really as bad as you assume and she’s trying to snag powerful souls with that
 
 book, then maybe she’ll help us just to get Kahanov’s.”
 
 Jaxson frowned. “I don’t think—”
 
 “Anyway,” I interjected, “you wolves have a pretty skewed sense of the
 
 dark arts—a label that seems to include a broad array of things like scrying
 
 and my own magic. So let’s maybe ask someone less superstitious and see
 
 how crazy an idea this is.”
 
 “We don’t even know if the witch is alive,” he said, a knife edge of
 
 protest in his voice.
 
 I raised my hands. “Who do we ask, then?”
 
 Jaxson bared his teeth as he studied my face. Finally, he gave a reluctant
 
 grunt. “Fine. Sam, call Neve. She was the one looking into the book. See
 
 what she knows or can find out.”
 
 Sam pulled out her cell phone and stepped away as Jaxson drummed his
 
 fingers on the table in irritation.
 
 I took a deep br
 
 eath. “In the meantime, I have a stopgap plan.”
 
 “What is it? Make a deal with a devil? Summon the minions of hell to
 
 hunt him down?”
 
 I froze. I hadn’t thought of that. My aunt could summon demons, and I
 
 wondered…but no. I shook my head. “My aunt made a circle of protection
 
 around my bed to keep the sorcerer out of my dreams. Maybe we could make
 
 a big one where wolves could come sleep to protect them from Kahanov.”
 
 He shook his head. “I’m not sure wolves would be willing to sleep in the
 
 middle of a sorcerous enchantment, particularly one made by the LaSalles.
 
 They’d assume it was a trap.”
 
 “You’re alpha. King Wolf. Can’t you make them? By the second night,
 
 everyone would know it worked.”
 
 His eyes flashed gold, and I smelled his frustration and mistrust. His
 
 canines dropped and claws began to push from his fingertips. “Yes. The pack