Page 90 of Bonded Through Bite

“She’s hurt,” Rafael roars, cutting her off.

“What?!”

Santiago moves to take Samantha when Rafael motions to him, then the vamp walks out of the room. The witch looks pale and Grandfather stoic, but there’s a glint in his eyes.

Samantha takes a couple of shuddering breaths and whispers, “Was that Thea?”

“I think so, Ms. Ramsey,” Grandfather replies to her. “You have some very powerful friends.”

“Huh?”

“Since when is Samantha under our protection?” I ask Grandfather at the same time.

“When The Coven calls in a favor, you don’t refuse,” he replies, but again there’s that glint in his eyes. “And since I was already on my way to check on you after the pack informed me about your injury, it wasn’t a hardship to make a little detour.”

“She threatened to curse my bloodline if I didn’t make it here on time,” the witch whispers, her voice a mix of awe and fear. “I’ve never been tasked by The Coven before.”

Just when I’m about to reply, a pair of ghosts, or prisms—I’m not a fucking afterlife expert—pop into the room. They look around and then move to hover around Samantha. One of them disappears and reappears.

Even Grandfather looks a bit shaken when the ghosts sprinkle some herb in a circle around Samantha. Then they hand the witch a little pouch and disintegrate.

“It seems The Coven called in all kinds of favors for you, Ms. Ramsey,” Grandfather says. “I look forward to figuring out why.”

“That’s a protective herb circle,” the witch says as she opens the pouch. “And this is a spirit-cleansing potion. I need to make a tea.”

“If… if that was Thea, she is—was—is my best friend,” Samantha says. She’s looking faint but relatively clear-headed. “And I’d very much like to know what the hell is going on.”

“Thea is on her way. She’ll be here in a couple of days,” Rafael says as he walks back into the room. I swear his ears are red. He locks eyes with Samantha. “You woke up sooner than we anticipated, so she’s out of the country, but she’s coming.”

“Thea? Thea is coming? For real? But what about—” Samantha babbles, while Moretti tries to keep up with replies.

Grandfather clears his throat. “Now, Zacky, I need to be going. I trust that you can look after Courtkenay interests regarding Ms. Ramsey,” he says.

“What about the pack?” I want to leap at the chance to stick to Samantha’s side, but Henry is in no condition to lead and we have a monster to hunt.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll head over there and stay until one of your brothers has time to come over. Ms. Ramsey’s safety is one of our top priorities.”

“Of course, Grandfather.” I don’t need to ask why because you just don’t mess with The Coven. And besides, this assignment is no hardship from where I’m standing.

“Good. We are going to have a discussion once I have the pack under control. I trust you to keep the communication open. No need for any unnecessary confrontations.”

Cold fingers run down my spine. Grandfather is clearly expecting there to be a confrontation of some kind, but between whom? There’s something more to all of this. Why is The Coven so interested in Samantha? And who is this Thea?

“I already made sure the pack has Mr. Moretti’s and Santiago’s contact information. Mine too,” I say and Grandfather nods.

“Good.” He turns to the vampires. “Mr. Moretti. Mr. Wacerra.”

They pause their hushed conversation.

“Lord Courtkenay,” Moretti says.

“I’ll trust you to keep her safe. My grandson is officially representing our interests in the matter from here on out.”

“Understood, Lord Courtkenay.”

“Walk me outside, Sophie,” Grandfather says as the witch walks back into the room with a steaming mug.

“Of course,” she says. “Please make sure Ms. Ramsey drinks this while it’s still hot.” She hands the mug to Moretti and follows Grandfather out of the room.