Page 43 of Eclipsed Heart

Her gaze landed on me before her head jerked in Samuel’s direction. Dina pointed to Samuel and ordered, “Chelsea, go heal him.”

Chelsea nodded, her aquamarine-blue eyes narrowing in determination as she beelined over to Samuel.

Taking several steps back, Michael moved so Dina could take his place. When the witch squatted beside me and touched Bodey’s head, I snarled.

I didnotlike her touching him.

“Do you want me to help him or not?” Dina arched a brow.

“Yeah.” I sighed, realizing that I had to tamp down my possessiveness…for now. “I thought you’d be healing Samuel.”

She slid her hands into Bodey’s fur again, and I swallowed hard.

Even Bodey shook his head, trying to get her hands off him.

“My priority is the king and queen,” Dina said then grumbled as she tried to hold Bodey’s head still. “However, Chelsea is the coven’s next in line and almost as strong as me. Samuel is in good hands. Bodey, do you want me to see what’s going on or not?”

Jack cackled, sounding more like himself than he had in the past day. “Mates don’t like the opposite sex touching them or their mate. You’re dealing with an angry queen and an annoyed Bodey right now. I can’t wait to see which one winds up biting you.”

Of course,nowsmart-ass Jack appeared. Honestly, it relieved me to see him. Somehow, the situation seemed less dire when he was acting like that.

Babe, it’s okay,I linked, trying to soothe my mate.

Bodey growled, his eyes opening wide. The pain was more like a sore arm or muscle now than anything.Tell her I’m fine.He stood but then dropped back into my lap.

“The pain is almost gone.” I furrowed my brows. “How is that possible?”

Dina dropped her hands. “It must have been a spell. The witch must be out of proximity, so it’s fading now.”

I arched a brow. “Isn’t that something you can tell?”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m drained after healing your sister. It took everything out of me to heal her wound. Had I been just a few seconds later…” She shivered. “And then Bodey wouldn’t stay still, so between that and my weak magic, I can’t get a good feel for it. But I still would if it were a permanent spell, so that’s what makes the most sense.”

My body sagged. “So…it won’t come back?”

Dina shook her head. “Unless she spells him again, but then it would work only while she’s close by. The only way to make a spell permanent is to sacrifice something of great importance.”

I lifted a hand, causing Bodey to snarl. He linked,You need to shift back before someone sees you naked.

Of course, Jack placed his hands into his jeans and kicked at the ground. “What’s wrong, Bodey? Don’t want her to point to anything?”

I’m going to kill you and savor each moment,Bodey vowed.

Ignoring him, I nodded toward the gray mist. “What is that?”

“That’s a spell only strong witches can cast. It’s based on using rosemary to clean the air around the caster, and this particular witch was smart enough to use lavender to override your sense of smell as the air was cleansed of anyone’s scent, and the mist obscured your vision. She used it to cover their getaway.” Dina pursed her lips. “But it’s strange…it’s like she went out of her way not to hurt you.”

“I’m not sure I agree.” I glanced at my mate, who was busy staring daggers at the wolves near us as if daring them to look my way. “She tortured Bodey.”

Dina bit her bottom lip but said nothing.

We seemed to have no answers when it came to the queen and her strategy. I wanted to scream.

“Hey, Callie.” Jack waggled his brows. “Did you see that?”

I turned to look in his direction just as Bodey snarled,Don’t fucking move. He’s messing with me.

“Seriously, Jack.” I stiffened and tried not to laugh. If Bodey hadn’t warned me, I would’ve turned around and exposed one of my boobs to the world. “Samuel’s hurt and we just had a fight.”

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