Page 81 of Catch a Tiger

His gaze dropped to the book and Samuel made a note of the title. “Rune cooked for the first time in two years, so I suppose.”

“Why don’t you sound convinced?”

Her scent and pulse told him nothing. It was aggravating how good she was at hiding shit when she wanted to. Even her voice was steady, bored almost.

Which meant there was something very wrong, and she didn’t want him to find out about it.

“You saw when we found her, right?”

Her long nails tapped the book like she was trying to figure out what to tell him. “I watched everything up until you started the run back.”

“And?”

Morgan sighed and looked down at her book, tracing the words in Helltongue. “What exactly are you asking me?”

“You woke up while she was still asleep. Did you walk her dreams?” Samuel tapped his arm, eyes narrowing when her complexion seemed to pale. “What was she thinking when she woke up with Mylo in bed with her?”

“I don’t know.”

His arms dropped to his sides in disbelief. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I may be one of the most powerful witches of my generation, but even I have checks and balances,” Morgan told him as she rubbed at the gold leaf on the book, staring at it like it would make him disappear. “I can’t see her past or her future. I can barely see her now. When you told me she was asleep, I tried to walk her dreams, but there was nothing for me to walk. I thought maybe…maybe she didn’t dream?”

Samuel eyed the raven, but Valentina was pretending like she couldn’t hear them, which he supposed was better than her commenting on his business.

“Then when I heard Mylo, it was like listening to a one-sided conversation. He wasn’t shielding like he normally does, and I heard everything. But her? There was nothing even though Valentina assured me she was speaking.”

It was exhausting to watch how quickly Valentina typed out her text messages – like she was a teenager talking to their crush, but her expression never changed. Why he even cared, he didn’t know. It was just easier than trying to figure out why his mate was a fucking blind spot for someone as powerful as Morgan Lai Fay.

Running his hand through his hair, he wondered what he should tell the witch. None of it was really anything she could help with, especially if she couldn’t read Vix’s mind.

Helping her retrieve her memories probably wouldn’t work either, but what did he know?

Samuel would have said he was one of the most educated shifters when it came to the subject of magic, but now he wasn’t so sure.

“Can you sense what kind of witch she is?” he asked, deciding to start with something safe.

“Maybe if I see or feel her use her witch magic, but so far I’ve only sensed shifter magic.” Morgan finally looked at him. She seemed nervous, almost like she expected him to be furious withher. “She doesn’t exude magic like most witches. Can you smell anything distinct about it?”

“I can’t smell her at all,” he snarled softly, still staring at the book so Morgan didn’t think he was angry with her. “She wears no magic and yet she has no scent. Her body is covered with scars just like that Kavanagh witch.”

The raven turned her head slowly to look at him, and Samuel couldn’t say he was pleased about it. “I don’t think I know that witch.”

“You wouldn’t, no.” He entered the workroom and leaned against one of the massive tables so he could face them. Tucking his hands in his pockets, he wondered if the raven would be more forthcoming with Morgan awake. “Mackenzie Kavanagh is a high-society clan witch who was born without magic, or so all the witches had thought. The coven and her clan tried to get her magic to manifest by carving runes of power into her flesh. They’re all over her body.”

It was always fascinating to see how ravens responded to information without a single drop of emotion. Valentina didn’t seem horrified at all. She simply tilted her head as she considered that.

“Kavanagh?” Valentina’s eyes narrowed then, and she tapped her phone furiously. When it buzzed in response shetsked. “I know of the Kavanaghs, but only because Hunter Kavanagh possesses a raven’s blood token.”

He briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to wonder why the fuck that fox would possess something so incredibly rare and valuable.

“Ironically, that token belongs to one of the ravens from my partner’s old collective, which means the witch you’re talking about is mated to a scavenger.” Valentina looked up from her phone and eyed him like she just knew how much that would bother him.

“Three scavengers,” Morgan corrected, her thumb spinning her silver ring as she seemed to stare right through him. “Hunter is part of a triad of foxes who stole from Samuel a while ago. Kenzie seems to be managing them well though.”

She was, but that didn’t mean he wanted to deal with those three more than he had to. They were always trouble in one way or another and honestly, Samuel didn’t give a fuck what they did as long as they didn’t make problems for him or his pride.

“Regardless, Kenzie is a void witch,” he explained to Valentina. “A class so rare no one even thought that was a possibility when her magic never manifested, so she was labeled as ‘the witch who is not a witch’ until she discovered her true abilities. I’m not convinced that the woman who’s supposed to be our mate wasn’t tortured by someone putting those runes and glyphs all over her skin, just like Kenzie, even if she insists she put them there herself – that shewantedthem.”

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