Page 51 of Brimstone and Broomsticks
“Actually, it was Alberta that whacked him. Then I clawed him. And bit him. And Alberta was worried he was getting the upper hand, so she knocked him out with her magic. He was bleeding all over the place, and I didn’t have any idea what she’d done. I thought she’d killed him, so I told her to hide the body somewhere that no one would ever find it, took as much of Clinton’s blood as I could manage to get out of him, and dumped it in the demon’s hotel room.” She looked over at Lucien. “Sorry about that.”
He shrugged. “Apology accepted.”
“Clinton is alive, and he’s going to be okay,” I told her. “So right now you’re looking at assault and Alberta is looking at kidnapping and accessory, even before we get to what you did to Hollister’s hotel room.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she countered with a wave of her hand. “Because I’m thinking I’ll probably be dead as soon as Clinton tells Dallas I’m sleeping with Alberta.”
“Here’s your choice.” I held up a finger. “Go through our witch-modified human justice system in Accident. Take whatever punishment you get. Break free from the pack and live happily ever after with Alberta. Or avoid any punishment for what happened to Clinton and submit to your alpha and pack law.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I can’t be a lone wolf here. Dallas will come get me. He’ll drag me back to the compound. The Perkins witches have never interfered with pack law. They’ve never enforced their rules over the alphas.”
“Well, this Perkins witch is going to do just that,” I told her. “I’m sick of those dogs on the mountain getting away with shit, with harassing townspeople and not being held accountable for it. I’m sick of you female werewolves being denied basic rights because of some outdated pack law.”
She stared at me, her eyes huge. “Dallas will kill you.”
“Over my dead body,” Lucien drawled. “I’ll see that werewolf in hell before he harms one hair on Cassie’s head.”
For the first time I saw Shelby actually smile. “Really, Cassie? You’d really do this for me?”
I reached over and grabbed Lucien’s hand. “We’ll do this for you. Now come on. You and Alberta have got some explaining to do to the sheriff, and after that Lucien and I have to pay a formal visit to your alpha.”
We headed to my car, Shelby practically skipping.
“Are they going to handcuff me down at the police station?” she asked.
“Only if you’re lucky,” I told her.
“Not lucky,” Lucien countered, rubbing his wrists. “The handcuffs are enchanted. Not the sexy-time sort of handcuffs at all.”
“I don’t care,” Shelby said as she slid into the back seat of my car. “If I can finally be with Alberta, then they can put all the enchanted handcuffs on me they like.”
