Page 148 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

Waylan swiped his screen and disconnected the call. The stress in the room had grown exponentially. Kirsten sat beside me, chewing nervously on a hangnail. The other alphas sat around the perimeter of the room, each one looking like they were contemplating how badly this could all go.

“I’d like Kirsten to be with me when we infiltrate for the rescue,” Langston said, breaking the awkward silence. “What kind of limitations does she have with her magic?”

“Limitations?” Kirsten asked. “What do you mean?”

Langston looked slightly embarrassed. “Yeah. I mean, will we be going into battle with a rifle or a bazooka?”

“She’s still getting a grasp of what she can do,” I said, hoping to keep the spotlight off Kirsten. She had enough to worry about. “Her great-grandmother was powerful as hell, though. Strong enough to put a century-long curse on me. I’m not sure if power is depleted every time or not. I know that Tinsley said she thought Kirsten might be the strongest witch she’s ever heard of, based on the power she could feel within her.”

Langston absorbed that information and nodded his head sagely. “A hundred-year curse. Goddamn, Jace, you’re old as hell.”

That broke the tension as titters of laughter sounded from those gathered. Even my own stress abated a bit.

“Back to the original question,” I said after everyone had settled back down. “I know Kirsten’s magic feels a lot like her great-grandmother’s.” I glanced at Kirsten, catching her eye. “Random question, but are you sure there was no magic on your mother’s side?”

“Why do you ask?” Kirsten asked, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she spoke.

Instead of answering directly, I looked across the room at Ivy, where she sat leaning against the wall. “Do you notice it?”

Ivy blinked at me in surprise. “Notice what?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” I said.

She opened her mouth to say something, then froze, realization dawning in her eyes. She grinned. “Yeah, actually. I do. I guess I’ve been ignoring it.”

“What are you talking about?” Kirsten demanded, irritation rising in her voice.

“The hum in the air whenever you’re around,” I said.

“It’s almost like an alpha aura,” Reese said. “Honestly, I’d sort of thought that was all it was. Now that you’ve pointed it out, I can feel it’s different. Slightly, but different nonetheless.”

“You’re strong,” I said, turning back to Kirsten. “Really strong. Your magic gets more powerful every day. It’s almost like, before long, you won’t be able to mask it the way your grandmother did or Tinsley does.”

“The main reason I asked,” Langston said, “is that I’ve heard of old stories about witches who could create visual illusions. Lots of the old tales talk about that. Have you had any experience with those spells? Do you think you could do it?”

“I’ve never tried,” Kirsten admitted. “I supposed I could give it a shot. If I’m an eclectic witch, like Tinsley says, and the stories you’ve heard are true, then I don’t see why I couldn’t. How big of an illusion would it have to be?”

“If Steph does help us flip this one guard to our side, then we can use him somewhere else the night of the extraction,” Langston said. “With him using his influence and contacts, he could keep prying eyes away from the homes with kids. Maybe you could create an illusion of him walking the perimeter so it looks like he’s still on duty. It would prevent any other betas guarding that area from thinking something was amiss.”

Kirsten pursed her lips and frowned. It looked like she was working on a particularly difficult math equation. Eventually, she heaved an exhausted sigh.

“That sounds like a huge illusion. I’ll do my best to figure it out, though. I want to help in any way I can. I promise, I’ll try.”

Langston nodded and smiled ruefully. “All right, then. If Kirsten can do that, then we have a better chance of this working. If not? We’ll have to hope luck is on our side.”

The meeting broke apart, and people trickled out. Dustin and Ivy stopped by on the way to the door.

“With the whole town on lockdown, we won’t be able to do an official announcement for the challenge,” Ivy said. “It’ll have to be an ambush like Langston is planning. I don’t see another way around it.”

“Doesn’t really matter at this point,” Dustin added. “All of us know he’s a piece of shit. It may not be official, but all the alphas in the area are on your side.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Go ahead and start gathering all your people who are willing and able to fight. We need a head count before we go in.”

“Will do, Jace.”

Kirsten, looking determined, pushed away from the table and stood. “I’m going to go dig into my books. I need to figure out how to cast those illusion spells.”

She sounded like a woman on a mission. I grabbed her wrist before she could disappear. “Hang on,” I said.

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