“You told me before you left that the voices in your head, the magic, wanted me gone. This way you both get what you want, and you don’t have to suffer the guilt of wielding the weapon yourself.”
“I don’t want you dead.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have disappeared for two fucking months.”
She takes a step closer, and my muscles harden, tensing for an attack. But not from her. No, I’m bracing so I don’t pounce on her and give in to my own little voice urging me to take her up on her offer. “I’m not the same person I was before.”
“Noted. Now, get the hell out of my apartment. I’ve spent the last two months searching for you and let a lot of my own shit slide because of it.”
She steps out of my way so I can move around her and out into the hall. I’m nearly to the front door when it hits me. Sweet, sweet copper. My fangs descend, the predator lurking inside me itching to break free and take what it wants.
What it knows I need.
Inhaling, I turn slowly and glare at Bronywyn, who stands a few yards away, wrist split open and bleeding. “What. In. The. Fuck. Do. You. Think. You’re. Doing?” I choke out, barely able to form the words as my body begins to vibrate.
“Giving us what we both need.” She steps forward, blood dripping to the floor. I can hear each drop slamming to the ground as though they were bowling balls, and not tiny crimson teardrops. “You can’t deny me now,” she says, her eyes circled with black. The shadow magic moves within her, the inky black tendrils mixing with purple snapping at the fingertips of her unwounded hand. “Come and have a taste, Tarnley. You know you want it. I can sense it.”
I close my eyes and inhale again, her delectable scent making my stomach growl with want. But I force myself away, rebelling against the bloodlust threatening to tear me apart. “I’d rather die,” I choke out. Using the last of my strength, I blur past her and out into the hall, putting as much distance between the two of us as possible before the humans on the street force me to slow down.
* * *
Feelinglike the waste at the bottom of a dumpster, I step into the house Delaney and Cole share. I can hear them chatting in the living room, and it takes everything in me to force my way in there. They’re planning another search party for Bronywyn, and I have to be the one to inform them that not only is she here, but she also obviously wants nothing to do with any of us.
Fucking peachy.
Elijah spots me first. He’s in the kitchen as I pass and comes out to greet me. “Hey, brother, how are you feeling?”
Elijah and Rainey are the only ones who know what I’m really going through. The rest of them think I’m this way because of the grief over losing touch with her, but they don’t even know the half of it. Though tonight, I imagine I’ll have to be honest with the rest of them seeing as how it’s going to kill me, eventually.
“Been better,” I reply.
His blue eyes level on me, narrowing with worry, but he doesn’t press—thankfully. “Everyone’s here.”
Nodding, I follow him into the living room where Delaney and Rainey pour over a map. The two sisters—cousins by blood—both look up at me in unison. While Rainey’s expression doesn’t change, Delaney’s softens with pity.
“Hey, Tarnley.”
I don’t respond verbally, opting instead for a slight nod.
Cole and Fearghas stand in the corner, discussing who the hell knows what, as does Walker—Rainey’s psychic partner at the police department—and Drex, the young hunter Delaney saved from being auctioned off to the highest bidder a few months ago.
The only one missing is Magnolia, a young witch the eldest Astor sister rescued when she was on the hunt for Lucy. Though, her absence is not too much of a surprise. She’s been spending quite a bit of time on pack lands with Lauren, a witch married to the pack’s beta. She’s the only one of us allowed out there, and to be honest, I can’t blame Willa.
After all, both her father and mate—Jack—were killed in the fight against Lucy.
“We’re thinking about starting south of Bronywyn’s house. Might be a good idea to give that another pass,” Rainey starts.
I clear my throat.Better to just get it over with, then.“That won’t be necessary,” I tell them, the words poison on my tongue.
Delaney’s brows draw together as she looks from her sister to me. “Why not?”
“Bronywyn is back.”
Delaney stiffens. “You saw her?”
Rainey crosses her arms over her chest, and all gazes shift to me. “I did. She was at my apartment when I got out of the shower.”
“What did she say? Where is she? Where has she been? It’s been almost two fucking months!” Delaney’s questions make this next part even harder. She grew close to Bronywyn, one of the only people who’s been able to make it past the witch’s walls.