Hadley Werewolves, page 24
Chapter 12
The open desert was the only place where Drew could think clearly. Nevena didn’t look like she agreed as much. Her mouth formed a thin line as she rubbed her forehead. The wind gathered her hair and tossed it around her face.
“Did you need me?” he asked. Even though she’d been twenty feet away from the campfire Trenton lit, he could hear every sigh. Every sharp inhale from her wounds. But he’d sensed she wanted time alone. Anyone could read that in the way she clammed up when others asked her questions.
When she didn’t answer, he took her small hand. Her mouth formed a straight line as she glanced at him. Her skin was rough from all the cuts, but he didn’t mind. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, her pain radiated into him.
“It’s really broken,” she finally whispered so softly he had to lean in to catch it.
“What’s broken?”
She shook her head, not bothering to elaborate. A stray strand of her black hair kept blowing into her face, but she ignored it. He longed to brush the nuisance behind her ear. Before he could give in, she finally said, “Help me up. I need to speak with everyone.”
Gingerly, he led her to the others. He liked the way her curves fit along the side of his body. The way her head was at the perfect height to lean against his shoulder if she wanted. By the time they reached the fire though, he expected her to let go of his hand, but she didn’t.
No one around the fire spoke for a moment, merely staring at each other. Someone had to break the silence.
“We have to take the box and find help,” Nevena finally said.
“Are you crazy?” Charly’s eyes grew wide. “You’re the only elder left, and we are hundreds of miles from another coven.”
“There’s something I haven’t told you yet.” Her grip on Drew’s hand tightened as if she needed him to anchor her from drifting away. “The binding spell I performed failed.”
Charly cursed.
“The demon we fought is in the box, but it’s also inside of me. It’s as if I-I’m chained to it. During the fire, the box was also damaged. Due to these circumstances, the protective seal on the box has been compromised.”
Trenton’s gaze flicked to Vanessa’s. “If what you said earlier is true, then once that seal breaks any witch close enough to hear them could potentially become possessed. But only if they touch the box.”
“Correct,” Vanessa said. “If the seal breaks, Nevena will likely go to the box, touch it, and become possessed.”
Drew’s grip on Nevena’s hand tightened, but she didn’t flinch. Not happening on my watch, he thought.
If Vanessa’s statement affected Nevena, she didn’t show it with her next words. “If we find a way to transport it to a powerful group of elders, they can create a new prison for the demons. But I have a feeling we won’t make it in time.”
“So where can we go?” Drew asked.
The woman at his side bit her lower lip. Now he had an explanation as to why she’d acted so strangely after the explosion. She’d been worrying about this all alone. “Sealing boxes is a specialized skill that is rarely used. Is there anyone nearby who knows how to seal a broken box?” she asked Charly.
Charly closed her eyes and sighed. “Vanessa and Ophelia could do it. Guess which one isn’t alive and which one doesn’t know blood craft anymore?”
Everyone looked to Vanessa.
“That’s not good,” Trenton said. “Where is the closest coven?”
“San Francisco,” Vanessa whispered.
“Way too far,” Nevena said. “The seal will break before then. We have to make a decision.”
Nevena and Charly exchanged glances. Enough to make Drew suspicious. “What’s going on?”
“It has to be done and the distance isn’t too far,” Nevena said with clenched teeth. “I don’t like the idea either.”
The look on the witches’ faces didn’t add to his mood. “Something tells me I’m not gonna like what you’re about to say,” Drew said.
“An elder like me can give Vanessa her magic back,” Nevena said. “At a great price, but it can be done.”
“Not happening,” Trenton growled.
“We have no choice.” Charly stared at the flames for a bit. “I have no choice.”
“Can we trust her after what happened in Hadley?” Trenton glared at Vanessa. He was the one who was always cool-headed, but when it came to Hadley, even Drew couldn’t dismiss the fact she was just as bad as the other witches who betrayed the werewolves.
“Like I said—we have no choice. And we can’t restore her memory here.” Charly sighed. “We have to go back to the original place where I cursed her.”
Drew’s stomach dropped to the ground. They had to go back to Hadley, which was no more than two hours away.
He didn’t want to see another witch set foot there, but to keep Nevena safe, there weren’t any other options.
Sadly, there was no way in hell a welcome wagon would be there to greet them.
Chapter 13
The sign indicating Hadley was five miles away shook from the gusts of an oncoming dust storm. The visibility beyond the windows made it hard to see anything in the distance. Nevena didn’t like the weather out here compared to Europe. The dry desert air sucked away at her for some reason. Maybe it was the emptiness with only the sagebrush and rock formations that left her feeling lonely.
At her side, Drew remained awake with his gaze fixed on the road ahead. His grip on her hand tightened and she expected him to look at her, but he didn’t. This new feeling, human comfort, should’ve bothered her, but right then, she welcomed it. She didn’t say anything when they got back into the van after the group discussion and he sat next to her. She didn’t say anything when he took her hand again.
No one had held her hand before. Not even Kasim. She rather liked it. At that moment, she expected a feeling of loneliness to course through her like it always did, but this time, he was there instead. Her connection to him pushed away everything. She hid a smile. It was kinda cool.
Finally, the town of Hadley came into view, but she couldn’t see much with the sand storm blanketing everything. Visibility extended to about a hundred feet. What she could make out were a few brick buildings, smaller homes, and a park. Just another small desert town.
A part of her wished she could see Drew’s hometown—maybe see it before the witches had come here. Even with the storm, the boarded windows and burned cars gave the place an abandoned vibe. A few trees leaned precariously, some of their branches broken off at weird angles. It was as if this place had been a warzone and seen only so many repairs.
The aftermath of the blood witches.
She swallowed apprehension. Would the werewolves see them coming right now? They were with werewolves, so they probably recognized Trenton driving, right? What about Charly, Vanessa, and herself? Would they come for them with pitchforks and torches the moment the vehicle stopped?
Drew glanced at her. “You okay?”
She hadn’t said a word, yet he read her too easily.
“Fine.” Keeping a straight face with werewolves was damn hard.
“You’re lying.”
A smile crept on her face. “How do you know?”
“I can smell it. Your scent changes with your moods.”
Her face heated up and her stomach twisted uncomfortably. Did she smell different when she was turned on? Wasn’t there anything she could have for herself? “Can’t you not read me?” she whispered.
“I can’t turn it off.” He chuckled, revealing a smile that made her heartbeat quicken. Could he hear that, too? “Maybe if you stopped broadcasting...”
“I wish I could, but crazy shit keeps going down.” She tried to let go of his hand, but he didn’t let her.
“You can’t always run away from me. I rather like it when you stay.”
Her insides melted. I rather like it when you stay, he’d said.
“Do we have to have this conversation right now in a van full of people?” she managed.
“I hate to break it to you, but no matter how much you whisper, every werewolf in here can hear you.” He leaned in toward her ear. As his nose brushed against her earlobe, a delicious shock coursed through her. He whispered, “Trenton has unrivaled hearing. Catch that, Trenton?”
In the driver’s seat, Trenton’s hand went up with a casual wave.
Well, damn. Was anything at all private among their kind?
She expected him to shift away from her, but his nose trailed across her cheek and he planted a quick peck on her lips. The moment was brief, but it was enough to heat her cheeks and rush her breath. After a long day, he smelled too damn good.
“Hey!” she gasped.
“Whoops.”
Before she could gather her thoughts—a rather difficult task—to tell him why he shouldn’t have done that, they pulled up in front of a boarded house on a cul-de-sac. The other four homes nearby were boarded up, too. Did anyone live in town anymore?
“Where are we?” Nevena asked.
“We’re back where I cursed Vanessa,” Charly said. She sat behind them in the third row. Vanessa sat on the other side of Charly’s row, saying nothing. The box lay in Charly’s lap for safekeeping. “This is—was—Ben’s house.”
“Let’s get inside and get this over with,” Trenton said over the howls of the wind outside. “Kyle and Em should have sentries posted all over the place. The guards should’ve alerted them about us by now.”
Everyone walked into the house and out of the dust storm. As Nevena strolled through the foyer into what was left of the living room, she sighed. So this was Ben’s home. The whole place was in shambles. Couches were overturned and ripped. What was left of a beautiful china hutch was now a pile of smashed glass and splintered wood. The boarded windows had gaps and scratch marks as if someone tried to claw their way inside.
She’d never seen the “infected” werewolves the others had spoken about, but if they were as fast and as strong as Drew, Trenton, and Charly, she’d have to be on her guard if she encountered one.
The three demons in the box continued their chatter, but their siren call was stronger now. Not a good sign.
“So how do we restore her powers?” Drew asked. He had that we-might-as-well-get-down-to-business expression.
“Where did it happen?” Nevena asked Charly.
“In the backyard. We had a—confrontation out there—and the crazed werewolves attacked me. Not long after I cast the spell, all her blood magic memories were removed.”
The issues between them seemed so simple, yet the way mother and daughter wouldn’t look at each other said much more. A part of Nevena wanted the two of them to fight it out or arm wrestle or something to relieve the resentment and anger they clung to. She snorted in disgust. Another part of her was just mad that they had each other when someone like Nevena didn’t have her mama around anymore. They wasted what precious time they had.
“Let’s get to work then,” Drew said.
Suddenly, the front door swung open, and everyone turned to see two figures approach. Golden-brown dust followed them inside.
“What are you doing back so soon?” the dark-haired man asked. He was tall like Drew and Trenton. The werewolves didn’t look at him directly in the eye. Was he someone important?
“I’m sorry to do this to you, Kyle.” Trenton quickly explained what happened in detail over the last couple of days. So this had to be the alpha over the Hadley pack. Trenton wrapped up his explanation with a statement she knew the alpha wouldn’t want to hear. She held back the urge to cringe. “We need to give Vanessa her powers back or else we’re gonna have a lot more problems than what we had before.”
“Has the storm outside blown away your brains?” Kyle barked. “You brought them here?”
“Believe me, I’m not interested in doing it as much as you are, but the witches have been dealing with problems far bigger than our small town. And anyway, the threat from the coven in Las Vegas is over. They’re done for.”
“What about this box you talked about?” the woman asked. Trenton had referred to her as Emma. She was taller than Nevena, with dark hair and blue eyes. “Are you saying they needed us all along to help them protect the world from what’s inside?”
Trenton sighed. “Pretty much. Their leaders made a poor choice to try to recruit us through magic to help them. I’m sure you want to turn them away for that, but if we don’t do something about the blood demons who are trying to escape, we could be in for a blood bath like you’ve never seen before.” He briefly looked into his alpha’s eyes. Maybe to make a point. “I’ve seen one of those things face-to-face. It has no mercy and is stronger than fifty of those infected werewolves put together.” He further explained the blood demon’s telekinetic power.
Kyle’s jaw twitched and he looked at the ground as if he considered all the information he was given. Nevena was tempted to say something, but she remained quiet. The witches had made enough trouble in this town.
The three demons trapped in the jewelry box rattled their cages, the strength in their voices growing louder every minute. She held herself in check and didn’t budge toward them. Not today, you little bastards.
One of them chirped, Time is almost up, little flower.
I can’t wait to slowly strip the flesh from the werewolves, another moaned. Inch by inch.
“I don’t like this, but we don’t have any choice.” Kyle finally glanced Nevena’s way. “If what he says is true, then once we settle this matter, we won’t be hearing from your coven ever again, right?”
She had no control over what other covens would do, but in terms of the crow coven, it would be years before they could re-build the compound and their numbers. The coven elders might be dead, too.
The thought came to mind that she had nowhere to go, but she pushed it away.
“No, you won’t be hearing from them again. Ben decimated the crow coven,” she replied with a respectful tone. Before today she wouldn’t have said what she was about to say. “Many innocent witches died today, but in retrospect, the coven has reaped what it has sown. I will follow your wishes to fix this situation.”
Not far from her, Nevena caught sight of Vanessa nodding.
She waited for the judgment to come. For slaughter of the witches to begin, but Kyle merely nodded.
“Then let’s get this matter settled. I’ll phone the others and tell them to keep their distance.” Kyle and Emma left to go into what was left of the kitchen.
With a quick glance to Charly, Nevena nudged her chin toward the outside. It was time. The wind still whipped dust about, but everyone managed to get outside to the backyard. Charly carried the box to the side of the house. Drew hovered close to Nevena. She welcomed his presence; fighting the siren call was getting harder.
“How did you cast such a powerful spell?” Nevena asked Charly as she checked out the barren backyard. Bits and pieces of what had once been a garden lay in ruins.
“It took everything I had,” Charly replied over the howls of the wind. “Every last drop of witch blood. Becoming a werewolf saved my life.”
The three of them stood shoulder-to-shoulder, with Nevena in the middle, and none of them moved.
“So how are we gonna do this then?” Nevena said. “Cause the box will break before I do some kind of harebrained idea like let myself get bitten just to save us.”
“The magic you used to bind me has to be here,” Vanessa said. “I can’t feel it anymore, but whenever something like this is done, the location is left ‘touched.’ That much I do know.”
Nevena could feel what she meant. Beyond the persistent yanking from the nearby box, there was something else. It buzzed and crawled along her skin. She left them and walked to a spot behind the house. Right in the middle of the yard, something resonated, flowing up the back of her legs and settling into her stomach like fluttering butterflies.
This was the spot.
She couldn’t shed enough blood to give back Vanessa her knowledge, but if the power to do it remained here, all she had to do was become a conduit to push everything back. She opened her hands and scanned the endless symbols. The spell she needed was one she’d never used before, but when she’d told the artist to put as much as he could on her, she meant it. All she had to do was search. One look and the memories she’d bashed into her head always came back in a flash.
When she found the one she needed, she didn’t waste any time to draw her blood and scribble the glyph on the back of her hand. Charly stepped back, giving them space as Vanessa approached Nevena.
“Hard times are coming, sister,” Vanessa said quietly as she took Nevena’s hands.
“I wish I could disagree.” She tried to add strength to her words and failed.
“The moment I understand blood craft again, the box must be immediately fixed. We need a proper vessel or other measures must be found.”
“What other measures?”
“Right now I don’t have the craft to help me. There’s a foggy spot in my mind I can’t reach, but I have an idea and I can’t act upon it until I have clarity. Do you trust me?” The woman’s gaze intensified.
She wanted to say yes immediately but hesitated. “I’ll try.”
The hum under her feet snaked up her legs and raced through her hands into Vanessa. She closed her eyes to concentrate.
There wasn’t much to it. And that was the scariest part of all.
Please don’t let me regret doing this, she thought. That alpha trusted her to do the right thing. Vanessa had willingly brought death to this pack to help the coven. And yet she had apologized to her daughter and expressed regret.
She opened her eyes to see Vanessa staring at her, a smirk growing on the older woman’s lips.
If I have to fight her, I will, she thought. She wouldn’t dare, though. Would she?
By the time the hum vanished, Vanessa let go of her hands and something unexpected happened. The older woman began to cry. Her face contorted as tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Did it work—” Nevena asked. One moment she was looking at Vanessa, in the next, it was as if her legs moved of their own volition. She walked toward the house.
