by Linda Wisdom
Blair stood on her tiptoes behind him and looked over his shoulder. “You have got to be kidding me. It’s not even a full moon and they’re out there?” Anger mixed with magick sent painful heated prickles through Jake’s body.
When she started to step around him, he pushed her back, keeping one restraining hand on her hip to keep her in place even as she practically bounced up and down on her toes.
About fifteen wolves sat in a half circle in the yard below. The largest wolf was all black, while the others were varied shades of gray, silver, and white. One female wolf peered up at them with large, dark lavender eyes. The black wolf stood up and stepped forward. While he didn’t make a sound, his entire body seemed to throb with menace.
“Do not even think about it.” Blair shoved by Jake, succeeding this time because she pushed magick through her hands so he couldn’t stop her. It was sheer willpower that kept him on his feet. She moved to the railing and curled her fingers over the wood as she leaned over to look the Alpha wolf squarely in the eye. A deliberate action—it wasn’t done to a Were unless you were willing to fight, and Blair preferred to think of herself as more of a lover type. But she wanted to make sure the Were got the message loud and clear. “You are in my territory now, wolf, and you are here uninvited, I might add. You have insulted me by coming to my door. So do us both a favor and leave.”
“Very subtle, Blair,” Jake muttered.
“I’d rather shoot witchflame at them, so don’t talk subtle to me. I mean it, Roan. Return to the resort. Return to your territory.”
The Alpha looked up at her and bared his teeth as his fur bristled with anger.
Jake’s hackles rose in response, a growl sounding from deep within his chest. This time he was able to move forward and keep Blair slightly behind him.
“I fight my own battles, Jake,” she whispered. “This is my home.”
“We’re in this together.”
Blair flashed a smile that was just as feral as the wolves.’ “The odds are in our favor.”
Blair didn’t need a translator to know that Roan was trying to intimidate her. To show her that he could come to her home any time he chose. Bringing other wolves with him was nothing more than more terrorization. She was so glad they didn’t know that it wouldn’t work with her.
She didn’t have to raise her voice, but she did so deliberately. “You think you can move in here and take over, but it won’t happen if I have anything to say about it.” She drew on her power, feeling it wrap around her and flash through her veins, crackling from her hair that flew around her face even with no breeze in the air, and dancing over her skin. “I’ll make you a deal. You stay on your property and we’ll stay on ours, and never the twain shall meet.”
The Alpha wolf stared at them for several long moments before slowly turning away and walking off. One by one, the wolves followed him.
Blair watched them leave, feeling the tension still tight in her muscles and also in Jake’s.
“He doesn’t give up—and if I’m not mistaken, you pissed him off,” Jake said quietly.
Blair finally released the breath she’d been holding. “I know, although you seemed to give as good you got, too.” She returned to the warmth of the kitchen, Jake following her, and closing the door after himself.
“What is going on?” Stasi burst into the kitchen, a frazzled Bogie and Horace on her heels.
“We had unwanted visitors.” Blair started rummaging through the cabinets. “Don’t we have some brownies somewhere?”
“That bad, huh?” Stasi glanced at Jake. “She goes chocolate crazy during times of stress. What happened out there?”
“Members of Jake’s former Pack showed up looking all big and mean. Yeah, like that would worry me.” Not finding any brownies, Blair settled for pulling out a box of brownie mix along with a bowl and mixing spoon. She soon had the brownie batter mixed up and poured into a pan, and waited impatiently for the oven to preheat.
“And you were mad at me for ‘ruining the moment.’” Horace used his claws to make quotation marks.
Jake couldn’t stay still. He needed to get out there, shift, and run. While he was at it, he’d make sure the wolves had returned to the resort.
“I’d better get going,” he said, reaching for his jacket that hung on the rack by the door.
Blair shot him a sharp glance. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
“Of course,” he lied. The last thing he wanted was for her to follow him.
Blair started to raise a hand with color warming her fingertips, but Jake shook his head. “I don’t need a protection spell, Blair. I’ll be fine,” he assured her. He walked over, kissed her warmly, and slipped out the door.
“So sweet.” Stasi dug through the refrigerator for a bottle of wine and then pulled out two glasses.
“Could have gone way beyond sweet until Roan and his motley crew showed up and ruined everything,” Blair grumbled.
She resumed searching the cabinets. “Do we need frosting? Of course we do,” she answered her own question as she found the powdered sugar, cocoa, and vanilla. She turned to find Stasi seated at the table, two glasses of wine in front of her. Stasi was leaning forward, gazing at her, her chin resting in her cupped hand. “What?”
“I’m just looking.”
“Looking for what?”
“Red hearts dancing over your head.”
Stasi’s teasing comment hit Blair like a ton of bricks aimed right at the chest. Her mouth gaped open like a fish then suddenly snapped shut as she realized she couldn’t breathe. She bent over, her hands on her knees, as she struggled to fill her suddenly non-working lungs. The idea of seeing red hearts over Jake’s head slammed through her mind, and she just knew that Stasi would see it as perfect payback for all the teasing Blair handed out when the hearts were part of Stasi and Trev. She resisted the temptation to conjure up a mirror to make sure her head was heart-free. She had very strong feelings for Jake, but had they gone that far?
Stasi leapt up and searched through the drawers for a paper bag, which she clapped over Blair’s mouth and nose. “Breathe slowly,” she ordered, keeping the bag secure.
Blair blinked rapidly, watching the multi-colored spots dance before her eyes.
“Not funny!” she wheezed.
“Who was being funny? All anyone has to do is look at your face to know the truth. Same with Jake, even if he’s more reluctant to admit it. You two just didn’t end up with the mamboing hearts.” Stasi’s smile broadened. “It’s so nice to see someone in the same predicament.”
“Except you weren’t interested in Trev at the beginning.”
“I was, but I didn’t want to admit it because of the lawsuit.” She suddenly giggled. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
“Oh sure, except this time we’re up against a bunch of nasty Weres, including the champion bitch of all time.” Blair shoved the pan into the oven and set the timer. “Doesn’t matter. They won’t win.”
“We are witches, hear us roar,” Stasi proclaimed.
“Damn straight.”
***
Jake winced when he saw the noxious mess Roan and his Pack had left in Blair and Stasi’s yard. He should have known they’d return after he and Blair had gone back inside, so they could leave their opinion of Blair’s speech.
“She’s going to be royally pissed about this,” he muttered, heading into the woods, where he shifted to collie form. After he made sure Roan and the others had left the area and weren’t going to cause Blair any further trouble tonight, he’d return for his truck and head home. He set off at a leisurely trot, easily picking up the trail. It was obvious that Roan hadn’t seen any reason to mask their trail, because he wouldn’t have expected anyone to follow them and probably didn’t care if they did. Jake didn’t intend to catch up with the Pack, but he did want to know where they were headed. He hoped if he stayed downwind they wouldn’t realize he was on their tails.
He wouldn’t admit it to Blair, but seeing the g
roup of wolves, watching them turn to leave together, Jake had been reminded of how it had felt growing up an outsider in his own Pack. More keenly than he had for a long time, he felt the longing for the connection of running and hunting with them. A longing he’d have to find a way to disconnect again; he would never be a part of the Pack. And no matter what Jen had told him about their match still being on, he had no intention of going forward with it. No reason to mate with one female when another had his heart.
Jake enjoyed traveling through the forest at night. Too bad this journey wasn’t for fun.
Tonight he kept his eyes forward and his senses on high alert. He lowered his body, his hackles up, when a familiar scent reached his nose. He bared his teeth and released a growl from deep inside his chest as a wolf-shaped shadow appeared before him.
You want a fight? Buddy, you’ve got one. Jake bared his teeth, ready to do battle. But the shadow came no closer and before Jake could make a move, a faint pinging sound echoed in the air and something sharp struck him in the shoulder. He yelped and twisted his body into the air, falling to the ground and lying on his side. As his eyes slid closed he saw the blue-feathered dart sticking in his fur.
This isn’t good.
Chapter 12
Blair had gone to bed in a chocolate coma, shedding her clothes along the way and crawling under the covers with her pillow snugly over her head. She figured if she was lucky, she could sleep until it was time to open the shop.
“Get up, Blair!” Stasi pulled on her shoulder so hard Blair snarled that she was going to dislocate her arm if she wasn’t careful. But Stasi was past caring.
“Leave me alone!” Her voice was muffled under the pillow.
“Trust me, you want to be up.” Without a hint of regret, Stasi threw the covers back and tossed the pillow to one side so that a naked Blair was exposed to the morning’s cold air. Stasi dropped some clothing on her back and deposited a cup of coffee on the night table. “Get dressed and come outside with me.”
“This better be good.” Blair shivered in the chilly air as she gathered up the clothes and started to put them on, punctuating her movements with sips from her coffee mug. She suddenly stopped as she realized her friend wasn’t smiling. “It’s not something good.”
Stasi shook her head. “Ebenezer called this morning. It seems Roan Thorpe called him first thing this morning and offered a lot of money for the land. He was kind enough to pass on our ‘no thanks,’ but Roan said we might want to reconsider our answer. Ebenezer told him not to hold his breath, bless his cranky wizard’s heart. Then Roan told him if we rejected his offer, we would truly regret it this time.” Blair barely had her jeans zipped up and sweatshirt pulled over her head before Stasi was dragging her out of her room and out the back door.
The putrid smell was the first thing Blair noticed when they got outside. She tried to control her gagging reflex and it wasn’t easy when she saw Horace prowling among the brown piles that could be only one thing. It didn’t help when Fluff coughed up something nasty and Puff followed suit.
“Wow! This is high quality shit!” Horace shouted up to them, poking at one pile with his claws.
“At least he means literal shit and not drugs,” Stasi commented with a sigh, staring at the mess. She pinched her nostrils shut with her fingers. “Ugh! It’s even worse when you breathe through your mouth. What did they eat?”
“Those assholes!” Blair exploded. “They did this on purpose!”
“Can we keep some of it?” Horace looked up and asked with longing. “You know, I bet this would be good for gardening, too.”
“I don’t even want to know what else he wants it for. You better take a disinfecting bath before you even step one foot inside,” Stasi told him. “Make it a steam bath.”
“Wait a minute,” Blair said slowly. “He loves it, so there’s no reason why he can’t help us do something useful with it. Horace, will you pile it all in some bags for me?”
The gargoyle brightened up. “Sure!”
“Use the small shovel in the gardening shed,” she advised. “There’s also some burlap bags in there you can use.”
“What are you going to do?” Stasi noticed the crafty expression on Blair’s face.
Blair smiled and held up her hand, a small hint of witchflame glowing in her palm. “I’m just planning on returning something to its owners.” She paused and looked down when Fluff and Puff started chattering away and pointed with their ears. “What do you mean—?” She turned in a tight circle then stopped at the sight of the familiar dark silver Suburban parked nearby. “Jake.”
“Jake what? Oh, no.” Stasi saw what Blair did.
“Look what I found.” Horace had abandoned the wolf poo to head a short distance into the woods and returned with a clump of black fur in his claws. “It’s Jake’s fur and there’s some drops of blood on it.”
Blair didn’t hesitate to run back up the stairs and snatch up the phone, quickly punching in numbers. Stasi followed. “I got his voice mail.” She tried another number. “I know he doesn’t answer his phone if he’s working, but I don’t think that’s why he’s not answering. Something’s wrong.” She suddenly got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “He didn’t leave all that long after they did. What if—?”
“They wouldn’t dare hurt Jake,” Stasi assured her.
“Maybe not physically, but who says they didn’t find a way to make him suffer.” She lightly pressed her fingers against her stomach that was roiling with acid. “I need to go to his cabin.”
“I’ll go with you.” Stasi grabbed two jackets and handed one to Blair.
They took the path that would get them there the fastest and found Jake’s cabin and shed locked up tight. Blair pounded on the workshop door but there was no answer. She refused to believe that Jake was in there and ignoring her. They returned to the cabin’s back door.
“What locks up tight can unlock with light,” Blair whispered, pushing power into the doorknob. Once they heard the lock disengage, she twisted the knob and nudged the door open.
“It feels empty,” Stasi whispered, as they stepped into the kitchen.
“Too empty.” Blair headed for the stairs. “I’m going to find something personal of his to use for a location spell.”
Once upstairs, she paused to look around the loft bedroom. The bed was still unmade from the day before and through the bathroom door she could see a towel hanging over the shower door. There was no sign that Jake had been there in the last twelve hours.
“This is incredible,” Stasi breathed, craning her head to look upward.
Blair looked up. A skylight covered most of the roof, and windows surrounded the loft bedroom. It gave the feeling of being outside and she was sure it appealed to Jake’s Were nature. She looked around on the nightstands and chest of drawers to find the right item for her spell and was drawn to an agate that twinkled with light. When she picked it up, she felt a bond to Jake, which told her he handled it a lot, so she hoped it would be enough to help her find him.
“I don’t want to waste any time.” She sat down on the floor and folded her legs under her.
Stasi sat across from her. “If Emma was here she could use her crystal,” she said.
“What she does is much stronger than what I’ll do, but I have a feeling I shouldn’t wait too long. And this should work.” Blair felt a weight in her chest, squeezing the breath out of her lungs. “He’s in trouble. I can feel it.”
She cradled the agate in her palms. “Stone so bright. Stone so light. Lead us to the missing one. Give me the sight. Make it so,” she uttered to seal the spell. She set the agate on the floor between them.
Stasi repeated the words after her, lending her own power to strengthen it.
For a moment, the stone remained unresponsive, then a swirling mist appeared on one side, slowly dissolving into a tiny scene.
“What is that?” Blair squinted in hopes of better seeing the scene displayed among the mist.
�
��It looks like—” Stasi shook her head as if she refused to believe what she saw. “Bars.”
Blair’s heart almost stopped when she saw the familiar black and white furry mass lying on a concrete floor with the shadow of bars striping the figure. “Stone of light. Stone of sight. Show us more,” she ordered.
While the picture was still fuzzy, they saw enough.
Blair’s Irish temper was as legendary as Jazz’s and right now she could blow as easily as Mount Vesuvius.
“That wolf bastard. I’ll kill him for this.” She set the stone down gently then jumped up and paced the room. “I have to get down there.”
“I’m going with you.”
Blair shook her head but Stasi remained adamant. “You’re too upset to drive, Blair. Besides, you have no idea what you might find when you get there. Backup is a good idea and you know it.”
Blair and Stasi raced from the cabin with Blair pausing only long enough to relock Jake’s door. Her mind reeled with all sorts of revenge. Most of her ideas would be illegal among the magick community, but she was willing to put up with thousands of years of banishment if it meant she could avenge what she feared had been done to Jake. And if she was too late, Roan and his Pack would discover just how pissed she could be.
***
“I went back out there and did some snooping around. I found this,” Horace announced, walking out of the trees holding up a blue feathered projectile.
“A tranquilizer dart.” Blair felt her mood darken even more. “You got all of those bags of wolf poo ready?” She watched Stasi run up the stairs and return with both of their purses.
He nodded. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”
“You have a problem with that?” she asked even though she already knew what his answer would be. Horace never disappointed her when it came to mischief.
“I thrive in chaos.” His dark eyes brightened at the idea of creating havoc.
Blair quickly conjured up paper and pen and wrote something out, handing it to Horace. “Say the first paragraph to get you to where you need to go. The second paragraph will set things off, then read the last paragraph to get you back home. Make sure to do it as fast as you can so they can’t catch you.”