Page 32 of The Healer and the Wolf: Part Two

“I would say it even if I saw all that, Ven. You shine a light on everyone around you. You’re a true gift to me and pretty much everyone else you touch in your life. I know you can’t see it right now, and I won’t tell you how to feel, but I will be here every step of the way to remind you that you are not the monster that mean voice in your head says you are. You were a desperate person in an impossible situation, and you saved our lives.”

“Thank you,” Ven murmured before squeezing me back even harder. It was the longest we’d had physical contact in ages, and I cherished it. Our situation wasn’t exactly ideal, but I was determined to be the best partner I could be anyway.

“Anytime. And I mean it. Why don’t we go back to the house and get you something to eat? I think you’ll be amazed at how stocked the fridge is.”

Ven let out a shaky laugh. “Jeez, it was already chock-full before I went out to the garden. Is there even more now?”

“There’s enough now that one of America’stiasis bringing us a spare freezer.”

“Holy shit!”

Holy shit, indeed.

The two of us held each other for a bit longer before returning back to the house, still hand in hand, and although she was still quite stressed, I could feel that some of Ven’s internal struggle had eased. I knew there would be flare-ups and other pitfalls on our journey, but I was determined to be there.

Fate had already separated us once. I wouldn’t allow it to happen again.

There were onlytwo warlock brothers left.

I couldn’t believe it. After all the harm their family had caused, and with how impossibly powerful they seemed, only two of the original seven remained. That never would have happened without Ven, and I made sure she knew it. Sometimes my praise embarrassed her a little, but I figured I was making up for lost time. Far too many people in her life had taken her for granted, and I wasn’t about to continue that pattern.

So far, no random plants had burst into life in the house, and no vines had tried to strangle us. After our little talk, I asked around, and it turned out three or four of my battle companions had seen her use the ability and assumed we’d been keeping it secret. I played it off like we had, but on the inside I was as puzzled as ever. Not for the first time, I wished I was a bit more educated on magical beings. I knew wolf shifters inside and out because I was one, but as for every other magical type? I only really knew their weaknesses and how to kill them. Not exactly a great way to exchange culture.

With our expanded numbers, we were able to cast out a lot more tendrils to look for leads on the remaining two brothers. They now definitely knew someone was hunting them down, because the last two had disappeared, and no one had a clue where they might have gone. It was frustrating, but not entirely unexpected. Their own hubris had allowed us to take down three of them in such a short time. If they had done their due diligence, they’d have stopped us after we took out Chadwicke.

“Any report from the eagle shifters?” I asked Ricky as I pored over a couple of the reports from our scouts. The reports were detailed, but it had some southern and Latin slang I wasn’t familiar with. I could usually puzzle it out with context clues, but it took me a little longer and demanded more concentration.

“Esperanza is banned from doing anything until she finishes her college admissions essay, but the new one, Alicia, is following up a lead in Wisconsin.”

I glanced up at him. “Wisconsin? You really think they’ve gone that far?”

“She seems to, and considering her background as a mercenary, I figured it’s best not to question her instincts.”

Right. It was getting harder for me to keep an active roster of everyone helping us, but Alicia was one of the shifters who had come to us after we’d started returning the formerly enthralled shifters to their families. One of the victims who’d had memory problems was Alicia’s sister. As soon as the woman’s memories had returned about three-and-a-half days after the gala, we’d gotten her back to her family. A couple of days after that, Alicia showed up, swearing fealty until we took out the last remaining warlocks that had plagued our kind for so long.

She wasn’t the most talkative, but she didn’t have to be. She knew what to do and how to get things done. I was honestly surprised she’d never tried to go after the brothers on her own, but apparently she had been overseas when her sister was taken and had no idea who was behind it until we’d reunited them. Again, another way that evil family profited off the separation between the different species of shifters and other magical beings. When everything was said and done, if we survived, I would make sure things changed. I would make sure we were united as magical entities.

“Let’s hope they’re not. It’ll be difficult to get a sizeable force out there without being noticed.” I paused, then stood up to study the map America had hung on the wall of the living room. It was littered with sticky notes where important events had happened and at areas that had special significance to our search.

“Hey, Ricky?”

“What’s up boss?”

“Do you ever wonderwhythe brothers have always seemed so determined to stay in this tri-state area? Chadwicke was theonly one who traveled, and he was still always within four hours. Is there something significant here we don’t know about?”

“It’s hard to say. We don’t know a lot about these guys beyond the fact that they get a real kick out of subjugating every other type of magical person they come across. Mindwalkers, shifters, even other witches. We found pretty much all of them amongst their victims.”

“Huh. Something to keep in mind. Maybe there’s an angle here we’re not seeing.”

“I’ll look into it and see if anyone else has any ideas. No stone left unturned, right?”

“Right,” I agreed before my gaze went to the entryway of the living room. I smelled Ven before she entered the kitchen. “I’ll be right back.”

“Yeah, yeah, take your time, you lovesick puppy. I’ve got to sort through these reports anyways.”

“I am your alpha, you know,” I said, even though I took absolutely zero offense at what Ricky was saying.

“Yeah, mylovesickalpha. Now, get to your lady.”

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