Page 49 of Cursed
“Oh, and a suspicious fire completely destroyed Vernon’s monster meat restaurant,” Caden observed in a dry tone. “Lucky timing, that.”
Whatever Rowan and Teag were doing seemed to be working. Seth felt warmth return to his body, from his core to his extremities, and the pounding headache that made it hard to think gradually waned.
Caden lifted Seth’s shoulders enough for Rowan to help him drink from a bottle she drew from her bag. Tristan gave an approving nod and returned to the perimeter with the ghosts.
“I brought potions, figuring we’d need them if we won,” Rowan said as Seth tried not to gag on the vile-tasting mixture. “Don’t ask about the ingredients. You don’t want to know. Desperate measures and all that. There’s a reason we call dark magic ‘dark,’” she went on. “The cost is always too high.”
“Had to save him.” Seth tried to keep the awful liquid down. “Worth any cost.”
Rowan gave a harrumph that made her disagreement clear, but didn’t try to argue. Caden eased Seth back to the floor, and the glow from stored magic in the knotted ropes faded as Teag ended his chant.
“You’ll live,” Teag said. “Although even with what we’ve done to patch you up, you’re going to feel pretty shitty for quite a while, despite drawing from my ropes and the music magic along with Tristan’s help. If you’d have tried going up against Vernon with just that spelled dagger, you might have succeeded in killing him, but you’d definitely be dead.”
Teag’s suitably disapproving tone let Seth know what the weaver witch thought of his crazed defense, but Seth felt certain that both Rowan and Teag would take similar chances to save the people they loved.
He heard footsteps coming closer and tried to rise. Caden gently pushed him back.
“It’s just Kinsley and Nash, probably coming with an update,” Caden said.
“He okay?” Kinsley asked as the steps stopped not far from where Seth lay.
“He is now. Vernon’s dead, and his victims have been avenged,” Caden told her. “How about out there?”
“Vernon’s goons tried to chase us off,” Kinsley said in a dismissive tone. “They were lousy at magic and not fully invested in fighting, especially once Tristan brought ghosts to the party. The ones who didn’t run off are dead. And we’ll track the runaways to make sure they don’t try to bring their master back or something stupid like that. Vernon’s hold on the city is over.”
“The ghosts are satisfied,” Nash said. “They can rest now.”
“Are my guys okay?” Caden asked, and Seth recalled that their friend had brought some muscle with him.
“They had the time of their lives, kicking ass and taking names,” Kinsley remarked. “At the moment, they’re doingcleanup so this doesn’t make the evening news. They’ll gather the wounded and secure them until we can deal with them.”
“Glad to hear it,” Caden replied.
Seth felt certain that skirted the edge of legality, but it wasn’t going to make him lose sleep at night. “Evan—” Seth started again.
“Give yourself a little more time so you don’t panic him showing up like you’ve got one foot in the grave,” Teag advised. “Rowan and I need to go help Kinsley’s coven with the magical cleanup. Caden and Nash can get you back to the RV. Tristan will have the ghosts stand guard to make sure the cleanup effort isn’t disturbed.”
Teag hesitated for a moment. “I’m not excusing the risk…but for someone who isn’t a witch, that was a hell of a good fight you put up. Just don’t try it again.”
“Don’t worry. Once was enough,” Seth said.
Although I’ll still do whatever it takes to protect Evan.
6
SETH
“Evan! Tony! Are you okay?”Seth and Pax tumbled out of the truck and ran toward the RV. Seth’s heart pounded in his chest. Despite the ache of his injuries from the fight, nothing mattered now except making sure that the two men were safe.
Given Pax’s injuries and the toll the magical battle had taken on Seth, Caden drove them home in Seth’s truck while Nash followed in another vehicle to take Caden back home.
The door to the RV flung open. Evan and Tony spilled out, running for their partners, with a single-minded focus on the need for proof of life.
Evan threw his arms around Seth and buried his face in his neck. “Are you okay? Is Pax? Is Vernon dead?”
Just a few feet away, Pax and Tony’s reunion went from a desperate embrace to a passionate kiss.
Seth kissed Evan first before answering his question and held him tight. “Yes to everything, although Pax and I might be a little worse for the wear. Let’s go inside, and we’ll tell you all about it.”
