Page 32 of Her Wolf's Demands

“Are you sure?”

“I hate the coven,” Fredrick replied. “I will not betray you. How can I help you destroy them?”

Okay, he had passed the truth spell. His frustration with the coven would help me to rescue Bohdi.

“I need to know how to break into the coven’s library at night.”

His choke satisfied me a little too much, considering I wanted him on my side. Sometimes, payback could be the simple things, and then it could all be forgotten.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” he muttered, “your family has its reputation for being the naughty ones in the coven. I wonder if you’ll fit in better with the wolves. They seem to like rebellion.”

A growl rose within Rochelle’s throat. Why did wolves have to have superpower hearing? The last thing I needed was for Fredrick to offend Rochelle. Her help would make life so much easier.

“Frederick,” I warned.

“Okay, okay.” His sharp snort of laughter was quickly squelched. “I’ll send you the door code to get in the back entrance. Once inside, use a freeze spell to disable the alarms. You’ll only have ten seconds to reach the box and stop them from going off.”

“Sounds like you’ve done this before,” I muttered, amazed at how comfortable I felt speaking to him. Just like old times.

His laugh was allowed to bellow this time, blasting into my ear. “What can I say? Love me some witch coffee, stolen from their pretty café. Not only that, I quite liked the idea of a juicy libido spell. Don’t ask.”

A smile broke out, despite the urgency of the situation.

“Anyway,” he pressed on, “remember, the coven think their magic is invincible. Once inside with the alarms off, there’s a barrier spell on the coven’s private entrance. A simple disabling spell, especially with your power, will take it down. Just… be careful.”

“Fredrick, I owe you,” I said, getting up from where I perched on the edge of the bed and retrieving my pumps.

“I’ll note down the IOU from the most powerful witch in Brighton.”

“Hybrid-witch.” I sighed. “Get it right.”

His chuckle cut off as he hung up. My tummy fluttered, butterflies making an appearance and setting my nerves on edge. It had no doubt been a while since Fredrick had broken into the library. Going there was a risk that could get me caught.

Ertha had my familiar. Would she trust that I would stay away? Or had she set the whole thing up as a trap?

“What are you thinking?” Rochelle interrupted my racing thoughts.

I was standing, staring at the dark screen on my phone. Rochelle didn’t know the history between the coven and myself. She might not understand my hesitation.

“Two things.” Grabbing up my denim jacket, I tugged it on. “I’m unsure whether Ertha would’ve cast a shit-ton of spells to keep me out.”

Putting my phone in my pocket, I reached out my hand, my insides flip-flopping at the thought of seeing Bohdi again. My poor cat had been neglected, Ertha was right.

Well, no longer.

“And the second thing?” Rochelle frowned, gingerly placing her palm against mine.

“There’s an innocent immature part of me who doesn’t want to betray the coven, even though they’ve betrayed me.”

Before she could reply, I imagined the back entrance to the library. The room around us faded, morphing into a dark alley.

“Fucking hell,” Rochelle whispered loudly, “that was insane. Can you take me anywhere? How about Barbados?”

Cringing at her choice of descriptive word, I waved away her excitement and studied the back of the building. There was a plain green metal door that led into the rear of the university’s library. I had used this entrance once or twice before, usually when I wanted to avoid other witches who would gloat at me.

“Simple enough,” I said quietly, urging Rochelle to follow me with a wave of a hand.

Seeing my serious expression, she stepped behind me, her stance strong and ready, just in case there was a threat. A true wolf. I, on the other hand, had my arm raised, executing an unlocking spell.

---