I found the strength to glare at Warrick and Cora, who clung to each other near the doorway. Oddly, their expressions were not triumphant. They looked devastated.
No that it mattered. Betrayal was betrayal, whatever way you sliced it.
“You both should have just died at the witch’s hands,” Kassidy told them, and in that moment she sounded like her brother.Hunter.My wolf whined louder than I’d ever heard, and I wanted to join her.
“You know her pack will kill you anyway,” Kassidy finished with a huff.
Warrick met both our gazes, and the fact that fucker had the balls to do so when his shameful stare should have been planted on the ground, had red flashing across my vision.
“She holds the rest of our pack, and will kill my twin,” he said shortly. “As much as I care about Emme and her pack, I don’t careabout them more than my own blood. I’m sorry, but there was no other choice.”
That had another snarl ripping from my chest. “As I said to Chelsea, who is dead from her betrayal, there’s always a choice. You could have let us know what was happening and allowed us to fight with you. You sat in our damn dining room and pledged your allegiance to us.”
Jewels’ husky laughter cut off his response. “Ah, as if I would have allowed him to tell you of my plan. They’re completely under my control, just as all shifters will eventually be. This was a nice little experiment, and I’m happy to report it was a roaring success.”
Cora was pleading with me, her eyes filled with tears, but I couldn’t bring myself to soften. Right now, I needed to focus on getting Kassidy and myself out of here before we became Jewels’ next victims.
“You’ve been here since the curse was cast?” I asked the witch, needing to buy time until I figured out a plan.
Kellan and Finley would realize soon enough that I wasn’t at home, and they’d come right here to Warrick’s. But I didn’t want them trapped by this psycho either.
In a magical fight, they had very few defenses.
“I figured the safest place to hide was right under your noses,” she said, sounding properly pleased with herself. “I stashed all of my witch and shifter allies in another area, knowing that would be where you’d search, while I remained here.”
I had no doubts that Hunter, the twins, and my father were in the location of her magical allies.
“Why did you bring me here, then? All you had to do was wait out the rest of the curse and we’d be fucked. None of us thought for a second you’d remain in the city, hidden within the very securities designed to keep you out.”
It really had been the ideal hiding spot, which meant she’d only break it for a very serious reason. She’d sent Warrick out to bait the hook, and then Cora called to reel me in. It was a perfectly laid trap and I’d walked right into it.
But what was the reason?
Jewels took a step forward, and I hated that she still looked gorgeous. Dressed completely in black, she was vibing psycho-magic-Barbie, all blond, tiny and evil.
“I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d get the opportunity to separate you from your pack,” she said, and the smug smile on her face had unease fluttering through me. “But thankfully, with a little hint from Warrick and a bit of a dream to scatter your forces, you all finally followed the breadcrumbs I laid out for you.”
She’d orchestrated the search near Silver City, which had been Warrick’s suggestion.
“Why am I here?” I repeated, gritting my teeth so hard my gums ached.
Her empty smile grew, and when she no longer bothered to put on an act, it was clear how soulless she really was. She held up a finger. “One: your pack is the only ones who can stop this curse from coming to pass. It was partly their energy and Fletcher’s that initiated the curse, and they are essential in destroying it.”
I shook my head. “But no one can stop it once the curse comes to pass. All you had to do was stay hidden in this perfect spot. We trusted our friend’s odd behavior was just from grief.”
Jewels waved that finger at me. “Who told you the curse could only be stopped before it came to pass? It can be stopped at any time by the energy which cast it.” She shrugged. “It’s just easier before it’s enacted.”
My heart stuttered in a few weird beats as I wrapped my head around that. Constantine had either lied to us, or he’d been unaware.
“So you need to take them out no matter what?” I whispered, and whatever fear and unease I’d felt before was a thousand-fold now. She would never stop coming after my pack.
Jewels nodded, forcing a fake pout on her full lips. “Yes, and those silly dragons are far too strong together. I knew I should have had them killed young, but I let my sentimentality get the best of me, thinking they’d be great lovers and allies one day.”
My wolf raged in my chest, and I barely stopped from shifting.
My magic on the other hand, slipped out before I could stop it.
Jewels lifted a second finger. “And that brings us to reason number two why you’re here. You are their mate, the heart of the quintet, and if you die… they will all die.”
