Page 27 of Spellbound & Speechless
Where is she?
My mate…
My mate…
My boots pound against the pavement as I run. A car would be faster for most people, but I’m more than a person. Evenin my human form, I’m quick.
Am I fast enough to get to her? Fast enough to save her? To help her?
Each scream is more desperate than the last. Blood-curdling. Begging. Pleading. The sound drives me to where she is. A large home, painted red, peaceful from the outside… but it’s not. Not for me. Not for long.
Aspen’s scream tells me it’s the opposite of peace on the inside. Aspen is begging for help, loud enough that I know the neighbors can hear. Why isn’t anyone doing anything?
I barge in. The front door is unlocked.
“Aspen!” I chase her sweet scent through the house, but the sugary smell I already know so well is tinged with fear… and something rotten. “Shit. Fuck. Where are you?”
“Help!”
This time her screams aren’t in my head. I can hear her. She’s begging for me. A growl rips free from my throat as I run through the house, which smells of rancid magic. It’s not Aspen’s magic. Hers is sweet, like a cherry bursting between my teeth.
There’s someone else here. I already know who it is.
I sprint up the stairs. A second voice mingles with Aspen’s, something wretched, a scratchy sound that haunts my nightmares.
The corrupt witch corners Aspen in the tiny attic, a room so small I have to duck my head to get inside. Aspen cowers on the floor, pressed into a corner, with a thick book in her hand—a grimoire.
Many witches have grimoires. Some covens use the books to pass the magic down the family line. Grimoires hold intense magic.
If the corrupt witch gets her hands on it, she’ll be too powerful.
I lock eyes with the evil witch and lunge at her with my claws out. Before I can grab her, she dissolves into a bat.
“You stole vampire magic?” I growl. “That’s new.”
It’s harder to grasp the tiny creature, my hands swiping wildly through the air as she flies from the room. My wolf is conflicted—hell, I’m torn, too. To chase after the corrupt witch, or…
To go to her. To Aspen.
Aspen trembles in the corner, wrapping her entire body around the book. Tears stream down her face. Her magic still surrounds her, but there’s something more, a tainted smell from the other witch’s attacks.
If the witch took anything from her, whether a drop of her blood or a speck of her magic, I will fucking?—
No. This isn’t about revenge, not right now. That can wait. Aspen. Aspen needs me. Well, she needssomeone, and I’m the only one who can help.
“Shh…” I kneel by her side and cradle her face, directing her to look at me. “You’re all right. I’m here now.”
She meets my gaze with watery eyes and chokes out a sob. “She wanted my magic.”
“I know.” My claws retract. I wipe her tears away with soft, human fingers. “She didn’t get it, did she?”
She shakes her head. Her knuckles are white, her hands trembling as she grips the grimoire. “I was planning to do a spell, but?—”
“You don’t have to now. She’s gone. C’mere.”
I crush her against my chest, and to my surprise, she doesn’t push me away. Her sweet magic overpowers everything else, even the corruption rot.
Aspen melts against me, and I dissolve into her, my eyes closing tight.
