Page 98 of Waltzing With Witches

Ben unfurls a strip of wallpaper and reaches down, wrapping it around my arm. Carefully, he helps me up to a stand. Wesley has Lou forced forward, staring as information scrolls quickly across the giant screen in front of them.

Black magic sparks and sputters in my chest, giving me the uncomfortable sensation of heart palpitations. The magic is both drawn to Wesley’s and equally repelled by whatever spell he’s using to control Lou’s body.

“Let Lou go,” I demand as her fingers fly over the keyboard.

A harsh, barked laugh is Wesley’s only response.

When I sprint across the room, ready to throw myself on top of them, he jerks Lou’s body up out of the chair, raising her hand, palm faced toward me. The moment Lou’s hand flicks up, I hit an invisible wall and bounce backward, falling to the floor on my ass.

Black, ghostly eyes blaze with fury, Lou’s face a mask of terror visible through his. Wesley sneers at me as he jerks Lou’s head toward the monitor. “Thank you for giving me such direct access to the command center, witch.”

“Let her go,” I demand again. “You got what you want, right? Just let Lou go.”

“Not possible,” he says with a sigh, lifting Lou’s hands and glancing lasciviously down her body. “I had planned to leave this ridiculous body and enter a more powerful one, but I wasn’t able to complete the magic. This one has done nicely enough.”

Tears stream down Lou’s face as she tries to force his gaze back up, but she can’t. My magic flares in my chest, drawn to her obvious hurt.

He’s hurting her.

Fury courses through me, my fists balling by my sides.

Wesley tsks at me, eyes dropping to my trembling hands, his venomous smile growing broader. “Worry less about your aunt and more about your precious wards. They’re down, you know.”

A chill snakes down my spine. Oh fuck. Wards down. Where the hell is Abe?

Wesley mutters something I can’t understand under his breath, and whatever he says puts Lou in some kind of a trance. Her hands drop to her sides, and she stares blankly through the transparent visage of his aura.

“That’s better. This one fights me far too much,” he mutters. “The big shifter would have been better. Big and dumb. He didn’t turn fast enough though.”

Every monitor alarm goes off at that exact moment, red blaring across the comm wall. Wesley casts a triumphant look at me, raising Lou’s arms as if the whole world is bowing to him.

“Now my army arrives,” he purrs, dark eyes glittering in the low light. “Ever is one of the largest havens. Did you know that? So much can be controlled if one controls Ever.”

“You’ll never get away with this,” I bark, advancing on him.

Just as he lifts Lou’s hand to stop me, the door bursts open, and Abe rushes through, knocking Lou’s body across the room. She slams into the wall with a thud, letting out a strangled gasp as she sinks to the ground.

Abe shoves me toward the door. “Ben, get her out of here!”

But as time slams to a standstill, I see everything as clear as day. Leaping out of Ben’s reach, I vault across the room and throw myself on top of Lou with a battle cry.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

KEEPER

The humans have a saying I’ve never truly understood about your life flashing before your eyes before you die.

I understand it now as my mate launches herself across my command center toward Lou, a wraithlike figure transposed over her features.

As I realize with horror that the wraith is Wesley, my life zips past me in a blur.

A quick vision of when my fangs came in fills my mind. How Betmal gifted me my ziol then, even though Evenia and Aberen didn’t celebrate.

There’s the day I decided to leave the haven system and make my way to Seattle.

Zoom, flash. The vision changes, and I’m staring at Morgan across a smoky little music venue. The crowd rages around us, but those granite eyes hold me locked in place. And that first kiss? The touch of her silky lips set me ablaze.

In the here and now, her body crashes into Lou’s body. Lou screams as a ghost-like figure reaches her hands up to slam their joined palms against Morgan’s body.

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