Page 51 of Wanderer

By Christmas Eve, with only days to go, I was determined to get this curse off my future brother‑in‑law so we could have a peaceful Christmas with at least one brother uncursed. Since I couldn’t help Riley directly, freeing his brother would have to do.

I knocked on the door of the cabin early in the morning of Christmas Eve with an apprehensive Riley by my side. “Gareth…”

“No, Ry, it needs to be done. One of you deserves Christmas free. He’s earned this happiness. I can’t give him his mate—”

“Poor Fen.”

No one had seen the dragon since his fight with Tatsuya. At his apartment, a bag of his stuff was missing. He had fled Greyhaven without a word to anyone. I could only guess what was going on in his head. Paxton had spoken about following his mate, trying to pick up his trail, even using some magic to find him, but if he left Greyhaven now without the curse being broken, he’d possibly end up being an outcast with his mate. None of us was sure if Fen would be immune to Pax’s curse.

There was also the worry that none of us had voiced. We all wondered if the curse would prevent us from causing any harm to Boyce. Having Paxton free would give us an extra weapon other than my magic. It was lunacy to go up against an unknown warlock without backup. And the town needed the magic users here, especially in deep winter. Keeley had offered to come, but I asked her to take over my classes when they started back up and help at the greenhouses. Riley had asked her to power the wards for me. Something she hadn’t known I was doing.

“Just how bad is it?” she had asked me.

“Bad enough I was worried I wouldn’t be able to leave. With you and Eason still here, I can. He’s promised to help out long enough for us to end Boyce.” I shared a significant look with her. “He said not a day longer.”

“Will she not ask him to stay?”

“She said she can’t.”

Paxton opened the door and frowned, drawing me out of my thoughts. “Before you make an excuse, it’s happening now. I’m getting this curse off you so we can plan how to get it off Riley. Think of your brother. He needs to see that it can be done.”

His frown deepened, his mouth turning down. “Now that’s just emotional blackmail there. I can respect it, though. I like you being ruthless for him. He deserves it.” He flashed a quick smile, there and gone again, before moving out of the way so we could enter the cabin.

Riley blushed. “I’m going to make us all a big breakfast while Gareth does his magic.” He rushed off to the kitchen. I got it, magic still made him uneasy. He wouldn’t want to watch me break the curse down.

I took a seat on the sofa and patted the cushion next to me. “We’re just going to give it a shot and see if we need anything else.”

“Right. What do I need to do?”

“Hold my hand and don’t fight the magic when it comes at you. It shouldn’t hurt. I can’t promise it won’t, though. You might feel warmer or colder. It all depends on what he put on it to protect it.”

His hand was clammy in mine. I squeezed it in sympathy and stared into his dark brown eyes. In some lights, you could see a ring of amber in their depths. Such unusual eyes. “Okay,” I said quietly. “I’m going to start.”

Paxton flinched as I sent the first trickle of magic into him. I tightened my grip on his hand and sped up the search for the core of the curse. With a laugh, I touched it. I wasn’t sure if Riley’s had been constructed better—I’d have to talk to Keeley about it—but Paxton’s was so poorly made, it was laughable.

While it took a lot of power, leaving me drained, it was ridiculously easy to smash the curse to pieces and extract it from Paxton.

It was a matter of minutes before I could look him in the eyes and say, “Congratulations, Paxton. You are now curse free. You can take off that charm now.”

He slumped against the sofa cushions, letting go of my hand to scrub a hand over his face and hide his eyes from me. “Thank fuck for that. No, seriously.” He turned red-rimmed eyes toward me, his eyelashes wet. “Thank you, Gareth. I don’t even have the words.”

Riley must have heard something because he entered the living room. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m free, Riley.” Paxton rose and embraced his brother. He turned away from Riley. “I need you guys to bond because Ry, if you don’t—” He gave me a faux-lascivious look.

“Hey!” Riley said, elbowing his brother in the ribs. “That’s my warlock! You’ve got a fucking dragon as a mate.”

“I do.” Paxton sobered. “Once we get this mess with Boyce done and Mom freed, I’m going after him. No matter where he is, I’m going to find him and bring him home. Then I’m going to beat that fucker Tatsuya into the ground.”

“I’ll help.” Riley gave me an apologetic look. “Sorry, I know he’s your friend.”

“No, I’ll help. In fact, I’ll do worse. I’ll tell his sister. She’ll help you.”

I yawned, my jaw cracking with how wide it was. Despite how easy it had been to break the curse, it had still used a fair amount of power. A nap and some food would be enough to replenish me, though.

Paxton rose. “I’ll finish making breakfast. Pancakes?” We both nodded as Riley sat close to me. “Ry, let your man have a nap. Then we need to talk about what happens next.”

Twenty-Four