Megan snapped her teeth together and flashed her fangs.She almost touched you.
Erubus nudged his nose against Nix’s neck and breathed in her scent.I love you, my queens.He turned to Megan.And you, little one, surprise me. Vicious little wolf.He licked her snout before he licked Nix’s.Stop making it difficult for Amy. You and I both know she would never stand by and allow anyone to disrespect our bond.
Nix looked back and forth between him and me, and then nodded. Fine.Go back to your human.
And make sure the whore doesn’t touch you. Or else.Megan growled low, earning another chuckle.
Erubus turned to face her.Keep threatening me, mate, and I might just take you up on the offer.He snapped his teeth next to her neck.A little pain won’t hurt either of us.He ran off, leaving Megan a little wide-eyed.
I laughed in her face.Why are you surprised by that?
I don’t know; it was just unexpected.She shook herself as I turned back to the scene at the front. Vince had walked over and joined the conversation.
“My King, I am so happy to have you join us for my son’s mating ceremony.” Vince shook his hand, and I could see the blazing rune on his forearm.
Son of a bitch.
Chapter Twenty-Five
My mind rushed through all the runes I could remember. I could only see a little of the rune on Vince’s arm, but it was distinct enough that I should be able to narrow it down. The rune on Vince’s looked to be circular at the very bottom, but there was a clef at the bottom that reminded me of a sickle.
A pit opened up in my stomach as my mind whirled. What could it be? I closed my eyes so I could focus on the shape I saw, and match it to a rune. But I…couldn’t. I felt sweat bead on my forehead as a tremble started in my hands. My eyes kept jumping back and forth as my mind raced through all the runes. Something felt off, so I snapped my eyes open and looked at Rowan. He was mid-conversation with Vince. I had lost the connection to my spell when my panic spiralled, so I couldn’thear what they were saying any longer. I stepped forward, but something held me back.
“Calm yourself, little one.” A soft voice whispered into my ear. “Don’t speak. No one else can hear me. You are panicking because you are worried about your mate. I understand. But in rushing through your runes, you are bound to make mistakes. Rushing through your magic, or allowing your panic to make you forget about your magic could kill you.” My grandmother placed her hand on my arm. “Settle yourself. Let your inner self slow. Take a few deep breaths.” She paused as I did. “Good. Now try again. Start at the beginning. Which rune has what you are looking for?”
I looked towards her, but there was no one there. I snapped a sound bubble in place so I could speak to her. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.” Her soft voice reached me past the panic, and my mind slowed down. “That’s it, my girl. Calm your thoughts. Sift through the options. What rune could it be?”
The options flashed through my mind. Strength made no sense, and it was missing the bottom curve. Poison might be closer to their intention, but there was no cross to be seen. The death rune made sense, and it had the sickle part, but again there was no rounded bottom. “Grandma, I can’t find it.” I turned to Rowan, and I watched as he tried to pull his hand back from Vince, but he held his hand in place. “Why won’t he let Rowan’s hand go?”
“Runes need time to snap into place. He is trying to ensure his intent is burned into your mate’s skin. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is his actual intent. What is he trying to do?” Her voice was still soft, but there was a little urgency buried under her words.
Instead of panicking, I took another deep breath as my mind continued to flip through the rest of the runes. Finally, when mystomach rolled, I felt something click into place. Subdue. “The rune is subdue.”
My grandmother’s voice was closer. “And why would Vince want to subdue Rowan?”
“I don’t know.” She made a noise, and I knew she was looking at me as if I were being stupid.
“Come now, girlie. Lycan’s are a different breed compared to a wolf. They are more resilient against poisons, like wolfsbane. But more susceptible to silver. They have made the first move by choosing silver. That means they know more than they should. Lycans never shared what worked against them.” She moved closer to me. “Silver will weaken a Lycan, depending on the amount. It can affect a lot of things, maybe even kill them if the amount is large enough. But there is one thing it could never stop. Unlike wolves, Lycans always retain their ability to do what? Think back to our book and what I had written on the page.”
I flashed back to the Lycan page. I remember the half-human, half-wolf form, and I focused on the words scribbled around the drawing. “His shifting.” My head snapped over to Rowan, and everything clicked into place. “Vince poisoned him with silver to weaken him, and he is trying to use runes to stop his shifting so that when they attack him…he will be easier to kill.”
“Exactly.” She sighed. “Now. How do you protect your mate while still sticking to the plan?” She sounded like a proud parent when their kid finally solved the issue.
“Remove the rune and break the bond, like I did with the others…”
“Or?”
“Or what? That’s the only way I know how to break a rune.”
“There is another way. It’s more dangerous, and it takes more power. The gamble of it all is that you are gambling that you arethe stronger witch.” I felt her hand squeeze my arm. “Tell me, my love…are you the stronger witch?”
“Am I the stronger witch?” I turned again to look at her face, even knowing she wasn’t there. I felt her hand disappear from my arm; I knew in my mind she had left me alone to figure out my next move. But her words kept bouncing around in my mind. Am I the stronger witch? Wolf, yes, a hundred times over. I knew that without a doubt. But I had never actually put my power against someone else’s. Not like this.
I had broken runes and charms, even unraveled a love spell. But I had never fought against anyone with magic as my weapon. Never measured my power against another’s. Whoever put the rune on Vince, whatever power he was tapping into, could be stronger than I am.
Nix snorted.You are overthinking it again.
