Page 167 of The Beta's Blind Date

I roll my eyes with a sigh as everyone in the room laughs. “Dickheads.”

“Did you bring the things I asked for?” Dr. Russo asks Maya.

She pats the tote hanging on her shoulder. “Yep.”

Dr. Russo nods, holding her gaze for a long moment. “It will be fine, Dad,” she says, reaching out and squeezing his hand, sitting in the chair next to him and setting her bag on the table.

“Taryn,” King Malachi says, drawing my mate’s attention. “Are you feeling ready to explain to us what happened in the room with Dominic?”

She nods and takes in a breath, sitting up straighter but remaining in my arms. “It was the strangest thing. As he was ranting and raving, I noticed the air around him warping and pulsing until I could see a… a cloud or… a visible disturbance… in his aura.”

“Can you describe this cloud? The colors?” Dr. Russo asks, and Maya leans forward, her chin in her hand.

“Didn’t you all see it?” Taryn asks, glancing around the room as we all shake our heads. “Oh.” She swallows and continues. “It was black, gray, and red. But it wasn’t just in his aura. It was flitting in and out of his soul, too, and pulling at him like a puppeteer would. And when I tried to heal him, it pushed against me, fighting me. It wanted to dig its claws into him again.” She shudders and I hug her, sending more warmth to her through the bond.

“What about Dominic?” Maya asks. “You know him best. How was he before you tried to heal him, and how was he after?”

“Before he was cold and cruel. Distant. Calculating. Crazed. But when I got between him and the cloud or whatever, it was like he went back to the true Dominic. The Dominic I’ve known my whole life. And he was confused and had missing memories. He didn’t remember leaving the wedding or alpha commanding me.”

“He could have been faking it,” I say, frowning.

Taryn shakes her head and Seb mirrors the movement. “His words and actions when Taryn had her hands on him were honest,” Seb says.

“But what about when King Malachi questioned him?” I ask.

Seb purses his lips. “His words then felt honest, too. But…” He rubs his chin, his eyes going distant for a moment as he thinks. “Look, I’m not a lie detector. You all know that. I just go with my gut instinct and it’s almost always right. And my gut tells me the Dominic we saw when Taryn healed him is the true Dominic. He can’t be telling the truth with the cloud and without the cloud. Can he?” he asks, glancing around the table.

“He might be able to lie under the alpha command if it’s not really him answering the questions,” Maya says, pulling a large, worn book out of her bag, her hands quivering and her voice shaking. “What Taryn is describing is the effects of thespiritus imperiumspell. It’s an illegal spell, but we all know legality of spells doesn’t stop witches from using them.” She opens her book and flips through the pages, scanning the text on them. “A healer can remove the spell depending on how long it’s been in place. I’m guessing Dominic has had this spell on him for a while since Taryn could only lift it temporarily.”

“What is this spell?” I ask, watching her search through her book, her body tense and her eyes avoiding ours.

“Spirit control,” she says. “Used to control the actions and words of another. Kind of like voodoo. The one being controlled can’t remember doing anything their controller forced them to do. They experience longer and longer blackout periods. If they’re strong, they can fight against it, but again, the longer it’s in place, the harder it is for them to fight it off.”

“So, someone is controlling him?”

“It seems that way,” Maya says.

“For how long?” Taryn asks.

Maya purses her lips together, pausing her perusal of her book. “A while,” she says, not meeting Taryn’s eyes.

“How long?” she asks again, her voice stronger.

Maya sighs, lifting her gaze to Taryn’s, her dark brown eyes soft and understanding. “At least a year.”

Taryn swallows and closes her eyes, her hands clutching at my arms. Water seeps out of her eyes, and she takes a shaky breath, her face pressing into me. A low growl vibrates in my chest. “You mean he was only with her because—”

“The only way for us to find out if they forced him to be with Taryn is to remove the spell and trace it back to the caster,” Maya says. “Which is what we’re going to do. With Taryn’s help.”

“But won’t we need witches for that?” I ask, rubbing my mate’s back to soothe her.

Maya bobs her head. “We’ll need another one, yes. I can’t do it on my own.”

I roll my eyes. “Of course you can’t. You’re a werewolf.”

“I am,” she agrees. “But I’m also half witch.”

She smooths her hands over her book, her lips twitching, her finger tracing over the page, reading the book like she didn’t drop a bomb on us.

---