She reached out tentatively, and he braced, ready to pull her away again, but nothing happened as she took the completely undamaged book in her hands and then saw the destroyed one beneath it. “Why did one burn and the other?—?”
“Explode?” he said.
“Except clearly not. It looks better than it did. Brand new.”
She tentatively flipped through the pages.
Beatrice tried to climb to her feet beside him and staggered. He wanted to help her, but he could not let Cat go.
“It must be some kind of defense in the book. It’s not going to burn. Could we try something else?”
Mateo eyed the book. It seemed weirdly alive now, not sentient, but aware. “Let’s not. And let’s not even talk about it in front of it.”
“Now you’re afraid of a book? It’s a book.”
“That explodes. You don’t know what that thing is capable of.”
She deflated. “You’re right.”
“Bea! Muster!” a voice shouted from the porch.
“Damnit,” Beatrice said, still on the ground.
He looked around and whistled. He couldn’t see any of his wolves, and fortunately, no one else had made a move, magical or furry, since the explosion.
Nico came bounding out of the dark in human form, wearing a pair of combat pants and nothing else.
The other witch shrieked and tried to crawl toward the house, but she had no energy.
“I will not eat you, little witch,” Nico said, and then met Mateo’s gaze with implacable joy.
His wolf was an enforcer, built for combat, which meant Nico spent even more time than Mateo caging it in a city like New York. Mateo had never seen the man like this, with the wolf in his eyes and a keen joy in every line of his body.
Nico looked the other witch over and cocked his head. She was still feebly trying to crawl away from him.
He bent down and scooped her up with a grunt.
She shrieked and tried to hit him, but she had no strength left in her arms.
“I will return you to your headquarters.”
“Maybe don’t provoke them anymore,” Mateo said, visions of explosions still dancing on his retina.
Nico shrugged and bounded off.
Cat shook her head. “Little witch? Beatrice is almost six feet tall. She played volleyball in high school.”
“And Nico is built like a tank. He’s obviously got her. I just hope they don’t start throwing potions again.”
There’d been a second in that battle where he was unsure whether he would escape with his skin, even though he couldn’t stop laughing as he was pelted with what looked to be Christmas ornaments. They clearly knew nothing about wolf fur, and he’dmostly been able to shake them off without risking vulnerable parts.
Cat looked down at the book in her hands with an enormous sigh. “You have to take it.”
“Okay,” he said.
“You have to take it, and you have to get out of here.”
He froze. He had desperately hoped the shock would delete the last day from her mind. “No, I don’t.”
