Page 3 of Second Chance By Fate

“And I also know I can’t get to them unless they invite me in. What’s the danger?”

“You’re a witch. Who the hell knows what you can or can’t do. I still don’t know why you got banished. For all I know, that’s exactly why you’re not allowed in Arizona—because you’re able to access Dusty Woods.”

I give him another weary smile, but my pulse is racing, and I’m sure he can hear it. They aren’t Apex shifters for nothing. Their senses are far superior to normal shifters.

“It has nothing to do with that,” I reassure him. “I can’t access Dusty Woods without their invitation. And I will tell them I’m here when I’m settled. Just give me a night, will you? You can even put a team with me if you think I’m that dangerous.”

Warily, Baylor steps back from the car and waves everyone back to their bikes, but I don’t believe the matter is resolved.

He’s going to call Enzo the second I drive off. It’s his duty. I won’t have time to prepare at all. Shit. I’m in trouble now. All this planning for nothing. So much for keeping a low profile.

“Fine,” he concedes. “Where are you staying?”

I hesitate, unsure I want to tell him that much, but he’s not giving me much of a choice in the matter.

“I was going to stop up ahead at the Super Tree Motel,” I confess, sensing that the truth is my only recourse here.

“You’ll stay there tonight,” Baylor instructs me, and I exhale, relieved he’s letting me go.

“Okay.” Rolling up the window, I half salute the shifter and pull back out, my mind whirling in double time now.

So much for a discreet assist from the sidelines. I’m fully in it now.

I barely makeit to the city without my phone lighting up. The peaceful evening I had planned for myself suddenly looks a lot more hectic when Bitsy gives me an earful through the Bluetooth speaker.

“Are you out of your mind?” my best friend yells. “You went back to Arizona? How many times have you said you weren’t ever stepping foot back there? Is this because of what happened last year?”

Cringing, I steer the car into the Super Tree Motel off the highway and park near the entrance, allowing Bitsy’s voice to fill the interior of the car. Bad news really does travel fast.

“How the hell did you hear about that so quickly?” I ask, more out of curiosity than anger. It doesn’t surprise me that she has friends in the Apex pack in Arizona, but that was record time, even for her. She must be amazing at her public relations job.

“Never mind. You need to get back here before you get yourself killed,” she moans, the worry thick in her tone. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Probably,” I say. “But I’m not coming back. At least not yet. I can’t just sit idly by?—”

“Violet—”

“I can’t, Bits. They need me.” My statement is oddly flat, and she picks up on it right away.

She laughs mirthlessly. “After the way they treated you, who cares? They exiled you! Screw them and what they need. What about what you need? You’re going to end up cursed—and they won’t do anything to help you if that happens, I promise you that!”

I purse my lips, catching sight of my golden-brown eyes in the rearview. I’m exhausted from driving, the usual passion fizzled from their depth. Lowering my lashes, I fix my gaze on the dashboard, the temptation to hit the red button and disconnect the call gigantic.

Bitsy means well, but I’m not in the mood right now. She’s not telling me anything I haven’t agonized over repeatedly for more than a year.

“Or is that what this is about?” Bitsy demands when I don’t respond.

“What?” I ask dumbly. “What are you going on about now?”

“Screwing them. Was the sex that good?”

Mildly offended by her bluntness, I tense. “I don’t expect you to understand. But they do need me.”

“If they needed you, they would have reached out to you once in the past three years. Has one of them even tried to call you? A text?”

I’m done with this conversation. Every word she speaks drives home more pain.

“I’m in Sedona now, Bitsy. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

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