Page 20 of Second Chance By Fate

Chapter 7

Jax

There are several cars at the pack house when we arrive, and Enzo orders me to get rid of the shifters hanging out before we enter.

“Make sure you tell them that they never saw us here,” he adds, but that’s unnecessary. I know we need to keep a low profile until we devise a plan.

The group leaves, casting curious looks at my car, but no one asks questions.

“Make a list of what you need, and I’ll see if we have it here,” I tell Violet when the coast is clear, and we head inside. “Whatever we don’t have, I’ll go get.”

“I think we should stay together,” she mumbles, flopping back on the sofa. Her pale complexion worries me, and I say as much aloud.

“You guys all look like shit,” I hiss through gritted teeth. “Maybe I should call a doctor.”

“No!” All three of them speak in unison, and I hold up my hands, seeing that I’m outnumbered.

“Fine, but we need to fix you guys up.”

“I can do some healing,” Violet mumbles, sitting forward to look at the gash on Steele’s stomach. “I’m still capable of healing.”

She says it, but she doesn’t look good. I want to protest more, but when her hand touches Steele’s skin and their eyes lock, an unspoken truce forms between them, and I stop myself. A sense of relief overcomes me as I realize that he’s trusting her again, if only a little bit. Maybe the circumstances aren’t the best, but at least we’re getting somewhere.

“I don’t understand what they want from us,” Enzo grumbles, pacing the living room. He pauses at the window to peer out into the vast desert landscape as the morning sun shines overhead. His cuts still ooze, and I try to look him over, but he waves me off. “Don’t.”

Frowning, I fall back, but I’m not happy about it. We need to work together if we want to get to the bottom of what’s going on. But to do that, I need to come up with solutions, not play a blame game like Enzo.

“We’ll need to form an alliance of shifters we can trust to go through the estate and root out the danger,” I offer logically. “If we don’t go back there, they’ll come looking for us.”

All eyes are on me, and I glance from one to the next as a plan forms in my mind. I have their attention, and I intend to keep it. Steele’s face is already regaining its normal color, and I exhale as Violet stands, shuffling toward Enzo to work on his injuries.

“What do you need from me?” I ask her. “Did you make a list?”

“Can you find me some willow and white sage? I need to do a cleansing.”

Enzo eyes me. “Do you think we have that here?”

“I think so.”

Hurrying toward the second-floor bathroom, my mind turns toward the staff at the estate. Most of them have been with us foryears, but there are a couple who could have been planted. It still boggles my head that they’ve gained entrance to Dusty Woods without our permission.

Digging through the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, I find the herbs Violet needs and return to the living room where a full-blown argument has broken out.

“You’re not going back there!” Steele growls. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I’m one of them,” Violet says patiently. “They won’t hurt me as easily as they’ll hurt you.”

“You’re a dark witch?” Steele hisses. “You just said?—”

“I’m a witch,” she corrects him. “And they’re less likely to hurt me than they are a shifter. They care less about your lives than they do mine.”

“They almost killed you in that car, too,” Enzo reminds her. “I don’t think they have any regard for you, either.”

Violet falters over the observation, but she doesn’t relent. “I need my stuff, and if there are dark witches or warlocks at the estate, my presence probably brought them out of hiding. You’re right about one thing. That’s why things got worse when I got back. Don’t you want to see who’s behind this?”

Silence falls through the living room as Violet reaches for the sage and willow out of my hands. She smiles at me, but I can’t return her expression. The idea of her returning to the estate alone stresses me out too much. “You want to go back to the estate and antagonize the witches?”

She shakes her head. “No. I want them to think I’m on their side. I think that’s the only way to get them.”

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