Page 46 of Curses and Casualties
“I’m fine.” But I can hear the lie in her heartbeat, the slight catch in her breathing. “Just felt weird in there.” She shakes her head, trying for casual and missing by miles. “Probably just the dampening field messing with my wolf.”
Ethan and I exchange a look. We both know it wasn’t the dampening field, but now isn’t the time to push. Whatever happened between her and Magnus, she’ll accept it and tell us when she’s ready.
“We need to head north,” I say, helping Georgia into the car. “Two days’ drive to find the witch who created the curse. We need her to bless some water so we can do the bonding ritual.”
As I start the engine, I glance back at Magnus’s compound in the rearview mirror. A figure stands at one of the upper windows, watching us leave. Even from this distance, I can feel the weight of his gaze—centuries of regret and ruthless choices pressing down on the world like a storm we can’t stop.
“What did he tell you?” Scarlett asks as we pull away. “About the curse?”
Georgia fills her in as I drive, but I notice she carefully omits Magnus’s violent reaction when we mentioned Scarlett again—she does tell him how crazy he got when we passed on Nicolai’s message, though.
“Oh, so it’s not just me he can’t stand then,” Scarlett says in an attempt at humor. But through our bond, I feel Georgia’s worry for our friend, her growing certainty that something significant passed between Scarlett and the lone wolf.
Mate bond,Kane confirms quietly, his earlier rage settling into concerned observation.Saw it in his eyes. His wolf recognizes her.
But he’s rejecting it,I realize.He wants to become human so badly he’s willing to deny his own mate.
Fool. Mate bond is gift. Greatest gift.
I reach over and take Georgia’s hand, feeling the warmth of our connection pulse between us. Kane’s right. Whatever pain Magnus caused us, whatever manipulation led us here, I can’t imagine life without this bond. Without her.
“Two days,” I say aloud, squeezing her fingers. “Two days to find this witch, then we head back to Whisper Valley.”
“Shit,” Scarlett breathes from the backseat, her expression turning serious as reality sets in. “No pressure, right? Just save the world and try not to die before the supermoon pops up. I mean, cool that we’re getting all the pieces needed for you guys to complete this ritual. But just how exactly are we supposed to get into that cave without the pack enforcers tearing us to shreds?”
I glance at the road ahead, my mind already racing through possibilities. The mountain pass, the cave system, the pack’s patrol patterns... “We’ll need a plan.”
“Yeah,” Scarlett says, sighing as she leans back in her seat. “A damn good one.”
Chapter 19
Georgia
We called Amara from the road to update her on our meeting with the lone wolf. She directed us to a safehouse where we could rest for the night. When we pull up, it looks like something out of a fairytale gone wrong—a moss-covered cottage hidden so deep in the woods we missed it three times despite her detailed instructions.
“This is it?” Scarlett eyes the sagging roof and crooked chimney. “Looks like it’ll collapse if we sneeze too hard.”
“Looks like Shrek and Donkey probably live here,” Ethan mutters, kicking at a mushroom growing from the front step.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” Ryan says, pulling out the velvet pouch Amara gave us. Inside are five smooth stones, each carved with symbols that shift in the dim light. “She said to place these at the threshold before entering.”
I watch as he arranges the stones by the door. My geological mind notes they’re not ordinary rocks—they have an internal luminescence, like starlight captured in crystal. When the last stone touches ground, the air shimmers.
The transformation is breathtaking. The sagging roof becomes sleek slate. Mossy walls transform into honey-colored timber with glowing blue carvings. Dark windows gleam withwarm light, and the crooked chimney straightens, releasing welcoming smoke. Even the air changes—rot and damp replaced by lavender and sage.
“Holy shit,” Ethan breathes. “That’s some serious magic.”
“Illusion and protection combined,” I muse. “To anyone tracking us, it still looks abandoned. But there’s more—” I reach out carefully, feeling the invisible barrier humming beyond the doorway. “Wards. Strong ones.”
Ryan tests the door—it swings open silently, revealing a cozy interior that’s bigger than the outside suggests. There’s a full kitchen with copper pots, a living area with a crackling fireplace, and a hallway that stretches longer than the cottage should allow.
“Dimensional expansion,” I muse. “The inside exists in a slightly different space than the outside.”
“Nerd,” Scarlett teases. “Dibs on the shower!” She starts forward, then stumbles, catching herself on the doorframe.
“You OK?”
“Fine. Just tired. I kind of feel that the magic blocking the Alpha’s mark was reacting poorly to Magnus’s dampening field. That’d explain why it got so much worse the closer we got, right?” She shrugs, but her hand goes to her chest, fingers pressing against her ribs. “I’ll feel better after a shower and some rest. If not, maybe you and Ryan can do that healing thing again?”
