In ten years, the Hunter’s threat hadn’t faded. It always lingered in the back of my mind, whispering from every shadow and dark corner across the streets of the Bay.
But I’d learn to live with it. Tosurvivewith it, just as Calla had asked me to, because ultimately that’s all it was—a threat. Words.
Until now.
When I find you, I will burn you.
But not before he toyed with me. He’d asked those vamps to leave me alive tonight. Why?
How long had the Hunter been in the Bay? How many more witches would suffer or die before he finally took his revenge on me?
Would I be the last, or was this only the beginning of a much more sinister plot? The vampire and shifter blood, the kidnappings, the demon trap… The more I thought about it, the more I realized we were only just scraping the surface.
Murder? That was just the tip of the iceberg.
“Hunters have been quiet for too long… The witches believe we're on the verge of another Great Hunt.”
The words from Sophie’s book of shadows danced through my memory, mingling with the things Hollis had just shared.
“Ranting about wars and elemental magic and rightful guardians. Real crusader…”
I closed my eyes, wishing I could ask Calla for advice.
But I didn’t have Calla anymore.
“There’s nothing you can’t survive on your own. The point is, you don’t have to.”
Ronan’s voice echoed, grounding me once again. Bolstering me.
Whatever his secrets, whatever the terms of the contract that bound us, I trusted him. I loved him. And I believed that he was my true guardian, always having my back.
And now I had a wholepackof guardians.
Being here with them like this, working together, looking out for each other… If I’d had my tarot cards with me, I knew without a doubt the Ten of Cups would turn up. Just like the beings in that card, we were a family in the truest sense of the word. Crazy and intense and infuriating. Supportive and loyal and fierce.
Even Asher, for all his stupid outbursts.
Being with them… it just felt right.
It felt like home.
If that hunter thought he could take that from me now, he was even more deranged than anyone thought.
So.Howmany more witches would die?
Easy: Not a single damn one.
“I know how to find the Hunter,” I said suddenly, a renewed sense of purpose giving me strength. “But there’s something I need to take care of at home first. Will you guys come with me?”
Ronan smiled. “We’ll go anywhere with you, Gray Desario.”
Darius nodded. “You don’t even have to ask, love.”
“We’ve got your back,querida.” Emilio reached for my hand and squeezed.
Asher met my gaze, a brutal storm raging in his eyes. I held my breath, waiting for him to scold me, to remind me how I’d put them all in danger, how it was somehow my fault that he’d ended up in the devil’s trap.
But with a sudden flash of that bad-boy grin, he opened the front door for me and stepped aside, gesturing for me to pass through. “Lead the way, Cupcake. We’re right behind you.”
