Page 121 of Blood and Trouble

The pack bonds rattled inside my soul, reviving me, soaking up some of the silver. The agony of the last few hours faded into the background, bringing clarity, bringing a second wind.

Closer. Closer. Almost here.

“They’re just as likely to kill you after this is over as they are to do what you wanted in the first place.”

She looked sideways at the head witch, the one who stomped her clumsy-ass feet through my mind. Doubt flickered through her dull, crimson eyes, but the witch raced to the vampire’s side and whispered into her ear.

“I swore a vow,” she said before muttering something I couldn’t hear. I picked out syllables, mere fragments. “Work…cure the rebound…eternal greatness…”

“Bullshit,” I hissed. “Witches always have their own agenda. They’re bound by magic and blood, and nothing⁠—”

The hit came from my right before I could brace myself for it, knocking me down to the ground.

“Shut your mouth, filth,” Meathead said. While I struggled to get myself upright, he wrapped a disgusting rag between my lips, knotting it behind my head.

Evelyn nodded at the witch and turned to face her horde of vampires. “We begin.”

The chanting grew louder. Magic spread through the room like an electric mist, suffocating and hypnotic, lulling me into a false sense of calm.

Steady now, my wolf said. Focus. Stay sharp.

I took one last breath before the pain shot down my spine like a lance, squeezing my bones, setting my skin on fire.

CHAPTER 28

Poe

I grabbed the bond between Lycan and me with my claws, pulling the tether tight and guiding the pack to the old Victorian manor twenty miles outside of London. The closer we got, the more his anguish radiated through my soul.

Ava twisted her fingers in between mine and gripped them tight to ground me with her presence. I couldn’t have made the drive without her. My vision kept blinking in and out, and the more I tried to draw Lycan’s pain out of him, into me, the more agitated my wolf became.

“There,” I growled. “There!”

The house loomed out of the woods like a Goliath, some kind of monster from a twisted fairy tale. The shutters were falling off the windows, and the roof had giant gaping holes from disrepair. Still, the pull from my mate inside screamed over my terror, willing me to hop out of the vehicle when Aquila put it in park. Orion, Ren, and Maeve climbed out, circling to the front as the rest of our pack arrived behind us.

“You’re sure?” Orion asked, glancing up at the decrepit house.

“Yes,” I said. “Certain.”

“It doesn’t seem like anyone’s in there,” Aquila said. “The lights are out. It doesn’t look big enough to hold a horde.”

“That’s the glamor magic,” Bridge explained.

“Why aren’t they guarding it?” Sol asked. “It’s almost like we could just—” She almost took a step forward before Orion yanked her back.

“It’s warded,” Bridge said. “I can feel the magic from here. Give me a few minutes.”

She grabbed Leander’s hand and held her other one up, chanting and whispering to herself.

“She’s already doing something to him,” I said. “It’s…Gods, it’s fucking terrible.” I wanted to keel over, vomit in the dirt, and curl into a ball until it stopped.

“Poe, we’ll get him.” Ava rubbed my back. “Hang in there a little longer.”

I didn’t know how I would. Soft white light emanated from Bridge’s hand; her eyes closed while she worked. An electric charge of magic ghosted over my skin, raising the hairs on the back of my neck, but I couldn’t focus on that.

I had to get inside. I had to drag him back from whatever hell Evelyn inflicted and make him swear never to force me away again.

“Maybe I should call out to her,” Ava suggested. “Maybe she’ll lower the wards if she knows I’m here.”