So instead of saying anything about it, Kat turned her attention to the other people moving around the clearing and saw Cooper take off running from the scene, pure panic on his face. She turned to ask Connor what that was about but forgot her question when she caught sight of Rachel kneeling on the ground, talking softly to Addy and Ben. Both kids seemed exhausted, shaken, and somewhat confused, but otherwise healthy. Hale, Sandoval, and another detective from Missing Persons were leading the other three teens out of the clearing. The rest of Sandoval’s people were looking around the area in obvious amazement, taking in the unmoving figures of Marko’s coven lying here and there. While the detectives clearly had a lot of questions about what happened, none of them said anything out loud.
Kat assumed that was probably for the best.
“Are any of the witches and warlocks still alive?” she asked. Considering none were moving, she didn’t think so.
“Most of them, actually,” Gage said, coming over to crouch beside them. “They were damn hard to deal with, but when you dropped Marko, the ones left standing went down, too. It was like they were connected to him somehow.”
“They probably were,” Kat murmured. It was a relief to know she hadn’t killed them. “For all the power Marko already had, I wouldn’t put it past him to have set up a siphoning charm to draw energy from his coven. When I did what I did to him, the blowback would have rippled through the connection. Luckily, they didn’t end up like Marko.”
Connor and Gage studied her intently for a moment, and she prayed they didn’t ask her details about exactly what she’d done to Marko. She didn’t want to relive the moment. Or take responsibility for it.
“While that explains a lot, it still leaves us with a problem,” Gage said. “As in what the hell are we going to do with all of them? We can slap cuffs on them, but when they wake up, I doubt a prison cell will hold them or their magic for long. There’ll be nothing to stop them from doing this same thing again, with or without Marko.”
Kat thought about that for a moment, looking at all the possibilities, but could only come up with one solution. What she was considering was wrong on so many levels and went against everything she believed in as a witch. But what else could she do? If Marko’s coven ended up in jail, they’d be out of it within hours. The only question would be how many lives they took with them.
“I might be able to do something about that,” she finally said.
Connor’s brow furrowed. “You can?”
She nodded. “There’s a spell I can do that will bind their magic permanently. Trying to do something like that, especially to so many witches and warlocks, would be impossible without the power from the ley lines, but with it, I should be able to pull it off. They’ll still be able to feel the magic around them but not use it. It’s the most horrible thing you can do to a witch or warlock, but at least it will give us a chance to figure out what we can do long-term. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and STAT can find a way to help.”
Connor and Gage exchanged grim looks.
“I’d never ask you to do this if there were any other way,” Gage said.
Connor tenderly brushed her hair back from her face. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
When Kat nodded, Connor helped her to her feet, keeping an arm around her as she recited the words for the binding spell. The only thing that was more upsetting than the act itself was how easy it was. A short dip into the power of the ley lines along with a few murmured words of intent, and it was over. The spell would last for a few weeks. Hopefully, by then they’d have a long-term answer.
“Marko’s coven won’t be an issue now, but how are you guys going to explain all of this?” she asked Connor as she looked around the clearing. “Addy and Ben might not say anything because they know Rachel, but what about the other three kids?”
“Rachel will talk to them,” Connor said. “She’s good with kids. They’ll go along with anything she suggests. And as far as explaining all of this? We’ll say Marko and his followers were a bunch of kooks trying to sacrifice kids until Marko accidentally caught himself on fire. Trust me, people will believe it. Because the alternative is more than they’re willing to think about.”
Kat thought he was being a little too optimistic, but then again, the Pack had been dealing with this strange stuff for a while. Something told her they had it down pat by now. If they said people would believe the convenient lies, they were probably right.
Connor regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, his hazel eyes clouded with worry. “So with Marko gone, that means the familiar curse is broken, right? You won’t need to worry about turning back into a cat anymore, will you?”
Kat’s heart broke in half as a huge weight settled in the center of her chest and began to crush her. She wished she could give him the simple answer he was looking for, and for a moment she considered lying and telling him that it was all over. It would be horrible later if she was wrong, but right at this moment, it seemed an easy way to deal with the situation. But in the end, she couldn’t do something like that to her soul mate.
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “Davina and I talked about it, and she said there’s a chance Marko tied the spell to my magic instead of his. If he did, then the spell will still be there. We won’t know for sure until midnight. If I’m going to turn back into a cat, it will be then.”
Connor took a deep breath, like he was processing what she’d said. Then he glanced at his watch. “That gives us two hours to wait.”
She nodded, swallowing hard. The wait was going to be horrendous. And while it was going to be difficult for her, she shuddered at the thought of how hard it was going to be on Connor if he had to watch her change back into a cat.
“Would you rather go somewhere else?” he asked gently, tipping her face up so he could gaze into her eyes. “I mean, instead of hanging around here?”
She gave him a small smile. “Yeah. Let’s go to your place. If I only have two more hours in my human form, I don’t want to waste it hanging around a crime scene.”
Connor cupped her face in his hand. “Even if you turn back into a cat, I’ll still love you the same. Well, maybe not exactly the same, because that would be weird. But I’ll love you, and I’ll never give up on us. You know that, right?”
Kat supposed shehadknown that, but it still felt unbelievably good to hear him say it out loud. She went up on her toes, pressing her lips to his. “Yeah, I know. Now, take me home and show me exactly how much you love me.”
Chapter 25
Kat collapsed forward onto Connor’s chest, gasping for breath as her heart continued to pound out of control for several long, fabulous moments. She pressed her face against the powerful muscles under her, lulled to a near stupor by the strong, steady heartbeat of her soul mate. The one man who would stay with her forever.
Of their own accord, her eyes drifted to the clock on the nightstand, a cynical part of her mind noting that forever in this case might be actually defined as fourteen minutes. That’s how long they had until the digital numbers on Connor’s bedside clock flipped to midnight, and they learned what kind of future they would have.
