Page 85 of Cursed Love
“Athame?” Brandy asked around the straw.
“A ceremonial dagger. A witch’s dagger is called an athame,” Ryan clarified with a chuckle.
“Oh, well she already had a knife in hand, so I assumed I could borrow the other one.” Brandy shrugged and met Peter’s eyes. “The pack?”
“Cuts and some dislocated joints, but otherwise they’re fine. They’ll heal quickly.”
Relief swamped her. She had not realized how worried she was of being responsible for a death in his pack. “I’m really happy to hear that. Wait, is our spell done?”
Peter guffawed. “Missed having me in your head too? Is Rye not enough?”
Brandy grabbed the pillow next to Ryan and tossed it at him. “Shut up!”
“What are you two talking about?” Ryan asked, pulling her in tightly.
Ethan pointed from Brandy to Peter. “These two drank a potion, and she did a spell so she could talk to him in wolf form.”
“Really?” Ryan asked. “I didn’t think it was possible.”
“Neither did we until Ethan showed up with it. Seems Serena’s been taking him under her—”
“Ugh! Gross!” Brandy cried, and everyone in the room cocked their head and stared at her.
“Wing, babycakes. Taking him under her wing.”
Her face flushed at his words, unable to meet Ethan’s eyes. “Oh.”
Peter chuckled. “Your woman has a filthy mind.”
“What about Aja?” Brandy asked, needing to change the subject. The room silenced, and her eyes darted around among the three men. “What?”
“In the commotion of making sure you were okay and Volark was really dead, it seems she managed to slip past us,” Ethan said.
“I have wolves searching for her now.”
Brandy nodded. “Do you think she’ll come back for us?”
Ryan sighed. “Honestly? I don’t think she cares about us, any of us. I was the bait to bring you in, and she needed you there to get in favor of Volark. He’d used some sort of magic to strengthen hers. The moment he began drowning, I felt her hold over me lessen.”
“Is that why you weren’t using your own magic?”
Ryan nodded. “I couldn’t. It was like my hands were tied behind my back. The one thing she couldn’t mess with anymore was our connection.”
Brandy elbowed him in the ribs. “Why didn’t you reply back to me, you big jerk!”
He looked down sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure if Aja left an opening, and I didn’t want to risk her hearing something she shouldn’t.”
“I think it’s clear Bran is okay. We should probably let her rest or kick Ryan’s ass in private,” Ethan said and nodded toward the door.
“I’d love to see her kick his ass,” Peter said. “I mean, she probably wouldn’t have to do much. You saw how all that water gushed out of her palms? Epic!”
Ethan chuckled and clapped Peter on the shoulder, urging him out of the room. “Really sweet, I know. My favorite was the dirt she pulled from the ground, turning the water into mud. What a way to go,” he said, his voice disappearing as he shut the door behind them.
Brandy peeked at the time and realized she must have been out for hours.
“He’s not wrong. What you did was spectacular. How did you know to do all that?” Ryan asked before kissing the top of her head.
Brandy shrugged. “I knew I could do some of it after the cleanup at the cabin, so I put my all into it. Rye?”
