by Kim Loraine
She closes her eyes and puts the tip of the blade in the center of the map, depositing a single drop of blood on the page before setting the knife aside. Then, after threading her fingers with Gwen’s, she murmurs an incantation and we all watch the crimson trail move across the page. It lands in the last place I ever expected.
“Cornwall,” I whisper, and both of my sisters’ eyes dart to mine.
“Izzy—” Gwen starts, but I hold up my hand, not wanting to rehash the details of my greatest loss.
“Stop. It’s fine. That was lifetimes ago.”
“What if it’s too much? I know if I had to return to…” Her face goes pale.
“I said, it’s fine. Tristan is long dead and we need to get away from this place.” I don’t want to tell them Tristan is alive and well and right here in London. If anything, it would be better for me to get away from here and the temptation of both him…and Grant.
“And we need to do it before that shifter comes sniffing around for you.” Helena’s voice is tight with worry. “If he thinks you’re his mate, he won’t stop until he gets you back.”
I don’t want to be reminded of how I must’ve hurt him by leaving. I shouldn’t give a toss. Waving my hand, I rise and shake my head. “He’ll forget about me before long. I’m going to pack my things. We should leave as soon as possible. It’s a long way to Cornwall without magic.”
Gwen shakes her head. “We have magic. We’re together. It won’t be hard.”
Helena offers a derisive snort. “Are you kidding? We could barely do the simple incantation to find a safe place. How can you say we’ll be strong enough to transport ourselves to bloody Cornwall?”
“We will. Give it time. Our strength grows by the minute. Can’t you feel it? Everything is better when we’re together.”
She’s right. I can feel the power building. I don’t understand what it was that flipped the switch, but something happened from the time I met Grant to this moment to unlock our magic. “Something is changing.”
Gwen nods. “It is.” Her normally soft and gentle face turns hard. “Gather your things. We have to be on our way. They’re coming for us.”
A chill runs down my spine and I don’t question her. In minutes, I’ve a bag packed and the three of us stand in a circle together, hands joined as we whisper the spell which will take us to the place that holds memories of the tragic end of my first love.
Grant
She’s not coming back. Goddamn bloody witches. My mate shouldn’t want to be separated from me. I should have changed her into a shifter right then and there. Ensured she’d stay and be mine. But no, I’d wanted to leave it to her. Give her time to come to trust me first, let her realize we’re destined. Even if I never see her again, I’ll never want another woman the way I want her.
Running a hand through my hair, I let out a harsh growl and stare out the window into the night before me. I need to change, to shift and run, to see Lachlan and my pack, find out how much they know about her. If she doesn’t want me, I can at least keep her protected.
In minutes, I’ve let my beast take over, my wolf-like form reveling in the freedom of running unbound. It won’t be a short journey, but I’ve got no one waiting for me at home. I find the peace of my wolf rather than the roiling anger and grief of losing my little witch.
By the time I arrive at the pack compound, I’m more at ease but also questioning everything I know about my connection to her. Lachlan was probably right. She bewitched me with her song. Unfortunately, I don’t think it can be undone and I don’t even know her fucking name. But there are a few unmated females in my pack. Maybe I can work her out of my system before this night is over. Shifting to my human form, I stride, barefoot and naked to the door that leads to the shared home of the pack leader and his enforcers.
This is a place I know well. The place I grew up. Lachlan has been like a father to me since he found me bitten and dying in the woods at six-years-old. But now, my loyalty has shifted to the one woman I shouldn’t want. I don’t know if I can look him in the eyes again and lie.
The scent of tobacco and scotch hits my nose before I even take a step through the door. I know what I’ll find. The alpha surrounded by his most trusted pack members. Sure enough, Lachlan sits at the head of his dining table, a cigar in his hand and three of my pack mates with him. He’s all business, brow furrowed in concentration as Deacon gives him a briefing on what looks like a new client package.
Rushton looks up from the set of knives he’s cleaning and smirks. “Ah, look who came home after a few nights of debauchery.” He waggles his eyebrows. “You finally tire of putting your cock to use?”
I shrug. “Something like that.”
Lachlan juts his chin toward the stairs. “Go get dressed and join us.”
My ire grows with each chuckle from the dining room. He dismissed me like a fucking child. He returns his focus to the men at the table and as I ascend the stairs, I hear Rushton tell the group, “Grant found himself a willing woman.” It’s followed by cheers and laughter. These men have been like my brothers for longer than I can remember. Some of them in my life from the moment I’d been bitten. But we couldn’t be more different.
I haven’t been here in months. In truth, I hated living in the same house as these men. I was never the pack kind. I like to check in once in a while, but Lachlan wants me to choose a woman, turn her, and add more wolves to our growing pack. I’ve never been interested in settling down until my witch found me. I don’t care if she bewitched me. The truth is, this witch is the first woman to make me feel anything beyond simple lust.
Once I’m dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain T-shirt, I head back down. I need more information about these witches and I have to figure out how close Lachlan is to finding them. Something tells me he’s got more on them than what he’s shared with me.
“There he is. You don’t look sated. What did you do with her? Tell me she’s not still in your bed.”
I shake my head. “I’ve other things to tend to. Such as the witches. Do you have any information on their whereabouts?” My skin itches with the discomfort of lying to my alpha. But I know what he’ll do to her if he finds her.
Lachlan lets out a bark of laughter. “What, since last night? No. Nothing’s changed. Those bitches must have some sort of protection spell going.”
Something in my chest relaxes at that knowledge, even if she’s bewitched me, I can’t bear to think of him getting his hands on her.
“That’s not entirely true,” Rushton says. My stomach churns at his words. “I tracked them to a flat in London, but when we got there, they’d cleared off. It doesn’t matter though, we’ll find them. They can’t hide forever.”
I hope to God he’s wrong.
8
Izzy
We’ve been in Cornwall three days and I still haven’t gotten Grant out of my system. I dream of his kisses and the roughness of his stubble on my skin every damn night. This morning I woke before the sun, my breasts aching for his touch and my hand between my legs in search of some relief. Instead of making myself a sleeping draught as I have the last few nights, I slip on some shoes and head out into the gray light of pre-dawn.
The beach is empty as stars wink out of existence and the sky turns the warm colors of sunrise. It’s been so long since my feet touched these shores. Since the fateful moment I landed in this place with a love potion in my system, a besotted knight at my side, and a doomed marriage looming. The weight of my long buried memories nearly sends me to my knees. I thought I could handle being here, but now, I wonder if I’d been wrong. I need some clarity, some closure. But I’ve no clue how to get either. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, inhaling the salt of the sea air. I open my eyes and start forward, heading inland. I can’t be on this sand with the waves so close and not think of the painful circumstances a simple drink had sent me hurtling toward. I climb up an embankment, my feet finding purchase in the rough beach grass, and don’t stop until I’m at the top, standing over
the expanse of shore with my gaze trained down the beach. Shops and homes dot the area, farms and roads, a modern township. If I think of this place as something different from the prison it had been in my past life, maybe I’ll be able to make a go of this. We don’t have to hide who we are this far from the pack’s reach. I can be free of Grant’s ridiculous notion that I’m his mate.
The peaceful beach slowly becomes less of a harsh reminder of love gone wrong, and more a beacon of possibility. Here is where we can get the work done to find Calista and break the curse. This is the right thing to do. But Grant flashes in my mind, an unwelcome tugging at my heart.
“Stop thinking about that damned beast,” I chastise myself.
Shaking my head, I focus on a lone man jogging in the sand, his feet bare as he runs along the water’s edge. My heart stops at the sight of his familiar features. Tawny hair, chiseled features…it can’t be him.
“Tristan?” I breathe his name and step forward just a fraction to get a better look at him. The earth under my feet gives way and I fall, sliding down the short cliff with a scream of surprise. My head connects with the sharp edge of a rock and blinding pain shoots through me. So, this is it. Taken down by him. I have a moment to think about his heated kisses and the whispered words of love I’d been stupid enough to believe. Then the world goes dark.
My vision fades in and out as I slowly claw my way back to consciousness. Blinking hard a few times, I try to make sense of the dark shape blocking out the sun behind it. The blurry form of a man comes into focus and I groan. I’ve either got a serious head injury, I’m dead—again, or things just got a lot more complicated. Tristan hovers over me, his hand gentle as he brushes the hair away from my face.
“It’s all right, darling. I’ve got you.”
Darling? “What…what the bloody hell are you doing here?”
He scoops me into his arms and before I can protest, I’m being carried down the beach. He feels the same. How is this happening? “You took quite a fall.”
My gut clenches. This has to be a trick. Calista has found us, laid a trap. “Put me down. I’m not an invalid.”
“Isolt, don’t—”
“Put me down.” I give a flare of my power, power I shouldn’t be using if we’re going to be able to fight Calista, but it makes him set me on my feet. I hold out my hands, warning him off. “Get away from me.”
His eyes go wide, and I see real fear in them. “Why are you doing this?”
“How are you here?” I need to know. To hear it from his lips.
He runs a hand through his hair and takes his lower lip between his teeth. God, he used to do that same thing any time we’d have a disagreement during our turbulent love affair, and I’d melt every time. Not this time. “I’m visiting my family. My mother lives here and I don’t get many chances to spend time with her. What are you doing here?”
“I’m…on vacation.” My lie is thin and I’m sure he’ll see right through it, but it’s not like I can tell him I’m on the run from a pack of shifters and an evil witch who wants to see me dead.
“Well, I’m glad you chose this place. I didn’t think I’d get to see you again after you didn’t phone me.”
Shoving my hands into my hair, I let out a sigh. “I’m…it’s complicated.”
He cocks his head. “Boyfriend?”
How do I answer that? Grant isn’t my boyfriend. He’s…something though. “Not technically.”
“So, you’re available?”
My heart lurches. This was what I’d wanted to avoid. But those old feelings come rushing to the surface, clouded by thoughts of Grant. “I don’t…I don’t really know how to answer that.”
I start walking away, but I hear him call out for me to wait. I won’t. He’s not something I can relive. But his hand wraps around my arm, stopping me. “Please, give me a chance. There’s something special between us. I can feel it.”
I want to give in, to let him take me back to the brief time we were happy, but then all the hurt and loss comes rushing back to me. “I don’t think we should.”
The breath leaves my body when he drops his lips to mine. The kiss is soft, tender, and everything I remember. When he pulls away and I stare into those blue eyes, I know I want him. But I want Grant too. “I think we should,” he says.
I want to, but I flash back to our first life together. He’d said the same thing. My memories hadn’t returned by the time I’d met him, when I saved his life. I had a gift for healing, for knowing instinctively what ingredients to blend to offer comfort. It all made sense once my power was restored and my past lives unlocked. Unfortunately, by that point, Tristan and I had been under the potion’s spell far too long. The damage had been done, and when my identity returned and I learned the truth of my curse, I realized the depth of Calista’s hatred for me. Shaking my head to clear the fog of memories, I take a steadying breath. “I can’t do this.”
“Why not? It would be so good between us. Even after one kiss, I can tell.”
“Are you serious?” The incredulity in my tone is impossible to disguise. “We’re destined for tragedy.”
“How?”
I want to scream. “Tristan, I’m not the woman for you.”
“I think you’re wrong.”
He steps forward and cups my face in his large palm, but I flinch at his touch. “No. I’m not. This thing between us is headed toward heartbreak.”
“I’d never hurt you.”
“Pretty words and promises are the path to ruin.”
The look in his eyes is genuine, but I know better than most that you can’t tell a person’s truth from their expression. He tries to pull me close again, but I shove him away and take off down the beach. I have to get away from this man. I need to tell my sisters, to figure out where we go from here. Obviously, Cornwall isn’t safe for us any longer.
He doesn’t follow, thank God, but I’m shaken and I can’t fight the sting of tears in my eyes. By the time I’m safely behind the white fence of our seaside house, my heart hurts and the memories of my misplaced love come rushing back to knock me down.
“We have to leave, right now,” I say as soon as I see Gwen.
“He’s back.” She’s sitting on the garden bench, watching the waves. Her voice has that eerie tone that only comes from one of her visions.
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Who?” She could mean Tristan, but she could also be talking about Grant. A big part of me wants to see that tattooed beast of mine waiting in the house.
“Tristan. Your lost knight.”
“He’s not my knight.”
“He was.”
This isn’t helping a damn thing. “I met him weeks ago at the pub. And he’s here now. How is this possible? He was just a human man who got caught up in my web.”
She stands and walks to the flowerbed before bending and pressing her palm to the earth. “This land is heavy with magic.” A sigh leaves her as she pulls what knowledge she can from the ground. “He was trapped here, waiting. His soul was tied to the Tristan stone.”
What? The Tristan stone is something I’ve known about but never had the strength to visit. “His grave marker? Why?”
With a slight shrug, she shakes her head. “It could be something Calista did, or…we know God gives second chances at true love.”
“He’s not my true love,” I snap. “He was under a spell and I was fool enough not to see it until it was too late.”
“Are you so sure? It seems to me you’re still suffering the effects of your love for him.”
I blow out a disbelieving breath. “I don’t love him.” Do I?
Her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink before she stands. “I know he was your greatest loss, but maybe this is your chance to reclaim him, heal your broken heart.”
“Or, Calista is trying to find us by using my greatest heartbreak to throw us off guard.”
Gwen threads her arm through the crook of my elbow and tugs me toward the front door. “We can’t leave
until Helena returns.”
“Where is she?”
She rolls her eyes. “Making a deal with the devil.”
“What?”
“She’s found a small coven willing to help us break whatever it is that’s weakening our power. But, from what I know of them, they’ve been dark longer than they’ve been light.”
Unease prickles along my spine. “I don’t like that.”
“Neither do I. But, Helena does what she wants. Always has.” Releasing her hold on my arm, she wanders into the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s have a cup of tea and I’ll read your leaves. That will help you feel better about this new development.”
“You know what the leaves will say. Death is on the horizon, blah, blah, blah.”
She fights a smile before offering a chastening glance. “You don’t know that. Come on.”
After the tea is brewed, we sit at the small circular table and Gwen ensures my teacup is situated with the handle pointing in my direction. I drink it down as we chat about nothing important. This works best when the person receiving the reading, in this case, me, is at ease. I’ve got a lot on my mind lately though. When there’s only a small amount of liquid left, I swirl the cup three times and turn it upside down onto the saucer.
I flip the cup over and we stare into the bowl of the delicate porcelain.
The center is empty, of course. That’s the space that indicates the future. I have no future beyond this year. But she points to the heart which sits on the side, close to the handle.
“Love will find you soon.” Her voice is soft and soothing, but I don’t want to believe her. It’ll find me, and then I’ll lose it. Then she gasps and her eyes find mine. “Full moon,” she whispers.
“What? I don’t see that.” I look into the cup and see nothing until she points to the obvious circle of white porcelain surrounded by the last remnants of liquid.
“A romantic attachment. An elopement. This reading says nothing of death and everything about your love life.”
My heart gives a squeeze and Grant flashes in my mind. I need him. I need this beast of a man to take away the confusion and stress of Tristan’s return.
