Page 23 of Second Chance By Fate

“You said we were cursed.”

“That’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“But what kind of curse is it, Violet?” I press, steering the car toward the highway. Instantly, my hands tighten, my senses on high alert, as if I expect someone to be following us.

“I don’t know,” she moans. “I know I sound like a broken record, Jax, but I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

My mind flicks back to my parents and the brief entanglement they had with the witches before they passed.Could this be some kind of revenge?

A cold sweat forms on my brow, and I gnaw on my lower lip. Suddenly, I don’t want to let Violet out of my sight. We can’t use her as bait, even if we are following her, but she’s going to go, with or without our approval.

Her hand reaches across the console and curls into mine gently. “You’re stressed.”

“I don’t like the idea of you going there alone.”

“I’ll be careful. I won’t antagonize them if they surface. It will probably be uneventful. We’re probably worried about nothing. The whole thing will be anticlimactic.”

My gaze focuses on the road in front of me.

And if they don’t surface? Then what? I suppose that’s a bridge we’ll have to cross when we get to it.

“Do you promise you’re telling me everything?” Violet asks after a moment of silence.

“Are you?” I reply.

She turns her head to look out the window, and I don’t feel so bad about withholding our plan from her now. Neither one of us is being one hundred percent forthcoming. Let’s just hope this doesn’t end up to our detriment.

Either way, she’s back with us. We won’t let anything happen to her. That’s for sure.

Chapter 8

Steele

Acry wakes me in the middle of the night. Bolting upright, I throw the covers aside and leap out of bed, rushing toward Violet’s room. No one else is in the hallway of the pack house, and neither of my brothers seems to have heard her.

My senses are on high alert, and I peer through the darkness, searching for signs of an intruder. But I don’t see, hear, or smell anyone.

When I open her door, I find her tossing and turning in bed. My chest tightens to see her writhing in such agony, the dream overtaking her.

“Violet,” I rasp, sliding in beside her. Instantly, her warmth overtakes me, and blood rushes through my entire body. “Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

She gasps, her eyes fluttering as she wakes, blinking rapidly. “Steele.”

I brush her black tresses away from her pale cheeks in the inky darkness. Her lower lip quivers, and my eyes rake searchingly over her face. Unable to resist, I brush my lips against hers, and she sighs, releasing the last of the dream in a whoosh of breath.

“You’re all right now,” I murmur tenderly, stroking her face. “What is it? A premonition?”

She swallows visibly. “I-I don’t know. Maybe.”

My arm encircles her, and I pull her against my chest, relishing the feel of her skin against mine, all my previous suspicions about her melting away. “We’re going to figure this out.”

“I don’t know if we will,” she whispers. “It’s been too long in the making.”

Pulling away, I stare at her with narrowed eyes. “What does that mean?”

Biting on her lower lip, she looks away. “I’m not sure…”

“You have your suspicions,” I press. “What are they?”

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