Their Shifter Princess 3: Coven's Revenge

by May Dawson

  A cagy look came into the witch’s eyes. “Yes.”

  “Tell me it,” Seb said.

  He filled us in on a spell, and I waited restlessly, sure that he was lying to us.

  “Great,” Sebastian said pleasantly. “And now that I know how to increase the power of any nearby witches—which is not a spell I think I’ll get much use out of, actually—why don’t you answer my question?”

  The witch’s face froze in shock.

  “I’m pretty well-read,” Sebastian told him. “Try it again and I will kill you.”

  When the witch had given him the spell, the two of us exchanged a long look. Seb shrugged. Here went nothing.

  Seb cast the spell and then tried to cast a spell to hurt, holding out his hand toward the witch, who winced. But nothing happened to him. The witch opened his eyes, with relief—and guilt—written across his face.

  “I’ve got one last question for you,” I said. “Do you remember the attack on the house in Blissford? The Northern pack?”

  He shook his head. “No. No, I wasn’t there for that.”

  “Really,” I said softly. His words felt like a lie.

  “You don’t have to be the one to do this,” Seb said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll do it.”

  “It’s all right,” I said. “One of us has to. It doesn’t matter which one.”

  The witch was making more promises now, but it didn’t matter. We couldn’t leave him behind, and we couldn’t take him with us.

  “Let him loose,” I said, already pulling off my shirt to shift. We would let him run, let him fight. He just wouldn’t have magic this time to destroy an unsuspecting pack like he had done to mine.

  He wouldn’t much like a fair fight.

  The witch hesitated for a long second before he started to run. I let him get halfway across the grass before I went after him.

  Family changes us.

  For better and sometimes, for worse.

  Chapter 29

  Piper

  There wasn’t room for all of us in the smaller, homey cavern where Finn and Maddie had stayed. Logan suggested I stay there with Josh, but I insisted on staying with everyone else in the attic cavern, the place where Finn had fought for his life.

  This room felt haunted to me—I couldn’t stop imagining what had happened here—and when Arthur stepped in, his nostrils flared as if he was taking it in.

  Logan rose quickly and went to his side. When I joined them, Logan’s eyes flickered to me but he didn’t hesitate, just touched the small of my back to guide me in front of them as we stepped into the small cavern.

  As Callum followed us into the cavern, I looked to Arthur, worried about how he would react. Arthur nodded to him as if he acknowledged that Callum had every right to be there too, making decisions for the packs. Relief flooded my chest.

  “What’d do you find out?” Callum asked.

  “Not enough.” Arthur’s lips tightened in frustration. “But I’ll fill you all in. What did you get from Tuck?”

  “He’s the next in line for the pack, that’s why he was with Rippedthroat.” Logan filled in. “If we can get those cubs free, he thinks he can bring the rest of the pack in line to fight back against the mercs.”

  Arthur asked, “So you think we can trust Tuck?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not,” Logan said bluntly. “I don’t think he’s lying about the coven having the cubs. But I’m worried it’s a trap.”

  “Did you find any signs of my sister out there?” I asked softly.

  Arthur shook his head. “No one knows where she went. Joan was looking for her, though.”

  “Does she know—” I trailed off, taking in his face.

  “She wasn’t in her house, Piper,” Arthur said. His voice was kind. “We will find your sister, I promise.”

  “I know,” I said. “And I know that our first priority has to be taking out Rippedthroat. He won’t kill my sister…”

  Just saying the words sent a shiver up my spine. “She’s too useful,” I managed to finish.

  Arthur folded me into his arms. At first, I resisted the hug—really, it was so unlike Arthur—and then my arms closed around his waist. Being held against his powerful body made me feel better.

  “We’ll find her,” he promised. “You’ll find her.”

  “Me?” I asked.

  Arthur nodded. His gaze flickered to Logan. “Logan, take Piper and find her sister. If Rippedthroat has her, wait until we get back to attack.”

  “You want us to split up,” I said flatly. This had to be some trick of Arthur’s, some way he thought he could keep me safer. He’d tried to keep me by his side since we first learned of the coven’s attack.

  A cynical smile tugged one corner of Arthur’s mouth up. “You’ve never minded going off on your own before.”

  “Can you give us a minute?” I asked Logan and Callum.

  Logan raised his hands to his shoulders and backed away as if he was glad to escape. Callum glanced at me over his shoulder, as if he was worried about me, but respected my wishes and stepped into the hall.

  “Why?” I asked. “You think I’ll be safer here, don’t you?”

  “Mm.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. He was still shirtless, his hair wet and dripping down his back from the swim. “I’m such an asshole, I know. Wanting you safe. But you want to go after your sister, I know you do, so you’ll just have to listen to me for once.”

  “I don’t like splitting up,” I said.

  He leaned close to me, his lips almost grazing my hair, to murmur, “You stole one of my boats and we split up just yesterday. Only I didn’t get the honor of knowing what the hell you were doing. At least we’ve talked about this plan.”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  He shrugged without taking his hands from his pockets. “I haven’t worried too much about my feelings.”

  “Except for the feelings that have you trying to keep me safe in the middle of a war. My war.”

  “Don’t do that,” he said. “Just because your father wants you, don’t think it’s your war.”

  “If I had never come here—”

  “Oh, shut up,” he interrupted me, his voice a rough grumble.

  Then his hands were in his hair and his lips were on mine, and I couldn’t resist kissing him back. No matter how much of an asshole he was.

  He broke away first, then leaned his forehead against mine.

  “If you hadn’t come here…” He shook his head as if he wasn’t able to put his feelings into words.

  “Your pack wouldn’t be in danger?” I suggested. “You wouldn’t be fighting a war? Your life wouldn’t be ridiculously complicated?”

  “I don’t want to hear you second-guess your place in my life again,” he growled. “I don’t care how many witches and mercs and fucking sea monsters stand between us and our happy ending. I will bring you that happy ending, Piper.”

  I pursed my lips. Only Arthur could growl at me to shut up and make me feel loved and wanted and worthy in almost the same breath.

  He ran his rough palm over my hair, and his gaze was affectionate. “Now. You and Logan and Josh find your sister and make sure she’s safe. There’s no one else in the world I trust as much as you and Logan. And I will go do my part to end this. All right?”

  “You make it sound simple.”

  “Simple. Not easy.”

  “Promise you’ll come back to me.”

  “Oh, you want me?” A teasing smile touched his lips, lighter and less cynical than his earlier smile. “Are you sure you don’t rue the day I came into your life, when you tried to run me over?”

  He recalled the time I almost ran him over with surprising nostalgia.

  “Well, it certainly could have had a smoother beginning if you just talked to me instead of trying to kidnap me…”

  “Surely you wish I’d never come into your life and begun this war.”

  “Arthur…” My voice came out exasperated. He knew I wanted—no,
needed—-him, and Logan, and Sebastian and Finn, no matter how much they’d turned my life upside down.

  “Annoying as fuck, isn’t it?” His grin widened. “Now you know how we all feel when you do that self-deprecating I’ve ruined everything and dragged you into my fight spiel. Like we don’t want to be here, by your side.”

  “You are impossible!” But still, as he rested big hands on my shoulder, I knew he was right. I’d been ridiculous to feel angst about bringing them into my fight. If they were in trouble, I’d consider it our fight. My troubles were their troubles, and their troubles were mine.

  “Of course I’m going to come back to you,” he murmured, his voice turning to that rough, honey-and-whiskey tone that made me ache to touch him. His teeth grazed my throat. “We’ve still got to talk about that stunt you pulled, stealing my boat and putting yourself in danger.”

  “I thought you weren’t mad.” As his lips pressed against my throat, I felt a ripple of lust, and my fingers curled into his shoulders.

  “Not mad,” he said. “If I were mad, I wouldn’t be fantasizing about the very long discussion we’re going to have about your life choices.”

  “I’ll look forward to that then,” I said, “when we’ve both survived.”

  “Do,” he said, his voice a low murmur of promise in my ear.

  Even here, with the other men just down the hall and long, dangerous days ahead, that confident tone of his—full of promises—left me tight and throbbing with desire.

  I kept coming back to the thought of sacrificing myself to save them. I wouldn’t want any one of them to sacrifice their lives for mine, though.

  I’d want them to fight.

  I was going to kill Rippedthroat, and then I was going to be theirs.

  Chapter 30

  Maddie

  “You really don’t remember me?” The woman raked her hand through her hair.

  When I had squirmed out of the cave into the sunlight, I’d been breathing so desperately that I could barely hear myself think. Finn. I’d seen him plummet over the edge of the cliff. My stomach was so tight that I felt like I was going to puke.

  I’d gotten halfway to the orchard before she caught me, and I’d fought her, and I’d lost. She’d tried to tell me that she was my mother and she loved me, and she’d wrestled me to the ground and she’d pressed her hand over my mouth to cover my screams until the world went dark.

  “We can’t go back to my house,” she muttered, talking to herself. “They’ll be looking for us there.”

  I angled my body away from her. My hands were in my lap, taped together. The duct tape tugged at my skin as I twisted my wrists back and forth, over and over, trying to wiggle the bonds imperceptibly apart.

  Her gaze fell to the silvery duct tape, and she knelt in front of me. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to do with you, though.”

  “You could help us,” I said. “If you help us fight back, then I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

  There was an expression on her face that was hard for me to read, as if she was incredulous and pleased and on the verge of tears all at once. “You’re no little girl anymore, are you?”

  I shook my head.

  “Just think,” she said. “Just try to remember.”

  “He put an enchantment on my sister and me,” I said, knowing she would know who he was. I didn’t want to use his name and he wasn’t my father.

  Almost to herself, she said, “He could take it off.”

  “No!”

  When she looked up at me, her eyes widening, I said, “He’s dangerous.”

  “He’s not going to hurt you,” she said. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again, Maddie.”

  I didn’t trust her, no matter how sincerely she said that. Lots of adults mean well and then do stupid things anyway.

  She sighed. “You don’t trust me, I know. But that’s just because you don’t remember me.”

  “If you take him to me, I’ll never trust you,” I said fiercely. “I’ll hate you forever.”

  “Don’t you already?” she asked. “I remember when you were little, you used to nestle your head into my shoulder. Right here.” She pressed her fist under her throat, tucking her chin down as if she was nuzzling my imaginary head.

  I had the funny feeling she’d done that a lot, trying to escape into memories of the past.

  She seemed to blink away the memories as she looked at me. “All right,” she said, her voice hardening, as if she was letting go of the reunion she had thought we’d have. “I’m sorry, Maddie. But I’m your mother. I have to do what’s best for you.”

  When I imagined his smiling face, greeting me again, fear blurred the edges of my vision.

  “I’ll hate you,” I told her, but she still put her arms underneath my armpits and lifted me to my feet. She dragged me toward the trunk of the old car on the side of the road.

  “You think you will,” she said. “But you’ll see. It will all be different when you remember.”

  Chapter 31

  Sebastian

  Nick and I were almost to the caves when that feeling came over me again. It didn’t feel like panic; it just felt wrong. Suddenly I was cold all over.

  Nick was yards ahead of me before he realized I wasn’t there and turned around. Frowning, he came back to me. “Are you all right?”

  “No,” I said. “Something’s wrong.”

  “Your brother?” There was skepticism written across his face.

  “My brother. You don’t have to believe me.” I’d go on my own if I had to, but I didn’t want to split up from Nick. The two of us were safer together. “You can go on to the caves and I’ll meet you there.”

  “I’ll go with you,” he said, even though the skepticism on his face hadn’t changed.

  “Thanks.” I said it shortly, but I mean it.

  Of course, I didn’t know what the hell to do with the feeling. Maybe I was being crazy. I turned in a slow circle, taking in the landscape around me: the bright blue sky, spotted with stringy white clouds; the deep emerald-green grass and the steep, sandy cliffs leading down to the ocean. The world felt big around us.

  Something pulled me toward the cliffs. Knowing that maybe I was being stupid, I still ran toward them.

  Nick followed me. I ran along the cliffside, sure that I needed to be down there at the edge of the shoreline but unable to find a safe way down. The two of us raced along the cliff until we reached a space where the descent wasn’t a sheer, mad fall toward the ocean, and I slid down with pebbles and sand flying away from under my feet.

  Once we were down on the rocky shore, I walked back the way we’d come. The tug I felt was a wild beat in my heart now too, quick and frantic. It felt like the second after something terrible happens, when you know there’s no going back.

  “What are we looking for?” Nick asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  My brother’s body, maybe, but I didn’t want to think about that.

  I picked my way over the rocks like I had hundreds of times growing up on the island. Finn had usually been by my side. He’d usually been talking too much. The memory of my brother, my mirror image who couldn’t be more different than me on the inside, made my chest tighten.

  I almost walked past him.

  The breeze ruffled his red hair, and that was the only thing that drew my eye. He’d almost blended in with the rocks. His outflung arm was gray, and his fingers seemed to cling to the rock.

  “This way!” I called to Nick, and he hurried after me as I clambered over the rocks to where my brother lay.

  His lashes fluttered open as I knelt next to him. His lips were dry and cracked, but he still tried to grin.

  “Took you long enough.”

  “Always a complaint,” I said. I could’ve cried with relief, but I didn’t. “What happened to you?”

  “Think I’ve broken my ankle,” he said, with effort, his voice as cracked and rough as his lips. “And Joan stabbed me. Pre
tty rude.”

  “How’d you manage to swim in?”

  “Always been tougher than you.”

  Yeah, that was my brother, all right.

  Nick had been staring down the coastline, and now he grabbed my shoulder, pushing me down onto the rocks next to Finn. He threw himself down beside me. “Boat. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “I can’t walk,” Finn warned us. “You’d better go without me.”

  “Not a chance in hell,” Nick said, before I could. “We’ll take turns carrying you.”

  “You say that like it’s going to be easy.” Finn’s voice cracked.

  He needed fresh water. And medical care. Neither of which we had right now.

  “We don’t need easy,” Nick said. “We just need possible.”

  “If we can get him to the nearest cottage,” I said, “we can get him fresh water, get his ankle set.”

  Any other day, Finn would’ve had a smart-ass remark to make about how he didn’t trust my caretaking skills.

  Instead, he swallowed with obvious effort. How long had he been in the water? How long had he clung to the rocks as the water receded, leaving him stranded there, without being able to climb higher?

  “Maddie,” he whispered. “Joan took her.”

  Nick’s eyes widened. “We’ve got to help her.”

  “Joan’s her mother,” I said. “She’s safe.”

  “I don’t think so,” Finn said.

  “Let’s help you and then we’ll help Maddie.” I could feel that both of them were reluctant and I added, “I promise. But we need you, Finn.”

  “I know,” Finn said. “You always do.”

  For once, I felt better when my brother was his usual dickish self.

  Chapter 32

  Piper