Page 6 of A Hunter Cursed
A bookcase held tomes on craft and casting, many of which she recognized from Jourdain’s personal collection. Another set of shelves held jars of minerals and powders as well as vials of liquids, all neatly labeled with their contents. Twine hung from the ceiling with bundles of drying herbs, while fresh herbs and assorted blooms grew in pots on the window ledge lending their sweetly pungent aromas to the room.
“Jourdain gave me a list of things you’ll need, but if you discover we’ve missed something, you can either let me know or get whatever you need and give me the receipt for reimbursement.”
Keegan nodded absently to let Morgan know she’d heard, but her attention was on the jars, her fingers tracing over the labels. Some of these items were incredibly rare and she couldn’t help but wonder how Morgan had even managed to source them. Destin had to have pulled some major strings which told her plainly how serious he was taking this Hunter training and the possibility of his witches being part of it. A knot of anxiety formed in her stomach at the same time as a sense of pride quickened her blood. He had entrusted her with this task, and she’d be damned if she’d let him down.
“Is this like Latin or something?”
Glancing over her shoulder, Keegan saw that Jeremiah was leaning against a bookcase, one of the older spell books in his hand as he leafed through the yellowing pages. Those piercing blue eyes of his lifted to hers as he asked, “Can you even read this?”
He turned the book so she could see the page. Squinting slightly, she told him, “Yes, that particular one is a truth spell.”
“Huh, magical truth serum. Cool.” Closing the book, he placed it back on the shelves and pulled out a few more, just far enough to glance at the covers before he pushed them back in. “None of them have titles.”
No, they didn’t. Not uncommon when it came to books dealing with witchcraft. Striding over to the bookshelf, she glanced at the spines, noticing the difference in colors on the bindings. “This one deals with elemental magic,” she said, tapping the aged leather on the spine. Moving on, she pointed out another. “Runes, charms, enchantments, and protection spells.” Sliding her fingers over, she stopped and tapped the spine of another. “Sacrificial magic and this one here deals with Astrology.”
Before she could move on to the next shelf that, at a glance, she surmised held mostly books on herbology, Jeremiah asked with obvious surprise, “You just know what they are by sight?”
Keegan shook her head with a smile, “Not all of them, but most of these I’ve studied at length.”
“So you can do all this stuff, these spells, whatever?”
She nodded. “A majority, yes.”
“Damn, girl. I can’t wait to see you in action.”
Inordinately pleased by the remark yet unsure of how to respond, she cleared her throat. “What about you? Should we go look at your classroom?”
Her suggestion had one of his brows rising sharply as he glanced at Morgan. “Do I even have a classroom? I mean, my people just need room to shift and run. Open spaces are more our thing.”
Morgan grinned, a mischievous twinkle entering her eye. “Come look and see.”
The section for shifter training was on the opposite side of the complex, Keegan noted with some disappointment as they followed Morgan through the facility. So much for hoping that she and Jeremiah might occasionally run into each other in the hallways. The thought, unbidden and unwelcome, had her drawing up short and mentally chastising herself once more. Distance between them was agoodthing considering her lack of control around him. A very good thing. She was too interested, too attracted, and her being around him would only lead to disaster.
Stopping at a set of double doors, Morgan threw them open with a flourish and a loud, “Ta-da!”
“Hot damn!” Jeremiah remarked as he strode through the doors and into dappled sunshine. “I knew Archer had some say in the planning, but this is incredible.”
Keegan had to agree as she stepped from the gleaming tile floors of the hallway, over the threshold to sweet-smelling grass. They’d brought the outside in for the shifters by way of a massive greenhouse-like structure. There were several newly planted, young trees, as well as some full-grown trees that must have already been here that they’d built around. There were bushes, ferns, even the sound of rushing water that had Keegan looking about for a waterfall.
“Oh, my God! Are those caves?”
Grinning proudly, Morgan nodded. “Mm-hm. Man-made, but yes.”
“Wow,” Jeremiah said, turning a slow circle, his head raised, he inhaled deeply. “This is fantastic.” Striding over, he knocked on the thick trunk of one of the older trees. “The cats are going to love this.”
“Cats?” Keegan asked.
“I have five wolves, two cats, and a bear signed up.”
Her eyes went wide. “Abear?”
Jeremiah nodded. “Don’t worry. Bears are generally good-natured unless you piss them off. It’s the cats you have to watch out for.”
“How so?”
“Sneaky as shit and they don’t play well with others,” he said with a chuckle before he shook his head. “I don’t know what gave them the idea they wanted to be a part of a Hunter team, but whatever. They either adapt and play nice or they’re out.”
Keegan was shaking her own head in disbelief. She’d grown up knowing the wolves were close by since the pack called the bayou home. She’d probably passed them on the streets regularly, or shared idle chit-chat in line at the grocery store and would have never known it. If Jeremiah was anything to go by, they were just like any other person despite some of the things she’d heard, but she was about to be in close proximity to not only wolves, but a bear and two cats – cats that didn’t play well with others. She shivered.
