until she clung to him, calling his name.
He shifted as his cock grew impossibly hard. Brother Wolf growled at him to keep it together, which he would normally find funny as shit.
But not tonight.
“Are your brothers still following us?”
He glanced in the rearview. “They’re there. We’ll be okay. Truck’s bulletproof. Fireproof. Wereproof.”
“What about witchproof?”
He sure as hell wasn’t. “That remains to be seen.”
“You’ve known a lot of witches?”
Knew them, stayed away from them. “Mainly Seb. We know a lot of lore—witches, vamps, wolves. We keep track of it.”
She twisted her hands together. “Is there like a special witch’s chat board or something?”
“Actually, yes. But you’ll also need different resources. Internet’s far from reliable—anyone can say anything they goddamned want, you know?”
He grew quiet then, because they were close. He slowed down. The urge to hunt was overwhelming, but he wasn’t looking for someone. This time it was something, her magic guiding him without her realizing it. It wasn’t spelling him. No, it was more like a gentle finger under his chin keeping him on track.