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I almost felt bad for him. Then I remembered that he’d tried to trade me for some magical object. He was going to push me to marry him just so I could fix whatever messed-up situation his coven was in.
Not your problem, Claudia. You can’t fix everything that’s wrong in this world. You can barely protect your own family.
I followed him out of the hotel, trailing behind as he walked down the narrow street to a parked car. He opened the driver’s side door for himself. “Get in.”
I didn’t wait for him to ask twice. I opened the door to his little blue Honda rental, and slid into the passenger seat. “You know where you’re going? We don’t need directions?”
“No.” He started the engine and drove down the street. I buckled my seatbelt as he nearly sideswiped a car.
Lucas had made driving down the tiny roads look easy. I’d never felt anything but safe with him, except for being terrified when we went up that mountain road. Even then, he’d reassured me. But a few seconds into the drive with Matt I knew I was really putting my life in his hands.
“My cousin joined up with this sect a while back,” Matt said as he cut off a truck. “We all thought he was nuts, but he was always a little on the odd side. I’ve visited a few times over the years. Luciana has been known to stop in, too.”
I didn’t like that Luciana had been there. It definitely supported what Lucas said about those brujos being evil. I cracked my knuckles as I contemplated asking Matt to turn around, but kept my mouth shut. If there were another way, I’d take it. But there wasn’t.
As I sat there, I wondered if there was any way I could get Matt on our side. I knew I couldn’t trust him, but while we were stuck in the car together, I figured I might as well try to convince him to support us against Luciana. He’d definitely pass along anything I said to his mother—the leader of his coven. And she might pass that information along to Luciana. But she might not.
Worst he could do was say no and tell Luciana I’d asked. It wasn’t like she didn’t know I’d left the coven.
I blew out a breath as I thought about what to say. Keeping it simple was probably the best way to go. “I know it’s asking a lot, but it would be amazing if I could get your support against Luciana. You said your coven was in trouble. Forming a little alliance right now could do both of us some good.”
“Why are you so set against her? What’s she done to you?”
That question was so absurd to me, I wanted to laugh. Or cry. What hadn’t she done? “She’s gone solid black. A few weeks ago, she attacked the pack, and tried to raise demons. She only stopped because Daniel was killed.”
“Demons?” The car swerved as he looked at me.
“Watch it!” I waved my hands at the road.
He jerked the steering wheel, bringing the car back onto the road. “Sorry. But demons?” He shouted. “I knew we shouldn’t have…” He paused, but I really wanted him to finish that thought.
They shouldn’t have what?
“Daniel’s dead? That’s a shame. He was always nice to me.”
A shame? That was much too tame a word for how I felt about it, but I merely nodded as I tried not to let the sadness take hold. “He was a nice guy,” I finally managed to say. “I miss him a lot.”
We were quiet for a little bit, before Matt spoke up. “Are you sure you know what you’re talking about?”
Could he be any more patronizing? I willed myself not to lose my temper. Allies. We need Allies. We’d have a better chance against Luciana and the others if we had more witches on our side. “I’m certain. And not only that, she called up a demon to raise Daniel from the dead. He… It wasn’t right. His skin was gray and starting to rot. She turned her own son into a monster. She’s has to be stopped.”
He scanned my face, most likely looking to see if I was lying.
“Watch the road!” I yelled as the tires skidded on gravel again. He faced frontward in time to swerve away from the oncoming traffic.
God. He was going to kill us. “Just watch the road,” I said it much softer the second time.
“Raising demons is really bad. That’s not gray magic, that’s black. Why isn’t your coven standing up to her?”
Where did I start? “The thing about Luciana is that she’s a good speaker. She’s convinced everyone that what she’s doing is what’s best for the coven and now they follow her like lemmings. And she’s got a massive hatred for the wolves. Any complaints that the coven had, she found a way to blame them on the pack.”
“Come on, Claudia.”
I ground my teeth together as he said my name. Clod-ia. With that one word, I knew douchebag Matt was back. All the hope that he might help us fled.
“You have to realize that the wolves aren’t our friends.”
No. I didn’t realize that. So far, they were the only ones willing to help. “Why not?”
