He kissed my head again.“I’ll run over and scare them off.”
I held on to his arms.“It’s warded.They shouldn’t be able to touch it.I’m trying to figure out who they are and why they’re there.Wait.Look.”I pointed again.“See the way that right hand is moving?That’s a wicche and they’re trying to unwind my wards.”
Declan tried to move again, but I held on.“It won’t work.I want to see what they try next.”Was it Colin?Mom told him he had to be out of town by now.Aunt Sarah, though, loved the creep.Maybe she was hiding him and he was trying to fuck me over for exposing him.
“If it’s Colin, that’s easy.His magic is no match—wait.No.He has no magic anymore.”I tilted my head.“Who is that?”
Declan stared a moment and said, “Whoever it is, it’s not your cousin.They’re pretty far away, but I’d say that’s a woman.Maybe five-seven or five-eight and skinny.”
I looked up at him.“But you can’t see her well, huh?”
He grinned and moved his arms so they were wrapped around my shoulders and chest, keeping me warm.“If you can send a spell to the pack grounds, you can send one down the road to your gallery.”
“I could indeed, but I’m doing reconnaissance.Have you noticed?She hasn’t looked over here once.The magical community—well, the wicche one—doesn’t seem to know I live here now.
“Wait.Look,” I said.“That left hand is clenched tight around something while her right hand is trying to unweave.It’ll never work.She should have figured that out already.My fae magic runs through all my wards.A wicche can’t unwind them, but she either doesn’t recognize the feel, the scent, of fae magic, or she thinks whatever is in her left hand will break it.”
“Is it common knowledge amongst wicches that you’re half fae?”Declan asked.
I thought about that a moment and shook my head.“Mom and Gran kept me hidden away from most wicches.”
“For very different reasons,” Declan muttered.
I looked up at him.
“Your Gran wanted a secret weapon.Your Mom tried to keep you safe from stalkers and envious wicches who wanted the prestige of taking you down.”He shrugged.“It was kind of the same for me.Even as a teenager, wolves were trying to challenge me for the bragging rights of besting a Quinn.”
Lifting his hand to my lips, I kissed him.I knew that wasn’t a happy thought.He’d killed for the first time as a teenager in just such a challenge.
“I think she’s giving up,” he said.“That right hand dropped.”
I pulled the pearl around my neck out of my top, held on, and flicked the fingers of my free hand.The spell pouch clutched in her left hand flamed before turning to ash and sifting to the ground.She jumped back, shaking her injured hand.
“Ouch.”Declan pulled me back from the edge as the woman spun, looking around.“There.She’s leaving.Check your wards tomorrow.Make sure she wasn’t able to do any damage.”
I nodded, letting him lead me inside.
Dinner was delicious and hit the spot.He asked about my new pearl necklace, and I explained my meeting with my dad.Most of it anyway.
“If you’re wearing the pearl at night, does that mean you’ll have nightmares again?”He looked quite concerned.“You’re finally getting some sleep.I don’t want you going back to two hours a night.”
That was an excellent point.I considered.“If I wear it outside my clothes, it won’t be touching me.”
“Sure,” he said with a wicked grin.“But you often aren’t wearing clothes—to my everlasting delight—when we go to bed.”
“There’s that.Okay, necklace goes on the nightstand at bedtime.Good call.”
By the time we retired for the night, I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.The necklace was put aside and Declan pulled me to him.I fell asleep, my head on his chest.
I woke some hours later, but I wasn’t sure why.I didn’t experience nightmares when Declan was touching me.There was something, though.Something had woken me.
I rolled away from Declan and had to keep on rolling.The bed was comically large.I slipped the pearl around my neck and went to the window overlooking the ocean.The hooded figure was across the street, standing in pale moonlight and a patch of seagrass.She was facing this building, her face tilted up to the second floor, while her fingers moved in precise patterns at her side.I knew she couldn’t see in the windows, but she was definitely sending a curse at us.
I went to the far side of the room and watched a moment.She may have been testing to see if I responded, thereby revealing this was my home.She may have already tried the ward and known.That was probably what woke me.
Regardless, it was only a matter of time before people figured it out.What I wasn’t going to do was stand by while she cursed my home.I pressed the pearl into my chest and held up my hands.Wicche and fae magic wove together, swirling down my arms and around my hands.
I pushed, creating a wall of magic at the fence.Focusing hard on my adversary, I saw the black magic like a puff of smoke drifting across the empty road toward our home.When it hit my wall, I felt a wave of nausea run through me.I shoved the wall and the miasma of black magic back at her.
