Page 53 of Of Magic and Murder

Before I can figure out how to break a magical tie I can’t even see, however, I should probably deal with the one I can.

Because that one is impossible to miss.

Like it has since I first met the wolf shifter, faint neon green magic trails behind Riordan as he walks ahead of me, the curse curling around his broad shoulders before sinking beneath his silk shirt. It winds through his natural alpha power and disappears inside of him, so deeply rooted that every time I’ve tried to pull at it, I’ve worried I’ll hurt him instead.

I hate it. I hate that the one thing I should be able to do for him—break his curse—is the one thing that I just can’t. And, sure, I’ve let it go, picking at it from time to time, but I never wanted to push him when he seems content to live his life the way that he is.

But then I remember his reaction when I teasingly pointed out how close he came to giving me an order. If he never has to shut down like that again, I’ll know I did my job.

“I think you should let me try again,” I blurt out suddenly.

Riordan was walking a few steps ahead of me, scouting the path as we headed for a large boulder, the next landmark on Garnet’s list. He stops on a dime, turning so that he can see the earnestness on my face.

He doesn’t have to ask what I mean. He knows. “The curse?”

“Yes. I think… if you give me permission to look again, I might have better luck now that I’m…” I give him a nervous chuckle, then tell him the truth: “Now that I’m not so scared of you anymore.”

Riordan arches his eyebrow. “While it makes me happy to hear you’re not that scared of me, Pen, I’m sorry. I’m gonna have to decline.”

What? “It’ll only take a second⁠—”

“There’s no need. Besides, we’re supposed to be looking for a lodestone.”

“I can do two things at once.”

“You nearly walked into a tree yesterday because you were staring at my curse.”

I feel my cheeks heat up. I had no clue that he was that aware of what I was doing—or that I almost walked face-first into a massive oak tree. “It came out of nowhere,” I mumble.

“It was a tree, Pen. I’m pretty sure it’s been there for a while.”

He’s teasing me. I’m serious about trying to break his stupid curse at last, and he’s teasing me. “Riordan.”

His mouth twitches. “Should I get Max to put up ‘warning: tree ahead’ signs for witches wandering around pack land?”

In spite of myself, I snort. “Do you get many?”

He shrugs. “Two lately. Now three if we count you, but don’t you worry: I won’t let the same thing happen to you. You have my word.”

Good humor gone. How could I have forgotten? Technically, both Faith and Olivia were murdered on pack land by a wolf that Max and Riordan still haven’t identified despite the entire Moonburrow Sheriff Department being on the case. If I had any doubts that they weren’t doing everything they can to root out the witch killer, I might wonder if there’s a reason why they haven’t figured out what wolf is responsible yet.

Either way, I’m suddenly reminded that I’m a witch, I’m in the woods on pack land, and if it wasn’t for the fact that, last night, Riordan proved that he’s doing everything he can to keep me safe, I might get a little nervous.

Instead, I jump when he says, “You know what? If you’re going to keep obsessing over my curse, I might as well finally tell you something. The witch who cursed me? She told me that there’s only one way it’ll ever break, and since I doubt that’ll ever happen, it’s fine. I’m used to it. Now can we move on?”

After he admitted that the dark witch that cursed him put a condition on it? He should’ve told me that at the beginning! It takes a lot of power to make it so that a curse can only be broken if a certain condition is met, and while I’ve found a way around a few of them in my time, it explains why I have had a hard time picking Riordan’s curse apart so far. The curse is fighting against all of my efforts. As it is, I’ve been treating it like an open-ended curse, but now that I know there’s a condition…

“What is it?”

“What’s what?”

“The condition. You know… what do you have to do to break the curse? I know you said it might not ever happen, but please don’t underestimate me, Riordan. I’m sure I can find a way around it if I know what it is.”

He chuckles under his breath. “I highly doubt that.”

“Try me.”

“Penelope…”