Raven
Male voices arguing penetrated the thick, sludgy darkness that smothered me. Was this a dream? If so, it was a painful one.
I sifted through my memories, but everything was murky. First, the club, where my bear and my incubus had… no. Not thinking about that.
Then something…bad.
Oh, goddess save us all, was my merman still alive?
My magic churned inside my chest as I focused inward, searching for the tether that linked me to Kai.
It was still there, still intact, but a faint recollection of a cave beneath the ocean, where Kai screamed in agony as an ugly old woman forced him to drink a potion, made my head pound.
I reached out. Was I still in the cave? Or was that just a nightmare?
My fingers brushed against a thick blanket, and from the pine-fresh smell mixed with wood smoke, we were in Maverick’s cabin in the forest. My mates must have brought me back here after I collapsed.
“Drink,” I whispered. The room fell silent.
“You should probably intervene,” Kenji deadpanned. “Or you might have one less mate to worry about.”
“Yes, we need to save Kai!”
“Um, I was talking about the storm mage. The incubus is about to stab him to death.”
That got my attention.
“Little mate?” My bear scooped me up, blanket and all. “Do you need food? A drink? A bath? Tell me.”
I cracked open my eyes to see the incubus pinning Alaric to the wall with a vicious-looking blade while Adam slumped in a chair, with deep mauve shadows beneath bloodshot eyes.
“Why are you here?”
His chin jerked up. “Oh, thank the goddess, my sweet girl. I wasn’t sure whether the spell had worked. The brimstone powder was old, and the demon blood was contaminated with impurities.”
“Demon blood?” Dear goddess, I hoped nobody had forcedthatdown my throat.
“Your life force was being eroded by a powerful dark-magic spell cast by the sea witch. Your guardian needed demon blood, among other things, to cast a counterspell,” Maverick explained.
Zane shoved Alaric away and rushed over to snatch me away from Maverick, who roared in anger. My possessive bear lunged toward us, claws out, but Zane blinked me from one side of the room to the other.
“We don’t need the storm mage, pet. Please let me kill him. It would be my honor, little witch.”
Goddess, save me. Being unconscious solved so many problems.
Adam muttered something rude that I didn’t catch before he stood.
“I should go before anyone sees me here. Raven, I want you to reconsider coming back to the farm. It’s safer there. Dark magic spellsare deadly.” He swallowed hard. “It took all I had to nullify the spell the sea witch cast. I might not be successful next time.”
“I have questions,” I said, ignoring his plea for me to return home. Questions about my heritage. Lots of questions. “Can’t you stick around a bit longer?”
“Sadly, no. I can’t leave the witches unprotected with demon attacks on the rise. Willow and the others are not strong enough to fight demons.”
I poked Zane’s chest, and he rather reluctantly released me, letting me go to Adam on shaky legs.
When was the last time I ate something?
“Now you know how I feel when the kitchen runs out of bacon,” Kenji muttered in a woeful attempt at empathy.
