The silver kept her wound from fully closing, so I don’t have to dig in too hard to open the edges. She makes a sharp hissing sound between clenched teeth, and it’s like nails on a chalkboard. Every instinct screams against hurting my mate. Her blood trickles into my cupped palm until I have enough. I slap my bloodied hand against my chest, right above my heart.
Her blood seeps into my skin in thin rivulets, like a haunting tributary. My witch nature latches onto the magic of her blood, drinking it in like a starving vampire. It absorbs into me, and I feel her magic merging with mine, amplifying my power until it thrums beneath my skin.
“Alright,mi vidita,” I whisper.
Her eyes fix on the crimson streaks across my chest. I cradle her wrist and chant a healing spell, soothing her omega as the skin knits closed. The trembling in her body shifts from unease into something else entirely as I weave pleasure into the spell’s fabric, hoping it will help calm her, to make up for what she just went through in some small way. It must work because she lets out a small moan.
Reluctantly, I release her, continuing to chant under my breath, coaxing the magic over us, then outward like heat from a flame, expanding to fill every corner of the cell until we’re within an invisible fortress. The ward seals around us in a vacuum of silence. I exhale and let my head fall back against the wall with a dull thud.
“So that’s why you needed my blood?” Her voice wavers.
I can’t meet her eyes. “There wasn’t enough time for anything else. I’m sorry.”
She shifts beside me, rubbing her wrist, now fully healed, though still stained reddish brown. “Blood magic?” she clarifies, worry cutting her tone. “Like what the witches do?”
“I’d like to say it’s different, but it isn’t. Blood magic isn’t dark, exactly, but it’s strong. Too strong. It’s like manipulating the Moon Goddess’s blessing.Shedoesn’t like it. But keeping you safe is more important, and the ward itself is a simple spell. Using your blood just gave it a boost. If I tried to use your blood to do a spell I’d never done before, or to control another magical being, it wouldn’t have been as quick and easy.”
She nods, her eyes not quite meeting mine. Of course she’s wary now. I asked for her trust, only to slice her open and use her blood moments later. Her discomfort makes my skin chafe.
“Do you know what Deidre wants your blood for exactly? What spell?” I feel like the answer is right there on the tip of my tongue. Watching the way Tracy’s face lit up when taking Mona’s blood shook an idea loose. There was something my motheronce said about Deidre. How she did something terrible once, sold a piece of herself—her entire bloodline.
Mona shakes her head no. “But she told me it had nothing to do with the shifters.”
“Do you believe her?” I ask honestly.
She shrugs. “She lies about everything.”
“I’m so sorry for using your blood, Mona. I didn’t want to use you like that.”
“Don’t.” She smiles softly, that same oddly at-ease nature slipping back into place. She nudges her shoulder against mine. “You didn’t use me. But what about Andrea? Are they protected too?”
“I’m working on it,” I tell her, buying myself a moment to think. I don’t believe Andrea is in immediate danger, and extending the ward would drain my power, which I will need later. But looking at Mona’s concerned expression, I realize if Mona asks me to, I’ll do it. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s anything Mona might ask me for that I wouldn’t give her.
“Your mates will be here soon enough. A few hours at most.” I gesture to the ward surrounding us. “This was just to buy us a little time.”
Mona’s gaze drops to the grimy floor. “I ruined the element of surprise. I practically handed them over—”
“She would have discovered the tracker, and she’d know they were on their way,” I say firmly. “You used that to our advantage. And she doesn’t know Kendrick’s with them. Even if she suspects, she agreed to your terms way too easily. Whatever she’s planning has nothing to do with their arrival. I also suspect she didn’t have the power to keep all the shifters here, which is why she let them go without much argument. She couldn’t have held them indefinitely, her power’s stretched thin as it is.”
“That makes sense. But she still might suspect Kendrick, and will prepare for him.”
“There’s no preparing for Kendrick.”
Her laugh comes out as an unexpected snort, and the corner of my mouth quirks upward.
“I know Kendrick is still new to you. But he’s basically the final reckoning. He’s not all-knowing, all-powerful. Just devastating. Usually, I do reconnaissance, and on the rare occasions I need him, he shows up and decimates everything within sight. With all that power, even all of those witches out there,” I point outside the cell, “they might stall him for a few minutes, possibly a few days, but his alpha form heals too fast. Thereisno preparing for Kendrick. That’s what I mean. And that’s why I think she took your deal—she’s planning something else. The moment she senses Kendrick’s arrival, her countdown begins. Whatever’s coming, whatever she’s planning, will happen soon.”
She falls silent for a few moments, then asks, “So, what now?”
“Now we wait.”
A bitter note creeps into Mona’s scent—my reassurances haven’t convinced her.
“It was pretty stupid what I did, huh?”
“What do you mean? Coming here?”
“She lied to me,” she admits. “She promised to free all the shifters. I believed her.”
