Page 20 of Soul Bound

“I would make a lovely rug,” I agree with her. “Someone once told me my coat is luxurious.”

“Did you also lock that person in a room and the back of your car? I came out here to help find a baby, but instead, I found myself on the set ofParanormal Activityand nowDateline. This is not how I saw this going.”

“Howdidyou see this going?” Turning serious, I ask her. “That you could travel across the country, find some random man and he would just pack his bags, no questions asked? Showing up at someone’s door and dropping the bomb that you did was going to be a tough pill to swallow for anyone—even as someone who was raised in this world,I’mhaving trouble accepting the whole ghost and bringing things back from the dead thing.”

“People usually do,” she says offhandedly. Her big eyes finally pull away from mine in the rearview mirror, opting to look out the window as we drive toward Esme’s shop in town.

“Your parents? Did they know about all of this?” I ask.

She stiffens in her seat slightly. “They were aware,” is all she offers.

“They don’t have any special powers or gifts like you, do they?” I turn down Main Street, on each side of the road sits quaint little storefronts. “Children usually develop their skills from their parents.”

She opens her mouth like she’s going to say something, but quickly thinks better of it and clamps her lips shut. “No.” She shakes her head slowly. “They don’t have any gifts.”

“Interesting.”

The reason Nicolai Volkov was experimenting with babies was because there is no crossbreeding of any kind in the shifter or other paranormal species. Until Pruitt came along and broke the curse that was put in place thousands of years ago, species had to mate with like species. They couldn’t even have children with a human, creating a half-breed. Nicolai and his other evil colleagues set out to crossbreed species, taking the best traits from one and combining it with the others. Jax, the demon that helped us get to Pruitt, is one of the first successful experiments to come out of Nicolai’s lab. He’s a cross between demon, wolf shifter, and warlock. I don’t know if he’s able to shift into a wolf, but I know he’s able to perform some magic and he can control something called hellfire. From what Pru says, hellfire hurts like a bitch.

All that begs the question; if Winslow’s parents don’t possess any powers of their own, how does their daughter?

I swing my car into the back alley behind Esme’s shop, opting to use the back door instead of the front. The shop isn’t technically open, but we rang her before we left and she’s expecting us. I didn’t go into specifics as to what we are dealing with, just vaguely said we had a little problem we needed her to look at. Which wasn’t a lie, since Winslow is, in fact, small and she’s definitely a fucking problem.

“Where are we?” Winslow’s eyes dart around the dark alley. “You never actually said who thisEsmeperson is.”

“Esme is a witch. If anyone can help us—well helpyou, find answers about your gifts, it’s her.” I hop out of the driver’s seat and promptly open the back-seat door for Winslow. Her bright, big eyes meet mine, they’re full of skepticism.

“A witch?”

“The high priestess, to be exact.”

“You brought me to talk to awitch,” she deadpans, her lush lips held in a tight line. I motion for her to get out of the car, but she stays where she is. I raise a brow at her in silent question ‘do you want to get out yourself or would you like me to move you?’

She narrows her eyes at me, daring me to do it, but immediately backs down when I take a step forward and lean down slightly like I’m going to throw her over my shoulder again.

“Okay,okay! I get it. I can walk.” She raises her hands in surrender.

“Good girl.”

“Fucking heathen.”

I smirk at her. I take her upper arm and start to lead her in the direction of the metal door. I keep my grip loose enough to not actually hurt her, but tight enough that if she decides to make a break for it, she won’t get far.

“I told you I wasn’t going to run; you can stop manhandling me,” she grumbles in annoyance and her elfin facial features twist up.

I swing the heavy metal door open and lightly push her inside the dark shop. “I’m sorry if I don’t believe you.”

“What have I done that makes me untrustworthy? I’ve been more honest with you and your merry band of werewolves than I have been with anyone in years. Honesty usually bites me in the ass, so I tend to not do it freely, but with you, I’ve been honest. I told you about Thalia, I told you about Poe, what else do you want from me, White Fang?”

“Why were you in a psych ward?” I drag my hand from her upper arm, down to her wrist, softly wrapping my fingers around it. I rub my thumb over the raised flesh, and I feel her shiver. “How did you get these scars?”

Winslow takes a shaky breath before pulling her wrist from my grasp. I notice she pulls the long sleeves of her white T-shirt down to hide the scars. “Let me correct myself.” She raises her head so she can look me in the eyes. “I’ve been honest with you about things that pertain toyouand the crazy mission Thalia sent me on. Why I was in a hospital or why I have these scars doesnotconcern you,” she bites out.

I don’t know why and I’m not sure I like it, but I’ve decided that everything about this girl concerns me. I want to know everything about her and her past. I want to know who hurt her and my wolf wants to hunt those fuckers down and punish them for leaving permanent marks on her.

“I’ll let you think that for now, Winslow, but I’m going to get my answers one way or another.” I don’t let her respond, instead, I nudge her forward through the beaded curtain that separates the back room and the main part of the shop.

I’ve been to Esme’s shop many times, so the sight of the occult décor or crazy witch shit doesn’t faze me, but from the way Winslow’s breath catches and her eyes go wide, I can tell it affects her. The dark purple walls are covered in all kinds of things, from paintings with weird symbols on them, to animal skulls mounted among the posters, to beaded things that hang from the ceiling. I’m pretty sure the beads are made of bone, but I never get close enough to check it out myself. One full wall of the shop is a bookshelf, it’s stuffed full of different leather-bound books that I’m pretty sure are spellbooks or grimoires. The shelves are so full of various books, the wood shelves are starting to bow from the weight.

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