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“It’s not the sixteen hundreds anymore,” Reed said vehemently. “These women are people, Jonah, not cattle. We can’t justtakethem. That doesn’t work anymore. Maybe it never did.”
“So you’re saying we should just let darkness take the world?” Jonah asked. “So the little witches can have roses and candlelight dinners?”
“Enough,” I said, my voice ringing out dark and deep in the small meeting room, in spite of my best efforts to keep my cool. “There was a hellhound following us last night. They’ve gotten too bold. The Order must be planning something. The witches are in danger.”
Everyone nodded. The Order of the Broken Blade was one of the many factions that wanted access to the library at the castle. They were the most likely to send undead minions like the hellhounds to do their dirty work. And if a group of ambitious warlocks like that ever got ahold of the kind of magic contained in the Primrose library, there was no telling what kind of hell they would unleash.
Protecting the castle and the library had always been my job. I had known since childhood that this was my special destiny.
But now that I had a mate at that school, I felt the danger more keenly. It was as if the most tender part of myself were naked in a blizzard, exposed to whatever might come.
As the others began to argue about what to do next, Reed leaned over and whispered in my ear.
“Remember she’s a witch,” he told me. “She can take care of herself.”
I pictured the vines exploding out of nowhere to shield us from danger and tried to let it ease the pain in my chest.
But it was like tossing a pebble into an abyss.
Whether I had planned for a mate or not, I had to claim her. Only having her close, where I could see her and protect her, would assuage this ache.
“Tonight,” I told myself as much as him. “I’ll claim her tonight. And we’ll never have to find out how tough she is on her own.”
