“Best we discuss when the time is right,” Mimi replies, “I’ll seek you out after you’ve mated. Or you might seek me out. We’ll see how it all transpires.”
Grey gives her an assessing look, but doesn’t reply.
“What’s your number?” I ask. “I’d like to have it.”
Dani hands me a business card.
Danica Young. Enchanting Enterprises, Marblehead, MA
There’s an email address and a website in addition to the phone number.
“Thank you. Sorry about the mess,” Grey gestures to the debris. “I can send some pack members later to clean up,” he offers.
“We don’t allow more individuals in here than necessary, but thank you.” Mimi gestures to the beaded curtain.
I turn to go through that curtain. As I pass through it, the hairs on the back of my neck rise and everything inside me demands I resist the urge to look back over my shoulder at them. This room’s vibe is disturbing. Maybe it’s the mixture of spilled potions. Maybe Riley’s rage is still hanging in the atmosphere. It’s only upon leaving it, that I fully feel it. And I want to wash it off.
***
Grey jogs over to Riley, who is punching the shit out of the side of his truck. Spectators on the street look on with unconcealed concern, some of them muttering to one another.
This town has had its share of drama and then some, especially last Halloween, after the serial killer went on a killing spree right here on the main drag. Talk still hasn’t died down from it. They won’t take too well to seeing a man unhinged right here where all that happened. And the last thing we need is Riley losing it altogether and shifting to wolf form in public.
“Let’s get outta here before the cops come.”
Riley looks up at me. His eyes are filled with pain.
“I smelled her, Mase.”
“I know, brother. And I’m sorry you’re dealin’ with this. I can’t even imagine how emotional this is, but...”
“I fuckin’ smelled her, Mase,” he repeats, this time, his voice filled with the same agony as his eyes. He drops to his knees on the pavement and rakes his fingers through his hair. “In there. And now her scent is just… gone. Just like that day. That fuckin’ fucking day when she went under in the river and never came back up.”
He stares into space ahead of him and I know by his expression that Riley Savage isn’t here with us. He’s living in that moment almost seven years ago when he watched the woman he believed was his mate disappear into the river, losing sight of her, losing her scent for what he believed was the last time.
Fuck. What a shock it must’ve been to take in that scent.
“Let’s get somewhere quiet and talk this out. Figure-” Grey starts.
“I swam. I swam and swam until my lungs nearly gave out.”
“Brother, I’m sorry,” I say.
“Let’s go. I’ll drive your truck,” Grey offers.
“And then I slept and searched the shores for her, to see if she washed up.”
Grey and I exchange glances as a scent hits me. It must hit him too by his expression. It’s the river. It’s a female scent. It’s a potent combination that I’ll never, fucking ever forget now that it’s hit me along with Riley’s sorrow. If I smell Erica Young, I’ll know it.
“C’mon man.” Grey reaches for Riley’s hand.
Riley rises without taking it. “Gotta… I can’t. Got her in my lungs but the trail is fuckin’ dead. Only exists inside that room. I need to find her.” He gets into his truck, slams the door, and peels out without looking back at us.
“Fuck,” Greyson snaps. “You smell that?”
“Yeah,” I breathe. “Where’s he goin’?”
My phone rings. Caller ID says Danica Young.
“Blonde witch calling. I’m gonna take it,” I say.
“I’ll try Rye,” Grey says.
Grey is phoning Riley while I hit the button to put the call on speaker as we get into my truck.
“Dani,” I greet.
“Nobody in my coven will do anything to change the way you and your mate feel about one another,” she assures.
I can’t help but empty my lungs with relief. “I fuckin’ hope you’re telling the truth. What about other covens? If Amelia should happen to find another witch-”
“It doesn’t work that way. Not under normal circumstances. It would take a lot of effort and dark magic to work in a territory that’s not yours and … never mind. Just don’t worry about it. Do what you need to do to build your relationship. Put in the work. This is destiny. Trust it.”
“About Riley and your sister. And Greyson…”
“Got to go.”
“How’d you get this number? Riley give it to you?”
“We have everyone’s numbers. Sorry, but I need to go.”
She ends the call.
Fuck.
Yeah, I don’t doubt she has all our ‘numbers’. Something tells me that despite that we’ve never dealt with the Young Coven, they’re more than up in our business.