“Fucking Nico,” I growl, striding through the mask, exposing myself without giving a shit.
“Nico?” Luther follows at my elbow. When he sees us, Sam lets go of Nico’s neck and jumps back, panting. He shifts back to himself and pulls Nova to him as she rushes forward.
Inching her back, away from the black wolf on the floor, Sam snaps his eyes to me and snarls, “He says he’s here for Nova.”
Together, Luther and I reach for the wolf, but he shifts before we can catch hold of him. Standing in front of us as Nico, he raises his palms. He’s shaking—he shifted too fast—and the color has drained from his face. “Wait,” he stammers. “Please, wait.”
But Luther doesn’t wait, he slams a restraint spell onto Nico’s wrists and ankles, sending him to the ground. On his knees, Nico searches for Nova.
Emotions swirl around her, but I can’t latch onto them. Her eyes darting from Sam to Nico, she inches forward. Mack looks about to move in front of her when she raises her palm to stop him.
“What do you want, Nico?” she spits, staring down at him, managing to look both hot as hell with her dress half falling off and seriously intimidating at the same time. “Why are you here?”
Pride swells in my stomach. Our girl is fucking fierce when she wants to be. The others hang back too, sensing that she needs to be the one to dish it out if an ass-kicking is going to happen.
“I have information.” Nico’s voice is hoarse and shaky. “About Ragnor.”
Nova narrows her eyes at him. “Ragnor?”
“He’s the head of the League,” Nico says.
“We know who he is,” I cut in. “No thanks to you.”
“Everything I did,” Nico stutters, “it was because of him. Because he made me.”
“You spineless piece of shit,” Luther spits. “Hemadeyou?”
Nico closes his eyes and sighs deeply. Something washes over him: sorrow, guilt, remorse.
Turning to me, Nova asks, “Tanner, is he telling the truth?”
“We know how good he is at shielding his thoughts. I can’t be sure what I’m feeling is real.”
“I’m not hiding anything,” Nico says. “Is there a spell you can do to test me? If there is, do it.” He is practically begging. Desperation hums on his skin, but I wouldn’t trust this wolf as far as I could throw him. “I swear. I’m here to help you, Nova. I’m here to make amends.”
“Bullshit,” Kole spits, flexing his fingers. His eyes flash green. The trees around us creak. Branches bend and twist and snake toward Nico like tendrils.
As one curls around Nico’s throat, Nova says, “Stop, Kole. Release his ankle ties. Bring him inside.”
“Inside?” Kole is still staring at Nico.
“If he has information, we should hear him out.” Nova puts her hand on his arm.
For a moment, the branches continue to tighten around Nico’s throat. Then Kole releases the tension in his palms, and they stop.
“Seriously? You’re bringing him inside?” Luther asks incredulously.
“He has no magick,” Kole replies. “What can he do to us?”
“Bring his friends here?” Luther’s eyes flash with anger.
“If he wanted to do that, he could have.” Nova looks around the group, adjusting her dress as she speaks. “If Nico found us and wanted to hurt me, or help Ragnor to hurt me, why would he bother trying to sneak past the mask? We’re all out here in the open right now. No one has come. We’re still alone.”
“She’s right.” I don’t mean about Nico; I mean about being out here, completely exposed. “Let’s get him inside and talk.”
“Search him first,” Luther says. “At least search the fucker.”
Nodding, Mack pats Nico down then casts a quick and dirty revealing spell. It envelops him in a soft white light. We watch, waiting for it to change color and show us he’s a werewolf-shaped bomb or a life-sized listening device. When the light remains white, Luther reluctantly snaps the ankle spell, and Kole marches Nico through the mask toward the cabin.