I shot to the back of the cave, certain I was about to be discovered. When a stooped old woman with stringy hair shuffled in, she didn’t acknowledge my presence. Was I somehow invisible? If so, I prayed to the goddess to continue hiding me.
This had to be the sea witch. I could sense her magic: malevolent and powerful, a sign she dabbled in dark magic. Adam had warned me many times that dark magic was dangerous. It sucked the life force from a witch, aging them prematurely.
Was this why the witch looked at least two centuries old? Or did her skincare routine suck serious ass?
I crouched in the corner as she approached Kai. He’d closed his eyes and curled into the fetal position, with his back to the witch. Whether that was to protect himself from further magic attacks or because he’d passed out again was unclear.
The witch tutted and sucked her yellow teeth as she stood over him. She muttered something about stubborn males and then pulled a small potion bottle from a pocket in her gown.
I held back a gasp when she forced Kai’s mouth open and tipped the black, viscous liquid down his throat. He tried to spit it out, but the witch flicked her wrist, sealing his mouth shut until he had no choice but to swallow the cursed potion.
Once Kai stopped writhing in pain, she raised her hands and muttered an incantation. Magic filled the cave, coating my skin in oily darkness. The tether linking me to Kai burned and twisted. Kai screamed in agony, his body contorting as white-hot pain threatened to cleave my chest apart.
Shadows consumed me, but before the cave faded, the sea witch spun around. Her obsidian eyes found me a second before I woke in bed, screaming as something evil carved away at the glowing cord binding my soul with Kai’s.
3
Zane
The substandard furnishings in Maverick’s cabin compared poorly to my suite at Heaven & Hell, but I thought better of telling him. Not because I gave a fuck about offending him, but because this rustic cabin with its cheap-ass furniture and musky odor was the safest place for my witch.
The bear shifter had paid a witch to cast powerful wards around the place. Stronger than those protecting the witch dorm. And besides, I didn’t trust Montgomery’s magic any more than I trusted the asshole mage.
Or any mage.
They were all duplicitous, bottom-feeding snakes.
“I’ll take our mate to bed,” I offered out of the kindness of my poor, dead heart.
Maverick’s eyes narrowed. “No. I need you to go find the fucking mage. His healing magic might help.”
Raven had fallen back into an exhausted slumber since waking up screaming a few hours ago. None of us knew what caused her affliction. Aside from muttering Kai’s name a few times, she’d said nothing helpful.
I’d tried reading her mind, but all I could sense was pain.So much pain.
Ordinarily I’d have been in seventh heaven. Pain was almost as powerful as lust for an incubus like me, but to my surprise, knowing my witch writhed in agonyhurtme. Not physically—which I cared little about—but emotionally.
Emotional pain rarely registered. Some idiot wolf in my grandparents’ pack once accused me of being a sociopath, which ended badly for them.
Perhaps they were right.
Maybe I was a sociopath.
Was, as in past-tense.
Not anymore.
Now my mate’s pain wasmypain, and it fucking hurt.
“Zane!” Maverick’s snarl made me jump. I rubbed my chest as waves of pain hit me once again. Raven whimpered but didn’t wake.
I threw my hands in the air. “Fine! I’m going. Anyone got a problem with me beating the shit out of the mage before I bring him back? No? Good.”
“Do what you like as long as he can cast healing magic, so no severing his hands.” Maverick threw more logs onto the fire to warm the place before folding another thick blanket over our witch.
Vampy stayed well back from the flames leaping up the chimney, which made me smirk. Fire was one of the few things that could hurt vampires. It probably wouldn’t kill him, but being burned to a crisp would take a lot of juice to heal.
“Be quick.”
