Page 37 of Shadow Spirit

“If you lay one hand on her, I will dedicate the rest of my life, and all the power I can wield against you, to make your life a living hell. You’ll never close your eyes again without worrying that I’ll pull this monstrosity of neo-medieval architecture down around your ears. Or maybe I’ll just crumble one of your butt-ugly towers,” Adriana snarled, starting to feel a rush of power she had never felt before.

Turning toward one of his guard towers—the one she thought might most easily see Decker’s approach—she curled her hand and then popped her fingers wide, watching gleefully as the top of the turret exploded, sending the men who manned it flying.

Erin clapped her hands. “Can you teach me to do that?”

“That depends, sweetie. If Eoghan there doesn’t let you return to the abbey, we can start your lessons right now.”

“Bitch,” he growled, charging down the steps.

When he reached them, Eoghan backhanded Adriana, knocking her to her knees before fisting her hair at the nape of her neck and dragging her towards the inside of the keep.

“Don’t you hurt her,” screamed Erin.

“Don’t, Eoghan,” Adriana pleaded as she read his dark thoughts. “She’s just a little girl. Please don’t hurt her. I won’t teach her anything, and I’ll make sure she isn’t a nuisance.”

She scrambled behind him as he dragged her toward a large room, binding her with silvered iron to the wall. The metal burned—not because she was a witch, but because she was a wolf.

“Not so powerful now, are you?” he growled, his eyes flashing red as he murmured an incantation that bound her far more effectively than silver ever could.

“So why bother with the silver?” she asked.

“Because it’ll cause you pain. I was far too kind to you in the past. You can stay here and think about how you belong to me and how you will learn to comport yourself as the meek and subservient mistress of this pack.”

He strode out the door, slamming it behind him. Her heart sank as she felt the magic he had imbued in the walls surrounding her, imprisoning her in a way steel, silver, and bars on the windows never could.

She opened the link the tiniest bit wider between her and Greg. She wanted to reach out to Greg without alerting Eoghan that she had done so. She could feel the virtual gasp as Greg realized he could not only feel her thoughts and emotions, but he could also feel where she was.

“Decker has a small special ops unit, I’ll let him know you aren’t at the village. You have to hang on.”

“I can take whatever Eoghan throws at me, but I fear what he’ll do to Erin. If I can, I will get her out and will send her down toward the sea.”

“Good. I’ll get Colby and some of the other warriors. We’ll come by boat. We’ll make sure we get Erin away. Stay strong. You are not alone, and we will come for you.”

“I will wait for you. We will defeat his evil, but you must bring Brie and have her take Erin away. She doesn’t need to witness another blood bath. I’m going to dampen the link. I don’t want Eoghan to know that it exists.”

“Do not close me out,” he roared down the link.

Greg was pissed, and she knew he had every right to be. She didn’t even want to think about the level of Decker’s anger. Her warrior mate’s anger was going to be epic.

“I won’t, my love. I’ll make sure you can follow the link like the breadcrumbs Hansel and Gretel left.”

“That doesn’t work out so well for the witch,” he reminded her.

Adriana smiled. “Yeah, but only because she didn’t have two big bad wolves coming to save her from those bratty kids.”

She could hear Greg chuckle. Establishing contact between them seemed to have helped both of them.

Adriana’s attention was diverted by the sound of a key turning in the antiquated lock. Erin peeked inside, looking around before she crept inside. She ran to Adriana, pulling at the manacles.

“How did you know where I was?” Adriana asked.

Erin grinned. “I’m just a kid. As long as they thought they knew where I was and didn’t try to leave, nobody paid much attention. I’ve been having a look around since I got here. Decker said when ever anything bad happens or you’re unsure of things, you should pay attention and make notes in your mind.”

Adriana shook her head. “Erin, you need to leave.”

“You came for me. I won’t leave you. I left my coven, and now they’re all dead.”

“You still don’t know that…”

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