Page 37 of Blood Sacrifice

“Why did magic irritate me before your amulet?” I asked,

Luna’s eyes widened briefly. “In what way?”

“It felt abrasive,” I replied. “I used to think it was psychological because my wolf missed you. In the end, I avoided situations involved magic or witches.”

She leaned her ass against the counter. “It’s possible that whoever created the enchantment put a safeguard in it for you to avoid those who could detect and remove it.”

I nodded slowly. “That would make sense. Who do you think would have done this?”

Luna wiggled her nose and sucked in a deep breath. “It was a powerful enchantment that has been with you a long time. The person would have to have spent time with you to create it, and then they would have needed to have been close to you to integrate it into your aura.”

That information stunned me since Luna had basically told me it had to be someone reasonably close to me in my organisation.

“I’ve avoided immortals outside the circle of my organisation for centuries,” I said slowly, horror washing over me. “Those are people who are vetted and trusted.”

Luna merely stood and stared at me silently for several moments. “I created a safe haven for witches and other magical creatures that spans the globe. Do you know how many people can get in touch with me directly?” She paused for a moment. “One. Maia is the only one with my personal number. Everyone else goes through email to a secure address or they contact Maia.”

Shit. I thought I was strict on my privacy. “Your life sounds very lonely,” I replied softly.

Her cheeks flushed and she glanced away. “I made a choice that I don’t regret.” She shrugged. “You can’t get hurt when the only person in your life is yourself. I have a pussy cat if it makes you feel any better.” She tried to smile, but it never reached her eyes.

I had no idea what to say to that because it was the most heartbreaking sentiment I had heard, equalling the moment I had to walk away from her and leave her in someone else’s care with all I possessed in the world to pay her fare.

“You know I found the merchant and his people,” I said randomly and then almost bit my tongue off. “I had managed to escape the fighting, and tried to follow you. He said you had waited as long as you could, but his family had been in danger. Then I went to our village, and discovered it had been destroyed by Balor’s loyal guards since priestesses and dire wolves had both been born in it.”

I sat back in my chair and stared out the window, blowing out a breath to try and clear my memories from the past.

“I visited where our village had been as well to try and warn our people of the war. It was as if it had never been there,” Luna said, moving across the kitchen to come to a stop in front of me. “I never discovered what happened to them.”

I shook my head, the ghosts of the past coming back to haunt me. “I wasn’t in his guard long, but some of the older wolves told stories of him targeting villages who had high rates of dire wolf births, others where magical abilities were prevalent. Our village had both.”

“Mother used to say we were magical because we were born on sacred land,” Luna replied. “She said it was somewhere blessed by the great goddess.”

I had believed dire wolves and witches were born through lineages. It had never occurred to me that where someone was conceived or born would play a part in their magical makeup.

“If I was sitting in my office, I would send someone to take a look at the area, but since that isn’t an option, we’ll need to take a look at what is special about that site.” I trailed my fingers through my hair.

I nearly jumped when Luna’s fingers combed my hair to put it back into place. “You’re going to go bald if you don’t stop that,” she admonished. “Maybe I should start brewing you camomile tea instead of coffee.”

I released a low growl at the thought of drinking weed soup.

“It might calm you down,” she continued. “And stop you plotting violence and death.”

I sighed and relaxed since she was still touching me. In her sleep she wrapped herself around me and whispered my name. While conscious, she tended to put distance between us.

“Violence and death will keep us alive,” I replied. “Someone is stalking us, and their preferred end solution is for us to be dead.”

Her fingers traced down the side of my face. “You see danger in the shadows and monsters in the darkness.”

I grabbed her fingers, bringing them to my lips. Her pupils dilated when I kissed them. “There are monsters in the darkness, I’m proof of that, Luna. Those monsters created the shadows and steal souls.”

She shivered at my words but I never once removed my gaze from hers. Now that she had found her way back into my life, I had no intention of losing her, and that included to the boogieman from our past.

“Come on.” I stood up, keeping her hand in mine. “We promised to go on a tour of the lake today.”

It was selfish of me, but when she was sightseeing, Luna stayed close to me and didn’t object to signs of affection.

“Lunch first,” she objected. “I slaved over a hot cooker for you.”

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