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“I’m notin your lives,”I said impatiently. “But right now my sister needs help. There’s some kind of enchantment on her… I think another pack did something.”
“Let us make sure you’re safe. That Nathan is terminated. That there’s no one else stalking you. And then you can leave.” Shaw sounded sad but sympathetic, and it made my heart hurt more than if he’d acted like an asshole.
“Please, Shaw. Come help.”
“I’m on my way.”
I gave the phone back to Liam. When he hung up, he said, “Shaw wishes that we would wait for him of course, but he told me about a witch that Stone’s contacted before here in the city. If there’s an enchantment on Rose, maybe she can help us figure it out.”
Tentative hope seized my heart. “Thank you.”
* * *
I wasnervous about coming face to face with a witch again, but I would do anything for Rose. I felt guilty about Louisa, even though I’d had nothing to do with her death. I’d certainly disliked and resented her—but she hadn’t deserved what happened to her. If she’d lived, maybe we would have become friends.
As Liam and I drove to the address we’d been given, I worried about Rose, alone in the ICU, and Aiden watching over Dylan. I hated that we were all scattered. And strangely, I found myself hating that these men were scattered too, that Shaw and Stone were separating.
“I worry about Stone,” I said.
“I worry about all of them.”
Liam drove slowly like a grandma, and it occurred to me for the first time that he’d had very little driving experience—and never on a highway. He might fix cars, but he never left the pack territory and its quiet roads.
As he checked his mirrors twice, then changed lanes at a Sunday pace, he asked, “Is there some particular reason?”
“Joshua and some of his friends in the pack want to take over the pack. They were using me as a distraction…” My lips twisted, thinking of everything that had happened. “I guess they succeeded, actually. Stone isn’t going to be focused now, and he’s in danger… because of me.”
Everyone ended up in danger because of me.
I expected a speedy objection from Liam, something I couldn’t count on, but he seemed thoughtful. So thoughtful I wondered if he was in the same reality as me and the stoplight up ahead. “Liam…”
He eased the brake on, and I swayed forward against my seatbelt as we came to an abrupt stop at the red light. “Sometimes it feels that way, doesn’t it? Sometimes I feel like all I do is cause trouble.”
“You don’t.”
“I do, actually. But I’d like to think I’m worth it.” Liam turned a surprising smile on me, and it was one I couldn’t help but return. “And I know you’re worth it, Amelia.”
He parked—taking up two spaces—and got out without noticing. But he held his hand out to me, and I took it, and I didn’t feel nervous about facing a witch. I was safe with Liam, at least in this way: he would never force me to do anything I didn’t want to. He hated how much he had been forced, and I could just feel his commitment to never doing that to anyone else, the same way he’d sworn off violence after feeling too much of it himself.
It was fascinating to me, because so many people soaked in violence go on to perpetuate more violence. Liam was unique. Contrary. He went the opposite way of most.
The witch's shop was dark, both in the sense of a lack of obvious light and because of the heavy air of mystery that seemed to hang about the place. Every corner seemed to contain secrets and wonders, and no two items seemed to be the same.
The walls were lined with shelves containing strange objects, from tiny glass bottles filled with green and yellow liquids to baskets of dried herbs. The shelves were filled to overflowing, giving the shop an aura of crammed chaos. The pungent scent of herbs hung in the air, along with a smoky scent that made me think again of Louisa’s rock.
In the center of the room, behind the counter, sat the witch herself. She was an old woman with a white pixie cut and perfectly done makeup. She seemed to be studying a cloudy green crystal intently, as if she were trying to decipher some hidden message. But it might’ve just been for show.
The witch's eyes suddenly shot up and fixed themselves directly upon us. For a second, her piercing gaze made me freeze. Then she offered us a warm smile and beckoned us closer.
"Welcome to my shop," she said, her voice melodic. "What brings you here today?"
My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to think of how to explain our situation without revealing details I shouldn't tell strangers. Finally, I found my voice and tried to explain what had happened to my sister. Liam wandered along the shelves.
The witch listened intently, except for occasional moments when she frowned at Liam. She was clearly worried his broad shoulders were going to brush something off one of the narrow shelves at the back of the store.
When I finished, she nodded slowly and then took a deep breath, her eyes suddenly sparkling with excitement. The glee that lit her eyes made me feel taken aback, but she was also nodding as if she knew what was wrong with Rose.
"So an enchantment has your sister in its grip," she said, her voice now full of energy. "Well, I think I can help you with that.”
