“I believe the kinborn witches are the reason they aren’t. The primary spell used to stop the curse saved their lives. And for that reason, I don’t want Vina to be an option to help us.” The amount of guilt Amelia unnecessarily carried for incidents she wasn’t responsible for was heartbreaking. She drained her glass. I sensed she needed a reprieve, or perhaps I was projecting my own needs.
“I’m going to my room. You set up a meeting with the kinborn witches, and I’ll do what I can on my end,” she said before heading upstairs. I wondered if her end of the plan involved talking to her mother, and she had discouraged me from doing that to keep me safe.
Assuming she’d stay the night, I headed up with her to change the sheets. When she disappeared into the bathroom, I thought I heard sobbing. I quickly finished refreshing the linen and left. Almost dying, learning that your mother might be willing to risk your life in pursuit of more magic, and discovering that in order to save your life your best friend made a death deal with a shadow god had definitely pushed her to her limits.
20
Seventeen hours since Amelia had awakened, and I was standing at the window with my phone in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. I was ignoring the ludicrously large bouquet of lilies sent by the House of Hollows, accompanied by a gift basket. Me counting every second even annoyed me. Working against the clock to save Amelia had given me a new appreciation for every moment.
The gifts were a reminder of my deception, my bond with Cirrian, and how close I’d come to losing my best friend. I’d eaten several chocolates from the basket, which just added to the mélange of feelings cycling through me. The vampires believed I was grieving the loss of my friend, and I hadn’t come up with a reasonable story to explain her recovery. Unless Amelia went into hiding, it wouldn’t be long before they discovered she had survived. Amelia left early that morning, recapping our tasks. Hers involved dealing with her mother—well, Vina. She’d lost the denotation ofmotherand may have wandered into the realm of Amelia’s enemy. I was tasked with finding the kinborn witches and acquiring any information I could. Neither of our jobs was going to be easy.
Between the missed calls from both houses and the texts I’d left on read, I was assured a visit from one of them and potentially termination. If I were in their position, I’d fire my ass. I was avoiding them, and at this point it was blatantly obvious.
My phone pinged with another message:
Corrine
Keeping secrets, Takara? You never fail to impress me.
Fuck, how did she know already?Staring at the message, I made several attempts to respond, but nothing came to me. I simply sent,
I’ll explain later.
I wanted to add that the spell worked, but I didn’t have the level of gaslighting skill needed to tell her to ignore what she saw with her own eyes. As a former magic practitioner, it was unlikely for her to believe Amelia’s recovery was a delayed response.
Corrine
Save your lies for someone who will believe them, Takara. I’m glad to have you in my employ.
Translation: You have abilities that I plan to exploit later.
The exchange with Corrine had unburdened some of my guilt. I grabbed a bag of dark chocolate-drizzled caramel popcorn. Eating it, I scrolled through social media looking for Jamillah, exhausting all possibilities before contacting William. It wasn’t like there was a coven database, and even if there was, it was highly unlikely the kinborn witches would be on it.
The scratching noise at my sliding door pulled me from my search to the window. “Hey, you!” Quickly moving to the door, I slipped on some shoes to go out, but when I opened the door, the pushy canine bulldozed his way in. Reminding me of a massive dog, he lay down on the landing.
His head lay on his paw, and he closed his eyes. Stroking his back, if I didn’t know better, I would have thought he sighed.
“When you wake, we need to talk, Wolfie.”
He lifted his head enough to show his dissatisfaction with the name before going back to sleep. I washed my hands, grabbed my popcorn and phone, and sat on the floor next to my new maybe-pet, splitting my attention between him and his heavy breathing and my phone. Popping a few pieces of popcorn in my mouth, I scrolled through my phone.
Madoc and his interest in the kinborn witches came to mind. I was surprised he hadn’t pressed me for an introduction. His impatience may have gotten the best of him, and he’d decided to bypass my introduction and find them himself. Before I could send him a text to inquire about it, the wolf’s eyes snapped open.
“Hey,” I said. He canted his head while his intense eyes studied me. “Will you change so we can talk?” The earnest intelligence in his eyes had me convinced he was a werewolf. There was also a lingering sharp defiance, but I couldn’t identify the source.
“I get it,” I admitted with an exasperated sigh. “You feel protected in this form. Right now, if I could shift and hide away for a little while, I’d probably do it, too.”
His head tilted up with a look that encouraged me to continue. Desperate to discuss the situation, I considered telling him. The comfort that the massive wolf offered was undeniable, but without knowing who he was or his pack affiliation, I was reluctant to disclose anything about Cirrian and my oath with the shadow god, and everything that had transpired with him.I was reduced to giving my wolf-guest the abridged version I’d given Corrine about Amelia’s recovery.
“Discovering I’m an ashinwa has complicated my life beyond comprehension,” I admitted. He shifted to standing and was eyeing me with a look that I took as sorrow. Or empathy. Or something that settled between it. His massive face inched closer, canting to the side. It whipped to my phone buzzing next to me, flashing an unknown number, which would typically go unanswered.
When I answered it, Cirrian’s low, sexy drawl asked, “Are you decent?”
Wolfie perked up at the voice on the phone.
I looked at the number again. “You have a phone?” All the times he popped up at my home when he could have just called.
“No. You do tend to enjoy moments of insipidity.”
