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“So you can’t help.” He didn’t dare look at Luna, not wanting to see the blame and fear she must be experiencing. The weight of responsibility crushed down upon him. This was his fault. If he’d stayed away, none of this might have happened. Or maybe it was inevitable. Fate playing yet more games with his life.
“I didn’t say that.”
“What if I kill Solange?” It was the most logical solution. “If she’s dead, will it negate her magic?”
“Not necessarily. A spell can survive long after the mage is gone. And you may be the gray wolf, one of the famed lone wolves, but there’s no guarantee you’ll win.”
His hackles rose. A low growl vibrated out from him, almost silent, but with power enough to push the coffee table and chairs back several feet.
Luna startled beside him, her eyes glassy with pain.
“Whatever Solange did to Luna, calling you seems to be making it worse. The magic has increased in intensity, and so has her pain level. She’s running a fever.”
“Tell me what happened. Don’t leave out any details.” Haltingly, at first, Luna described the encounter, her voice getting stronger as she went. Pride welled up inside him. She might be human, but there was a solid core of steel inside her.
“She touched you the one time? You’re sure?”
“Yes.” Luna slumped against him, as if her body had simply run out of energy.
“I think it’s a tracking spell.” He could be wrong, but he trusted his instincts.
“From what you told me, you’re probably right. I’m going to have to do this in person.”
“No.” He didn’t want another mage anywhere near her.
“Listen, wolf, magic isn’t something for you or an uninitiated human to fuck around with. You could make it worse.” She sighed. “For what it’s worth, you can trust me.”
He snorted. “Yeah, right. Mages are known for being kind and giving souls. What do you want in return?” Nothing in life was free. Even Miguel hadn’t given him the information out of the goodness of his heart. He owed Kade his life. Now that favor had been called in, the debt repaid.
“Not every mage dabbles in dark magic, wolf.” Old pain echoed in her voice. “You want to know my price?”
Here it comes. “Yeah.”
“What I want and what I can have are two different things. What I’d like is for Solange Dupree to die, but as I said, there’s no telling how that would work out…for any of us. What I’ll take is a favor, to be called in at a future date.”
A kernel of hope sprang to life. As the saying went—the enemy of my enemy is my friend. “I take it you have history with her.”
Onyx’s harsh laugh raised every fine hair on his body. “You have no idea.”
“Where are you? How long will it take you to get to New York? We’re at a suite in the Courtyard by Marriott in Manhattan.” He was getting more and more concerned with each passing second. Luna was panting, her breathing labored.
“I’m already here. I’ll be at your hotel within the hour.” The line went dead. As soon as it did, Luna went limp. He tossed the phone aside, lifted her into his arms, and carried her into the bedroom. Instead of setting her down, he sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard with her cradled on his lap.
He counted her heartbeats, watched every rise and fall of her chest. Her breathing was too shallow for comfort. “What am I doing?” He was risking everything for a woman he barely knew. If Luna was marked with a tracking spell, every minute they were here was dangerous. Worse, he now owed an unknown mage an unspecified favor. That would surely come back to bite him in the ass, assuming he survived.
He thumped the back of his head against the headboard. “I should already be gone.” They were called lone wolves for a reason. Having to worry about someone else made the job more difficult. The smart thing to do would be to leave Luna here. If he wasn’t near her, Solange couldn’t find him. Onyx was on her way. If she could help her, she would. If removing the spell was beyond her ability, he’d done all he could.
His wolf growled. He clutched her tighter, every cell in his body rebelling at the thought of abandoning her to her fate. Okay, scratch that. Neither he nor his wolf was on board with that idea. He pressed his forehead against hers, willing her to open her eyes. The steady beat of her heart reassured him she was in no immediate danger, but that didn’t negate the sense of helplessness swamping him.
It was a sensation he hadn’t experienced in a long time. Not since he’d made his first transition and had to fight his way out of his pack to survive. Once he’d recovered from the shock and pain of the loss, he’d vowed it would never happen again. To make it a reality, he’d cut himself off from close relationships and guarded his heart like a miser hoarded money.
“Yeah, doing a great job there.” He tilted his head back and stared at the plain white ceiling. The gods had to be laughing their asses off.
The first hairline crack had come when the white wolf had reached out to him. Some misplaced sense of brotherhood had urged him to share the rumors he’d heard. That and loneliness. A wolf was a pack animal by nature. Facing eternity alone was daunting, especially when there were two other people in the world who had firsthand understanding of what he was going through.
“What was I thinking?” Too late to go back and change things. That horse had already left the gate, the race underway. Like it or not, they had a tentative connection. Arrogantly, he’d assumed he could deepen the ties with the closest thing he had to a brother and still keep his heart shielded. And maybe he could have—if he hadn’t met Luna.
From the moment he’d laid eyes on her, she’d captivated him. It was as though something inside him had given a sigh of relief and whispered, “There you are.” Whatever had brought the two of them together was growing stronger the more time he spent with her. Whether it was temporary or permanent, he had a job to do. Nothing, and no one, could be allowed to sway him from that path.
