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Chapter 11
Ireread Raze’s sexy sentence for the tenth time, my pulse thrumming in my ears, and I snapped the book shut. Except the words kept floating through my mind and already a tingling roused deep in the pit of my stomach. Damn, he wanted to do those things with me? For real? Or was he teasing and making fun of me? Because in all honesty, if we were anywhere but, in our situation, I’d be taking him into a private room this instant. That was how I rolled… I desired something, I went for it. But here, it felt wrong. Like they were being mischievous, and after all, when men got together, that pack mentality took over. Worse yet, now they all thought I wrote erotica and fantasized aboutthem.
Okay, I did, but they hadn’t needed toknowthat. Goddess, I blushed so hard. Raze had blurted out about my story out to everyone, and then they’d laughed. Now I felt as if a boy I had a secret crush on saw me naked and poked fun atme.
I shook myself and stuffed the book into my bag.Nope.No more writing stories on this adventure. Once I got home, I could scribble away to my heart’s content and put my ideas for dirty tales with four bear shifters to paper. Now if only Ariella agreed to sell them and stop calling my writing “erotica.”
With a huge huff, I collapsed on the couch. “Get your head straight.” It was time to collect my ingredients and break the curse. First, I had to get my heartbeat under control and ground myself. I crossed my legs, balancing the backs of my hands across myknees.
Waterfalls. Tranquil mornings.In my mind, I followed a path in the woods. The sun slid down from gaps in the canopy overhead, warming my shoulders. Birds chirped, and a soft breeze washed through my hair, ruffling my clothes. Nothing could touch me. I was safe, calm, andprotected.
Silence enveloped me, and I opened my third eye to the brightness around me. Outside, the falling snowflakes sparkled. The peace in myhead.
“I call upon the goddess to protect me, to enhance my magic, and eradicate the curse placed on Talin Ursa.” Tendrils of energy tingled at the tips of my fingertips, then swept across my palms and up my arms. The sign she listened to mycall.
Once my pulse slowed, I collected my prepared potion from my bag; herbs, salt, bones from a dead bird I’d found in my yard, and wolfsbane, all ground to a fine powder. Plus, the small sack of blacksalt.
I’d read enough in Mom’s old spell books about reversing an enchantment, and I summoned the strength to make this work. It had to. At its core, all spells were vibrational patterns of an energy field around someone or an object being manipulated. And the best way to deal with that was to rebound the curse back to itsowner.
Back downstairs, voices streamed from the kitchen, and I crept closer, not because I was intent on spying, but hell if I didn’t want to know if they talked aboutme.
“It’s getting worse out there,” Raze said. “Rebels are surrounding the property, but it won’t be long before they breach the protection circle. Then what? They beat us until we submit toRek?”
Someone sighed. “And if I marry his granddaughter, he’ll find ways to control White Peak, manipulate us, and how long before he kills us all? Then he’ll take over the realm as he’s always wanted.” Talin’s voice carried heavytones.
Silence.
My throat dried. Wasn’t Rek their cousin, but he wanted the throne for himself? The four royal princes had been left alone to face a life-and-death battle. I admired them for their courage and for sticking together. It said so much about who they were and how they treatedpeople.
Ash spoke up. “I believe in Bee. She seems different from the other witches. Not prodding us for payment and insisting she had to leave rightaway.”
I grimaced because those exact thoughts had crossed my mind, and I’d said something to that effect to Leven and Raze lastnight.
Still, Ash was a star, and already my favorite of thebrothers.
“Hold on,” Raze said. “Bee,” he called out, “you can joinus!”
Rocking on my heels, I stopped myself from bolting out of there. Instead, I tucked the pouches of ingredients under an arm and marched into the kitchen with my chinhigh.
“I…I didn’t hear a thing you were talkingabout.”
Four sets of eyes fixed on me. Yeah, I didn’t believe me, either. But each of their expressions couldn’t be more different, from Talin’s wrinkled brow to Ash’s soft smile to Leven’s stoic mien. Then there was Raze and his devilish grin. Oh, hesoknew I’d read his message, so I held his gaze and stuck out mytongue.
“Now, I could grill your asses for a week straight before I even make sense of the mess you’re all in. But let’s be honest, that’s none of my business.” I set the pouches on the table. “And I doubt you’d want to indulge my curiosity. So I need someone to bring me a handheld mirror. And a bowl with fresh, clean water big enough for the mirror to be dunkedinto.”
Within seconds, three of the men left the room, though two would have been sufficient, and only Talin and myself remained. I collected a small, empty bowl and a knife from the pantry, then returned to the table, positioning myself right next toTalin.
He looked up at me from his seat, one corner of his mouth lifting, as if he weren’t sure if he was ready to smile or not. “You going to cut me as payback for lastnight?”
“Nope. But you’ll do it yourself.” I set the blade in front of him and poured the powder from the satchel into the bowl. When he didn’t pick up the knife, I added, “I need yourblood.”
“You sure this will work?” The tone beneath his voice carried a desperation I’d picked up on from the others. From Ash when he’d spoken of Talin. My dad sounded the same when he’d realized that Mom’s time had been ending. He’d say all the right things, but his words had been dead, empty, barrenthings.
I sat next to Talin and placed a hand on his. “I can’t guarantee anything. I wish life came with such guarantees. Then I wouldn’t have lost my mom. You wouldn’t have had to bury your parents and sister, and you wouldn’t be facing this fucked-up predicament. But that doesn’t mean we need to accept it. We have two days until the full moon, so I’ll work day and night to saveyou.”
He smiled, his eyes wrinkling at the corners. “Ash was right. Youaredifferent from the others, but I’m curious, why are you sogenerous?”
“Because I hate nasty pieces of work, like Rek. I’ve known a few in my life and they won’t stop until they get what they want!” I hissed, my hands clenching, thinking of the priestess in Terra, even Tristan and his guards, harassing my dad. “And if I can help fight him, I’ll doit.”
