Page 34 of Battle of Witches
“I don’t even like Valentine. He’s a puffed-up blowhard that gives shifters a bad name. None of us do. We tolerated Valentine and Scooter for the necromancy spell when we thought it was harmless. Even if I wanted that spell, I wouldn’t have sacrificed members of my pride like that. They wouldn’t break him out unless I told them to, and I wouldn’t do it unless someone had my balls in a vice. We all texted our people before we came here. They know not to go back to that house, and they are spreading the word about Huggy.”
Bjorn was always trying to change his vision. I knew he could because the future was fluid, just like yours truly. The only time it wasn’t was when the stupid fates were messing with you. Bjorn always took it personally when he couldn’t stop something terrible, but sometimes, he just wasn’t meant to. I grabbed Bjorn, pulled him into a bear hug, and blew a kiss at Killian.
“I think your vision and Killian’s idea for the video officially means Valentine willnotbe escaping from prison.”
“Probably not, but there are a bunch of angry assholes outside the jail demanding his release,” Kaine growled.
“Maybe that’s the point,” Ravyn said. “She learned from her mistakes the first time. Asfrid is doing what literally every dictator and evil politician does to put or keep themselves in power. She’s giving them a common enemy. Several, actually. They are pissed at the government, the Bureau, and my museum. The jail isn’t protected by a shit load of ghosts like my museum, so they all went there.
“I’m sure they are all trying to figure out how to get that grimoire. The only reason Valentine could pull off that bit of theft was that he was a contractor and allowed to come and go. The ghosts probably banned him right after he assaulted Sasha and ripped out that page. If a whole gang of them show up threatening violence, they won’t get close, and that’s kind of common knowledge.”
Before we could even figure out what she was up to or organize how we would descend on Scooter’s mega mansion, Wyatt’s phone rang. I was more inclined to believe him that he was truly done with Asfrid when I heard Dolly Parton as his ringtone.9 to 5was a classic movie, and he had the theme song on his phone.
“That’s Asfrid. I’ll put it on speaker. Everyone shut up.”
Cellphones were a beautiful thing. I adored the shit out of mine. But evil, Viking hybrids didn’t have them back in the day for very good reasons, and she really shouldn’t have one now.
“Wyatt, be a dear and have your men inside the prison fetch Valentine for me.”
“I’m sorry, but no. I didn’t sign up for murder. None of my men did. You conveniently left out that Valentine murdered two kids to bring you back. He belongs in jail.”
“I thought you would say that. You’ve never been totally loyal to me, Wyatt, so I took the liberty of procuring your mates and your cub. Do what I ask, and I won’t mess up their pretty hair by removing their heads from their bodies.”
Everyone was growling and snarling.Nowsmoke was blowing out of Kaine’s nose. I was a big-ass ball of rage, too. You didn’t hurt kids. Even now, we could still change Bjorn’s visionandsave Wyatt’s mate and cub. I typed up a message on my phone to tell him to agree and showed it to him.
“I’ll fetch your boyfriend, but you realize there’s going to be a manhunt. They are eventually going to find both of you.”
“You’ve seen what happens to people who cross me, Wyatt. So, don’t question me again, and do what you’re told.”
Asfrid disconnected the call. Lion shifters weren’t scared of much. They were apex predators, and there wasn’t much they were prey to. Wyatt looked terrified, and I didn’t blame him. Asfrid probably used one of her potions on his mate before she could shift and protect her cub. The cub was probably too young to shift.
“Kaine, whatever you are planning, we need to do itnow.And I need every detail of Scooter’s house and where she might keep your people, so I can get in and get them out safely. God powers and everything. I’ll get your mate and cub back to you.”
“Mates. I’m a lion, so I have five of them. She has my first cub. Stella is destined to be the alpha after me.”
I already anticipated that and sent Reyson a text. He was glued to his phone but hadn’t responded yet, so I fired one off to Ripley.
Loki:
Where is Reyson?
I saw the dots where she was responding. She sent me an absolutely adorable photo of Reyson and Felix napping with baby Michael. Ihatedto break that up, but I sent her a text asking to borrow him. She knew what we were up against and was furious about Killian, but she still had a little Trickster in her.
Ripley:
What will you give me for him?
I smiled. I knew what made this witch tick, even if she was different from her twin. So, I fired off a reply with a squid emoji. I immediately saw the dots where she was responding.
Ripley:
Nice try, but we already read that book for book club. I’ll go wake him, but instead of suggesting a book for book club, you have to use that big Loki brain to write us a story.
I grinned. I could definitely do that. I hadn’t sat down and written good smut in a very long time. But, now that I was dating a bookworm whose sister ran a magical library with an extensive collection of werewolf smut, I was feeling inspired.
Loki:
You have yourself a deal.
