“I agree with you on that,” Peter said, looking back at Giro.
“And because of that anger, we want to warn other covens, and hear me out on this, other supernaturals, too.” Dina’s words surprised me. We never dealt much with other species, Dina was the only witch I had ever hired to work for me, since most species tended to avoid vampires, even other vampires.
“You think they need to be warned?” Felix questioned.
“I think they deserve to be,” she replied, before letting out a deep sigh. “Can you tell us anything about your coven, Giro?”
He visibly flinched when she mentionedhis coven. He shook his head, “I can’t.”
“Can’t, orwon’t?” Felix questioned. It sounded less angry and more like Felix needed to understand something.
Giro held out his wrist, causing Dina to gasp loudly, her face a mask of horror at the sight of the glowing blue tattoo on his wrist. “Ican’t,” Giro stated firmly.
“What is it?” Felix asked, likely to Dina since Giro seemed unable to speak of it.
“A magical binding spell,” Dina explained. “It’s like a contract but bound by magic. The one wearing it can’t break the promise.”
“Promise of what?” Peter growled.
“I don’t know,” Dina answered, her worried gaze landing on Giro, who was back to staring at his still empty plate. “It could be that he can’t talk about the coven, or something more sinister. Could also be less troublesome, but why bother with branding a witch’s skin if it wasn’t somethingmore?”
Giro spoke softly, “My coven’s name is the Silver Lock Coven. They can always find my location through my mark. No magic can erase or hide it. So, they know where I am. Meaning, if they wantme back bad enough, they’ll come for me. I understand if you don’t want me here, now that you know.”
Frowning at that, I looked to my brother. He looked furious. Dina’s calm voice spoke then, “Do you not wish to be here, hon?”
And then, Giro let out a sob. I nearly fell apart myself when I saw how much the sight hurt my brother. Peter hated seeing the ones he cared for suffer. And with Giro being his…
“I want to stay,” Giro finally answered. “Please,please, let me stay.”
Peter grabbed Giro, making him yelp in fright, then hugged him tight against him, sitting Giro on his lap like I sat with Felix.
I could hear Peter whisper that it was okay. That Peter would never let him go.
Letting them have their moment, I looked to Dina and finally spoke, “We should all prepare for a fight. Is everyone here willing to risk it? To stay and fight? To find allies who can help?”
They all nodded. I did not look at Peter and Giro, I knew they would agree.
“I will ward the castle better for attacks and help Astrea get better,” Dina informed us. “I will let my coven find allies for us. We do have a werewolf pack we help out from time to time. I think they would want to help us if things turn bad.”
I nodded, then looked to Joel. “What about you? I do not wish for you to get harmed in this.”
Joel shook his head. “I like it here, so if it’s okay with all of you, I would like to stay.” Not knowing what Joel’s life was like, I just nodded. If he wanted to stay, then he was welcome to. He just needed to know he had options if he felt unsafe here.
To my surprise, Dina held his hand and gave him a blinding smile. He blushed but tightened his grip, welcoming her touch.
A moan to my left had my attention back on Giro and Peter.
Bloody hell…
I jumped up and with Felix firmly in my arms, I quickly grabbed Astrea, too, fleeing the room.
Dina, Joel, and Claire followed us out as the moans got louder.
We all ran into the kitchen, since none of them had a chance to finish eating. I placed Astrea on a chair, then sat with Felix on another.
“That was hot!” Claire giggled, clearly not as traumatized as I was at seeing Peter bite Giro’s neck, his hand inside the witch’s pants while Giro moved against him on his lap.
“It really was!” Felix agreed, his tone full of humor. I growled and took the bread on the table in front of me. Tearing off a piece, I quickly fed it to Felix. I would do anything to silence him right now.
