by Donna Grant
Addison peered through the darkness to where the headlights penetrated the night and spotted the gnarly limbs of the large tree having grown so heavy that they did indeed touch the ground.
Riley slowed the truck and turned to the left just as Minka instructed. They rode in silence along the narrow road with thick brush growing up on either side as Myles and the white wolf ran ahead of the truck.
“Damn, girl,” Riley said to Minka. “Just how far back in the bayou are we going? This isn’t a road. It’s a path that hasn’t been used in years.”
There was silence as Minka remained leaning forward between the two front seats. “It was my great aunt’s. She never joined the coven. She didn’t trust them or agree with their methods. So she moved off to St. Louis for many years before she returned. She did it without any of the others knowing she was here, and she kept to herself.”
“Do the witches get mad if others don’t join the coven?” Addison asked.
Minka nodded. “Especially when the coven is made up of family.”
Riley and Addison exchanged a quick look.
“My aunt lived out her days on this land in peace,” Minka explained. “She left it to me when she died four years ago. I pay someone to keep the place up.”
At that moment, the brush cleared and what was left of a white plantation house came into view.
“Please tell me you’re not staying there,” Addison said when she spotted the second floor porch caving in.
Minka chuckled. “Nope.”
“There’s nothing else but land and water,” Riley said as she slowed the truck to a stop.
Addison followed the beam of the headlights to find Myles watching them. She started to smile, but it slipped when she saw something wet on his shoulder. Her heart missed a beat. “Please tell me that’s water and not blood.”
“What?” Riley asked as she looked from Addison back outside to Myles. There was a short pause before she said, “It’s blood.”
“He should’ve healed already,” Minka said. “Unless…”
She trailed off, which made Addison jerked around. “Unless what? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Unless silver was used,” Riley whispered.
Addison slowly turned back around, but Myles no longer stood in the headlights. “I just found him. I can’t lose him.”
“Once silver is in their bloodstream, there’s no way to stop it. I’m sorry.”
“I told him to be careful,” Minka said.
Addison squeezed her eyes closed. “You saw his death, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I didn’t know when it would happen though,” Minka added.
Addison opened her eyes. “I’m not going to give up so easily.”
She opened the door, ending the conversation. As soon as she did, Myles and the white wolf stood there.
Minka wasted no time in getting out of the truck and walking to Myles. “Idiot. This needs to be seen to.”
The white wolf gave a low growl as he noticed the wound. Myles ignored both of them as he stared at Addison. Addison slid from the truck and shut the door. She limped to Myles and touched him while Minka walked to the water.
Riley shut off the engine. “I really hope she’s not wanting to go across the bayou.”
“Let’s find out.” Addison winced as she turned and shifted her weight.
The driver’s side door shut and Riley came around the front, her body cutting in front of the headlights that hadn’t shut off yet. She looked down at Addison’s feet and frowned. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“I’m not staying here either.”
Riley smiled and turned back to open the rear passenger door of the truck. “It’s a good thing I always carry extra stuff with me.” She dug in the back of the truck for a moment and straightened with another pair of flip-flops. “They’re not optimal for trekking in the bayou, but it’s better than bare feet.”
“Do you always travel with your closet?” Addison asked with a grin.
“I grew up hunting, and I hate to walk around in wet shoes, so I keep extras in my purse.”
Addison took a moment to use the light from inside the truck’s cabin to clean off her feet and pull out some stickers and a piece of glass. Even with the shoes on, her feet hurt. At least now they were somewhat protected.
“They’re going to need to be seen to when we get back to the Quarter,” Riley said.
As if to agree, Myles nudged her arm with his cold, wet nose. She smiled and sank her hand into the fur at his neck. She’d seen a wolf at the zoo once, and she knew the werewolves were more than twice their size.
“You should’ve told me you were hurt,” she admonished Myles.
“Oh. Time to go,” Riley stated and walked away.
Addison looked to see Minka turn to the left and walk away from the plantation. The white wolf walked beside Minka, and Addison saw two other wolves dart out of the brush and follow them.
She couldn’t wait to learn who was who. If she had to guess, Solomon was the white wolf. She knew which one was Myles, and that’s all that mattered.
Addison walked as fast as she could with her injured feet to follow Minka and Riley. She was grateful for the shoes when the trail took her through some woods. Myles, limping as well, remained beside her.
All around her were wolves. They made no sounds, but she caught glimpses of them from time to time. With her hand on Myles, she felt safe and comforted. Who knew that could happen with a werewolf.
Addison stepped out of the forest and came to a stop when she saw an old house built on stilts over the bayou, the water gently lapping at the wooden pillars while the moon cast everything in a pale blue glow.
Myles nudged her. She startled and began walking again. Addison eyed the water and the dark shapes she saw.
God, please let this house be in better condition than the plantation. It would be so wrong to be saved from Delphine to die by alligator.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Myles was on the porch looking out over the water a half hour after dawn. He and the other wolves had gone into the forest to shift back. He hated leaving Addison, but he wasn’t sure she was ready to see all of that quite yet. Not to mention, he wanted a look at his wound first.
Addison slept like the dead after Minka put some salve on her feet and added some herb to her sweet tea. Otherwise, he knew she’d have been right there with him. Myles had remained near, patrolling the porch that went all the way around the small house even as his wound festered.
The wound itself was ugly, black lines branching out as the silver continued to poison him. He had no idea how much longer he had. Every breath was a struggle, but he fought because he wasn’t ready to leave Addison.
“Where did you get the clothes?” Minka asked as she came out onto the porch. She sat in one of the wooden chairs and drew her knees up to her chest.
“The truck Riley drove is Kane’s. We always keep clothes for such occasions.”
“Lucky for you.” Minka’s smile was soft, sad. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” he said. He sighed loudly. “I never saw the blade. I knew Delphine had a bone knife in her hand, but I didn’t see a silver one.”
Minka dropped her feet to the ground and leaned forward in the chair. “Let me look at it. I might be able to do something.”
“You know as well as I that nothing can be done.”
“Let her look.”
Myles felt his heart plummet to his feet as he heard Addison’s voice. He’d remained to see her, but now that she was awake, he knew it would’ve been better if he’d gone off to die alone.
“Please,” Addison said. “Let her try if she can.”
Myles couldn’t form any words. When Addison came to stand beside him, her arms wrapped around one of his, there wasn’t anything she could ask for that he would deny her.
“Am I yours?” she asked.
Myles turned his head to look down into her hazel eyes. “For now and always.”
He shifted so that he faced her, careful to keep the wound on his left shoulder as hidden as he could. “I don’t want to give you false hope.”
“It’s better than giving up,” she replied softly. “Myles, against everything we found each other. I can’t explain the attraction or the...” she paused and swallowed loudly. “The love I have for you. I don’t want it to end.”
As if he would die now without fighting. Myles touched her cheek. “My sweet Addison. You stole my heart the day you walked into the bar. I desired you, longed for you with such hunger. Then I got a taste of you. I didn’t want you in my heart, but you found your way there anyway. Wolves mate for life.”
Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. “So I’ve been told.”
“You’re mine,” he said thickly.
“Then don’t leave me.”
Minka rose suddenly. “Great. So y’all love each other. Let’s get down to business. Addison, go into the kitchen and look in the lower cabinet next to the sink. You’ll see a wooden box. Bring it. Myles,” she said and pointed to the chair she vacated. “Remove your shirt and sit.”
Myles stared after Addison as he did as Minka bade. He ground his teeth together while trying to pull off his shirt. Suddenly, someone gripped the neck of the tee and ripped it in half. He turned and saw Kane beside him.
“This looks like shit,” his brother said of the wound.
Myles shrugged his good shoulder. “Feels like it, too.”
Boot heels sounded on the porch, and a moment later Solomon and Court were standing in front of him. Myles couldn’t hold the gazes of his brothers. He couldn’t stand to see the sorrow or anger in their eyes.
Then Addison returned with Minka’s box, a small smile on her face that made Myles want to yank her against him and kiss her. It went against everything inside him to waste what little time he had on trying to heal the wound instead of kissing the woman he loved.
“This will work,” Addison said with a firm nod.
Myles grinned. “You don’t even know what Minka will do.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’ll work.”
Minka’s look of doubt that she kept hidden from Addison told Myles everything he needed to know. Magic or not, it would be a miracle if Minka were able to reverse the effects of the silver poisoning him.
Kane moved behind Myles, his hands upon his shoulders. Solomon moved to Myles’s right while Court walked to the left. There had been a few occasions when wolves tried to stop the silver, and not a single one of them had been painless.
“You should go,” Myles told Addison.
She lifted her chin. “Never. I’ll be beside you through it all.”
“I don’t know what will happen,” he said, concern about her welfare filling him. “I don’t want you hurt.”
“She won’t be,” Griffin said as he and Gage came to stand on either side of Addison.
Myles saw the quick look of interest exchanged between Minka and Griffin, but it was swiftly forgotten when Minka touched his wound. He pulled back his lips as pain ripped through him.
He gripped the handle of the chair but heard the wood crack beneath his hold. Instantly, he felt the hands of his brothers holding him in place even as he squeezed his eyes shut. He thought of Addison, of her tempting mouth and soft body. How unfair to find her only to have to let her go so soon.
Addison couldn’t stop the tears no matter how hard she tried. She watched Myles’s body shudder in pain as his brothers held him in place. The wound looked horrible, as if his body were rotting from the inside out. And the dark veins spreading outward over his chest and abdomen, down his arm to his hand, and across his back showed how fast the silver spread through him.
Minka, for her part, was working frantically as she searched through herbs applying one after the other to no affect, her face lined with worry.
“Use your magic,” Griffin urged her.
Minka cut him a look. “I don’t have any.”
“Delphine thought differently. Find it, and use it. Or Myles dies.”
Myles was shaking from the pain, the black veins growing darker, thicker as the silver moved faster through him. Addison rushed to him, kneeling between his legs. She put her hands atop his.
No one stopped her or tried to push her out of the way. Was it because they knew Myles wasn’t going to live? She refused to accept that.
Addison turned her gaze to Minka. “You have magic. Delphine said you did. It’s inside you. Please, Minka.”
Minka looked from Addison to Myles and then took a deep, shuddering breath. She calmed herself and erased all emotion from her face. Then she placed her hands over Myles’s wound and closed her eyes.
Myles jerked, a low growl coming from deep within him. His eyes flew open, glowing yellow as his face contorted with pain. With his teeth beginning to lengthen and his nails growing long and sharp, Griffin tried to drag Addison away.
“No!” she yelled and pulled out of his grasp. “I’m not leaving him.”
“Addison!” Solomon yelled over Myles’s growls. “He wouldn’t want you hurt.”
She stood, Myles’s gaze locked on her. “I’m not leaving you,” she told him and took his face in her hands. Then she leaned down and kissed him.
Myles stilled instantly. When Addison pulled back, his blue eyes had returned. She smiled at him.
“Addison?” he whispered right before he went slack and his eyes shut.
“Myles!” she yelled and shook him.
This time it was Court who took a hold of her and pulled her away. Court held her tightly so there was no way she could get free. She watched as Solomon and Kane backed away with a grim look on their faces.
Addison looked over the porch to see dozens of people – werewolves – watching Myles in silence. She wiped at the tears and noticed Riley for the first time standing just inside the house with her arms wrapped around herself crying silently, her shoulders shaking.
“No,” Addison whispered. “I can’t lose him. I’ve lost everyone else.”
Griffin placed a hand on her shoulder. “Shh.”
She frowned at him but saw that his gaze was on Minka. Addison swiveled her head to the witch. Minka was hovering a few inches off the porch, a strange light surrounding her. Solomon started toward Minka, but Griffin moved with lightning speed, stopping Solomon with a hand on his arm.
“Leave her,” Griffin said in a low, dangerous voice.
Solomon’s gaze narrowed, his lips pulled back in a snarl. “Why?”
“Because her magic is being released. Look at your brother’s wound if you don’t believe me.”
Addison gasped when she saw the black veins on Myles begin to shrink in size and length until there was nothing but the ugly, festering wound. And then, even that began to heal.
“Impossible,” Court murmured.
Griffin was smiling as he said, “No, just not something any witch can do.”
Blood began to run from Minka’s ears and her nose as the last bit of Myles’s injury vanished, ending with a drop of silver that disappeared, as well. Minka went lax but was caught in Solomon’s arms before she could hit the floor.
Solomon stared down at her a moment before he gently lifted her and slowly walked her into the house past Riley. Addison shoved Court’s hands away and rushed to Myles, but he wasn’t moving. Kane and Court quickly lifted him and brought him to the couch inside.
As soon as he was laid down, Addison sat on the floor beside the couch, his hand in hers. She rested her forehead on his side and simply held him, praying that he woke.
~ ~ ~
It was dark when Myles opened his eyes. He grinned when he saw Addison asleep as she leaned against the couch. Myles was careful as he sat up, expecting pain, and when there was none, he looked at his shoulder to find that he was healed. There was a large scar, but no wound.
He gently gathered Addison in his arms and moved her to the couch.
As he stood, he saw Minka and Griffin on the porch talking in low voices. The interest in Griffin’s eyes was obvious, and Myles suspected Minka might be interested, as well.
Myles was about to walk onto the porch when he caught sight of Solomon standing in the corner of the kitchen looking out the window at Minka and Griffin. Suddenly, Solomon’s gaze swung to him and he smiled.
“I’ll be damned,” Solomon whispered.
“Minka’s magic worked then?” Myles asked.
Solomon motioned to Myles’s shoulder. “Obviously. Addison hasn’t left your side, or eaten, all day.”
Myles would see that changed as soon as she woke. “Where are Court and Kane?”
“With the Moonstone pack.”
There was something in the way Solomon said the words, paired with the glare he shot Griffin, that made Myles wonder what was going on. Then he heard Minka’s soft laughter and saw Solomon’s brow furrow before he turned away.
“Griffin and his wolves have said they would keep an eye on Minka,” Solomon stated.
Myles crossed his arms over his chest. “We owe her a debt. I don’t think it should be just the Moonstone pack. I think we owe it to Minka to check on her ourselves.”
Solomon shrugged and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I agree.”
Myles saw Griffin depart and took the opportunity to talk to Minka. He walked outside, softly closing the screen door behind him. There was no air conditioning in the old house, so the windows and doors remained open to let in any breeze available.
“You look much better,” Minka said with a smile when she saw him.
He leaned against of the posts. “Because of you. Thank you, Minka. I owe you a debt I’m not sure I’ll ever repay.”
“I’m glad it worked.”
He watched her profile for a moment as she looked out over the bayou. “Are you sure this is where you want to stay?”
“My great aunt did it. It’ll work as long as my coven thinks I’m dead.”
“You still need to eat. You’ll have to go into town for supplies.”
She faced him and shrugged. “I’ll be fine for awhile. There are still those that live on the bayou that my great aunt trusted.”