Ivy threw her arm out, hitting Lawrence across the chest. “That’s exactly what we’ll do.” Ivy practically bounced. “The Black Bird Coven! They made a deal with me to perform a locating spell.” She grimaced, “It was originally to find you but I left the wording open. It wouldn’t be a violation of the contract if I had them help locate the altar instead of…you.” Ivy blushed.
Lawrence didn’t react to that. He scratched his chin, deep in thought. “You’ve already shook on it? They can’t go back on their word once they find out what you want them to do?”
“I’ve already fulfilled half of my bargain. If they went back now, their ward would fail. They might not be happy helping but, what else can we do?”
Lawrence nodded as he looked at the journal. “Even if they aren’t happy, they won’t want to lose their ward.” An impressed smile spread across his face. “That’s some pretty intense manipulation, right there. It’s almost like I’m rubbing off on you. I’m impressed.”
Ivy’s stomach turned at the thought of manipulating the Black Bird Coven. She wasn’t sure how she would do it when the time came. “There’s one problem though. The twins.”
Lawrence’s smile dropped. “The stalkers, yeah I forgot about them. How are we going to lose them long enough to perform the spell and then find the damn altar?”
“We aren’t,” Ivy put steel into those two words. She sat up straight. “It’s too dangerous to do with under the Black Bird Pack’s noses. Especially considering what happened in the hospital this morning. We’re going to need protection.”
Lawrence shook his head. “No, Ivy. We can’t.”
“It’s not optional, Lawrence. If you want me to help, we are bringing them in on this. The entire territory is in danger. They need to know.” She saw Lawrence open his mouth to argue. “I’m not budging on this one. It’s their Pack, it’s their lives on the line too, they deserve to know.” It probably wouldn’t end well for her but it was the right thing to do.
“And what happens when they realize you’ve been working with me the whole time? Will they rip you apart instantly or will they wait for the town to do it?”
“They won’t do that.” She felt sure of that much. They might run her out of town but she was confident they wouldn’t hurt her. “But I need you to redact the compulsion spell you placed on me so I can explain everything to them.”
He stayed quiet for a long time. Ivy didn’t look away. Quietly he said, “There’s so much at stake.”
Ivy only nodded, “We can trust them.”
“You can trust them,” he corrected.
“I trust them.”
Lawrence’s jaw clenched before he dipped his chin. “Okay, I’ll release you.” He raised a finger. “Only tell the Tates, Ben, and the Enforcers though.”
Ivy barely kept herself from sagging. “I’ll need to tell the Coven too. They’ll need basic information if we want them to perform the spell.”
Lawrence blew out a big breath. “This is going to blow up in my face. Okay, and the Coven, but that’s it.” He stood holding the journal out to her. “We have the journal. I’m assuming the three old ladies will have the right candles but we still need a map and a dowsing stone.”
“We might have maps already. I gave them a few historical maps that cover enough territory to give us a wide search area. We need a dowsing stone though. The Coven won’t have any.” Not after the earth offering debacle.
Ivy didn’t carry any crystals on her either. There weren’t any magical stores in the state that she could buy one from either. She was hoping Lawrence would have one on hand.
“I’ll take care of that. How soon can we do this?” Lawrence shifted from one foot to another, anxious to start working.
“I don’t think they’ll be ready until tomorrow, even if I call them right now. They’ll need more time to prepare. This is going to be a difficult locating spell.”
Lawrence swore under his breath. “We don’t have much more time than that. The Salici Sacri aren’t known for the patience.”
“I’ll let them know that it has to get done immediately.” Ivy was not looking forward to that phone call. Maggie had not been happy the last time they had seen each other. Ivy expected she would be eating crow very soon.
“Then I’ll leave you to it. Good luck with the Tates.” Lawrence didn’t wait for a reply. He walked out of her bedroom and into the bathroom.
Ivy didn’t bother to see if he had disappeared. He usually did.
Chapter Sixteen
“Any idea why she wants to talk to us?” Ezra asked quietly.
“Nope.” Ezekiel didn’t look up from the road to answer. He just kept driving towards Ivy’s apartment.
“Damn, I was hoping you had some insight.” Ezra couldn’t shake the anxious feeling that had hit him when Ivy had called.
He couldn’t pin down exactly what had made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, but he had enough experience to not to question it. Something was up. Usually, Ezekiel would talk it over with him, but his brother was stewing just like him.
“Nothing to do about it until we hear what she has to say,” Ezekiel added.
“What if she wants to end things with us?”
Ezekiel glanced at Ezra for a second. “We’re not together, idiot. She can’t end something that doesn’t exist.”
Ezra growled softly. “You’re not helping and you know what I mean.”
Ezekiel just shrugged his shoulders. “If that’s what she wants, then that’s what she wants. It’s not like we would keep trying to date her after that.”
Ezra felt his eyebrows creep upward. “Mr. ‘I want to try again’ is going to be cool with our mate just walking away? I did not see that coming.”
Ezekiel growled with real heat behind it. “Of course, I wouldn’t be okay with it. It would hurt but neither of us would force this if she didn’t want to. Come on, man.”
“Of course not. I just hate not knowing what we’re walking into,” he admitted.
Ezekiel clapped him on the shoulder. “I know. Let’s just stop psyching ourselves out until we get there.” Ezekiel parked outside of Ivy’s apartment.
“Let’s go in and put ourselves out of misery,” Ezra grumbled as he got out of the truck. His nerves grew as they walked towards her door. He could already smell Ivy’s worry permeating the hall. It didn’t bode well that she was as nervous as he was.
They stopped outside of her apartment and knocked on the door. Ezra heard Ivy walking from the back of the apartment. As she got closer, the scent of her anxiety got stronger.
“Thanks for coming so quickly,” Ivy beamed with a fake smile. It looked real but they both knew how she really felt so it didn’t set him at ease.
Ezekiel made a noncommittal noise. Ezra shot him a look and answered for them both, “No problem. You sounded pretty serious over the phone. What did you want to talk about?”
Ivy froze, her smile sliding off of her face. It was only gone for a second before she turned it up to a million-watt smile. “Drinks! Do you guys want a drink? It’s been a long day. I’m sure you want a drink.” She didn’t bother waiting for them to answer. She ran to the kitchen and started frantically opening the cabinets chanting, “Glasses, glasses, glasses.”
Ezekiel growled and stomped into the kitchen. He slapped a hand on the cabinet Ivy was looking through. “We don’t want a drink. We came here because called us in a panic.”
Ezra’s eyebrows hit his hairline. Ezekiel didn’t lose his temper that often. It seemed Ezekiel wasn’t as calm about the situation as he pretended to be.
Ivy’s shoulders dropped, “You’re right. No point putting it off. Let’s go sit on the couch.”
Ezra herded his brother towards the living room. He took the chance to elbow him. Ezekiel lifted his lip, showing teeth but didn’t say anything. They both sat on opposite sides of Ivy’s couch.
Ivy didn’t sit down. She paced back and forth a few times. The acrid smell of fear started to burn hi
s nose. He felt Ezekiel shift restlessly on the couch. His anxiousness began to mix with Ivy’s fear, turning Ezra’s stomach. Ezra glared at his brother. Keep cool he mouthed. Ezekiel’s nostrils flared but he nodded.
“Okay, I’m not sure how to do this so I’m just going to come right out and say it.” She pointed between the two of them. “You have to promise me that you’ll let me tell you the full story before you freak out. Okay?”
Ezra’s stomach started to sour. He did not like how this was starting. It didn’t help that he could see the slight tremor in Ivy’s hands. She was really nervous.
“I promise,” Ezra reassured her.
“Of course,” Ezekiel mumbled.
Ivy stared at both of them before she nodded and took a deep breath. “Do you remember the night you guys went to check Grace’s cabin and I went to Miller’s?” They nodded. “When I got back to my apartment Lawrence was waiting for me.”
Ezra was on his feet before he knew it. Ezekiel was right next to him. Ezra felt his canines pierce his lip as fur started to grow along his arms.
“What the fuck? Why are we just hearing this?” Ezra snarled.
“I’ll kill him,” Ezekiel promised.
The room temperature dropped. Ezra’s breaths became visible. Ivy glared up at them, furious. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest. “You promised,” she accused.
Ezra opened his mouth to argue. Ezekiel back handed his chest. The words died in Ezra’s voice. He exhaled a frozen breath.
Slowly, he sank back onto the couch. Once he was settled, Ezekiel sank down too. They both caught their breaths then nodded for Ivy to continue.
Once she saw that they had calmed down she continued. “He and I talked-”
They both started to growl. They scented the lie immediately.
“Ivy, don’t lie,” he warned. “I won’t be able to control myself if you lie to us about this.”
She nodded. “Fine, he talked while I listened.” She waved her hand in front of herself. “That’s not important. What’s important is what he said.”
The anxiety clinging to her dissipated allowing Ezra to relax slightly. His wolf paced deep in his chest, wanting to find Lawrence and rip the man to shreds. He didn’t like knowing that McDowell had been close to their mate.
“I told you about the Benandanti, the witches who wrote that spell Grace found?” Ivy asked.
“The wolf-witches,” Ezekiel supplied.
Ivy nodded. “And I told you about their enemy, the Salici Sacri?” They both nodded. “The reason Lawrence had their spell was because he is Benandanti and the reason he was hiding in Grace’s cabin was to hide from the Salici Sacri. They’re here in Black Bird and they’re looking for something the Benandanti hid.”
Ezra and Ezekiel looked at each other. There was a lot to unpack in that statement. To start with, Ezra wanted to know how in the hell Lawrence got past Derek. Then he wanted to know why in the hell she hadn’t told in when he had seen her the next morning. That would lead to him losing his shit though, so he had to wait to ask until he could keep his skin.
After a moment he asked, “And you believe him?”
Ivy sucked in a breath through her teeth. “About being Benandanti? Yeah, it explains why a shifter would be able to use magic. The rest? Not until today.”
Ezra felt his eye twitch. He cleared his throat, opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Thankfully, Ezekiel noticed that he was struggling to keep calm. “What happened today?” He prompted.
Ivy scratched behind her ear, not meeting their eyes. “I went to the hospital, to see Betsy, and one of the administrators attacked me.” She saw their expressions and threw both hands up. “I’m okay! She never got a claw on me. Lawrence appeared out of thin air and saved me.”
Oh, Ezra did not like that. He did not like that one bit. He wished he had never promised to not freak out because he was very close to losing it.
“I think you better tell us the whole story,” Ezekiel whispered, his voice carrying an animalistic tone. At least Ezra wasn’t the only one struggling.
“Don’t leave out a single detail,” Ezra growled.
Ivy went back to the night Lawrence appeared in her bathroom. She told them everything leading up to the vision she had experienced that afternoon. She even went back to her room to show them the journal.
Halfway through her story, around the time Ivy admitted that Lawrence had originally used magic to keep her from telling anyone what was happening, Ezra had stood up. He walked over to her cabinet and started methodically breaking every plate in half. It was the only way he could keep his promise. Ivy either understood why he was ruining all of her flatware or she let him act crazy.
“Anyways, after the hospital and finishing Caterina’s diary, I convinced Lawrence that we were in over our heads and needed to warn the Pack.”
Ezra snapped the last plate in half and set it in the trash with all of the others. He walked back to the couch but didn’t sit. Ezekiel had started pacing the living room.
“So, what, we’ve got a Coven of murdering witches somewhere in our territory searching for some magical…” Ezra’s voice dropped off. “I’m sorry, what exactly is it that they’re searching for?”
Ivy flushed. “I’m not exactly sure. All I know is that they’re willing to kill for it and that Caterina gave her life to keep it out of their hands.”
“We’ve been busting our asses to find something to locate Lawrence and you’ve been working for him this whole time?” Shame made Ivy’s face fall. Ezekiel didn’t stop, he kept going, “You knew that we were in danger this whole time but you didn’t even try to warn us? We could have evacuated the territory! We could have fortified the city. Hell, we could have set up a ward!” Ezekiel’s voice dropped an octave. His chest heaved, ready to explode.
Ezra saw that his brother was about to cross a line neither of them could go back from. He stepped in front of him. “Zeke, stop,” he said it quietly. His brother whipped around ready to tear into him. Ezra didn’t flinch. He kept his voice even and calm. “She couldn’t tell us. Lawrence put a spell on her. You saw what he did to Grace. Ivy didn’t have a choice. You know she’s telling us the truth.”
Ezekiel’s eyes bugged out of his head. His shoulders straightened and he squared up to Ezra, ready to let loose on him. Ezra wasn’t about to let Ezekiel lose his temper at their mate. He stood his ground.
“I get why you’re mad,” Ezra started. “I’m not saying you don’t have a reason to be angry but the second she realized that there was a legitimate threat, she confronted Lawrence. For the Pack. Against the man who was blackmailing her.” He leaned into Ezekiel. In a low voice he said slowly, “Her instinct was to defend us, not run away.”
He let that sink in. Ezekiel looked him in the eyes, struggling to reign in his anger. After a long time, his breathing settled and his shoulders relaxed. He nodded. Ezra waited until he was sure that his brother had control. Then he turned to Ivy.
“I understand why you couldn’t tell us outright. I’m fucking relieved we know now but if you want to go to bat for the Pack we’ve got to get a few things straight.” Ivy met his eyes but he could see the shame in them. She knew she had messed up big time. “First and foremost is that Pack means we’re all in this together. No one gets to be the hero. We all save each other, okay? If you can’t tell us outright what’s going on, you find a way to communicate that something’s wrong.” He waited for her to nod. He exhaled. “I’m proud of you. That took a lot of courage to stand up to Lawrence.”
One side of her mouth turned up. “He’s not as bad as he thinks he is.”
Ezekiel growled, “He blackmailed you. You’re not going to convince me of that anytime soon.” Ezekiel dropped to the couch. “I need a drink.”
Ivy didn’t bother to agree, she walked into the kitchen and grabbed three beers out of the fridge.
“Now what?” Ezra asked.
Ivy took a long drag from her beer. “Now, we f
ind Caterina’s altar, get the Benandanti’s birthright before the Salici Sacri, and then find a way to keep them out of our territory.”
Ezekiel caught his eyes when Ivy said “our territory”. She didn’t realize she had said it. Hearing that Ivy had stood up for the Pack made him want to howl. He felt something settle inside him that had been churning for weeks. She was their mate. She might not know that in her mind but her heart did.
Now wasn’t the best time to celebrate, but damnit it if he didn’t want to.
“How positive are you that the Salici Sacri are in our town. Could that lady have been a one off?” Ezekiel asked.
Ivy pulled a necklace out from under her shirt. It was a thin chain with a rock dangling from the end. At first, Ezra thought it was her ward key. It looked similar. As the stone twisted, he noticed something carved into one side.
“Lawrence gave this to me. It detects Salici Sacri when they get close.” She brought it up to her face. “I wonder if it uses a spell or if it’s the rune entirely.”
Ezekiel plucked it out of her hands. He ignored her outraged cry and brought it up to his nose. He sniffed it a few times before shaking his head.
Ezra held out his hand. Ivy didn’t bother trying to take it back. She sat back with her arms crossed, waiting.
Ezra tried to pick up any smell from the stone. It was drenched in Ivy’s scent, making it difficult to pick up anything else. Behind her scent was the slight sting of magic. Along the back of the chain, he paused. There was a faint lingering male scent.
“What?” Ivy demanded. Ezra looked up, confused. “You were growling.”
He hadn’t realized he was growling. “Just caught an unfamiliar scent.”
The words had barely left his mouth before Ezekiel snatched the necklace back. He scented the chain. He started to growl as he got to the clasp. His eyes flared yellow as he met Ezra’s gaze. They both nodded once.
“What is it? Can you smell the Salici?” Ivy asked impatiently.
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