Page 80 of Of Magic and Murder

She tilts her head, blonde curls fall off her shoulder. “Is that it? Any other stalling tactics before we get down to this? No?” she says before I can open my mouth. “Good. Now come here. Let’s get this over with.”

To both of our surprise, I stay exactly where I am.

Delilah’s transformed hand snaps back to normal as she gestures at the spot in front of her. “Come here!”

Instead, skirting the ward at my back, I put as much distance between as I can.

“Why isn’t it working on you?” she demands. “You’re a silly witch who doesn’t even believe in her own powers.”

Okay. That might be true, but as Delilah loses her composure, I realize something: I believe in Riordan. And before it was broken, my mate used his curse to order me not to take anyone’s orders—and, somehow, it looks like that counts for Delilah.

I almost laugh. The curse Riordan has hated for fifteen years is protecting me from a witch who uses magic to steal choices from everyone around her… yeah, I’d laugh if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m still trapped in this circle with her and she has the lodestone.

And I’ve royally pissed her off…

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Get over here!”

I need a spell. I’m not sure what. I’m a little preoccupied with not being sacrificed, my brain spinning so erratically, I can’t even think of how I can disarm her without her wolf’s paw getting any closer to me. It’s gone for now, but I saw how quickly she can bring the illusion back.

What do I do?

What do I do⁠—

Delilah stamps her foot on the earth. Her left hand flexes and folds, forming a ball of magic around her fist an instant before she flings it at me.

I can’t avoid it. I try, but all that happens is the spell hits me right in the tits, lifting me up and tossing me against a tree before keeping there for a moment.

Dazed, in pain, and terrified, I understand what happened: because I didn’t obey Delilah’s command to go to her, she put me right where she wants me.

My reaction is instinctive. I don’t even think.

I do.

“Riordan!”

A furious roar comes from behind me and, in an instant, Delilah’s spell loosens enough that I lean against the tree, catching my breath instead of having it seized out of me. I’m choking, but that’s okay.

At least I know my mate heard me.

He heard me, and he’s coming for me.

CHAPTER 23

LODESTONE NO MORE

gus knew better than to trust all that pink.

— gus

The roar is followed by a crash somewhere behind the trees. A yelp, another roar, and I know instinctively that whatever wards Delilah laid down hastily to trap me mean shit when it comes to an enraged wolf coming after his mate after she screamed.

She must’ve really thought that her wards would hold. One second, she’s cocky, standing there as though he’s not threat. The next? Riordan suddenly appears and she jolts in place, stunned to find him standing there as wild as I’ve ever seen him.

Now, I felt the wards zap me. I felt how strong they are.Then again, Delilah told me he couldn’t get through the wards, and I believed her because what witch would leave her wards to chance because she didn’t have time to layer them properly?

Of course I believed her. I’m a witch, too. Wards are barriers. You don’t break through them. You find the weakness, dismantle the spell, or convince the witch who cast them to let you through, either by dropping them or by creating a lodestone-type key.

But Riordan? Riordan is a wolf.