Page 38 of Midnight Mate
“I am willing to bargain,” I said before she could walk away.
It wasn’t my first choice, but apparently we were skipping Plan A and going right to desperation.
She turned to face me again, interest gleaming in her dark eyes. Overhead, the clouds roiled, and in her dead gaze, storm clouds rolled there too.
I planted my feet, unwilling to go any closer.
“What are you willing to give up?” she asked.
Damn, we were getting right to the point then.
“What do you want?”
The gleam deepened. “You would bargain nearly anything for the healing then?”
“Not just the healing,” I admitted. “I need to be free of . . . this place. And I need to be healthy to do it.”
“You hate Midnight Falls that much?”
She sounded morbidly curious, and I reined in my impatience. I didn’t feel like spilling all my feelings to a witch who obviously was only in it for the gossip.
“I hate the pain it caused me.”
She was silent a long moment, watching me with such steady scrutiny I had to fight the urge to look down and defer to whatever alpha vibe she was giving off. What the hell. This woman was powerful.
“You have nothing I want,” she said finally, and my shoulders sagged in defeat. She was going to refuse me. And I would be stuck like this forever.
“I knew this was a waste of time,” I muttered, turning to leave.
“There is another who wants something from you,” she said sharply, and I stopped, turning.
“What?”
“There is a woman.”
My gut tightened. I wasn’t sure where this was going, but I knew Delphine was dangerous. Damned if I’d give her anything on Cat.
“She’s not part of this.”
“Your wolf has chosen to tie its fate to hers. You can’t undo what the fates have willed.”
My eyes narrowed. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised she knew that, but it only made me more wary. “I came for healing. For myself.”
Overhead, thunder boomed. Delphine’s expression darkened.
“You came to bargain. This is the price fate will extract.”
A flash of lightning lit the sky, startling me into silence.
Delphine’s face began to glow, and despite the fact that I’d grown up around supernatural beings and magic, whatever weird shit she was calling up was really fucking unsettling.
“At midnight, the mate call will no longer be ignored. When blood is spilled under the moon, your healing will be complete. And the fates will have their offering.”
Her voice boomed unnaturally loud, and the storm clouds rolled in faster as she spoke. A shiver ran through me, the electric current in the air pricking at my skin.
I tried to decipher the meaning of her words, but the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like she’d just predicted more injuries. Not exactly what I’d come here for.
“Whose blood will spill?” I demanded, raising my voice to be heard over the rushing wind.
