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At this point, he was half tempted to just grab Harrison and wrap him like a koala bear would a sturdy tree trunk. The man might not look very huggable, but at least he was sturdy.
“The same way they’ve always found us. They can track our magic,” Clay replied evenly, repeating roughly what he’d already told Harrison.
“And it can’t be allowed to continue,” Harrison interjected. “There has to be a better way to protect you from the pestilents as we travel. As far as we know, they’ve never discovered the hiding place of the spell book, so they won’t be able to anticipate where we are headed.”
“That means they must think we’re on our way to Sedona and the rift,” Baer murmured. “Should we split up? One group acts as a decoy while the other goes on to the spell?”
Clay was shaking his head and Hale had to admit the queasiness that had risen in his stomach immediately eased. “No splitting up. We’re safer if we stick together and watch each other’s backs.”
“So instead of two targets, we’re just one big target,” Lucien muttered.
Dane crossed to Clay’s side and leaned against his mate. Clay immediately opened his arms and pulled the man to his chest, helping to hold him upright. “Wiley, you’ve put up a couple of different kinds of protection spells on the house. Isn’t there something you could use now?”
The smaller man frowned and rubbed his jaw. “There are a few protection spells I could put around this hotel. They aren’t very strong, but they would give us ample warning that the pestilents are nearby. We wouldn’t be surprised again.” He paused and finally sighed. “But I can’t use them when we’re traveling. The protection spells only work on a static location.”
“What about a simple masking or cloaking spell?” Harrison asked. “I know I saw a couple in the database.”
“They wouldn’t offer us any protection,” Wiley countered.
“I see what he’s getting at,” Gio murmured. “We wouldn’t need protection if they couldn’t find us in the first place.”
Clay pointed at Wiley and Harrison. “You two work on the protection spell, and then figure out how to hide us for travel tomorrow. The rest of you, clean up and get some rest.”
Dane slipped away from Clay and started handing out room keys. Harrison and Wiley hadn’t needed any instructions from Clay. The two were already lost in their own world, heads together as they debated spells they’d seen from the various journals.
With a weary smile, Hale turned his gaze toward Cort. “I understand you’ve got my stuff and Harrison’s.”
Cort nodded. “Let me get Grey tucked into our room, and I’ll meet you at the SUV.”
“You’re not going down there alone,” Grey grouched, hugging his mate close.
“I’ll go with Cort and Hale. You sleep,” Clay volunteered.
There was more bickering and grumbling, but within a few minutes, cars were unloaded and people were safely tucked into their rooms.
Hale was immensely grateful that Clay had assigned Harrison to Wiley’s side for the spell. It meant the man was focused on magic and not the aching wound on his chest. The poisonous pain was gone and he was just left with the dull throb from the scratch marks. Nothing too serious.
What bothered him the most were the flashes of the fight that continued to flicker in his brain. If he’d been a second later, Harrison would be dead right now. Those talons that scored his chest would have cut straight through the man’s throat. There would have been no saving him. It would have been too much for Dane. Harrison’s air would have been cut off, and he would have drowned in his own blood.
Hale’s fists twisted in the curtains on either side of him as he stared down at the parking lot, watching Harrison and Wiley side by side as the Animal Weaver’s mate cast the protection spell. Even though he could see Baer and Clay standing nearby, acting as guards, Hale couldn’t walk away from the window. No, he couldn’t take his eyes off Harrison until the man was safely locked in their room for the night.
Harrison had almost been killed.
Another low rumble of thunder rolled across the sky like a steamroller flattening clouds as it drew closer to the hotel. His eyes darted up to the black sky, but he didn’t see any churning storm or flashes of lightning.
No. Harrison was not going to die. He didn’t care if that was the destiny Harrison thought he had in store for him, or if he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father. Hale refused to let that man die with them at the rift.
Chapter
Ten
Harrison was exhausted. He could barely lift his feet as he shuffled to the room that had been secured for him and Hale. The better part of an hour had been spent with Wiley as the young man put down a protection spell on the hotel.
