She probably shouldn’t have said anything, but she’d just been thinking out loud. She would make further notes about the Venifucus agents she’d seen and been tortured by over the years when she had time. She wanted to give the good guys as much information as possible, so that, if they couldn’t find a solution for her, at least someone would have the data and be able to go after the evil beings that visited such pain and suffering on the world. Someone needed to get those guys. She only wished it could be her, but she knew a one-woman vendetta wouldn’t get too far against such powerful evil.
After a few moments, Marilee and Gus joined Laura at the table, plates of their own in front of them. They ate together for a few moments, taking the edge off their hunger, before Marilee spoke.
“King is with the others, helping set things up,” Marilee told them in between bites. “Mellie has a potion that should suppress all your magic for about an hour. If you’re willing to take it, Urse thinks—if it works—she can do some work on unraveling some of the magics that were laid on you. We all got a good look at the surface of what was compelling you, and Urse thinks it’s similar to the bindings that were on the box they were transporting you in. She was able to break those pretty easily, it looked like, so I think she’ll definitely be able to do something if you’re willing to try this scheme.” Marilee looked so earnest Laura couldn’t refuse her.
“I’ll try just about anything as long as there’s not too much danger to the people around me. I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Laura said, measuring her words carefully. She really didn’t want to hurt anyone who was only trying to help her.
“They want to do it outside. Urse said something about dispersing the energy into Mother Earth and sparing any buildings in case something rips loose that can’t be contained.” Marilee cringed a little but forged ahead. “They don’t want to waste too much time because the potion should only affect you for a limited time, so transporting you to the stone circle is probably not feasible. So, Mellie suggested the beach behind this building. It’s already a no-go zone for the duration, and it’s close. Once the potion takes effect, you can just come out the back door, and Urse and John will be there, ready.”
“John?” Laura frowned. She really didn’t want to take any potshots at the Alpha bear if she could help it.
“Yeah, it’s the only way he’d let Urse try this. He’s uber-protective of her. Just like all the other mated guys.”
Marilee’s silly grin was easy to interpret. She was thinking about her own mate and how protective he was of her. Laura felt a little pang. She was so happy her daughter had found such happiness, but it made it that much clearer that Laura’s first mating—though she figured that wasn’t the right word for it, now—hadn’t been true.
“So, the idea is that you’ll see John first, and if he triggers your mad super-villain skills, he’ll be ready for you, like Peter was. But, if the potion does its job, Urse will start doing her thing and keep going until the potion starts to wear off or you’re free. Whichever happens first.” Marilee shrugged, but it was clear she knew the import of what she was saying.
“It can’t be that simple,” Laura cautioned them all.
“It probably won’t be,” Gus said in somber tones. “But, if it works, it’ll be a good start.”
And that’s how, a few hours later, Laura found herself being escorted to the seldom-used back door of Gus’s building, which opened onto a small, gated pathway that led to the beach. Gus and Laura paused before the door, waiting for Marilee. She was bringing the potion that Laura would drink immediately before going outside.
Laura stepped closer to Gus, needing a bit of reassurance. She wasn’t normally so needy, but her emotions were in tatters with the magic working on her psyche, as well as her magical core. She needed a hug, and Gus didn’t disappoint. All she had to do was step closer and put her arms out, and he swept her into his embrace.
Bear hugs were the best. Laura immediately felt the comfort and warmth radiating off him in waves of love. She could actually feel the love in the way he touched her. She’d never felt that before. Not with any of the boys she’d known before Roger, or with Roger, himself. Her supposed mate. She knew for certain, now, after being with Gus, that Roger hadn’t been hers. Not the way he should have been.
A little pang made her scrunch her eyes shut. She’d lost so much time because of a foolish conviction. Whether she’d been manipulated or merely foolish, she still wasn’t sure, but either way, it was a blow. Laura had always thought she’d been so strong. Everyone in her Pack had thought her one of the tough gals. An Alpha bitch. Sure of herself and her place in the world.
She’d been a fool.
Laura sighed, shaking her head as she stepped back from Gus’s embrace. She could hear Marilee entering the building. Before her daughter got to them, there was one thing she wanted to tell Gus, just in case this all went wrong.
“I’ve just realized something for sure… Roger wasn’t my mate.” All the sadness she felt at learning that awful truth was negated by the shock and dawning wonder in Gus’s eyes.
She wasn’t ready to take this to the logical next step. Not yet. Not until she was sure she had a future to plan. But she owed Gus the truth, and she could see her admission made him happy. At least she could give him that. For now.
Marilee rushed over to them, brandishing a small brown glass bottle. She had a nervous smile on her face, and Laura knew her time in this condition was up. Whether or not she’d be freed totally of the magics was a long shot, but whatever happened next, Laura was hopeful that her burden would be a little lighter than it was right now… If she survived.
Marilee handed over the bottle then impulsively gave Laura a quick hug. “It’ll be okay,” she said on an emotion-filled whisper. She cleared her throat before speaking again, as she let Laura go. “Mellie says to down all in a quick gulp then head outside. The dampening effects should be pretty much immediate.”
Laura unscrewed the little cap on the bottle and took an experimental sniff. It didn’t smell bad. In fact, it might not taste all that bad either—but there was only one way to find out. She looked from Marilee to Gus, and then, holding Gus’s gaze, she quickly tilted the bottle to her lips and swallowed down the contents.
She’d been right. It wasn’t vile. It wasn’t exactly soda pop either, but it wasn’t bad tasting. It fizzed along her senses, a little like pop, but not in her digestive tract. No, this effect was along her the magical pathways where power flowed in her being. She’d never been more aware of them until this moment.
“Wow,” she said, trying to follow the sensations in her being without much success. “I feel weird.”
“Good weird or bad weird?” Gus wanted to know. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
“It’s good,” Marilee said, smiling. “I can see the change in her energy. It’s…it’s like it’s clouded or something. Dampened. Just like Mellie said.” Marilee put her hand on Laura’s shoulder. “You need to go outside.”
Laura let them lead her out. Gus opened the door and preceded them down the path, letting Marilee escort Laura, who felt a bit dazed. It was like she was looking at the world through a filter. A hazy film between her and the rest of reality. She didn’t feel drugged…exactly. She just felt a bit like her senses were wrapped in cotton. Fuzzy.
Gus gave a piercing whistle and shouted, “Heads up,” as they walked down the little path.
When Gus moved aside, she saw John waiting for her at the end of the little pathway that was bounded on either side by a dune garden. She felt the magic wanting to rise within her, but…
It was blocked. Blessed relief tore through her, and she felt tears rolling down her cheeks.
“It wants to get at him, but it can’t,” she whispered. Gus heard and reported back.
“All clear,” he told John.
The Alpha bear still looked skeptical, but he moved aside to reveal his mate standing behind him. Urse was already scrutinizing Laura with a knowing l
ook on her face.
Gus moved to Laura’s side as she set foot out of the little gate and onto the beach. Marilee was on her right, Gus on her left.
“How are you holding up?” Gus asked in a low voice.
“It’s fighting to get out, but so far, it can’t,” she reported. “Tell them to work fast, though. It’s not the most…uh…comfortable feeling in the world.” And that’s all she would say about the pain. She could endure a little pain if it meant being freed of this encumbrance.
Gus’s eyes narrowed. He seemed to understand more than she wanted to let on, but he nodded with a grim cast to his handsome features. Even now, the love she felt for him made things a little bit easier. He was there for her in ways that Roger had never been. Through thick and thin. The few good times they’d had and the horrible bad things that had been happening all around her. If she got out of this even remotely well, she’d do all in her power to keep him. Forever.
But she wouldn’t take that final step until she was sure she would survive. She couldn’t do that to Gus. If she acknowledged a mating between them, she’d be setting him up for a life of sorrow if she didn’t make it through this. He didn’t deserve that. Gus was nothing but kind. She couldn’t ruin his life the way Roger and all that had happened to her had ruined her life thus far.
As she looked at Gus’s beloved face, she felt something tear loose and drop away. She jumped, realizing Urse had been hard at work while Laura had been woolgathering. She turned wide eyes to the strega.
Urse was so focused on her task, she probably didn’t even see Laura looking at her, but Laura thought she sensed a little quick of Urse’s lips upward. A tiny grin for a tiny triumph? Laura thought so.
“One of the bands of power just dropped away,” Marilee told them. “The energy was absorbed into the sand at your feet, Mama. It looked just like when Urse took the bands off the box they had you in.”
“I felt something tear and drop away,” Laura told her daughter in wonder. “This is actually working.” Laura didn’t want to get her hopes up too high.
The Venifucus mages had had years to work on her. Logically, it made sense that it would take more than a few minutes to un-do all that had been done. Frankly, Laura hadn’t been altogether certain that Urse would be able to do anything, but there was proof, now. Laura could feel the lightening of the load of magic on her, though she hadn’t really been aware of it, in that way, before now.
As the minutes wore on, Laura could feel each binding come loose as Urse cut through it with her own, more powerful spells. At one point, Laura staggered under the impact as a particularly dense knot of magic came loose and drained away. Gus was there to catch her, grabbing the arm she had flung out to steady herself.
He didn’t let go but supported her through the rest of the ordeal. It hurt like hell when Urse’s counter-spells sawed through the energy bands that had been wrapped around Laura so tightly, they felt like part of the fabric of her soul. Each time Urse succeeded in breaking through one of the bonds, Laura felt like a red-hot poker had seared the skin of her inner being. Her wolf sat through it, growling inside her skull.
It endured the pain stoically, understanding, on some basic level, that it was necessary. As each magical constraint came loose, the wolf gave off a little victory howl inside, where only Laura could hear it. The wolf was right. Each little victory was worth celebrating, but her human half was flagging. It didn’t have the endurance of the wolf.
And now…the magic was gathering, and it really felt like it was going to tear loose and hurt someone, this time. Laura grasped at Gus’s hand.
“They have to hurry. I think the potion is wearing off. I can feel it gathering. Malevolent. Wanting to hurt. To kill.” She gasped as more pain ripped through her—the good spells Urse was casting meeting resistance now, from the bad things that had been wrapped around her. “Tell them to go!” she shouted at Gus, sobbing as her body was overcome, and both Gus and Marilee were repulsed by a wave of…something.
She was aware of them being pushed to either side, but she was riding a bucking bronco, and she didn’t have time or strength to worry. Not then. It was John the power inside her wanted. It was John who was her target. And the witch he protected.
Aw, shit!
Twin bolts of dark energy flowed out of her hands and left her trembling. She fell to her knees gasping for breath as pain blacked out her vision for a moment. She was sobbing. Wrung out. Oh, sweet Mother of All, what had she done?
Laura blinked open her streaming eyes to see what had happened. She had to know. Had she killed them both?
But Urse and John were still standing. Blessed be! Urse had a look of consternation on her face, her lips twisted in a frown. “Well, that’s all for today, I suppose,” she said rather nonchalantly, Laura thought, after being attacked by mage bolts.
Thankfully, before the power could gather again, both Urse and John left the beach. As soon as they were out of sight, the urgency that had been building depleted itself. The come down left Laura limp on the ground.
Gus picked her up and carried her back into the building, Marilee trailing along with them, opening and closing doors on their path. They were quiet until they reached the apartment. Marilee went into the kitchen area and began brewing a tea blend that Mellie had sent along for after, but Gus sat with Laura on the couch and just held her while she shook in the aftermath.
Laura just sat there for a while, taking stock. Everything ached. She felt bruised from the inside out. But there was one thing that felt very different. One thing that gave her hope. She turned in Gus’s arms to look up at his beloved face.
“You know,” she told him quietly, “there’s something good that has come out of this. I’m not depressed anymore.”
“You’re not?” Gus asked gently, stroking her hair. “That’s good.”
“Yeah, it is,” she agreed, starting to feel a bit more like her old self. “I’m not depressed. I’m angry. Really, really angry at the people who did this to me. If I ever get the chance, I would hunt every single one of them and kill them all.”
She heard the growl in her own voice, knowing it was the wolf’s instincts that made her so bloodthirsty. She didn’t mind. That was how it was supposed to be. She was a werewolf. Not a mouse. More than that, she was an Alpha bitch in her prime.
It was about time she reclaimed that part of her identity. It was about time to become the hunter, instead of the prey.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Gus wasn’t surprised by Laura’s words. He was a predator too. He knew that the bear spirit he carried inside was much more pragmatic than his human half. Regardless, both halves of his soul wanted the mages who had hurt Laura so badly destroyed. Utterly and completely. Wiped from the face of the earth and their spirits torn to shreds, never to reform.
Marilee had left after giving her mother the tea Mellie had sent along. She would be the go-between, they had decided, that would bring word back and forth. Gus could get phone and text updates, but for some of the more complicated details, it was just easier to have Marilee go talk to people and bring back their opinions. She was also useful as a courier, as she had been this morning.
Hours had passed since that breakfast they had all shared together. Hours during which Gus had been made to stand by and watch Laura put through the wringer. He knew she’d been in a lot of pain. She hadn’t shown it much outwardly, but he’d seen it. She was a brave, brave woman. Brave, brave mate, his inner bear insisted.
But she had to acknowledge the mating. Without her agreement, it would all be one-sided. Forever.
The tea, he was glad to note, did have some calming properties. Laura fell into a doze, which was probably the best thing for her at the moment. Gus sat beside her, his arm around her shoulders as she snuggled into him. She had kicked off her shoes and curled her feet up onto the couch so that she was in a near-fetal position as she rested against his chest.
He just held her, trying to impart some of his strength to her
battered spirit. She was such a good woman, he wished there was more that he could do to ease the burden she carried. As it was, all he could do was just be there for her.
Marilee returned at lunchtime with take-out from the restaurant. The town was certainly taking good care of Laura. Gus would definitely thank Zak and his mate for their care—as well as the Baker sisters and their mates—when this was all over. Perhaps he could throw a party for everyone where he did all the cooking. Oh, how he’d love that to be a mating celebration, but he knew he’d have to wait for Laura to come around and realize that they were true mates. So unlike the so-called mate she’d believed she’d had before.
Marilee brought lunch and news. Laura woke when Gus left the couch to open the door for Marilee and seemed to be feeling better as she sat at the table and absently dabbled with one of her carvings. Marilee and Gus got to work setting the food out and making up plates while Marilee filled them in on what everyone had said after the morning’s work.
“Urse says she just got the top layer of spells and that there are a lot more underneath, but she’s confident she can do more to cut through them,” Marilee told them as she worked. “Mellie promised to keep working on her potions, as well. She’s trying to find something that will last longer, as well as something that might help break some of the layers of compulsion all at once, which would be a lot simpler and probably easier on you, Mama.” Marilee frowned as she went over to the table and set a plate in front of her mother. “Did it hurt a lot? It looked pretty bad from where I was standing.”
Laura just shook her head. “It hurt,” she said finally, after a moment’s pause, “but I’m still standing.”
Just barely, Gus thought, but he didn’t say it aloud.
“Well, they were all happy with this first attempt. Urse said she got through a lot more of it than she thought she would. She’s willing to try the same thing tomorrow, if you’re up for it. She says the layers she could see were all very similar and should respond to the same strategy. She wants to get down to the more complex layers of spells and see what they’re made of, but the other stuff is in the way and has to be dealt with first.”
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