Page 43 of Hexy Beast

“Are you lying to me or yourself, Effie Sherwood?” He intertwines his fingers with mine and pulls me away from the tree. “Come on, the cave’s shown up.”

I stumble over my feet, and he steadies me before we continue toward a river that wasn’t there a few minutes ago. And shock of all not shocks, there’s a waterfall at one end. Great. We’re going back into and through the water, meaning we’ll both have to strip off our wet clothes again, and I am not looking forward to that.

I’m not.

I’m not!

I’m a fucking liar.

Shit.

I have no idea how this could get any worse. And then I realize as we step off the riverbank and into the current that I’m still holding Darius’s hand with no intention of letting go.

Chapter Sixteen

Darius…

The cave couldn’t have made its appearance at a better time. I can’t decide between kissing Effie, yelling at her some more, and throwing her over one shoulder and hauling her off to the nearest somewhat-horizontal surface.

She is literally breaking my brain.

Still, she’s holding my hand as we walk through the waterfall, and despite all my mixed-up thoughts and feelings, I like it. More proof that my mental capabilities have been compromised.

Stepping inside the cave, everything is exactly how it should be. The way it always is. The walls are damp stone. The crate with the moonstone gem on the lid is on the far wall, half-hidden in the shadows. The protection charms carved into the bedrock give off a slight hum that only I can hear.

But something is off. The hair on the back of my neck stands up, and my inner wolf starts to prowl, his head up, smelling the air. I shove Effie behind me again—not that I expect her to stay there after what happened, but the urge to protect her is nearly overwhelming.

I force my body to relax so I can sense who or what my wolf’s scenting without letting him fully off the leash. It comes at me in layers. Fresh ink. Warm leather. The Arcadia woods after the first snowfall. But there’s something else. I ease my hold on my wolf just enough for him to take in a long, deep breath. He immediately relaxes, sitting down on his haunches in anticipation. That’s when it hits me—strawberry rhubarb pie.

I follow my wolf’s lead and relax. I don’t know how she did it, but it isn’t the first time she’s surprised me.

“You might as well come out, Aunt Artemis,” I say. “I know you’re here.”

She walks out of the shadow, her pink-tipped silver hair blowing back even though there’s not a lick of wind in the cave. She has that otherworldly air to her like when she goes into full oracle mode, and I can’t help but brace myself for whatever is coming next.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, leaving the “and how the fuck did you get in here, because entry is supposed to be only if I allow it” unsaid.

“I’m not,” she says with a shrug. “Think of it like a video call.”

Okay, I am too tired and pissed off about the non-pack wolves trespassing in the Arcadia woods to try to unravel what Aunt Artemis is up to. The last time she went full oracle mode specifically for me was when she gave me my Kardia tattoo and said I’d meet my fated mate in the middle of troubled times—which pretty much has described every day since the Tuesday when I was born.

So instead of asking more questions, I wait for whatever pronouncement Aunt Artemis is about to make. I don’t have to wait long.

“The time is now,” she says with a pointed look at Effie, who has moved beside me. “Nikos has set his pieces in motion.”

Ignoring Aunt Artemis’s glance, I take Effie’s hand again. She twines her fingers with mine while watching Aunt Artemis with an alert curiosity.

“Yeah,” I say. “We ran into his supplemental henchmen in the woods today.”

Aunt Artemis’s cheeks round before she huffs out the air. “Shit.”

“Pretty much,” Effie agrees.

Artemis sucks her teeth and mumbles to herself as she paces from one end of the cave to the other, her hands clasped behind her and her hair still blowing in the nonexistent breeze. It almost sounds like she’s asking questions of someone we can’t see, and she’s not liking their answers.

Effie and I exchange a what-the-fuck look. I’m still annoyed that she acted on impulse and literally yanked me out of the clearing before I could take on the werewolves Nikos had sent after us. No, I may not have taken them all out, but I would have done enough damage that she could have gotten away. Saving myself is the last thing I’m thinking about when Effie is in danger.

Where the fuck did that come from, Aetos?