Page 27 of Hunted By Wolves and Shadow
“I—I don’t…”
“Emerald.” She flinched at my use of her proper name, but she needed to hear this. “Your family are witches. The women are named for gemstones, and if that’s not enough, the sweet little old lady you insist lived here has an entire garden devoted to death. You’re too clever not to see the truth.” I waited until she got her obligatory scowl out of the way before she looked around herself, taking it all in for maybe the first time. The pain in her eyes did nothing to mask her turmoil, and something inside me broke with the need to comfort her. “Your grandmother cast this curse. She was responsible for the deaths of dozens, probably hundreds of people by now. I don’t know how you stayed sheltered from it, but if you are as innocent as you claim, then help me save the ones we still can.”
“Even if I believed you, I don’t know anything about this stuff.” She stared accusingly at the garden she’d been weeding so incautiously.
I reached out to guide her from it, but she closed up.
Her arms folded across her chest, her head shaking side-to-side. “And I don’t believe you anyway.”
“Fine. But we made a bargain. So humor me and help.”
“I don’t know how! I have no idea where Grandma would have hidden something precious. I don’t know about any of this! Until nine days ago, I didn’t even believe the Mist was a curse.”
“You can’t deny it now. You saw Fenrir. You heard my stories.”
“Exactly. I saw a monster thatyouclaim was once a man. I heardyoutell me things that sound unbelievable. All I have to go on is your word. How am I supposed to believe anything you tell me when you’re a criminal? A murderer?”
It hurt more than I cared to admit, knowing she would never be able to trust me. “I may be those things, Emi, but I swore to tell you the truth. Yes, I killed your grandmother. I won’t lie about that, or ask for forgiveness. I’m not sorry that I did what I had to, but I am sorry at how it affected you. I’m sorry thatyou cared for her when she didn’t deserve it, and that you lost someone you thought you knew. I’m sorry that she fooled you into thinking she was worthy of your love, and that she betrayed the trust you placed in her by keeping all of this from you. If I won’t lie about the worst thing I’ve ever done, then why would I lie about this?”
She was lost. Her thoughts must be churning through all of the evidence around her, but it was a lot to overcome a lifetime of being hoodwinked and sheltered, lied to and manipulated. If it were possible, I hated the Ruby Witch even more now for taking advantage of a soul like Emi’s.
She needed a distraction. I offered the only one I had. “Training. Exercise. A chance to hit me. Come on…”
“I need to think.” Her head shook.
“No. You need tonotthink. Get out of your head for a while. See what your subconscious believes when you aren’t so trapped by your family’s manipulations. They kept you as a house cat, when you’re actually a tigress. There’s a whole world out here beyond the door they kept closed on you. Explore it, witchling. Open your mind, turn off the brainwashed drivel, and just be yourself for once.”
“By hitting you?”
Her smirk sent a flutter of wings through my stomach. Yep. I was in so much trouble.
I was falling for a witch.
It was impossible, but I didn’t care. Being around her made the curse quieter in my head, and even though I should be closer to my monster than ever, I’d never felt more like myself. Why would I deny this reprieve that felt so right, no matter how temporary I knew it was?
I opened my arms to her. “If that’s what you want.”
“And what if I want to go get that ax and make you pay for your crime?”
“Well, then, I’d say you have to get past me first.”
Chapter 13
Wolf
Our back and forth had us both aching and breathless as I blocked Emi’s latest attempt to hit me in the face. I might have been a little dazed by the bright fire in her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes, but she obviously had no compunctions about messing with my pretty face. Normally a smile and flick of my eyebrows could get my friends to snap out of the draining pull of the Mist and start talking again, but Emi was immune to my charms. She’d been mostly silent since we started.
The good news was she had yet to make it to the ax, although she didn’t seem to be trying particularly hard. The bad news was, my own feelings for her had me getting frequently distracted.
I shook out my arms and pulled my attention back from her snug waist where my hands itched to touch. It was an unfair advantage to be fighting me while wearing that corset belt. I should even the odds.
Taking a step back, I pulled my shirt over my head and used it to wipe the sweat from my brow before tossing it aside.
“You’re getting better. I might have to start trying,” I teased.
If I expected an immediate retort, I was disappointed. Emi stood frozen with her eyes on the middle of my chest. Considering how much fur my wolf wore, I was rather hairless as a man, with only a smattering of reddish hair over the dusting of freckles between my pecs. Her gaze locked on that spot.
My stomach floated as I chuckled at her blush. “See something you like?”
