“No promises,” he said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
“I’m not worth all that,” I said. “What would I do without you?”
“You’d be fine,” he said.
“No, I wouldn’t,” I admitted.
“I’m okay now,” he said.
“It should have killed you. Good thing you’re stubborn,” I teased.
“Wait, where are we?” He looked around. “Star?”
The witch was walking toward him with a glass of water in hand. “Welcome back.”
He tried to sit up, then fell back down.
“Don’t go too fast,” I said. “You just got the first dose of antidote.”
Star lifted the glass of water as if making a toast. “Congratulations.”
Alec’s face lit up. “It works?”
Star nodded.
He laughed, then started coughing. Star offered him the glass and helped him drink.
“It works,” he said. Then he turned to me. “I fought your mate. He lost. He was going to break the bond…”
“He lied,” I said.
“He didn’t hurt you or anything after I was under, did he?” Alec sounded frantic.
My heart raced, thrilled that he was awake, and overwhelmed with emotion at his concern for me. “No. But he got away.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Alec said as he tried to sit up again.
I pressed gently on his chest. “You need to rest before you try killing anyone.”
“She’s right.” Sheila grabbed Alec’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Besides, you aren’t the only one who wants revenge. This guy was already on my shit list for how he treated Lola. I’m not an eye-for-an-eye kind of girl, but I’ll make an exception for this asshole.”
“You’ll have help,” Malcom said.
“I’m in,” Kyle said.
“Well, before anyone goes off on a man hunt for revenge, the patient needs to recover. He was poisoned. He should be dead. At the very least, let him rest a while,” Star said.
“What about the spell?” Alec asked. “Did you break the claim yet?”
“We were a little busy keeping you alive,” I said.
“Don’t wait on it,” he insisted. “It’s bad enough that your mate is willing to kill you. We don’t need trouble from the royal family, too.”
“If you get some sleep, I’ll do the spell,” Star said. “Deal?”
Alec didn’t look fully convinced, but he nodded.
“I’ll stay with him,” Sheila offered.
“Ready for some magic?” Star asked.
I took a deep breath. My whole life, I’d feared magic. Especially spells cast by witches. In a million years, I never thought I’d agree to have a spell cast on myself. I also never thought I’d have a murderous mate after me or that I’d get the mark of the alpha. “Sure, why not?”
Star grinned. “You don’t sound entirely sold, but I’ll try to pretend you’re excited.”