“They were dead to begin with,” Alex says uneasily.

He looks up at the woman standing at a distance from us. She stumbles onto her knees, groaning and gripping her side.

I try to move toward her, but Alex stops me.

“She’s hurt!” I frown at him. “We have to help her.”

His grip doesn’t lessen. “We can’t trust her.”

I blink. “If she’s the enemy, why would she save us? She’s in a lot of pain, Alex. We have to do something.”

He releases me reluctantly, and I hurry over to the woman. She has pulled back the hood of her cloak, revealing dark curls andattractive green eyes. She looks pretty young, though, and if I had to hazard a guess, I would put her in her late teens, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old.

“Are you okay?” I ask breathlessly.

She gives me a suspicious look. “I don’t need your help.”

“You helped us, so the least we can do is help you.” I try to look at her injury. She’s not very willing, but it must be hurting her pretty badly because she removes her hand. It’s covered in blood. I see the purple dress she’s wearing under her cloak, slashed from the side, revealing an ugly gash.

It’s not a fatal injury, but it looks painful nonetheless.

“One of them got to me. I was trying to figure out a way to undo the spell, but I wasn’t fast enough, and I gave one of those bastards an opening.”

“Undo the spell?”

She gives me a tight-lipped smile. “Dark blood magic. Those were undead wolves. They were killed and then brought back to life.”

My eyes widen in shock, and my voice lowers into a hushed whisper. “Like zombies?”

The girl gives me an amused look. “Sure. If you buy into that whole thing.”

“Dark witches dabble with the undead.” Alex’s voice reaches my ear, and I glance over my shoulder to see him standing behind me, his eyes flashing dangerously. “Is that what you are?”

The girl shoots Alex a dirty look. “If I were a dark witch, I wouldn’t have been able to break the spell. The source of magic that dark witches use is different from that of normal witches. We draw power from nature and life, and they draw power from violence and death.”

I didn’t even know that there were different types of witches. “But I thought witches couldn’t interfere in each other’s magic?”

The girl sighs impatiently. “They can’t, but like I just said, the two types of magic are different. Therefore, it is possible for a witch like me to interfere in a spell cast by a dark witch. Not that doing so doesn’t have its own consequences.”

The words are barely out of her mouth before she turns to the side and promptly throws up. I can smell the blood in her vomit, and I wince seeing her sagging head.

“Let’s get you back to the campsite.”

Her pallor gives away her weakness, but she still resists. “I don’t know you. Leave me alone.”

I look at Alex helplessly, and I can tell that he’s willing to leave the witch out here to fend for herself. But she’s so young. And she helped us out. It’s not right to leave her here by herself.

“Alex.”

My mate eyes me with annoyance before giving in. “You’ll be safe with us. Besides, you’re badly injured. You’re going to attract a lot of predators with how much you’re bleeding. We have a few healing potions that you might be able to use.”

The mention of healing potions has her perking up. “Healing potions? I just ran out. Would you be willing to sell them to me? I still have a long journey to make.”

“What? Absolutely not!” Alex thunders.

I stare at Alex before turning to look at the girl. “What my mate means to say is that we kind of need them, as well. But you really should come with us. It’s not safe for you out here. The healing potion will help you get back on your feet.”

It’s obvious that she would rather be anywhere else, but our words must have struck a chord in her because she glances down at her wound and then stands up. When she sways, I grab her arm to make sure she doesn’t fall.