“Are you okay?” Aric asked, kneeling beside me. He couldn’t dislodge Sami no matter how hard he tried, so ultimately he gave up and focused on my arm. “You’re bleeding, baby.”
“We should take her back to camp,” Debbie suggested. “We have healers back there.”
“I don’t need healers,” I said, gritting my teeth as I raised my good hand and clamped it to the wound on my shoulder. Blue magic flitted out, wrapping cool flames around the burning sensation. Within a few seconds, the wound and pain were gone. “I’ve got it.”
“Holy crap,” Claudette said, dumbfounded. “Maybe you’re not as useless as I thought.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
JAMES AND Helen met us at the edge of the campground when we appeared out of the darkness, their faces white. James clutched Trouble’s leash as the dog whined and strained to get closer to Sami, who was cradled in Aric’s arms. The puppy seemed to sense her distress.
“What happened?” James asked.
“We’re not sure,” Aric replied, glancing at me. “We were taking a walk when we heard Sami screaming. Four wolves were on her when we got there.”
“Four?” Helen was horrified. “But who would dare do that?”
“I don’t think they were from our pack,” Aric answered, shifting Sami so he could hold her more comfortably. “You need to get out there, Dad. We left one body. You might be able to figure out who he is.”
“You said four wolves attacked,” James said. “Did the other three get away?”
“They’re dead,” I answered hollowly.
“Dead?” James arched his eyebrows.
“I burned them.”
“She did what she had to do,” Aric clarified. I could tell he wanted to reach for me but couldn’t because of Sami. “She killed four wolves. One escaped into the woods.”
“You said there were four total, though.” James was understandably confused.
“We kept one to question. Zoe was going to torture him to get answers, but then another wolf attacked her,” Aric said. “She killed it, and during the confusion the last wolf slipped away.”
“Well, I guess we can’t argue with the outcome.” James said the words but I couldn’t help but wonder if he meant the exact opposite. “I’ll get searchers out into the trees, but the odds of catching the survivor aren’t great.”
“At least he’ll serve as a warning for whoever else comes at us,” Aric said, moving toward our cabin. “We’re taking Sami inside.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Helen asked. “I could make her some cocoa.”
Aric glanced at Sami, but she refused to make eye contact. “We’ve got her.”
I took Trouble’s leash and followed Aric toward the cabin. I didn’t realize until we were almost inside that Claudette still followed us.
“Do you need something?” I asked, practically daring her to give me an ounce of trouble as I closed off the entry to our cabin.
Aric looked torn as he studied us before taking Sami inside. I knew he wasn’t worried about Claudette hurting me. I could take care of myself. Me hurting her was a different story, though.
“I just wanted to make sure she was okay,” Claudette replied, uncomfortably shifting from one foot to the other. She seemed to be having trouble making eye contact. I didn’t blame her. “I thought I could help.”
“We don’t need your help,” I said. “Thank you.”
“But … .”
“But what?”
“How did you do it?” Claudette seemed genuinely curious. “How did you do all of it?”
“I’m a mage.”
“But … you expended so much power,” Claudette said. “You crushed that wolf without thinking twice, and burned the others until there was nothing left.”
“I did.” If she was expecting me to make excuses for my actions she was about to be disappointed.
“That was on top of appearing out of nowhere,” Claudette said. “Were you listening to us the entire time?”
I saw no reason to lie. “Yes.”
“I … probably sounded terrible from where you were sitting, huh?” Claudette mustered a sheepish grin. “I didn’t mean it.”
“I was comfortable because I was on Aric’s lap,” I said, enjoying the way Claudette’s lips twisted into a sneer. “I was on his lap before you showed up. As for the rest … you meant it. There’s no point in lying.”
Claudette blew out a heavy sigh. “Fine. I meant it. You have to understand that … .”
I held up my hand to cut her off. “I don’t have to understand anything,” I said. “He’s my husband and you had a crush on him when you were teenagers. I get it. He’s a catch.
“Here’s the thing, though,” I continued. “We’ve been through more than you can ever understand. I’ll never be sorry for loving or marrying him. That’s never going to change. I am sorry you feel that something was stolen from you, but I didn’t steal him.
“We clawed our way through a pile of death and destruction to get to each other,” I said. “I didn’t cast a spell on him. I didn’t force him to do anything. We’re together because that’s what both of us want and need.”
“I get that,” Claudette said. “I … get that now, at least. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for what I said.”
“It’s not worth much right now,” I said, opting for honesty. “I’m exhausted and my kid is traumatized. It might be worth more in the morning, though.”
“I guess I’ll see you over coffee.”
“Great.”
I left Claudette standing there and walked into the cabin, locking the door behind me and unhooking Trouble’s leash so he could run to Sami. Aric had her in bed, the covers tugged up to her chin as he rested next to her.
“You did good, Sami,” Aric said. “You’re okay. Everyone is okay.”
“I was going to kill them,” Sami said, her voice small. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“If that happened, you wouldn’t have had a choice,” Aric said petting the back of her head as she pressed her forehead into his shoulder. “Everyone understands that. You did the right thing.”
“You definitely did the right thing,” I said, walking into the bedroom and smirking when I saw Trouble climbing between Sami and Aric. Sami hugged the puppy close and mustered a smile for my benefit. “But I do have a question.”
“What’s that?” Sami asked, her eyes weary.
“What were you doing in the woods in the first place?”
“That’s actually a good question,” Aric said, shifting his eyes to Sami. “Why were you out there?”
“I was looking for you.”
“Why?”
Sami shrugged. “I wanted to see what you were doing, and Grandma was bugging me about getting a haircut. I told her I didn’t want one, but she said I looked like a street person. I was mostly trying to get away from her.”
That sounded about right. “Well, your hair is fine and I’ll talk to Grandma tomorrow,” I said. “As for the rest, you did really well. You need to promise me that you won’t wander into the woods by yourself again, though. It’s not safe.”
Sami nodded solemnly. “I promise.”
“Good.” I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and Aric followed suit. We switched off the light and left her to what would hopefully be happy dreams … or at least not a series of terrible ones.
I remained quiet until we hit our bedroom. “If your father even thinks about giving me any crap for killing those wolves … .”
“If my father gives you any crap we’ll be out of here first thing in the morning,” Aric said, reaching for me. At first I thought he wanted to hug me and then I realized he was studying my shoulder. “You look okay.”
“I look great,” I said, jerking back my arm. “I look fan-freaking-tastic.”
Aric smirked. “You were kind of a badass tonight, baby,” he said, opening his arms and pulling me down so I could rest my head on his chest. “You ki
cked some major ass.”
“That’s not exactly newsworthy. I always kick ass.”
“You even earned Claudette’s respect,” Aric said after a beat, stroking the back of my head. “What did she say to you?”
“That she was sorry and didn’t mean what she said.”
“What did you say?”
“That I knew she wasn’t sorry.”
“Hmm.” Aric pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You impressed her. The look on her face was … hilarious.”
“I don’t care about impressing her nearly as much as I do about finding out who those wolves were and why they went after Sami,” I admitted. “Aric, why were they here?”
“I don’t know,” Aric replied, shifting lower on the mattress so we could get comfortable. “We’re going to find out, though. I won’t let anything happen to this family.”
“I guess that makes two of us.”
“Three,” Sami said from the doorway, causing Aric and me to jerk our heads in her direction.
“What are you doing up?” I asked, struggling to a sitting position. “I thought for sure you’d fall asleep right away.”
“I’m tired,” Sami said. “It’s just … .” She broke off and chewed her bottom lip.
“Do you want to sleep with us?” Aric asked, smirking when Sami’s eyes brightened. “Come on.” He patted the side of the bed next to him. “I’m going to need earplugs tonight because you both snore like sailors home on leave after a bender.”
“I have no idea what that means,” Sami said, snuggling Trouble in on one side as she sighed and stole Aric’s pillow. “Goodnight.”
I made room for Aric to share my pillow and snickered when he rolled to face me. “I don’t snore.”
“You do, but I find it cute.” He kissed the tip of my nose.
“None of that!” Sami snapped, horrified. “I will be scarred for life if you even think of doing that while I’m in here with you.”
“Go to sleep, Sami,” Aric ordered, rolling his eyes as he got comfortable. As a test, I kissed the corner of his mouth and earned a grin. “None of that,” he said, mimicking Sami’s voice. “I will just die if you ever do that again.”
“Ugh, you guys are so loud,” Sami complained. “Go to sleep.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Nineteen
I woke to Sami’s hand smashed against my face and Trouble licking my chin. They’d fallen asleep on the other side of Aric, so I couldn’t figure out how it happened until I realized Aric wasn’t in the bed.
I bolted to a sitting position, internally cursing myself when Sami muttered something under her breath and shifted. She slipped back under right away, giving me the opening I needed to leave her sleeping and to find my husband.
I prowled the cabin looking for Aric, pulling up short when I saw the front door open about an inch. I cocked my head to the side when I heard voices. Even though I swore I would stop eavesdropping years ago, I couldn’t quite seem to stop myself.
“The wolf in the woods had a tattoo,” James said. I couldn’t see him through the small opening but he was obviously standing on the porch with Aric. “It was on his shoulder. It matches the symbol from the house Zoe burned down and the Ouija board she stole from Sami’s summer camp.”
“You said the Ouija board had nothing to do with it,” Aric challenged.
“It appears I was wrong.”
“Well, you’re never going to live that down,” Aric muttered. “Once she hears she was right she’s going to do a little dance for you. I hope you enjoy it.”
“You don’t need to tell her if you don’t want to do it.”
Aric snorted. “I’m not lying to her when the stakes are this high,” he said. “Our daughter’s life is in danger. If you think I’m lying to my wife to spare your feelings, well, you’re smoking crack.”
“You spend far too much time with Zoe,” James said. I could practically see his scowl through the door. “You sound just like her sometimes.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Aric said dryly. “What about the council elders? You said you would get us a meeting with them.”
“I got you a meeting.”
“You did?” Aric sounded surprised.
“Well, technically the elders heard about what Zoe did in the woods last night and now they’re dying to talk to her,” James conceded.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
“In other words, they didn’t believe she was powerful even though we told them she was,” Aric said. “Now she’s reached legendary status for five minutes of work. I should’ve seen that coming.”
“That’s neither here nor there,” James said. “They want to see you. They might have answers for you.”
“When.”
“Now.”
“Now?” Aric was incredulous. “That sounds more like a summons than an invitation.”
“If that’s the way you want to see it … well … I can’t really argue with you,” James said. “This might be your only chance to talk to them, though. If you turn down their invitation … .”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Aric sounded annoyed. “What do you think, Zoe? Do you want to talk to the pack elders?”
I froze when I realized he was talking to me. I considered bolting back into the bedroom, but I run like a clown with ill-fitting shoes so there was no way he would miss the sound of my escape. “I … um … .”
Aric pushed open the door and fixed me with a bright smile. “What do you want to do?”
“How did you know I was listening?” I asked, shuffling out to the porch. “I was very quiet.”
“You have a certain presence,” Aric said wryly, his lips twitching. “When you’ve been together as long as we have, you learn to recognize that presence.”
“Are you saying you’re magic?”
Aric grinned. “I’m saying you’re magic and maybe a little bit of it rubbed off on me.”
“Oh, good grief,” James complained, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You two are just a walking flirt machine, aren’t you?”
“I have no idea what a flirt machine is, but I’d totally like to check it out,” I said, rubbing my cheek as I studied Aric. “What do you think we should do?”
“Well, I’m agitated that they seem to be summoning us, but if they can help … .”
I glanced over toward our bedroom. I could see Sami and Trouble cuddled together on the bed. “We can’t risk not asking them,” I finished for him. “I can be ready in forty minutes.”
“Okay.” Aric slipped his arm around my neck and pulled me close for a hug. “Your snoring sounded like eight trains bearing down on me at once last night, by the way. You’ll have to take a nap with me later to make up for it.”
“I’m going to hose you two down one of these days,” James said, shaking his head. “I mean it.”
“ARE YOU nervous?”
Aric kept his arm around my waist as we headed for the big cabin at the end of the dirt road. We left Sami with James and Helen even though she wanted to come. I think it had more to do with not wanting to be away from us than actual curiosity, but there was no way I would subject her to a bunch of mindless questions after her ordeal the previous evening.
“I’m not nervous,” I replied, hoping I sounded truthful. “I’ll be fine.”
“You’ll definitely be fine.”
“Just so I’m prepared, though, um … what kinds of things are they going to ask me?”
Aric slid a sidelong look in my direction, his lips curling at the corners. “I like that every once in a while I can still be your hero.”
I balked. “You’re always my hero.”
“Yeah, but you kick ass more than I do in a fight,” Aric said. “You need my brain, though. I’m the genius of the family.”
I didn’t want to laugh, yet I couldn’t help myself. “If that’s what you need to tell yourself.” I patted his arm in a placating manner. “You’ll always be my hero, Aric. Always.”
> “Even though you killed four wolves last night and all I did was carry Sami back to the cabin?”
I stilled in the middle of the road, searching his face when he stopped beside me. “Aric … .”
“That was a joke, Zoe,” he said quickly, forcing a smile that didn’t make it all the way up to his eyes. “I was kidding.”
“No, you weren’t,” I argued, shaking my head. “That was definitely not a joke.”
“Zoe, I shouldn’t have said it,” Aric said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “This is not the time for us to have this conversation.”
“Yeah? Well, we’re having it anyway,” I said, licking my lips. “You’re the strongest man I know. You’re Sami’s hero on top of being mine. You’ve saved me so many times I’ve lost count.”
“When did that happen?” Aric challenged. “You’re the real power. I know that. I’m okay with it.”
“You save me by loving me.” I was surprised when I felt the tears burning my eyes. “I wish you could see that about yourself. You’ve always been my hero.”
“Oh, don’t cry,” Aric said, pulling me in for a hug. “It always freaks me out when you cry.”
“Yes, well, it freaks me out when you don’t realize your strength and worth.”
Aric pressed a warm kiss to my forehead. “I’m not trying to be dramatic,” he said. “I just … you were amazing last night. You were calm. I didn’t even have to shift and fight.”
Something about the way he said the words made me realize he missed that aspect of our lives. “Next time I’ll let you shift and kick some ass.”
“That would be great.” Aric was beaming when he pulled away and linked his fingers with mine as we returned to our walk. “As for the questions, I have no idea what they’ll ask you. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, don’t answer them. Tell them to stuff it.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that,” I said. “I’m fairly certain I can tell them to stuff it.”
“I have total faith.”
“Instead of being a flirt machine, I could be an insult machine,” I mused. “That might be my calling.”
Dying Covenant: The Complete Series Page 43