Page 141 of Awakened
“What do you mean?” Confusion didn’t begin to cover what I was feeling.
“This is the work of a coven.” She went to the other side of the large wrap-around porch, her eyes scanning the tree line, stalking the forest.
Marie wasn’t making sense.
“Wait. What?”
When she turned to me, her face was all hard edges. She was fighting a shift. “Witches, Les. Those fuckers brought in witches.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “There aren’t any covens around here.”
She cracked her neck, rolling her shoulders. “Do you believe that? After everything you’ve learned in the last few months, do you honestly believe that?”
The wind whipped my loose hair in my eyes as I tried to push it back. Wet strands stuck to my cheeks as the storm got worse. “Fine. Then why are they helping the Crescent Pack? Witches don’t work for wolves.”
Marie cackled, her fangs lengthening. All the hairs on my arm stood on end. She was putting off an energy that hadme nearly cowering in submission. Her eyes flashed, and I could feel her trying to pull back her alpha dominance, but it made no difference.
“Wolf, witch, vampire, whatever, it doesn’t matter. A lot of people can be bought for the right price. The sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be.”
I jerked my head toward the forest as lightning lit up the front yard. “But how do we fight magic? I’m not fucking equipped for that.”
She squinted, and her small facial tics suggested she was following something, someone. “I think they’re just the distraction. If they wanted us dead, we would be.”
A humorless laugh fell from my mouth. “Oh, that’s comforting.” I rubbed my forehead where my brain was suddenly throbbing. “How the hell do you know all this?”
“That’s a story for another time. Right now, I need you to take Bonnie to the generator. They’ve upset our main power supply, but we may be able to get the generator going. We need to keep these women calm until the reinforcements get here. We have links out to Aiden, Zach, and Brian.”
Hearing the command in Marie’s voice, I pushed back my questions to focus on the task at hand. “Fine.”
Marie knocked on the door. It cracked open, and Bonnie, Taylor, Grandma Rose, and Sarah slipped out.
Marie nodded toward the barn. “We’ll cover you.”
Bonnie and I crouched down and skirted along the edge of the house. The rain beat down on our skin, unseasonably cold for June.
Must be the magic.
I couldn’t believe that not only were these Old Church fuckers coming for us, but they sent witches.
The generator was under an overhang next to the barn. We had to run about 50 yards without cover to get there. Silently, we rushed, moving in a zigzag pattern. The storm had already turned the yard into a mud puddle, so we had to move cautiously,tripping every now and then on gopher holes obscured by the puddles.
Soaked to the bone and splattered with mud, we made it to the generator, only to find it disconnected.
Our two bodies crowded the small cement pad to get relief from the rain. “Bonnie, I got this. You can start back to the house. I’ll only be a second.”
“I don’t think I should leave you.”
Breathing out an annoyed sigh, I conceded. “Fine, then stop dripping on everything.”
She took a step back and into the rain. My hands were so damp that connecting everything was difficult. After a rough couple of minutes, the house lights flickered on.
Grinning at Bonnie, I gestured toward the house. “After you, Bon Bon.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Mimi does.”
“She also gives me the privilege of having sex with her. So, she’s earned the right.”
