I slide between the other two with a low warning noise they’ll catch but she won’t. She’s inmyhoodie and smells like me; they’ll keep their distance if they know what’s best.
“There’s a protection barrier around the town”—she points by the sign, but I catch nothing different—“to keep out shifters,vampires, and other covens. To trick the spell, you’ll all have to be holding onto me as we pass through.”
I grasp her right hand, noting how small she feels in comparison to my own. She’s warm and her hands are a little calloused; I like that they’re not super soft. Soft skin doesn’t last long in the forest.
What the hell am I going on about?
Conan and Xander each touch her other hand and my teeth grind. From Xander’s look, he’s heard it, and another glance between her and me has him piecing things together. Incorrectly, since the truth is so unbelievable, but he’s becoming aware ofsomething. Xander’s perceptiveness makes him one of the strongest hunters in the pack. Conan, meanwhile, has no idea how close he’s coming to losing his life.
Destroy them.
Carina, unaware of everything going on between the three of us, starts forward. Xander catches my eye again and taps the corner of his, mouthing,Silver.
Fuck.Humans shouldn’t be seeing this, for one, and then Carina will start asking questions if she notices, wondering why my eyes have shifted from their normal blue to the reactionary silver.
I scrunch my eyes tight and trust her not to cruelly walk me into a pole, sucking in air downwind. It’s going to be a long fucking week…
“Ow,” she hisses, jerking in my hold. “Muscles. You don’t have to hold so tight.”
Thing is, I do, or others will take you.
“Sorry.”
Carina walks us past the sign and the spell she spoke about becomes visible. It’s a pale silver shimmer that swallows us up, making the hairs on the back of my neck raise. A mist ofwater and wind caresses over me until we’re through it, when everything returns to normal colour.
She pulls her arms in closer to dislodge from all of us as her pace increases. “Mom will have felt that. She’ll know I’m not alone. Walk fast.”
“Will she come for us?” Conan asks.
“Not here. Too many humans.”
Carina leads us away from the main road, which is essentially a parking lot of tourists’ cars only moving a couple inches at a time as they claim parking spots, and into the neighbourhood. She turns at a short road with a slight incline and a few scattered houses.
She stops in front of the largest house at the top, because that makes sense for coven royalty. Morgan’s already standing on the front steps, scanning the three us briefly before her expected attack comes.
White sparks come flying, but Carina throws herself in front of us—which throws my insides into a painful lurch I attempt to react to—and tosses her hands into the air. A barrier, the same used by the coven she’s calling Twilight Grove, deflects her mother’s attack.
Panting from the abrupt and quick magick, Carina maintains the shield. “Don’t, Mom.”
Morgan’s lip curls, her glare as sharp as the knives I’m sure she’d appreciate carving my insides up with. “Why not?”
“Because.” Carina’s arms drop and, with them, the shield, which leaves her exposed. “We’re here to talk, and we have bigger problems than this petty fight, and because I’m asking you not to. Trust me.”
She steps towards Morgan and my claws shed. She’s in my clothing; she’s mine to protect. Logically, I’m aware her mother isn’t a threat. Yet,anyoneoutside myself is a threat to Carina and must be taken out.
Fuck the end of the week. This bond will kill me by the end of theday.
Morgan’s arms drop back to her side as her daughter approaches. She flings herself into Carina’s arms, tugging her closer—away from me. My claws sink into my legs, restraining the simmering anger.
“You’re home,” Morgan coos, kissing her forehead. “Come on, let’s get you inside. I’ll make tea. You can shower and then explain why they’re here.”
Morgan propels her away, but Carina digs her heels into the ground, eventually dislodging from her hold. “No, stop,I’m fine,but the coven might not be. Look at me, Mom; I’m alright.”
Morgan sees what the rest of us do: Carina in a hoodie that isn’t her own, and her sharp gaze whips straight to me, white lighting up her palms once more. Again, it’s Carina who blocks the attack.
“Mom! Fuck, stop.Please!Let’s go inside.”
Morgan, finally compelled to obey her daughter, turns with a huff and disappears up the stairs and inside the house. Carina follows, gesturing for us to as well.
