Page 39 of Wind with a Chance of Wolfsbane

The Weird Sisters.

Suddenly there were more voices in Jonathan’s head. They belonged to three women who got under his skin faster than even Dracula could manage.

Master?asked a female voice.What is it that you require?

At the sound of one of the Weird Sisters’ voices, Jonathan’s wolf reacted more, causing fur to sprout over his chest. The wolf was even less of a fan of them than the man. Prior to Jonathan’s death as a human and rebirth as something more, he’d been at their mercy while he was a “guest” in Dracula’s castle. The women had seen him as a plaything and a blood bank, and he’d been powerless to stop them. Their thrall had been too great for a human to resist. It hadn’t mattered that he’d have moments of lucidity, wanting free of them and their twisted games. His body hadn’t complied.

Once he’d become a supernatural, their ability to capture and hold his mind had ended. Not to mention, they weren’t able to easily overpower him. He knew because they’d tried more than once over the years, seeming to enjoy toying with him greatly. And they really were what would make this already shitty night worse. His wolf agreed and wasn’t in any mood to deal with them.

Jonathan was vaguely aware of the commotion around him in the conference room as the Van Helsings tried to restrain him and halt his uncontrolled shift.

If anything else was said on the mental pathway, Jonathan missed it because, at that same second, Leo came rushing back into the conference room with a tranquilizer gun in hand.

Leo took aim and fired, never hesitating. He reloaded and fired another dart at Jonathan.

One second, Jonathan was alert, and the next, blackness swarmed his vision.

Jonathan locked gazes with Leo, desperate to keep everyone safe from himself. “St-top me.”

Leo nodded frantically before looking at Reggie. “Grab more tranquilizers! And somebody get some chains that will hold him. Hurry!”

ChapterTwelve

Willa

My breath caughtin my throat as I rethought a lot of life choices—but mostly as I really, really wished Mina and I had stayed in bed at the inn.

The wolf stepped out of the brush and close enough that if it wanted to bite us, it could without having to exert itself. It was massive and jet black, with a flashing of white on its paws. Never in my life had I seen a wolf that big before.

“Holy mother of…that is the biggest freaking—” Mina’s words died off as the wolf eased closer.

I’d always assumed I was the type to cut and run if a situation got scary. As I found myself stepping in front of my sister protectively, I was more than a little shocked.

“Willa, what are you doing?” asked Mina, trying to tug me backward, clearly as stunned by my act of bravery as I was.

I planted my feet, my gaze never leaving the wolf. “I don’t know what I’m doing. Go with it. When I die, write, ‘I told you this was a stupid idea’ as my epitaph.”

“Ohmygod, that isn’t funny!” she shouted, tugging on my backpack.

The wolf bared its teeth and then tipped his head, looking off to the side as if it was hearing something we weren’t.

“What do you say we avoid screaming?” I asked out of the corner of my mouth. “I’d rather you not scare the thing into biting my throat out. Okay?”

“Yes,” Mina whispered, her voice barely there.

“Okay, nice wolf,” I said, still staring at it and not at my sister. “You don’t want to eat us. Mina will taste like garlic, and I’m going to taste like a candy bar because I ate that in place of dinner tonight.”

“Wait, you have candy bars?” asked Mina. “And you didn’t share with me?”

With a grunt, I turned my head slowly to look at my sister. “Can we focus on the real issue?”

She shrugged. “You know how you think spiders count as threats? I think withholding chocolate counts as a real issue.”

The wolf growled once more.

Tensing, I swallowed hard and glanced back toward it with painfully slow movements, scared I’d set it off if I went too fast.

Mina rummaged around in her backpack of doom as she muttered curses. At least she wasn’t screaming or ranting about chocolate anymore. Guess that was a plus.

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