"It really doesn't work that way," she assured him, glancing up from her phone. "I'm a witch, not a werewolf. It's a totally different power structure and hierarchy. The worst they could do is kick me out of the coven, and they're not going to do that."
"You sound sure."
"I am sure." She gave him a reassuring look. "We're friends, sisters, really. And I am just as pissed at them as they're going to be pissed at me. So we are probably going to have a terrible fight. And they might hex me a little bit." She shuddered, and he wondered what she was thinking. "And I'm going to hex them right back or refuse to heal them the next time they have really bad period cramps. Eventually, we'll get over it. I'm going to be fine."
She checked her phone.
"The car is arriving in one minute." And then she tilted her head and looked at him intently. She took a step closer and stuffed her face into the crook of his neck, breathing deep.
Nico couldn't stop himself from wrapping his free arm around her and placing his hand on her lower back. "Isn't that my move?" he asked, his fingers splaying across her spine.
She squeezed his hand and then pulled back. "Oh crap." Her eyes widened.
"What is it?"
"Someone put a tracking spell on you."
That didn't sound good. "What does that mean?"
Elise looked more angry by the minute, and she glared up at the house before looking back at him. "It means that whoever did this, probably Delainey or Serena, can find you as soon as it triggers."
He looked at the door, bracing for someone to rush out. "Shouldn't it have triggered as soon as we left the circle?" Thatmade the most sense. If he had magical powers, that's how he would have done it.
"Probably." Elise's grip tightened on his hand. "But it's the same concept—the spell is recognizing me as a member of the coven because I'm holding on to you, so it hasn't triggered yet."
Lights flashed down the street as a car pulled closer and then into the driveway. Elise's phone buzzed, announcing the Uber was there.
"Can you undo it?" he asked, stepping closer to her.
She closed her eyes, and he smelled the scent of her magic briefly before it disappeared. She opened her eyes and shook her head. "Not right now." She looked at him for several seconds. Then she looked at her phone, then at the car, then at the house, then back at him. "I need to come with you."
Nico immediately knew they couldn't do that. "It's one thing to let me go," he said, gesturing toward the waiting car, "but you can't. I won't put you in more danger."
"It's the only way to keep you safe." She wasn't backing down.
His wolf rumbled in satisfaction, and they climbed into the car. He expected Elise to go around the other side, but she didn't drop his hand, instead urging him to crawl through to the opposite seat, while she got in beside him. She closed the door, and the driver greeted them before turning up the music on the radio.
"You probably don't need to hold my hand this whole time," he forced himself to say, his thumb tracing circles on her palm. He never wanted to stop touching her. But they were acting a little bit like teenagers.
Elise leveled a tough stare at him. "I literally can't do that or the spell will trigger. Magic, remember?"
A smarter wolf might have paid attention to where they were within the city, but all of Nico's attention was on Elise. The scent of magic rose and fell intermittently, and he could feel his handvibrate with her power every so often. She would let out little curses, usually nothing more harsh than a "dammit," and once she even said "drat," which made him smile.
"I can't figure it out," she said, her free hand clenching into a fist on her thigh. "What the hell did she do?"
That wasn't a good sign, but Nico couldn't regret that it meant he got to spend a little bit more time with his mate before they had to say goodbye for the final time—again.
The Uber pulled into a chain hotel on the edge of the Hobson city limits near the highway. They got out.
"Why here?" Nico asked, scanning the parking lot as the car pulled away.
Elise shrugged. "It came up when I started putting in an address. I just needed to get you away."
They were standing under the lights of the entryway. If Nico had been alone, he might have gone inside and asked to use the phone to call Hugh to come pick him up. But there was one glaring problem.
"I can't take you to the pack," he said. They thought she was dead. They thought he had killed her. And they had no idea she was a witch. If that tracking spell engaged, it would lead the coven straight to the pack house, which he couldn't allow.
Elise squeezed his hand. "I can't let the coven find you."
