Page 46 of Enspelled

All over.

I glance at her as she opens a cupboard and looks inside before shutting it. She moves on to the next, much as she has since we struck out at Layla Markham’s house.

We wasted nearly an hour rifling through every cupboard, drawer, closet, and cabinet, and there was no sign of any extra grimoire. There was no witch either, but if Sera said there was a coven meeting, she must have gone to that.

With nothing to do, and nowhere else to go, it made sense to return to the cabin in the forest we spent last night. “What are you looking for?” I ask, curiosity finally winning out.

Her back stiffens, but she doesn’t turn around.

I’m guessing I’m not the only one having trouble forgetting what we nearly did.

And Bodie… one look in the wolf’s eyes as he pulled up to the parking lot just as we were leaving was enough to convince me that he knew what we’d been up to.

But he said nothing, just passed Briar a silver necklace with a tiny pentacle on it which hummed with enough magic that even I could feel.

“But this is Sera’s,” Briar had said, not making a move to take it.

“And she wants you to be safe, so take it,” Bodie replied.

Still, she’d hesitated.

“There aren’t many people in the world as loyal as your friend,” Bodie had said, surprising me with the soberness in his voice. “So don’t turn down her offer to help.”

So Briar took it and slipped it over her head before Bodie left, and then she reluctantly directed us to Layla’s home.

“I don’t know,” Briar says, the clatter of a cupboard door slamming shut pulling me from my thoughts. “Something.”

She wanders over to the refrigerator, opens the door, and bends over.

I take one look at her ass. My cock jerks, and I shove myself to my feet from where I’ve been sitting on the couch. “I’m going out.”

For the first time since we returned thirty minutes before, Briar turns to me. “To go where?”

I fumble for a reason that seems plausible. “To get rid of the body in my truck.”

Her expression shutters, but not before I see the horror she quickly masks. “Sure.”

I study her back as she returns to rooting around the refrigerator. And for the first time, perhaps ever, I think about hunting out-of-control shifters who need to be put down, and I hate it. I fucking hate it.

If Dad knew I was a hired killer, he wouldn’t recognize me.

Some daysIdon’t recognize myself.

“I’ll be back soon,” I say to her back.

Briar nods, and I go looking for a place where I don’t have Briar Fenix tempting me to forget about the reason I returned to Madden Grove.

Once I’ve climbed into my truck and pulled the door shut behind me, I don’t immediately start the engine.

Soon, probably in a matter of hours, the Wolfe pack will come after me, and they won’t stop until I’m dead. If it was a straight fight between me and Liam, I wouldn’t have much to worry about. But I have a pack to contend with.

So what do I do?

I could drive out of town, abandon this revenge that’s been ten years in the making, but I won’t. Not now. Not when I feel like I’m further ahead than I was when I left town. I’m close. I know it.

And even though Sera isn’t exactly helping me, what she learns could reveal even more.

I think about where else I could get help. And no matter how many times I let the question circle my mind, it always goes back to the same person. Mara.

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