Page 47 of The Wolfing Hour
The witch snapped into herself. “Use earth, not salt. Preferably your own, but I’m aware that you can use any soil for your magic. Bronwyn and I’ll go ahead and set up a salt circle outside your soil just as a precaution, but your magic is the strongest when you use your element to cast.”
“Especially now that the saguaros are back.” Bronwyn grabbed a length of pink ribbon from her pocket and secured her long, braided hair in a thick ponytail. “You’re uniquely connected to your soil and that makes you powerful.”
Margaux nodded sagely. “The land responds to no one the way it does to you, Betty.”
“It responded to Mom. It responds to Joon.”
“Not like you,” she said firmly.
Baek Ye-Joon was a mage friend of mine. He was the only person I’d ever considered selling the property to, primarily because the soil did seem to like him, though Margaux was right—it didn’t respond to him the way it did me.
Bronwyn unearthed a bag of rock salt.
I didn’t have enough Siete Saguaro soil in my pockets to form even a small circle, so I had to supplement with some garden soil Bronwyn had picked up for the Nepenthes she’d had to babysit recently. It didn’t matter. A benefit of my reconnection to the Siete Saguaros soil meant that once I’d poured power and intention into the garden soil, it was mine.
The witches formed their salt circle on the outside of my soil ring. Bronwyn used another length of ribbon to tie a knot in her swishy skirt to ensure she didn’t accidentally break the ring andspell, and Margaux chanted over the salt as she drizzled it on the floor in a solid, thick line.
I smoothed the soil clinging to my hands over my arms, waiting until it steamed into my blood before dialing the number on the note, setting the phone on speaker, and placing it inside the circles.
The line was answered on the third ring, and the click and beep that followed told me it was a recording.
“Betty Lennox, a colleague of mine is missing. Mason Hartman.”
The voice was vaguely European. A Nordic accent, maybe. It also had a prim,I’m-looking-down-my-nose-at-you-peasantquality.
Bronwyn let out a tiny gasp.
The recording continued:“You don’t need to know who I am. What you do need to know is if Hartman doesn’t turn up within the next forty-eight hours, you, and everyone you care about, will understand the true meaning of scorched earth. I will burn La Paloma and Smokethorn to the ground. Kill every ally. And I will start with Ida Summer.”
The rest of the message consisted of another phone number to call when we found Mason, dead or alive.
When the recording ended, I broke the circles, retrieved my phone, and turned my attention to Bronwyn.
“Tell me everything you know about Mason Hartman.Everything.”
“It won’t help. I only know a few things.” Her voice was low and nervous, the way someone might sound after receiving shocking news. She cared more about the man than she let on, and I didn’t have time to dance around her feelings for him.
“He’s in love with you. You know him.Start talking.”
She looked away, her expression troubled.
Where Bronwyn appeared worried, the ex-coven leader merely looked thoughtful. She grabbed a broom and dustpan and swept up the salt, leaving the soil untouched.
“Don’t think I’m not looking at you, too, Margaux. You were directly involved with Mason when you worked for Floyd. You made a side deal with him.” I repeated what she’d said after ditching me to investigate her old coven alone. “And I’ll tell you one last thing. If you need help, there’s someone you can call. He’ll hate it, but he’ll come. Tell him it’s to save Bronwyn. Tell him it was Margaux’s last request. Tell him we’re even after this.”
“What do you want to know, Betty?” Margaux asked in that haughty tone I despised.
“Start with who he is.”
“He’s the Pallás pack second.” She set the broom aside and clapped her hands to rid them of any remaining dust. “Other than that, and that he’s in love with Bronwyn, I don’t know anything about the wolf.”
“Bullshit.” I charged up to her, crowded her back a step. “Lie to me one more time, directly or indirectly, and we’re done. This isn’t a game. That caller will do what he said he’d do.” I leaned in, backing her up another step. “And that means my people are in danger.Idais in danger. If you’ve learned nothing else about me, you should at least know this—I’ll do anything to protect the people I love. There are no lines I won’t cross.None.”
When Margaux didn’t respond immediately, I turned away from them both and stomped out of the storeroom. Maya, who’d been scrolling on her cell, immediately set the phone on the counter. Although she was a shifter and strong in her own right, she’d remained out here in case anything happened to us. Someone had to call Ronan, Ida, and the boys if shit went sideways.
“Betty? Are you okay?” she asked.
“No the fuck I am not,” I snapped.
