Page 50 of Witches Be Damned

I’m on Cole’s phone while he tinkers with my exoskeleton.

My stomach relaxed into its normal position.

The boys are well. Pascal’s out of the hospital, and we’re back out catching bad guys tomorrow. Knoxe has really stepped up for Pascal. You’d be proud. Hell, I almost shed a tear. Ha, how’s that for a cliffhanger, romance novel queen? I guess you’ll have to come back and find out the details.

Oh, my man was such a tease. I kept reading until the end, delighted at hearing from him again.

I miss and love you and hope you’re living it up with Raze. Don’t worry, he got his own message above, which he was sworn to secrecy or else break the bro-code. Ah-ah. Don’t scroll up, missy. Here’s a glimpse, and only, because I love you:

Hey, brother. We miss your sexy ass, gravelly growl, and turning the training room into an eighties rock video. Redacted. Redacted.

I laughed so hard, I snorted. Typical Tor. Damn, I loved that man. My sunshine.

Sorry, but you’re only authorized for the PG version. And don’t ask Raze for the X-rated version or he won’t give you his candy.

Okay. I howled and snorted in one. I needed that laugh when I worried about my other three men and whether they were punished because they didn’t bring me back.

Thanks to an incredible tip, we’re closer to rounding up the fugitives and getting out, and excited to meet up with you again. Stay safe and wait for us.

Forever your Superguy

I sniffed and swiped away a happy tear. He thought I intended to stay with Raze. I mean, that was possible, but I didn’t want to constantly look over my shoulder and live with dread. I clutched the phone to my chest for a few beats, feeling close to Tor, yet so far away.

“Thanks, my wolf.” I reluctantly passed him back his phone.

“He misses you.” Raze addressed the elephant in the room after days of dodging it.

“Yeah.” That was all I wanted to say about the matter when my heart vibrated with the threat of breaking.

“Will you return?” Fuck. He wouldn’t drop it.

“I have to. They’ll come from me eventually. I’m just less priority than the fugitives.” Prisoners who probably weren’t meant to escape, but did, and the dirty players behind it probably wanted to silence them forever.

“When?” He set aside one fish to prepare the next.

“I don’t know.” I traced the grooves in the wooden bench.

“I think we need to discuss this.” Raze ripped the guts from a fish and I wanted to heave. “We need to make a plan.

“Please, not yet. I can’t.” I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes, fighting the onslaught of tears and grief storming my chest. “You’ve got evidence to clear Knoxe, Tor, and Pascal, but I’m not so lucky. I don’t want to talk about going back to emptiness, okay?”

Raze abandoned the meat, went to the sink, rinsed his hands, and moved to me, curling me into his warm and safe arms. “We don’t have to talk about it now. But if you think they’re getting out of there and leaving you alone in that dangerous place and forgetting you, you’re deluded.”

“Raze, I’ve been looking for you!” a female called out from behind, breaking up our cuddle and putting an end to that matter.

A female shifter hobbled over the grass to the hut, clasping two dead chickens. A male bearing another cooler came with her, who I assumed was her mate.

Formidable in size like my wolf, the werewolf deposited the box on the bench and clasped Raze’s hand and squeezed. “Good to see you again, man.”

Stepping back, he lingered by his mate’s side, stroking the ink on his tattooed fingers. He gave off rugged mountain man, silent-type vibes with his long, straight chestnut hair, beard and matching brown eyes.

The female swung the chickens onto the bench with a thud, her mate getting to work and plucking the feathers.

“I heard your mate was here. Is this her?” She turned to me, her hazel eyes warm and welcoming. Curvy with curly auburn hair, she looked smoking in her catsuit hugging all the right places.

This must have been the friend he said he met. Heather, I think her name was. The only one who wasn’t scared of him at first and befriended him.

My wolf’s chest rumbled as he shuffled forward. “Heather, Steele, meet my mate, Astra.”

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