Page 281 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

The people with knives were moving closer. He couldn’t watch them all.

“Sounds like a good plan. Now?”

“Yeah, now.”

They broke into a run to cover the ten meters to Kass’s SUV. A knife flew through the air but clattered to the ground in front of them. A leopard cut them off. He grinned; knife held ready for slashing. Bailey turned, so they were back to back, fists clenched.

The three others approached, and one retrieved his knife from the ground.

“You can’t win this Bailey. Her blood will be on your hands,” Gold Watch said.

“Don’t listen. You aren’t the one holding the knife,” Kass said.

“I know…” but it wasn’t easy. She’d been the only family he’d known. He hadn’t realized how fucked up that was until he’d been about ten. Soon after he’d realized he wasn’t human, and neither was she, and for a few years he needed her. Now all she had to offer was fear. A cage without bars.

Kass passed him the car key. “I’ll deal with this; you get in the car.”

“How will you—”

The leopard shifter blocking the way charged, slashing the air. Then he seemed to trip past them and into one of his friends. The scent of blood filled the air. Then the others attacked.

Bailey hesitated.

“Go, I’ll be right behind you,” Kass urged.

He ran the last couple of meters to the car and turned. The other attackers tripped into each other, like they were skidding on ice. Kass walked backward. Watching them, but otherwise not moving.

What the fuck?

Knowing Kass was a telekinetic witch was one thing, but seeing it was another. Bailey closed his eyes; he knew how the pen he’d been stabbed with had ended up lodged in the tree. He’d done it. He’d used Kass’s magic the day of the attack without realizing.

“Stop moving.” Gold Watch yelled. “He can only control you when you move.”

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in. All of them were bleeding from various cuts, and all of them had murder in their eyes. But they froze.

Gold Watch dug the knife into Gran’s side and blood bloomed. She whimpered.

“Is this how it’s going to be?” Gold Watch asked.

Bailey glanced at Gold Watch, then Gran. They were still playing their games and making their threats. He shrugged. “I guess so.”

Then he turned and opened the car door.

Kass got in on the other side.

“You’re an abomination,” Gran yelled. “Even your mother didn’t want you.”

Bailey froze and then glanced back. “What?”

“She left you behind when she ran.”

He smiled. “I’m glad she left. Now I am. If you come after me, or Kass, or his family, or anyone I know, I will bring the Coven to your door. If my whiskers twitch, or I smell you, I will tell them. You might have a dirty cop or two, but they have people everywhere. You are human playing with magic that isn’t yours.”

Gold Watch snarled and flung the knife at Bailey.

He lifted his hand and felt the forces at play, the gravity and speed of the knife, but it was Kass that sent it spinning away.

He gave Gran one final glare, then got into the SUV and shut and locked the door. He took a breath and let the adrenaline settle as Kass started the car. His jeans were cutting him in half. He undid the top button of his jeans, before buckling in.

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