Page 40 of Wicked Fate

I placed my palm on his forehead and pushed his head back down. “Nope. Just giving him a hard time. We need sleep.”

His chest shook, and he wrapped his arms tighter around me.

And sleep took me under.

* * *

We woke to dusk spilling through the blinds. Pale orange light streaked the floorboards, and for a moment, everything seemed still.

A knock echoed through the house.

The two of us groaned, not wanting to get out of each other’s arms, but Kendric linked,It’s time. Cassi is back and ready to perform the spell.

Ryker tossed off the covers, and we jumped to our feet and headed down the hall. This was the first time that we might actually come out ahead, if only slightly.

When we reached the living room, Gage stood near the window. Kendric and Xander sat on their designated couches with strained expressions.

Briar stood at the circular wooden dining table with Cassi, who placed a leather pack on the surface. “I got everything.”

Reid, Sun, and Bruce entered the house and moved to the other side of the table.

"So we’re ready?" Even more of Reid’s color had returned.

Cassi nodded and laid out the supplies: the stone, fresh sage bundled tight with twine, and a cloth map that spanned the surrounding region. She then lit the herbs. Smoke curled into the air, earthy and grounding.

She removed a small silver dagger from her satchel and held out her free hand. “All I need is Ryker’s blood. Ryker, please come here.”

Dread replaced my contentment, and I kissed his cheek. I linked,This is our best chance.

The last time a witch did something to me, I gave her a way to find me at any time.He rolled his eyes, his frustration with himself returning. Then he swallowed and stepped forward, putting his hand in Cassi’s.

My wolf surged forward, snarling, not liking another woman touching my man.Whoa, calm down there, I chastised her. I had to remind her this was a spell to help protect us and all the other shifters.

We all circled close, the room thick with the scents of sage and old paper.

"Everyone be quiet," Cassi said softly.

She whispered under her breath, words I couldn’t make sense of, and held the tip of the dagger to Ryker’s palm. Tendrils of shadows danced around her, indicating that her witch magic had been activated.

She then pressed the blade into his flesh as her attention moved to the map. Guiding Ryker’s hand over the center, she turned his palm face down. Blood dripped onto the map, shimmering like it wasn’t liquid at all but alive.

Then, slowly, it rolled.

It pulsed once—then slid across the surface and just...stopped.

I blinked. Holy shit. This had to be a joke.

CHAPTERTWELVE

My heart seemed to stop as awareness prickled through me.

All eyes locked on the dark red drop of blood, now perfectly still—sitting on the map over one place that my pack all knew too damn well.

The vampire queen’s mansion near town.

The very one we’d walked through, slept in, and strategized in with Raven and the queen.

Kendric swore under his breath. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

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