Hadley Werewolves, page 16
“Affliction? The poisoned blood?”
“There’s more than that. Also, it has to do with how she bleeds.”
Drew looked down at her wound. The bleeding was under control now.
“She’s a Bleeder.” Charly looked toward the east. “Among my kind, there are those of us who bleed, but the cuts don’t close as fast as they should.”
Drew chewed on the thought. “So she has a form of hemophilia?”
Charly appeared to consider this. “You could say that. From what I understand of the disease, the recessive gene is rare in women, especially blood witches, but she has all the signs for a mild case of hemophilia.”
“Why did she cut herself so deeply?”
“They must’ve had her on a mission in the compound to fight the blood demon.”
“For someone with this type of condition why is she cutting herself?” He snorted. Why cut yourself if you might die afterwards?
“Because she’s good at what she does.” Charly flashed the sleeping woman a dark look. “Enforcing the will of the coven upon others.”
“Don’t you mean I’m good at killing?”
Their newest passenger was wide-awake.
Lying awake while people talked about you was unnerving. Especially when restraining yourself was the best option. A few minutes ago, she was too weak to fight. Too weak to sit up and beat the shit of out of the dude who kept badmouthing her. What the hell was his name? Ben? Well, Ben was a raging asshole and she wanted to take her fist and slam it down his mouth.
She couldn’t hold back anymore when Charly spoke. What the hell was she doing here after Ophelia had sent her and her mother away to Hadley?
“There are many things I’d love to call you, but I see no reason to start a fight in this vehicle.” Charly’s sweet voice grated against her nerves.
“What’s the current state of the compound?” This time it was one of the men from the back. His voice was curt and straightforward. One of authority. She could appreciate that, even if they were strangers.
“Before I answer, who are you?” she asked. Might as well get niceties out of the way.
“My name is Trenton Spencer. I’m a cop from Hadley. We came here after Charly spoke with Ophelia over the phone. The one who—”
“I know what she is right now.” Nevena looked at the driver in the opposite seat. “Everyone called you Drew.”
“Yeah.” He kept his eyes on the road and didn’t look her way. Then she spotted blood on his fingers. A hint of it. She glanced at her hands, spotted the same dried blood.
Oh, fuck me...
“Did you?” She looked from her scratch to him.
“Yeah,” he said stiffly.
“How long ago?”
“Not long after you passed out.”
A curse jumped out of her mouth as she slammed her fist into the dashboard. “I told you to leave me alone. Why would you do something so dumb?”
“I was checking you out to make sure you were okay. What kind of person leaves another to collapse by the side of the road?”
“One that I guess just learned the hard way that he shouldn’t meddle in other people’s business!”
“Calm down, Nevena,” Charly said. “This isn’t solving anything.”
“Be quiet, witchling,” she snapped.
Charly chuckled. “That doesn’t work anymore, you miserable bitch. I’m not a witch anymore.”
Wow, the nerve on this one. “Just because you’re now one of them doesn’t mean your training has changed, Charlene. Don’t forget that.”
“Everything’s changed now, so just stop it, Nevena.” Everyone except Drew turned to see Charly’s mother Vanessa had spoken. Her voice was quiet, yet easy to hear since the sound bounced from the back.
“Now I didn’t expect to see you back there. Why did you even bother to come back if you failed?” Nevena said. Something about Vanessa was different. The faint scar on the blonde woman’s cheek was still there, but the tell-tale hum from the magic flowing through her veins was gone.
“Like you got nerve the talk since you’re the one who beat my ass before I came here?” A growl rose from Charly. Just let that wolf bitch come for her then.
“That’s enough,” Trenton thundered. “Arguing gets us nowhere. Everybody needs to chill out and calm down.”
His voice rattled the windows, even pushing down Nevena a bit.
Trenton continued. “What we need to determine first of all is the state of the compound and plan how to take out the blood demon before it decides to leave and destroy all of mankind.”
Nevena sighed. “It’s still at the compound. Before our home was abandoned, three elders sacrificed themselves to bind Ophelia’s house.”
“A blood barrier,” Vanessa said simply.
“What’s that?” Drew asked.
“The witches spilled their blood along the entrance to seal the way out,” Nevena explained.
“But you said sacrificed...” Drew said.
“They bled out completely.” Their gazes caught, and Nevena knew he caught her meaning as his lips formed a thin line. She sighed. “The blood in our bodies is powerful, but quantity equates to power. If you give everything, the most powerful magic can be obtained. But the barrier will fall soon. The demon is pressing hard to get out.”
They reached a large house a few miles from the gas station.
“How much time until the blood demon escapes?” Trenton asked.
“Twenty-four hours. Maybe less,” Vanessa answered.
A blanket of somberness fell over the van.
“Where did the coven go?” Charly finally asked.
“We had to...take a human home on the other side of town. If I was the lead elder, I would’ve gone elsewhere.” As bitter as Nevena was on most days, she drew the line on bringing humans into witch business.
She continued. “Go to the 4th Street Bridge and then keep going to the Sandoval place. Number 224.”
The ride after that was wonderfully quiet. A good time for Nevena to think about what the hell she was gonna do about the man beside her. Her rescuer was bigger than he appeared from afar. The werewolf had the build of a runner with lean legs and waist. Drew appeared strong, but right now, the way his eyebrows rode close to his eyes told her one thing loud and clear. He didn’t like the idea of what she’d done to him. She shuffled in the seat and tried not to think about it for now. There was nothing she could do. After fighting, she always took time to rest and wait for clots to form on cuts. Nobody would bother her as she administered first aid on herself. She hadn’t made it far enough to her unusual hiding spot before she’d been caught this time.
Ever since she’d arrived at the crow coven, she’d been so careful. Careful not to let her blood touch others. Not an easy task as a blood witch, but the other witches didn’t work too hard to befriend her. What bothered her most were the nights the human men came to visit the compound. She had to turn them away, even if they offered her their affections. There was nothing she needed from them anyway. When it came to love, there were too many prices to be paid. Her mama and papa had paid such a price.
The memory of her parents’ death coursed through her like an iron poker that suddenly burned red and seared her skin. The wound on her arm throbbed and the emptiness she thought she’d managed to push away into a deep crevasse resurfaced. She closed her eyes. There was only one way to bury the pain.
And that was by feeling nothing at all. She finally sat up in the seat and straightened her back.
The Sandoval mansion was an estate at the edge of Lindsey. They reached the gate only to find it closed with someone waiting at the gate. Nevena recognized the sentry as Willa, one of the enforcers under her command. Drew rolled down the window, and Nevena leaned toward him to speak to the sentry. She didn’t like how nice he smelled, a faint, spicy cologne. He’d been on the road a while, and the spicy mixed with desert sand and wind.
“Let them through,” she said. “They’re with me.”
The tall blonde assessed them, frowning at the occupants. “What is Charlene doing back? Are you here to report, Vanessa?” the woman added.
“Just let us in. I’m too tired to argue,” Nevena said.
“Yes, Nevena.”
Willa opened the gate, staring at the van as it rode up the drive. Nevena wasn’t angry at the guard for doing her job. She expected everything to be done the right way.
The house was immense, a perfect place for the witches to regroup. Just seeing the three-story brick home made her stomach twist into knots. In one of the bedrooms the family who lived here had been enchanted. The night they’d arrived, a majority of her sisters had been wounded and weakened, but the slumbering family never saw or heard them. All they needed was a few collective drops of blood and glyphs drawn on skin. Freedom could be taken away far too easily.
In order to maintain the ruse, anyone who called the house was told the Sandovals had left on a European vacation. The plan had succeeded, but staying here made Nevena restless. In addition to what they had done to the family, she didn’t like staying in an unsecured location for too long. There were too many gaps in security. Not enough magical protective measures in place to keep the wounded elders protected.
Especially due to the fact that once the blood demon escaped, it would most likely come to the elders first—to take them out since they were only ones who served as a true threat.
The doors opened once they arrived and Nevena stepped out of the van before the others. Her legs were nice and steady. A good sign. The wound on her arm had stopped bleeding
The foyer was dark, and everyone followed the guard and Nevena through the entrance to the study. Two other elders, Isabella and Farrah, conversed in a heated argument. That had to be the only reason why they gestured so fiercely at each other.
“We can’t move her to a hospital. That’s final,” Isabella snapped.
“She is my daughter! I don’t need your permission to do what a mother must!” Farrah wiped the tears from her face and looked with disdain at the guests who had arrived.
“You’ve returned, Nevena.” Isabella didn’t give away how she felt about Charly and Vanessa, not that Nevena expected that she would. As the next in line to become their leader after Ophelia had been possessed, Isabella was trained to withhold emotion. She glanced from Vanessa to Charly and then to the werewolves. “What are they doing here?”
“We’re here to clean up the mess, which apparently has gotten beyond your control,” Charly said.
“We have everything under control. You’re not a part of the crow coven anymore, Charlene. You might as well turn around and pretend we don’t exist. Leaving here is the last gift I can give you.”
“A gift?” Charly’s lip curled. “Would you like to know where you can shove your gift?”
Isabella shifted her attention to Vanessa. “Why did you let her return? Your mission was to bring back werewolves. Are these the men under your control?”
“Whoa, there.” Trenton stepped forward with a growl. “No one is under control here. We came of our own volition to solve the problem, not serve the witches by babysitting the blood demon’s box.”
Isabella’s head whipped to Charly. “What have you told them?”
“Enough to piss you off, I hope,” Charly replied.
Nevena resisted smiling. As much as she didn’t like Charly right then, her comments revealed how much they both loathed Isabella.
“In a few days, once the elders have recovered,” Isabella said, “we will strike against the compound to take it back.”
“It’s been several days and if Nevena is still going into the compound, that means the evacuation isn’t complete—” Vanessa said.
“Hush your mouth, witch.” Using a tiny blade attached to a necklace, Isabella nicked her thumb, drew a quick glyph, and then clenched her fist. Vanessa staggered backward, clutching her throat.
“Hey!” Trenton rushed to Vanessa’s side.
Isabella raised her hand higher and Vanessa collapsed, forcing Trenton to catch her. “Let her go,” he yelled.
This situation piqued Nevena’s interest. Why couldn’t an elder like Vanessa free herself? Any high-ranking witch should be able to wrestle herself from such a weak grip.
Ben stood to the side, silent yet slightly amused, based on his grin. She wanted to wipe the grin off his face with sandpaper.
Charly didn’t do anything either, but wasn’t she just a werewolf now? As much as Nevena enjoyed any of these bitter witches going at it, now wasn’t the time. Using her index finger mini-blade, she nicked her right thumb and traced a quick release spell.
Isabella hurled her venom Nevena’s way with one look. She’d taken their leader’s toy away.
“As much as you enjoyed the show, this display solves nothing,” Nevena said. “They are here to help solve the problem. Since I seem to be the only one willing to go back into the compound, I don’t mind the backup.”
Isabella smirked. “This is a crow coven matter. When the time comes, if they want to guard the jewelry box like—”
“I don’t think so,” Charly snapped. “We’re here to get rid of it once and for all.”
“It’s our obligation to—” Isabella began.
“To die?” Charly’s shoulders shook with agitation. “To see our sisters get killed? Fuck the obligations. We’re going in, taking the box and if I find the means I will nuke the box into tiny bits.”
Nevena didn’t hide her smile this time. Cursing in front of an elder was forbidden and she’d always wanted to do it.
“You’re in no position to stop us anyway,” Charly said with a snarl. “Look at you. The last time I saw you, Isabella, I was tied up on the floor. A werewolf had bitten me and left to do your dirty work. And you’re telling me that you don’t need my help?”
Isabella couldn’t keep her face from flushing red, though her hands remained in her lap, her only sign of restraint. “I won’t stand in your way then. Take whatever witches or supplies you need.”
Suddenly, a searing pain branded Nevena’s gut, the sensation rising with each second. A choked gasp escaped her mouth and she stumbled. Everyone glanced in her direction.
“What’s wrong?” Trenton asked.
“Where’s that man?” Nevena whispered. “Drew?”
They turned to find him gone.
Chapter 3
No one stopped him from leaving the building so he could get some fresh air. A minute or two outside should cool his heated blood down. Just seeing the way the witches treated each other infuriated him. What kind of people were they to just treat their own kind in such a manner? He strolled to the van. The breeze felt good on his back.
Yet the tension in his shoulders grew with each step he took among these strange people. Leaving Hadley was hard, but it was an escape from the pain. He’d lost both his parents and siblings during the first attack. While he was doing his job, searching for survivors to help them hide, his parents’ hiding place was found and they’d been converted into those creatures. They didn’t survive.
The very thought of their suffering shot anger into him. He slammed his fist into the van, not caring about the damage. Heartless bastards. It was so hard for him to do the right thing and help, but his dad would want him to do it. He’d expect him to do it. That was why he became a cop.
It’s your job to protect people, a part of him intoned. Maybe it was his mother. She encouraged him to become a cop after he went through training to become an emergency medic. You’re meant to help people, Drew. Don’t be stubborn and knuckleheaded like your dad.
His dad liked to stay in one spot, to live in Hadley working at the factory day after day. His mother wanted more for him in life. What good was that life though now that the werewolf pack in Hadley had been destroyed?
He left the van to take a stroll across the field, reaching the middle of the dead grass, and then tripped as if stabbed in the back. The sudden pain sliced into his back again—almost as if he were a fish being filleted. Dizzying nausea came next. Rocking through the pain didn’t do a damn bit of good.
Was he being attacked?
As soon as the pain subsided, a figure advanced on him, eyes stormy and face laden with anger. “What the hell are you doing out here?”
“Checking out the lawn,” he grunted. Nevena held her stomach. Pain etched in the barely visible crow’s feet around her eyes. Was she hurt as well?
A slither of cold oozed down his back. When he left the house he was fine, but the farther away he drew, the more pain gripped him. And now that she was here, the pain was gone.
Her blood wasn’t poisoned. She really was cursed.
“What are you?” he murmured.
“A woman with death riding piggyback.” She offered him a hand to help him up, and he took it. Her grip was firm.
His legs were shaky, but he managed to gather his footing.
“You should get some water to help with the effects,” she declared.
Other than clenching her stomach, she didn’t look too worse for wear like him. “How come you’re not ready to upchuck and pass out?”
“Pain and I are distant cousins. You learn to ignore the minor stuff after a while.”
He took in cleansing breaths. At his side, she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. Controlled breathing. So she was feeling something.
“What just happened to us?” he asked.
“After you touched my blood, you linked yourself to my blood magic. You simply stretched the tether between us too far,” she said and shrugged as if an explanation wasn’t necessary beyond that point.
“So you’re saying we can’t be apart?”
“To a certain extent, yes.”
“When does this thing wear off? Please tell me it does.”
“The last person who touched my blood…” Her words trailed off as she turned away and chewed on her bottom lip. “Kasim died after some time. It might never wear off. I don’t really know since I’ve been this way since I was seventeen.”
The coldness at his back spread into his chest. Would he ever be able to return to Hadley?
“There’s more than that. Also, it has to do with how she bleeds.”
Drew looked down at her wound. The bleeding was under control now.
“She’s a Bleeder.” Charly looked toward the east. “Among my kind, there are those of us who bleed, but the cuts don’t close as fast as they should.”
Drew chewed on the thought. “So she has a form of hemophilia?”
Charly appeared to consider this. “You could say that. From what I understand of the disease, the recessive gene is rare in women, especially blood witches, but she has all the signs for a mild case of hemophilia.”
“Why did she cut herself so deeply?”
“They must’ve had her on a mission in the compound to fight the blood demon.”
“For someone with this type of condition why is she cutting herself?” He snorted. Why cut yourself if you might die afterwards?
“Because she’s good at what she does.” Charly flashed the sleeping woman a dark look. “Enforcing the will of the coven upon others.”
“Don’t you mean I’m good at killing?”
Their newest passenger was wide-awake.
Lying awake while people talked about you was unnerving. Especially when restraining yourself was the best option. A few minutes ago, she was too weak to fight. Too weak to sit up and beat the shit of out of the dude who kept badmouthing her. What the hell was his name? Ben? Well, Ben was a raging asshole and she wanted to take her fist and slam it down his mouth.
She couldn’t hold back anymore when Charly spoke. What the hell was she doing here after Ophelia had sent her and her mother away to Hadley?
“There are many things I’d love to call you, but I see no reason to start a fight in this vehicle.” Charly’s sweet voice grated against her nerves.
“What’s the current state of the compound?” This time it was one of the men from the back. His voice was curt and straightforward. One of authority. She could appreciate that, even if they were strangers.
“Before I answer, who are you?” she asked. Might as well get niceties out of the way.
“My name is Trenton Spencer. I’m a cop from Hadley. We came here after Charly spoke with Ophelia over the phone. The one who—”
“I know what she is right now.” Nevena looked at the driver in the opposite seat. “Everyone called you Drew.”
“Yeah.” He kept his eyes on the road and didn’t look her way. Then she spotted blood on his fingers. A hint of it. She glanced at her hands, spotted the same dried blood.
Oh, fuck me...
“Did you?” She looked from her scratch to him.
“Yeah,” he said stiffly.
“How long ago?”
“Not long after you passed out.”
A curse jumped out of her mouth as she slammed her fist into the dashboard. “I told you to leave me alone. Why would you do something so dumb?”
“I was checking you out to make sure you were okay. What kind of person leaves another to collapse by the side of the road?”
“One that I guess just learned the hard way that he shouldn’t meddle in other people’s business!”
“Calm down, Nevena,” Charly said. “This isn’t solving anything.”
“Be quiet, witchling,” she snapped.
Charly chuckled. “That doesn’t work anymore, you miserable bitch. I’m not a witch anymore.”
Wow, the nerve on this one. “Just because you’re now one of them doesn’t mean your training has changed, Charlene. Don’t forget that.”
“Everything’s changed now, so just stop it, Nevena.” Everyone except Drew turned to see Charly’s mother Vanessa had spoken. Her voice was quiet, yet easy to hear since the sound bounced from the back.
“Now I didn’t expect to see you back there. Why did you even bother to come back if you failed?” Nevena said. Something about Vanessa was different. The faint scar on the blonde woman’s cheek was still there, but the tell-tale hum from the magic flowing through her veins was gone.
“Like you got nerve the talk since you’re the one who beat my ass before I came here?” A growl rose from Charly. Just let that wolf bitch come for her then.
“That’s enough,” Trenton thundered. “Arguing gets us nowhere. Everybody needs to chill out and calm down.”
His voice rattled the windows, even pushing down Nevena a bit.
Trenton continued. “What we need to determine first of all is the state of the compound and plan how to take out the blood demon before it decides to leave and destroy all of mankind.”
Nevena sighed. “It’s still at the compound. Before our home was abandoned, three elders sacrificed themselves to bind Ophelia’s house.”
“A blood barrier,” Vanessa said simply.
“What’s that?” Drew asked.
“The witches spilled their blood along the entrance to seal the way out,” Nevena explained.
“But you said sacrificed...” Drew said.
“They bled out completely.” Their gazes caught, and Nevena knew he caught her meaning as his lips formed a thin line. She sighed. “The blood in our bodies is powerful, but quantity equates to power. If you give everything, the most powerful magic can be obtained. But the barrier will fall soon. The demon is pressing hard to get out.”
They reached a large house a few miles from the gas station.
“How much time until the blood demon escapes?” Trenton asked.
“Twenty-four hours. Maybe less,” Vanessa answered.
A blanket of somberness fell over the van.
“Where did the coven go?” Charly finally asked.
“We had to...take a human home on the other side of town. If I was the lead elder, I would’ve gone elsewhere.” As bitter as Nevena was on most days, she drew the line on bringing humans into witch business.
She continued. “Go to the 4th Street Bridge and then keep going to the Sandoval place. Number 224.”
The ride after that was wonderfully quiet. A good time for Nevena to think about what the hell she was gonna do about the man beside her. Her rescuer was bigger than he appeared from afar. The werewolf had the build of a runner with lean legs and waist. Drew appeared strong, but right now, the way his eyebrows rode close to his eyes told her one thing loud and clear. He didn’t like the idea of what she’d done to him. She shuffled in the seat and tried not to think about it for now. There was nothing she could do. After fighting, she always took time to rest and wait for clots to form on cuts. Nobody would bother her as she administered first aid on herself. She hadn’t made it far enough to her unusual hiding spot before she’d been caught this time.
Ever since she’d arrived at the crow coven, she’d been so careful. Careful not to let her blood touch others. Not an easy task as a blood witch, but the other witches didn’t work too hard to befriend her. What bothered her most were the nights the human men came to visit the compound. She had to turn them away, even if they offered her their affections. There was nothing she needed from them anyway. When it came to love, there were too many prices to be paid. Her mama and papa had paid such a price.
The memory of her parents’ death coursed through her like an iron poker that suddenly burned red and seared her skin. The wound on her arm throbbed and the emptiness she thought she’d managed to push away into a deep crevasse resurfaced. She closed her eyes. There was only one way to bury the pain.
And that was by feeling nothing at all. She finally sat up in the seat and straightened her back.
The Sandoval mansion was an estate at the edge of Lindsey. They reached the gate only to find it closed with someone waiting at the gate. Nevena recognized the sentry as Willa, one of the enforcers under her command. Drew rolled down the window, and Nevena leaned toward him to speak to the sentry. She didn’t like how nice he smelled, a faint, spicy cologne. He’d been on the road a while, and the spicy mixed with desert sand and wind.
“Let them through,” she said. “They’re with me.”
The tall blonde assessed them, frowning at the occupants. “What is Charlene doing back? Are you here to report, Vanessa?” the woman added.
“Just let us in. I’m too tired to argue,” Nevena said.
“Yes, Nevena.”
Willa opened the gate, staring at the van as it rode up the drive. Nevena wasn’t angry at the guard for doing her job. She expected everything to be done the right way.
The house was immense, a perfect place for the witches to regroup. Just seeing the three-story brick home made her stomach twist into knots. In one of the bedrooms the family who lived here had been enchanted. The night they’d arrived, a majority of her sisters had been wounded and weakened, but the slumbering family never saw or heard them. All they needed was a few collective drops of blood and glyphs drawn on skin. Freedom could be taken away far too easily.
In order to maintain the ruse, anyone who called the house was told the Sandovals had left on a European vacation. The plan had succeeded, but staying here made Nevena restless. In addition to what they had done to the family, she didn’t like staying in an unsecured location for too long. There were too many gaps in security. Not enough magical protective measures in place to keep the wounded elders protected.
Especially due to the fact that once the blood demon escaped, it would most likely come to the elders first—to take them out since they were only ones who served as a true threat.
The doors opened once they arrived and Nevena stepped out of the van before the others. Her legs were nice and steady. A good sign. The wound on her arm had stopped bleeding
The foyer was dark, and everyone followed the guard and Nevena through the entrance to the study. Two other elders, Isabella and Farrah, conversed in a heated argument. That had to be the only reason why they gestured so fiercely at each other.
“We can’t move her to a hospital. That’s final,” Isabella snapped.
“She is my daughter! I don’t need your permission to do what a mother must!” Farrah wiped the tears from her face and looked with disdain at the guests who had arrived.
“You’ve returned, Nevena.” Isabella didn’t give away how she felt about Charly and Vanessa, not that Nevena expected that she would. As the next in line to become their leader after Ophelia had been possessed, Isabella was trained to withhold emotion. She glanced from Vanessa to Charly and then to the werewolves. “What are they doing here?”
“We’re here to clean up the mess, which apparently has gotten beyond your control,” Charly said.
“We have everything under control. You’re not a part of the crow coven anymore, Charlene. You might as well turn around and pretend we don’t exist. Leaving here is the last gift I can give you.”
“A gift?” Charly’s lip curled. “Would you like to know where you can shove your gift?”
Isabella shifted her attention to Vanessa. “Why did you let her return? Your mission was to bring back werewolves. Are these the men under your control?”
“Whoa, there.” Trenton stepped forward with a growl. “No one is under control here. We came of our own volition to solve the problem, not serve the witches by babysitting the blood demon’s box.”
Isabella’s head whipped to Charly. “What have you told them?”
“Enough to piss you off, I hope,” Charly replied.
Nevena resisted smiling. As much as she didn’t like Charly right then, her comments revealed how much they both loathed Isabella.
“In a few days, once the elders have recovered,” Isabella said, “we will strike against the compound to take it back.”
“It’s been several days and if Nevena is still going into the compound, that means the evacuation isn’t complete—” Vanessa said.
“Hush your mouth, witch.” Using a tiny blade attached to a necklace, Isabella nicked her thumb, drew a quick glyph, and then clenched her fist. Vanessa staggered backward, clutching her throat.
“Hey!” Trenton rushed to Vanessa’s side.
Isabella raised her hand higher and Vanessa collapsed, forcing Trenton to catch her. “Let her go,” he yelled.
This situation piqued Nevena’s interest. Why couldn’t an elder like Vanessa free herself? Any high-ranking witch should be able to wrestle herself from such a weak grip.
Ben stood to the side, silent yet slightly amused, based on his grin. She wanted to wipe the grin off his face with sandpaper.
Charly didn’t do anything either, but wasn’t she just a werewolf now? As much as Nevena enjoyed any of these bitter witches going at it, now wasn’t the time. Using her index finger mini-blade, she nicked her right thumb and traced a quick release spell.
Isabella hurled her venom Nevena’s way with one look. She’d taken their leader’s toy away.
“As much as you enjoyed the show, this display solves nothing,” Nevena said. “They are here to help solve the problem. Since I seem to be the only one willing to go back into the compound, I don’t mind the backup.”
Isabella smirked. “This is a crow coven matter. When the time comes, if they want to guard the jewelry box like—”
“I don’t think so,” Charly snapped. “We’re here to get rid of it once and for all.”
“It’s our obligation to—” Isabella began.
“To die?” Charly’s shoulders shook with agitation. “To see our sisters get killed? Fuck the obligations. We’re going in, taking the box and if I find the means I will nuke the box into tiny bits.”
Nevena didn’t hide her smile this time. Cursing in front of an elder was forbidden and she’d always wanted to do it.
“You’re in no position to stop us anyway,” Charly said with a snarl. “Look at you. The last time I saw you, Isabella, I was tied up on the floor. A werewolf had bitten me and left to do your dirty work. And you’re telling me that you don’t need my help?”
Isabella couldn’t keep her face from flushing red, though her hands remained in her lap, her only sign of restraint. “I won’t stand in your way then. Take whatever witches or supplies you need.”
Suddenly, a searing pain branded Nevena’s gut, the sensation rising with each second. A choked gasp escaped her mouth and she stumbled. Everyone glanced in her direction.
“What’s wrong?” Trenton asked.
“Where’s that man?” Nevena whispered. “Drew?”
They turned to find him gone.
Chapter 3
No one stopped him from leaving the building so he could get some fresh air. A minute or two outside should cool his heated blood down. Just seeing the way the witches treated each other infuriated him. What kind of people were they to just treat their own kind in such a manner? He strolled to the van. The breeze felt good on his back.
Yet the tension in his shoulders grew with each step he took among these strange people. Leaving Hadley was hard, but it was an escape from the pain. He’d lost both his parents and siblings during the first attack. While he was doing his job, searching for survivors to help them hide, his parents’ hiding place was found and they’d been converted into those creatures. They didn’t survive.
The very thought of their suffering shot anger into him. He slammed his fist into the van, not caring about the damage. Heartless bastards. It was so hard for him to do the right thing and help, but his dad would want him to do it. He’d expect him to do it. That was why he became a cop.
It’s your job to protect people, a part of him intoned. Maybe it was his mother. She encouraged him to become a cop after he went through training to become an emergency medic. You’re meant to help people, Drew. Don’t be stubborn and knuckleheaded like your dad.
His dad liked to stay in one spot, to live in Hadley working at the factory day after day. His mother wanted more for him in life. What good was that life though now that the werewolf pack in Hadley had been destroyed?
He left the van to take a stroll across the field, reaching the middle of the dead grass, and then tripped as if stabbed in the back. The sudden pain sliced into his back again—almost as if he were a fish being filleted. Dizzying nausea came next. Rocking through the pain didn’t do a damn bit of good.
Was he being attacked?
As soon as the pain subsided, a figure advanced on him, eyes stormy and face laden with anger. “What the hell are you doing out here?”
“Checking out the lawn,” he grunted. Nevena held her stomach. Pain etched in the barely visible crow’s feet around her eyes. Was she hurt as well?
A slither of cold oozed down his back. When he left the house he was fine, but the farther away he drew, the more pain gripped him. And now that she was here, the pain was gone.
Her blood wasn’t poisoned. She really was cursed.
“What are you?” he murmured.
“A woman with death riding piggyback.” She offered him a hand to help him up, and he took it. Her grip was firm.
His legs were shaky, but he managed to gather his footing.
“You should get some water to help with the effects,” she declared.
Other than clenching her stomach, she didn’t look too worse for wear like him. “How come you’re not ready to upchuck and pass out?”
“Pain and I are distant cousins. You learn to ignore the minor stuff after a while.”
He took in cleansing breaths. At his side, she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. Controlled breathing. So she was feeling something.
“What just happened to us?” he asked.
“After you touched my blood, you linked yourself to my blood magic. You simply stretched the tether between us too far,” she said and shrugged as if an explanation wasn’t necessary beyond that point.
“So you’re saying we can’t be apart?”
“To a certain extent, yes.”
“When does this thing wear off? Please tell me it does.”
“The last person who touched my blood…” Her words trailed off as she turned away and chewed on her bottom lip. “Kasim died after some time. It might never wear off. I don’t really know since I’ve been this way since I was seventeen.”
The coldness at his back spread into his chest. Would he ever be able to return to Hadley?
