Page 53 of Cursed Magic

Gage snorted from his spot to my right and said, “Yeah, or maybe they just want to keep everyone in the dark and avoid answering inconvenient questions. I understand that strategy well enough.” He glanced at Xander, on my other side, and gave him a smart-ass smile.

I flinched. Even though I was still upset with Ryker, I understood why he’d done it. He’d been misguided, but we were all doing the best we could.

Raven continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “Theymight know more about the attacks and Ryker’s condition than we realize. But I must warn you—approaching them will not be easy. Trust is not given lightly in their circles.”

I sighed, pushing a map aside. “Well, it won’t be an issue unless we can find one. We should focus on pinpointing a location before worrying about how we’ll approach them.”

Xander dragged a hand through his hair, leaning over the table. “Then where do we start? We’ve been searching for days, and they’re like ghosts.”

“Good one, man.” Gage gave a thumbs-up. “I’m down with puns.”

I bit my bottom lip, trying to hide the grin that wanted to spread across my face. Even though the situation seemed dire, Gage had a way of lightening things up.

Blinking, Xander tilted his head back. “What are you talking about?”

“Ghosts, bruh.” Gage patted his chest. “I dig it.”

“Not following, man.” Xander’s face smushed into confusion.

“Dear Fate.” Briar dropped her pen on the notebook. “Ghosts can’t be seen. Blackwoods are being cloaked.”

“That’s not even funny.” Xander blew out a breath.

Raven cleared her throat, trying to get us back on topic. “Elara mentioned that the witch performing the cloaking spell would have to be staying near the Blackwoods.”

“The Blackwoods’ territory is massive, and we can’t be sure she’s actually on their land.” Every time we tried to get ahead of them, we wound up falling several feet behind.

I wanted to scream in frustration. “If they’re working with more witches, we might be looking in the wrong places. We have no idea who their allies are. It could be other wolf packs for all we know.”

Briar braced both hands on the table. “Would they have more than one working with them? Surely not.”

I clenched my teeth. “We can’t keep going in circles like this. Each minute that passes is a minute closer to another attack.”

Gage opened his mouth, but Raven’s phone rang, silencing him.

She glanced at the screen and then placed it to her ear quickly. “Yes?” Her dark eyes widened slightly before she held it out in my direction. “It’s for you, Ember. It’s Bruce.”

I grabbed it and held it to my ear. “Bruce?”

The familiar voice, smooth and low, came through the line. “We’ve got something, Ember. We’ve been watching the Blackwoods’ perimeter, keeping tabs on any unusual activity.”

My heart leaped at the urgency in his tone. “Okay. Did you find something?”

“Two pack members mentioned they saw a witch leave the property. A car came by and picked her up.” I heard a pause and then some rustling as he seemed to be moving. “She wasn’t carrying anything, so we’re hoping she’ll be back soon. Maybe a run to get herbs or something for a potion.”

My chest expanded with hope. Maybe we finally had a breakthrough. I gripped the phone tightly. “Can you let us know if she returns? We’ll get ready in case we need to move.” Luckily, the mansion was only about twenty minutes from Blackwood territory.

“Will do. Keep the phone close. More of us are heading that way since we have a longer drive.”

It was a good call. If we had to attack, we’d want as many hands on deck as possible. “Don’t take too manypeople. We don’t want them alerted in case they’re watching.”

The click of a door closing sounded on the other side of the line. “We’ll keep it small. I’ll be in touch once we have more news.”

The phone went dead, and I lowered it to see everyone staring with wide eyes, excitement practically vibrating off them.

“They spotted a witch leaving the Blackwoods’ territory. There’s a chance she’s running an errand and will come back soon.”

Gage pumped a fist in the air while Xander let out a low whistle.

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