Page 39 of Cage Me

The witch wraps her hand around Spencer’s throat, and in the next second, I have her pinned against the farthest wall from my mate, snarling in her face. “Touch her again and I will rip your head from your shoulders.”

Natalia merely smirks. “You’re physically strong, but your wolf is still trapped. You’ll do no such thing. Now, release me.”

Before I can consider complying with her command, she presses one finger against my chest and sends me flying back across the room.

I land on my ass at Spencer’s feet and find her grinning at me.

“Well, this just might be more fun than I could have predicted,” she says, and I realize our versions of fun are vastly different.

Chapter 16

SPENCER

There’s always been an underlying wrath within me having grown up as I did, but whatever I absorbed from Drake earlier is giving me whiplash. One moment I want to burn the world and in the next, I’m within touching distance from the tranquility I had earlier.

Regardless, my goals aren’t changing. I know what I want, and Natalia is going to help whether she wants to or not. I don’t get to run away this time and neither does she.

“Are you done with your magic games?” I ask her as Drake gets up and stands next to me. “I’d like to finish what we started earlier.”

“That’s not happening,” Natalia replies with a sneer. “I already told you. I’m not messing with the dark magic inside him. Not tonight, not ever. That isn’t the business I’m in, and you already know this, so don’t waste either of our time.”

Yeah, I’m fully aware of that, which was one of the reasons that I came to her in the first place. But this time, I’m going to demand an exception.

“Did you think that all these months of sharing my secret with you that I haven’t had a way to protect myself if I needed to?” I ask the witch casually. “That would be rather stupid of me, wouldn’t it?”

This finally gives her pause. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that I’ve watched your building.” I stalk closer to her. “I know who your most frequent clients are. I know that you very rarely put cloaking spells up and that even on occasion, when you have important supernaturals in here that prefer to remain anonymous, you forget to conceal your conversations. But the most important part you’ve failed to consider is the ramifications of using my blood in so many of your spells.”

She’s smirking and lets out a light cackle. “That only puts you in the crossfire if you tell anyone whatever it is you think you know.”

Standing right in front of her now, I lean in close and whisper, “No, that just means I can find every single person using magic with my blood.”

Her eyes go wide, but not in shock, in fear. “You wouldn’t hurt them.”

“My mate is in trouble, and that puts my family at risk,” I reply smoothly. “Do you really think there is anything I wouldn’t do to ensure their safety?”

I’m full of shit, but Natalia doesn’t know that. Guilt gnaws at me. I don’t like lying or threatening innocent people. Especially after seeing her light within my mind earlier, I want to consider her someone we can trust, but not at the expense of Drake. We need her to help him, and if Natalia needs to believe I’m still a heartless bitch a while longer, that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

She swallows thickly. “What do you want?”

Just as I presumed when I came up with my blackmail, Natalia cares too much for the people she helps. She left herself vulnerable. The only difference between when the idea occurred to me all those weeks ago to use that vulnerability against her is that now I feel guilty doing so and I didn’t before. Still, that doesn’t change anything. I have to keep up with the ruse.

“That’s much better.” I pat her shoulder, then turn toward Drake to find him watching me closely. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but he probably now believes that I’m the worst person in the world for threatening innocent supernaturals. At least I can tell him later that I’m only bluffing.

“Why don’t we get comfortable?” I suggest, inviting myself into her backroom. I’ve only been in this part of the shop a few times. The first time was when I was deciding to do business with her. I felt the need to inspect every inch of the place and be certain she wasn’t up to any kind of shit I didn’t want to be involved in. The other times were on my more paranoid days, when I needed to be absolutely sure we were alone while she took my blood.

Drake stays right by my side, and Natalia trails behind closely. I can practically taste the sour venom she currently has for me, but I can’t allow myself to care. There’s too much on the line.

Behind the curtain, there are walls of completed potions, ingredients for more complicated spells, and random supplies that don’t hold my interest. The space is darker than normal, but it’s also the middle of the night so I shouldn’t be surprised.

I take a seat on the black leather couch and Drake stands next to me, staying silent. As I stretch my legs out and cross one over the other, I smile at Natalia who also chooses to stand. “So, how about you tell us why you really freaked the fuck out earlier and how we can break the curse on my mate before going after Kel ourselves?”

Her russet eyes glare at me. “You’re truly screwed up in the head.”

“Try telling me something I don’t already know.” Playing the part of a sadistic killer is almost too easy.

But it’s too late to back out now. I need to see this through. I can apologize to her later when Kel is dead and no longer a problem, because the fact that Drake said he could sense her isn’t something I intend to let last long.

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