Page 30 of Captive Witch

“Hello?” he answers on the second ring.

“Who’s assigned to her?”

“Me, boss.” He shuffles something in the background, then grunts. “I’m here now, but I can’t get within half a mile.” The phone clatters to the ground, followed by a loud thud. Brent’s voice comes back on the line, pained and breathing heavily. “There’s a shield up, I think. Tosses me back every time I get close to it. Damn witches.”

I sigh, pulling into my driveway and slamming the car into park. “Yes, there’s a shield surrounding the property. Go two miles west into the woods and find the carved birch tree. It’ll have something to grant you access.”

“Would’ve been nice to know,” he mutters. “What exactly should I look for?”

Gritting my teeth together, I stare at the trees surrounding my house. “A carved birch, unless you’ve hit your head hard enough to lose your hearing. Next time, figure out assignments the first time I call.” I hit the end call button and slump back in the seat.

Being here without Adara is already bleak and miserable. I’d go to the bar, but I need to take a shower before I head to Anera’s shop. When Frank and I met with her yesterday, she admitted she’d never felt the need to check through the paperwork that was kept in the office or storage room. She also never checked the basement outside of grabbing some restock supplies.

I head to the bathroom and start the shower, letting the steam fill the room. The hot water washes away some of the stress coiling in my shoulders. When Adara didn’t wake up from falling asleep on the couch yesterday, I was sure the full moon would wake her. Instead, she slept straight through to breakfast and I had to ask Frank to man the bar without me, unable to leave her here alone.

I told you magic would exhaust her,my wolf snarls.

Ignoring him, I squirt shampoo into my hand, rubbing it through my hair. Closing my eyes, imagining it’s Adara’s fingers in my hair, I reach down to grip my shaft. The last shower we took together, her hot body pressed to mine, flashes in my mind, and I pump my cock. My hand moves faster as I picture her beneath me, eyes wide, the deep violet almost swallowed up by pupils dilated with desire. Silver rims the edges, and her little moans sound in my ear. Breathless. Begging.

“Shit…” I stroke my cock as it throbs, swelling as I grip it tighter, and finally release into the stream of water.

After rinsing off, I walk to the closet and pull on a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt. The house is quiet—too quiet without Adara—and I even find myself missing the cocky raven and the way he haunts the branches and windowsills around the house.Unable to stand the stillness of the house, I climb into my car and floor it down the driveway.

The bell above the door chimes when I walk in, and Anera looks up from behind the counter, smiling. “Gideon! Here for your usual?”

My stomach rumbles just as I’m about to decline. “That sounds perfect, actually. I’ll have it in the office, if you don’t mind.”

A knowing look passes over her face. “Of course, dear. You go on ahead, and I’ll be right behind you.”

I pocket my keys as I walk through the shop, the smell of cheese toasting making my mouth water. Moving behind the counter and around to the doorway, I slip into the office and look around at the stacks of boxes overflowing with paperwork. Wendell couldn’t make it easy for us to find whatever he was trying to hide, greasy son of a bitch.

Slumping into the office chair, I start back on the box that Frank and I had been sifting through before. Receipts, tax papers, and invoices. Boxes and boxes of useless garbage. I throw a stack of papers back into the box it came from as Anera comes in, carrying a plate.

“Same club you’ve been asking for all week, plus some homemade chips.” She glances around the office. “Find anything? I tried to look once, back a few years ago, but never found much in all this nonsense.” She sighs, resting a hand on her hip. “That man really knew how to hide a needle in a haystack.”

A humorless laugh escapes me, and she grimaces as she hands over the plate.

“Have you…” Shifting her weight back and forth, she wrings her apron in her hands. “Have you asked her about all this?” She brings her gaze up to mine and waves her hand around the office. “Being a witch, Adara could—”

“No,” I say, setting the plate on the desk beside me. “I won’t be asking her, and neither is anyone else.”

“She—”

“Anera,” I narrow my eyes at her, “stop. If she goes around asking questions about a witch helping a werewolf, what will that achieve? Nothing but put another target on her back. If Wendell went through all this trouble to hide that witch, what makes you think—”

Her brows pinch together, and her eyes mist over.

I sigh, closing my eyes and taking a breath. “I’ll figure this out. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt, understand?”

She nods, sniffling, and I stand to wrap my arm around her, giving her a hug.

“I can’t focus if she isn’t safe, Anera,” I say softly, hating myself for making the woman cry after everything she’s done for me this week.

“I understand, I’m sorry.” She steps back, using her apron to wipe the tears from her cheeks, then gives me a small smile. “I’m going to head back to the counter. You let me know if you need anything.” Reaching up, she pats my cheek before turning to head out to the front of the store.

My chest aches at the touch, missing my own mother for the first time in a lifetime.

Hiding this from Adara is a bad idea,my wolf says.

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