“Interesting,” he said.
“What are those?” My fingers itched to touch them, but I forced myself to keep my hands to myself. If they were part of his magic in some way, I didn’t want to insult him. Especially when we needed him to stick around for the spell. But this was the second time crystals had come up in as many days. I wondered what I was missing out on.
“Depends on which crystal you mean.”
I was getting side tracked. I’d have to ask him about them when we didn’t have one of the Evil Trinity primed to kill us all. “How much did Shane tell you?”
“About what’s happened? Everything.”
“And you’re okay with fighting demons?” Because I wasn’t sure if hippie, nature-loving witches were also pacifists. This definitely wasn’t going to be a pacifist group. “It’s dangerous and I want to make sure you’re aware of everything we’re up against.”
“I’ve had some experience fighting demons. I know I might not look it, especially with who’s in the room, but I’ve got power.”
He was right. The room was pretty loaded in the power department, but I was curious what that meant. What experience did have have fighting demons exactly? I figured that was his to share when he was ready, but I had another question I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “What kind of power?”
“Do you need a demonstration?”
I didn’t, but I was extremely curious. Aside from la Aquelarre and Tía Rosa, my knowledge of witchcraft was pretty limited. I hadn’t had time to really explore different kinds, and River’s looked pretty damned different. The crystals on his wrists kept catching my attention. “If you don’t mind? I’m kind of curious.” I tried to tone down my excitement.
What Shane said was right—the covens are pretty closed to outsiders. But I’ve heard about his coven. They sell jewelry they make out of powered crystals.
I spun to Dasiten. Really? Do they have a website?
Yeah. I was thinking of getting something commissioned for you.
River cleared his throat. “Everything okay?”
I spun back around. “I was just talking to my mate.”
“Umm…” He looked between me and Dastien like we were crazy.
I guessed I probably looked super weird silent-talking to Dastien. “It’s a werewolf mate-bond thing. And rude. Sorry. It’s habit now.”
“Not a problem. So you talk to each other psychically?”
“Yup. That’s pretty much what it boils down to.”
“Huh.” He looked curious, but dropped it. “You ready?
“Sure.” But for what, I didn’t know.
He smiled and I noticed that one of his teeth was a little crooked. “On three.”
I narrowed my gaze. “What’s on three?”
River just kept grinning. I had a second to wonder what was so funny, before he started counting.
“One.” He muttered something in another language, one that that had too many guttural sounds and consonants. “Two.” One of the crystals on his wrist started to glow, and then he touched his pointer fingertips together, then his ring fingertips, then his thumbs. For a second, I thought I could see a spark moving around his hands. “Three.” He twisted his wrists at the same time in one quick gesture.
It was as if something slammed into my stomach, and I flew backwards, slamming into the wall.
I gasped as I slid to the floor. The room went into chaos, everyone yelling at once. Dastien grabbed River, lifting him up off the ground like he weighed nothing. I didn’t have to be inside my mate’s head to know what he was about to do.
Power rose within me and I shoved it into the room. “Everyone stop!”
The Weres in the room froze, expect for Dastien. He hit you.
No. I told him to prove himself, and he did. He’s in.