Jasper was quiet for a long moment. The wind rattled through the bare branches, and somewhere in the distance, a crow called.
Then he laughed.
It was a soft sound, almost gentle, but it made Corin's blood run cold.
"You know, I wondered how long it would take someone to figure it out." Jasper's posture changed, the helpful neighbor falling away like a shed skin. What remained was something harder. Colder. "I was betting on never. Small towns are so eager to blame outsiders, and your little druid made such a convenient target."
"Why?"
"Why what? Why the well? Why the poison? Why her?" Jasper tilted his head, studying Corin like he was a particularly slow student. "Because I needed what's in that seal. And I needed someone to take the fall while I took it."
"What's in the seal?"
"Power." The word came out reverent, hungry. "Old power, bound into the earth centuries ago by druids who didn't understand what they had. They thought they were protectingthe land. Sealing away something dangerous." His lip curled. "They were hoarding it. Keeping it for themselves and their precious bloodlines while the rest of us scraped by on scraps."
Understanding hit Corin like a blow. "You're not a warlock."
"I'm something better." Jasper's smile was a knife's edge. "I'm what happens when someone decides to stop waiting for power to be given and starts taking it instead. Dark druid, the old texts call it. A siphon. I draw magic from other sources, other people, and make it my own."
"You've been draining the land."
"The land, yes. The plants, the soil, the living things that draw from the earth." His eyes glittered. "And soon, her. Your precious Chloe, with all that dormant druid blood just waiting to be harvested. Do you have any idea how rare that is? How valuable? She's been walking around with a fortune in her veins, and she doesn't even know how to use it."
Corin's bear slammed against his control, demanding blood. "You're not touching her."
"I already have. Every time she put her hands in the soil, every time she reached out to sense the sickness, she was feeding me. Opening herself up. Making the connection stronger." Jasper's smile widened. "Why do you think she collapsed? That wasn't the contamination hurting her. That was me, testing the channel. Seeing how much I could take before she noticed."
The world went red at the edges.
"And you." Jasper's voice turned thoughtful. "You've been an interesting complication. The devoted mate, always sniffing around, always protecting. I thought about killing your bees to distract you, and it worked for a while. But you keep coming back to her, don't you? Keep getting in the way."
"I'm going to do more than get in the way."
"Are you?" Jasper took a step back, his hands rising. Dark energy crackled between his fingers, the same wrongness Corinhad been smelling for weeks made visible. "You're strong, I'll give you that. But you're just a bear. Muscle and instinct. I've been doing this for longer than you've been alive."
Corin shifted.
It was faster than he'd ever managed before, rage and fear and protective fury fueling the change. One heartbeat he was human, the next he was his bear, charging across the frozen ground with death in his eyes.
Jasper's hands came together, and the world twisted.
The dark energy exploded outward in a wave of force that caught Corin mid-leap and hurled him backward. He hit a tree trunk hard enough to crack the wood, his vision starring, his lungs empty.
By the time he staggered to his feet, Jasper was gone.
Not fled. Not hiding. Gone. Vanished into thin air like he'd never been there at all.
The same concealment magic that had hidden his tracks, his scent, his involvement in everything. Strong enough to make a man disappear in broad daylight.
Corin shifted back, his body aching, his mind racing. He'd found the enemy. Knew his face, his name, his methods. But Jasper had slipped away, and there was no telling where he'd gone or what he'd do next.
Chloe.
Jasper had admitted to draining her, to using her collapse as a test. If he knew Corin was onto him, he might accelerate his plans. Might go after her directly instead of playing the long game.
He ran back through the orchard, past his truck, grabbing his phone from the porch where he'd left it. His fingers were clumsy with cold and adrenaline as he dialed.
Elias answered immediately. "What happened?"
