“Do it again,”she practicallybegged.
“Promise me you will always tell me when you need me. When you need my words, my touch, my attention, anything. Promise me, Ann, that you willtellme.”
“Are you always thisintense?”
“Only when it comes to the things I love andadore.”
After a few heartbeats, she finally answered.“Ipromise.”
“Thank you,”he said as he pictured himself running his fingers through her hair. She sighed in his mind, and Gustavo closed his eyes, soaking up the sound.“Talk, mí amor.Tellme.”
“Only if you promise not to stop,”she purred.“It distracts me fromthepain.”
“Anything, I will give youanything.”
“It started when Jewel turned me into awitch.”
Before he’d met his mate, Gustavo thought himself incapable of surprise. He’d been on the earth a long time and had seen so much. But Anna had been in his life only briefly, and not even within his reach, and yet she surprised him over and over.“You’re awitch?”
“Does that make you notwantme?”
He heard the ache in her voice. She might be frightened by the intensity of their bond, and nervous about what it meant to be mated to a werewolf, but she wanted him. She wanted a chance to see what they could have together. He couldfeelit.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing, could make me not want you. Get it through your skull,Carina, you are stuckwithme.”
“Alright then, yes I am a witch. And Volcan’s blood runs in my veins, as well as in Jewel’s. His magic is inside of us. He’s commanded us to make him an army ofwitches.”
The more she told him, the more Gustavo was sure he was going to go on a killing spree. The darkness that lived inside of him urged him on, as if the violence Anna had been facing was making his own darkness grow. He listened without interrupting until he heard two names. Two malenames.
“Pardon, Criña, there are two maleswithyou?”
Shepaused.
He hadn’t meant for his voice to sound so deadly, but his wolf was holding on by a very, very thinthread.
“Ann,”hewarned.
“Not with me, with me. They’re with Jewel and I. Two warlock males. Z and Sly. I’m not sure, ow, damn that hurts. Sorry, I’m not usually one to curse, but lately it just seems necessary. Anyway, I’m not sure why they’re working with Volcan because they don’t give off an evil vibe, and they’ve actually been trying to help us. And really they’ve been good to have around. They’re funny and were very helpful to have in the club. They both acted like our dates which helped keep other guys away from us. They even helped us pick out outfits, which were not my usual digs. I mean, short skirts, tight pants, not really my things, but the guys thought itnecessary.”
Gustavo’s fist went into the trunk of the tree before he even realized he was pulling his arm back to punch it. Hearing his mate talk fondly of other males, and about those males picking out clothes for her … to go to a bar, was causing his wolf to get worked up into a right fit of rage. He wanted to listen, needed to hear everything, but at the same time he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He hated the idea of her being in danger and, thanks to his barbaric nature, he couldn’t stand the thought of her with other males either. They’ve been keeping her safe, he argued with his wolf. Then that will be the only reason we don’t kill them, his wolf growled inresponse.
“Gustavo?”
The apprehension in her voice drew his attention back from his inner turmoil.“Si, I’mlistening.”
“I’m not sure if I can tell youtherest.”
Gustavo could sense her shame and regret, two feelings he never wanted her to feel.“I will not judge you, mí amõr. You can tell me anything.”He could practically feel the moment shegavein.
“Volcan has been forcing us to try and make witches. So, at the club, Jewel and I sort of picked a woman. She looked lonely and didn’t seem to have anyone with her. Good grief, I sound like a psycho stalker. So Z went over and flirted with her and got her to come over to us. We took her to awarehouse.”
A warehouse? He was just trying to wrap his head around what she was telling him, and then he heard her tears. These tears weren’t the same as the ones she’d shed when the pain was ripping through her body. These tears were frombrokenness.
“We did the same sp-sp-spell—”She gasped through the tears, stuttering as she tried to pull herself together.“But something happened. We started seeing her memories, and there was so much sorrow and pain. It felt so invasive to see the things that had happened in her life. When it was over, she was lying lifeless on the ground, and Jewel and I were in shock. We—”She hiccupped and tried again. “We killed her. We took her life, Gustavo. Her essence, we stole it from her body. But we didn’t know that was going to happen. We thought she would become like us. We thought, we were … I mean … Volcan … wedidn’tknow.”
“Anna, shhh,”he soothed, trying to help her calm down.“It’s okay. Carina, you have to calm down. You’re going to makeyourselfsick.”
“I’ve been holding it together, sort of turning off my emotions,”she continued as if he hadn’t spoken.“Like living on autopilot. Jewel has been having such a hard time, and I thought we shouldn’t both fall apart at the same time, and I don’t blame her at all for it. She’s such a gentle spirit, and I wanted to be strong for both of us, but I’m so tired and I won’t let him break me, but I just can’t get over the fact that wekilledthem.”
