Clay appeared before the witch, the rock held in one gloved hand. Despite the wind and the growing wail of sirens, Briggs heard him perfectly when he grinned at her and said, “Hey, sweetheart.”
He smashed the rock against the witch’s chest, and her body immediately stiffened. Clay pushed lightly on her forehead, and she fell over, her body slamming into the frozen ground like a plank of wood.
“Fuck me, it worked!” Ronin crowed with delight as Cece staggered on her feet, and Monroe slipped his arm around her waist.
“Cece!” Briggs raced for his mate, his bear whining unhappily when Cece held up her hand as he reached for her.
“No,” she said.
“My mate.”
“I’m okay,” she said.
She didn’t look okay. She was pale and trembling, and while a faint teal light still surrounded Monroe, there wasn’t even a hint of green light around Cece.
“Please,” Briggs said.
“You can’t touch me, not here, not now,” she said. “I’m okay, honey. It just took a lot of my magic.” Briggs’s bear whined as Monroe helped Cece over to a car, and they leaned against it.
Mal crouched next to the paralyzed witch. She glared at him, her eyes rolling in her sockets, but her body remained perfectly still as Bishop joined him. “Christ, now what do we do?”
“The police are on their way,” Monroe said. “They’ll call the WWC crime division when they get here and realize it’s magic.”
“You should go,” Kat said to Clay. “Tell the others we’re safe and we’ll see them soon.”
He nodded and disappeared in a puff of wind.
“Fuck,” Monroe said. “Teleportation or magic?”
“Wait, you can use magic to teleport?” Ronin asked.
“If a witch is powerful enough, yes,” Monroe said.
“Holy fuckballs. Kitten, are you hearing this?” Ronin said.
Three police cars, their sirens wailing and their lights flashing in the cold night air, turned into the parking lot.
Ronin immediately raised his hands before glancing at the others. “Hands up, kiddos. No one wants to survive a witch fight just to get accidentally shot.”
His bear still roaring at him to touch his mate, Briggs raised his hands, keeping his gaze on Cece as she gave him a weary smile and did the same.
“Christ, I feel like I’ve been through the damn wringer.” Kat rubbed the back of her neck, groaning in appreciation when Ronin immediately pushed aside her hands and gently kneaded her neck. “Thank you, honey.”
They were back at the office, and while it had only been five hours since the battle with the witch, the exhaustion running through Briggs’s body tried to convince him it had been years. After the police arrived, they were taken to the closest precinct with a WWC division. They’d spent the next few hours in separate interview rooms being grilled about what happened. Being separated from Cece had sent his bear into a tailspin, and he’d had to work hard not to shift.
The witch was taken into custody by the WWC, and, to Briggs’s surprise, the rest of them were released without any charges. He suspected that had to do with Monroe, and despite his personal feelings for the warlock, he was beyond thankful to have someone with a connection to the WWC in their corner.
He eyed Cece anxiously. She was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket with Ava on one side and Rosalie on the other. Her eyes were closed, and she looked exhausted and unwell. His bear whined, and Briggs did his best to soothe it as Emerson joined them and hugged Kat.
“Clay and I are gonna go, Kat, unless you need us to stay?”
“No, we’re good. Thank you, Emmy.” Kat returned her hug before hugging Clay. “Thanks for saving our asses, big guy.”
“Any time,” Clay said.
Mal held out his hand, and Clay shook it. “I’m in your debt for saving my mate and cub.”
“We all are,” Hudson said.
