by RJ Blain
“Grow up,” I ordered, leveling a glare at Yellowknife’s Alpha. Elliot lifted his head from my shoulder, but remained silent. “I’m just going a short distance away from the house. My magic has a blast radius, and I’m at its epicenter. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Guard my puppies while I’m gone, and pull them into the pack.”
Richard halted, shoved his hands in his pockets, and snarled at me.
“Hey, Richard. Look. Elliot’s on her lap. We caught them snuggling. There’s hope for them yet.” Amber came to the couch and set the three holstered guns on the couch beside me. “I bring you a present of a gun, silver and standard ammunition, and a holster. Here are her stones. Don’t worry if you feel a little weird holding them. They tend to freak people out.”
I wiggled under Elliot, freeing my hand so I could point at the moonstone. “It’s sad.”
Amber blinked. “Excuse me?”
“It’s sad,” I repeated, holding my hand out for the gem. With wide eyes, the fire witch set it in my palm. The smooth stone was cool in my hand, and its song strengthened. Its melody lacked words, but it didn’t take me long to understand it, too, longed for its owner. “I think it wants Nicole.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.” Amber straightened, pointing at me. “You can sense the stone? You’re not a sensor. You’re a weather witch.”
“You’re making assumptions. I’m a sensor. I couldn’t be a weather witch without being one. I just don’t sense things like you fire witches do. You’re too busy looking with your eyes and not busy enough using the rest of your senses.” I patted Elliot. “Move.”
“But you’re warm.”
“Clingy leech,” I muttered. “Fine. Stay there, then. Just be still and quiet.”
Elliot relaxed against me and nuzzled my neck. “You smell like a cookie.”
“That’s not being quiet, Elliot.”
“But you smell delicious.”
“Get off, you freak.” I held onto the moonstone in one hand and worked the other between Elliot, shoving him onto the couch beside me. “I’m not food.”
“He was hitting on you, Vicky,” Amber informed me. “He wants to—”
“I will kill you,” I promised in my calmest voice.
“It is a shame we’re both straight, because that was the hottest thing anyone has said to me in a long time.”
“You need to find her a mate, Richard. Maybe she’ll stop harassing me.” I rolled Nicole’s moonstone between my hands. “I need warm clothes and a snowmobile. I’d rather not have to hike a safe distance away.”
“Explain why I’m letting you go out there alone.”
“Because I’ll kill anyone who gets too close if I do manage to tap into my witchcraft, destroy your house, and potentially flatten everything in a quarter mile to a mile radius. I become the eye of the storm. Calm right around me, but everything outside of the eye will be in a lot of trouble.” I shrugged. “I won’t risk my puppies, I won’t risk Elliot, and I certainly won’t risk you or Amber. And no, I can’t wear the collar. It might interfere with my witchcraft, if I can get it under control.”
“I was under the impression using your witchcraft could be dangerous.”
I stared at the white stone in my hand, marveling at the blue reflections gleaming over its surface. Its song changed, and I while I heard a questioning tone in its wordless melody, I wasn’t sure what it wanted to know. “Do you want to find Nicole?”
“More than anything.”
“Then shut up and let me try. If I can begin the process of calming the weather, we can go to Georgia. We can bring in reinforcements. We can hit every single one of those Basin addresses all at once. We can gather the best operatives, and we can wipe them out. But we’re grounded unless the weather changes, and unless you happen to know another weather witch?”
Richard fell silent, and when I glanced in his direction, his expression was anguished.
“You don’t have to like it. You just have to let me do it, Richard.”
“Fine, but take Snowflake out on a walk with you before you head out, and make sure you take a radio.”
“Elliot will be in the shed on the other end of the radio. Snowflake can keep Elliot company while he waits. If anything goes wrong, he’ll know.” Amber patted my shoulder. “Males always get overprotective. You’ll get used to it.”
“The sooner I get out there, the sooner we find out if this works. I’m trusting you with my puppies, Richard. Don’t disappoint me.”
“I’ll keep them occupied while you’re gone.” Richard sighed. “Come back the instant you know either way. If you can tap into your witchcraft, we’ll see if we can find someone who can help you. If you’re going to try to tackle these storms, I want it done in the safest way possible.”
“I’ll make sure everything is done in the safest way possible. I promise.”
It wasn’t a lie, either. Too many depended on me.
I wouldn’t fail, not again.
Snowflake bounced around my feet, his leash whipping against my legs while I wrestled into the thick parka Richard insisted I wear. The Alpha growled at me, at Elliot, and even at the little fox, but we ignored him, mostly.
If Richard didn’t notice Snowflake eyeing his boots, I wasn’t going to tell him.
Once bundled to the Alpha’s satisfaction, he turned his attention to Elliot, giving my mate the same treatment. Snowflake pounced on Richard’s boots, gnawed at the leather, and left scraps in his wake.
Elliot caught my gaze, glanced at the fox, and grinned.
“You two are going to be the death of me,” Richard snapped, giving Elliot’s parka a final tug. “So help me, I will tie you both up if anything happens, am I understood?”
“As I told you, he’s an overprotective idiot. Richard, she has Nicole’s stone. It seems to like her and will keep her safe. Stop worrying so much. She won’t be far. If she gets into any trouble, Elliot will call the house. It’ll take you less than five minutes to get to her, and you know it. She’s an old Fenerec. It’d take a lot to do any lasting harm to her.” Amber kissed Richard’s cheek. “If it works, we can find Nicole and Dante and bring them home. We have a solid lead. If the weather clears, Elliot can toss together ops to hit all of the addresses at one time. We’ll take the one in Greenville. You can get the helicopter in the air in less than hour with my help, and we can get to a proper plane. In the meantime, we’ll go finish lunch, get the puppies fed, and make sure Evelyn’s taken all her vitamins and gets her prized Frankencookie. That’ll keep you busy for a while.”
“I don’t want to bake Frankencookie.”
“Just disable the alarm and let them out. Maybe if we’re lucky, Elliot will get lucky in the snowmobile shed.” Amber winked at me. “Take him for a ride before you go on a ride.”
“You’re all demented perverts.” I sighed and shook my head. “Why are you all so determined for Elliot to get lucky?”
“We want puppies,” Richard and Amber informed me. The pair glanced at each other and laughed.
“You get lucky, too,” the fire witch reminded me. “With luck, there will be so many puppies this season Richard won’t have time to breathe.”
“But I like breathing.”
“Richard, let them out. We’ll evaluate the situation once we know if Vicky can take back control of her powers—if we can get a localized clearing of the weather, we can make our move.” Amber nudged Snowflake away from Richard’s boots. “Don’t lose hold of his leash. Last thing we need is to have to chase down a white fox in the snow.”
“I won’t let him escape,” Elliot promised, taking Snowflake’s leash out of my hand. “The sooner you let us out, the faster we can come back in. What’s the code to get back in?”
Richard scowled but gave my mate instructions on how to open the front door. “Don’t think you can use that to escape later. I will change it the instant you two come back inside.”
Amber sighed. “Richard, you’re not a warden. You can’t imprison the S
hadow Pope in your house.”
“Like hell I can’t. It’s in the sacred handbook of Alphas. My pack, so I can imprison him if I want.” Richard gave me a shove to the door, reached around me, and tapped in a code. “Update me when you learn something.”
Outside, the wind howled and the snow stung the little skin Richard hadn’t covered in scarves, the parka, and a hat. I took in a deep breath, wincing at the way the cold air bit my throat and lungs. “It may take a while,” I warned.
“On average, it’s six to eight hours for a successful mating, so add that to your time,” my Alpha said, planting his hand between my shoulders and shoving me through the doorway. “I’m sure Elliot would be delighted to give you all the instruction you could ever want on Fenerec mating practices, ensuring a happily mated pair and an even happier pack. Don’t reduce me to begging. I will. I’ll even bake you your very own Frankencookie.”
“But I don’t want a Frankencookie.”
“But I want more puppies.”
Amber laughed. “Richard, leave her alone already. Be happy she didn’t even blush that time. You’ve obviously numbed her to the discussion of puppies.” The witch shoved my mate through the door behind me, hooked her foot under Snowflake, and shoved him outside, too. “Take care, love birds. Phone is in the shed, Elliot. If there are any problems, all the snowmobiles have trackers installed, so it’s easy to find out where she went.”
“Good. I’ll—”
With a wave and smile, Amber slammed the door in our faces.
“I get the feeling they really want us to sleep together, Vicky.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“We could humor them. I don’t mind.”
“I’m sure you don’t.” I snatched Snowflake’s leash out of my mate’s hand. “Where’s the shed?”
“This way, darling. Just ignore Amber and Richard. The rest can wait until we find out if we can get the problem with the weather cleared up.”
“At least your common sense hasn’t dribbled out of your ears. Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The shed was a massive six-door garage connected to a guest house tucked in the valley, built against the cliff with Richard’s house towering above it. At least a hundred snowmobiles were parked inside, and Elliot flicked on the overhead lights, looking over the machines while humming. “Which one do you want?”
“My default answer is usually either really fast or great on mileage. Let’s go with great on mileage.” While the garage door was closed, I kept Snowflake leashed. The fox seemed content to sit on my boots, grooming his fur while waiting. “It doesn’t need to win races, it just needs to be reliable.”
While I feared I wouldn’t be coming back, I needed all my options open to me, even a long trip through the wilds on a stolen snowmobile headed east and south.
Elliot made a thoughtful noise before pointing at a small, bright yellow snowmobile with a rack near one of the garage doors. “That one’s your best bet, then.”
“Show me where you’ll be while I’m gone.” If I was going to leave Elliot behind, I wanted to make sure he’d be safe, especially if I knocked him out with a nip or two to keep him from raising the alarm when he figured out I was up to a lot more than I had let on.
My wolf thought we could do it without having to hurt him.
If I had a change of luck, I’d return before he woke up.
Elliot nodded, gesturing towards a door on the far end of the garage. “Gas is in there if you need it. Don’t know how much is in the machine. The gas is stored in a ventilated room, heated, but colder than in here, so don’t leave the door open. Just take the nearest can, fill up, and return it when you’re done.”
“Will do.”
Taking hold of my hand, Elliot pulled me across to the other side of the garage, up three steps, and into a spacious, dimly lit kitchen. A living room was across a tile path dividing the place in half, leading to a hallway with several doors. “I’ll be plenty cozy. Radios are kept on the kitchen island.”
I spotted them in a basket, but before Elliot could retrieve them, I tugged him to me, pressing my nose to his throat and taking in a deep breath. The heat in his scent tempted me into taking those few extra hours for just us without any worry of interruption, but I didn’t dare.
Time was running out for Dante and Nicole, if it wasn’t already gone.
“You just wanted to get away from those pests, didn’t you?” Elliot wrapped his arms around me. “I apologize on their behalf. Fenerec and pack witches really lose all dignity during the winter, and the instant the temperature drops, the only thing they want to think about is mating and puppies. At least excuse Richard. Puppies give him purpose, and he’s in dire need of having a purpose right now.”
“I know that.”
“Let’s sit for a little while before you go out. Maybe a few minutes of calm without anyone breathing down your neck will help you focus on your witchcraft.”
Elliot pulled me towards the living room, and because his suggestion fit perfectly with my plans, I went with him. When he sank down on the couch, I took over his lap, gripping his shoulders so he couldn’t escape from me.
“I think I like this even more than when I was on your lap,” he murmured, resting his hands on my hips. “Maybe we should delay for a few minutes.”
Instead of answering him, I leaned down, pressing my mouth to the side of his throat. My wolf and I wanted to nip him and lay claim over him again, but we both understood the stakes. No matter what, we couldn’t allow him to interfere.
Leaving him safe and warm in the guest house would buy me the time I needed to find out, either way, if I could do something about the weather.
If I could return, I would, and if possible, I wanted to leave him with no knowledge of my duplicity. I scraped my teeth against his skin, and Elliot made a contented sound in his throat. I peppered him with nibbles and gentle kisses until his body relaxed beneath me, his breathing evened out, and his eyes fluttered closed.
I stayed with him far longer than necessary before rising from his lap, bending down to kiss his forehead. I headed for the garage. Snowflake followed me, whining when I reached the door.
I took him with me so I wouldn’t have to be alone if my attempt to take back my witchcraft and clear the way proved to be my last stand.
I loaded several of the rectangular, five-gallon gas tanks onto the rack of the snowmobile and tied them down, careful to leave enough room for Snowflake between them so he wouldn’t fall. The fox sat in his spot, his tail pounding on the plastic containers, ears pricked forward while I made my final preparations and opened the garage door so I could haul the snowmobile outside with brute strength.
Mindful of my mate sleeping inside, I secured the garage. With my mate in the shed, I’d go farther than a mile away to ensure if there were any problems, the house and garage were safe from my magic. The snowmobile had a built-in GPS unit, and I turned it on, looking over the map for a good spot. The system had several locations bookmarked, and I made certain to avoid them.
Twenty miles east of Richard’s home was a promising place. I would’ve preferred a mountain, but compared to the rest of the area, it was the best I could do without perching on top of my Alpha’s home.
Mindful of my fox companion, I followed the GPS’s directions to the spot I picked, relying on the snowmobile’s headlights to keep from tumbling into one of the ravines and craggy valleys crisscrossing the Canadian wilderness. The snow impaired my vision to the point I had to rely on the GPS as much as my sight.
Running as a wolf would’ve been faster and safer, but the strength of my wolf’s instincts would cripple my attempts to regain control of my witchcraft. Even if I transformed, I wouldn’t be able to shift back to human, not without finding shelter first.
I’d freeze to death long before I could work any magic if I stayed out unprotected in a blizzard.
While I had worked magic as a wolf before, I didn’t trust myself to b
e able to do what was needed.
No matter what, I couldn’t fail. There was a silver bullet with my name on it, one I’d shoot myself with to maximize my chances of success. I’d target my leg and hope I resisted the silver poisoning long enough to use my witchcraft.
I prayed the bullets in my gun were old enough to work on me, but not so old they killed me before I had a chance to work any magic at all.
If I managed to take back control of my witchcraft, silver poisoning would be the least of my concerns. Calling a single storm took most of my strength. How could I have any hope of fixing everything?
In the end, I only needed to clear the way for Richard and Elliot to save Nicole and Dante. If I managed to pull it off and survive, I could worry about undoing the rest of the damage Basin had caused by unleashing my witchcraft.
If I had a say in the matter, I’d do far more than calm the storms. I would make them mine and turn them on Basin, giving them a taste of the power they craved.
A frigid wind whipped over the broken stones and scraggly brush, howling its fury. Snow sliced over my exposed skin and worked its way into my clothes. I parked the snowmobile and left the engine running, uncertain if I’d be able to start it again.
Snowflake bumped me with his nose before worming his way onto my lap, wagging his tail. I gave him several strokes before setting him back on the seat. In the darkness, my chosen spot didn’t seem very elevated, but I decided it didn’t matter.
Nothing came between me and the sky. The clouds rumbled, and lightning flashed while the snow fell harder despite the cold. Once I fired the single silver bullet, I would only have a few minutes to see if I could recapture the spark of magic I’d hated for most of my life. Ideally, the bullet would go clean through, leaving enough taint in my blood to subdue my wolf without killing me. I’d pick my target with care, hold my hand steady until I squeezed the trigger, and hope for the best.