Page 101 of Wicche Hunt

A knock at the backdoor broke the spell and got me moving again. I headed to the studio, wondering if Otis and his siblings were back, and then I heard the knock again. It was the gallery’s back door, not the studio’s.

Moonlight shimmered on the water behind Declan. I opened the door and he pulled me into his arms, lifting me off the ground.

“I needed to see you before I headed out,” he said, his voice a deep growl in my ear.

“How far away are the pack grounds?”Please, let me go with you.

“Hour and a quarter. Maybe hour and a half. It’s a ways up into Big Sur.”

“Does it start at a specific time? The Goddess and I will be having a talk at that time.”

He blew out a breath, chuckling into my hair. “Put in a good word for me.”

“What do you think we’re going to be talking about? Dummy.” I squeezed him tighter, not wanting to let go.

“How are you going to feel if the last thing you say to me is calling me a dummy?”

“I’m going to feel just fine. You have a powerhouse wicche in your pocket and you’re leaving her at home.” I kissed his neck. “Dummy.”

“Probably, though not for that.”

His scratchy beard rubbed against my jaw, and I never wanted something to drag out longer. I also needed to get him some beard conditioner. “What time?”

“Midnight, though I have a feeling it’ll start as soon as I get there.”

I leaned back to see his face. “Midnight? But you have plenty of time. That’s hours away.”

He shook his head. “I think you got caught up in painting.” He studied the walls and then all the pieces I’d already placed. “You really are extraordinary, and I feel so lucky to have known you.”

“Know, not known. No one wants your past tenses around here. You’re going to go kick all the other wolves’ asses and then you’re going to come right back here and show me that everything’s okay. Okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I mean it. Right back here.”

He kissed me then, with a desperation that broke my heart a little more.

When he finally put me back on the floor, he coiled one of my curls around his finger. “See you soon, Ursula.” He walked out, the sound of his heavy boots growing faint until they were gone and I was alone.

THIRTY-NINE

The Full Moon

Ichecked the time on my phone. After ten. Declan was partially right. I had lost track of time, but it wasn’t because I was working. I’d instead been watching the light leave the sky as dread built. I put the gallery to rights for the night and then went into my studio to endure what was going to be one of the longest nights of my life.

As I had until recently spent most nights baking when I awoke from nightmares, I fell back on old habits to fill the time. Mind too scattered to concentrate, I went simple and made brownies, what I’d offered him on the day we’d met.

I took the brownies out to cool and was starting on the cinnamon rolls I’d promised him when a thought occurred to me. I ran out onto the deck, yanking off my gloves. Pulling up a fountain of seawater, I ran my hands through it, fortifying my magic and washing off Declan’s nulling effects before jogging up the stairs to the loft and lying down on the bed. Breathing deeply, centering my magic with a prayer to the Goddess, I placed a bare, wet hand on his pillow.Show me Declan.

I was in the cab of his truck as he turned off a gravel road onto an even narrower one. When the trees opened, he was driving onto the pack grounds I’d seen in a vision. There was a huge meadow ringed with towering pines, rising into the mountains. Two dozen wolves paced in the center, growling and snapping at one another.

Declan parked, turned off the engine, and sat, readying himself. He took a pair of my green gloves out of his shirt pocket and breathed in my scent. Placing them on the passenger seat, he stepped out and began to undress. Howls rent the air as some wolves pawed at the ground, eager for the violence to begin.

He placed his belongings in the truck, shut the door, and walked naked across the meadow. A couple wolves couldn’t control themselves and came racing toward him. He continued forward, unconcerned. When one came too close, Declan stopped, his wolf gold eyes boring into the other, whose legs buckled before he turned tail and ran back to the pack.

He was glorious and I, like the rest of the wolves, couldn’t take my eyes off him. Something, though, was niggling at me. I wanted to watch Declan, but something was pulling my attention into the woods.

The compulsion was too strong, as though the Goddess Herself was directing me. I scanned the surrounding woods, looking for the threat.

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