“Are you sure?” Asher smiled, his eyes filled with excitement. “It’s been a while since you killed a witch.”
I swallowed hard. Kaleb had killed a witch? What else didn’t I know about him?
“Give it to me.” Kaleb took the torch from his father, the flames dancing in the night air. “I’m the one she put a spell on. This should be my kill.”
“I can’t watch you do this, Kaleb. I’m sorry,” Carmel shouted. Taking one last look at me, she turned and disappeared into the woods. No one went after her, and Asher didn’t seem to care his daughter hadn’t stayed.
I looked at Markus, expecting him to leave too, but he didn’t. He just folded his arms and stared into the woods.
“I’m proud of you, son.” Asher patted Kaleb on the shoulder. “I know her spell must be messing with your head, but you’ll get through this. I promise. We’ll get you and Tessa bonded straight away.”
Tears filled my eyes as images of Kaleb and Tessa sharing a long life together flashed through my mind. I couldn’t believe that he’d moved on already, that he’d agreed to a new mate, especially when he’d told me he didn’t like her.
Tessa must be thrilled Kaleb was willing to claim her. Any sane wolf would be. Was that why the Norwood Pack had decided to kill me? Had the Rocklin alpha demanded my death if Asher wanted Tessa as Kaleb’s mate?
Asher returned to the bonfire and stood next to Tessa. They exchanged a knowing smile, leading me to believe Tessa must have had her own agenda when she arrived in town. She’d wanted me out of the way, and I’d made it easy for her.
Beads of sweat trickled down Kaleb’s dirty chest as he slowly lowered the torch.
“Stop,” someone yelled.
I searched the woods, trying to see who was risking their life to save me. Had Victor and Drina come for me? Or perhaps the Elders had decided that saving me was more important than their alliance with the Norwood wolves.
The wolves growled, turning in the direction of the voice. Yelping, they looked from Asher to the woods, waiting for their orders.
Kaleb glanced toward the woods but continued to lower the torch. He seemed determined not to let anyone interrupt his ‘Let’s Burn the Witch’ party.
A piercing scream echoed through the still night air, shaking the pine trees and making Kaleb freeze. As another cry ripped through the woods, I gasped. That scream belonged to Carmel.
Markus tore off his shirt and shifted into a large brown wolf. He and Carmel were like siblings. No doubt he was angry and worried as he cautiously walked to the edge of the woods, leaving me alone with Kaleb.
The tops of the pine trees swayed violently as a figure emerged from the woods. As they flung their hand to the night sky, a bright sphere appeared ten feet above the bonfire, lighting up the entire field.
Calandra stopped near the edge of the woods, seeming breathless, like she’d been running. As she glanced in my direction, a look of relief crossed her face, and she gave me a reassuring smile.
“Calandra,” her name squeaked from my mouth, and Kaleb growled. I couldn’t believe she’d come for me. How had she even known where I was?
“Where’s my daughter?” Asher snapped.
“She’s right here,” Calandra replied.
A tall middle-aged man with blond hair walked out of the woods. In his dark suit and white gloves, he looked oddly out of place. Holding a cane, he walked toward Calandra, keeping his gaze fixed on the wolves.
Garrett appeared next, holding the end of a long chain, linked to a pair of cuffs on Carmel’s wrists. Following the other man, he dragged her along until he came to a halt beside Calandra. When he spotted me, he looked relieved, until he noticed the torch in Kaleb’s hand.
“If you drop that torch, your sister dies,” Garrett shouted. He wrapped the chain around Carmel’s throat and pushed her to her knees. “Release Sienna.”
Uttering a low growl, Markus charged in Garrett’s direction. Asher must have seen him because two seconds later, Markus stopped and sat on the ground.
“Touch my sister again, and nothing will stop me from killing Sienna.” Kaleb moved the torch away and turned to me with disgust in his eyes. “Looks like your boyfriend’s come to rescue you.”
I glared at Kaleb, trying to come up with a biting response. Something that would shake him to his core, but I was too furious to think. If it weren’t for Calandra and Garrett, I’d be burning by now.
“What are you witches doing here?” Asher asked. “Sienna might be your daughter, but she’s not part of your coven. She’s a lone witch, and she killed a Norwood wolf. You know our rules, an eye for an eye.”
“She’s still my blood, so we’re making it our business,” Calandra replied. “Why don’t we do a fair trade? Your daughter for Sienna, and we’ll go our separate ways. There’s no need for us to fight tonight.”
“No. We’re doing Sienna a favor,” Asher said. “She’s been marked by the Rocklin wolves. Why put yourselves in the middle of this mess? Walk away now, and we won’t hunt you down.”
Marked by the Rocklin wolves? What the hell did that mean? And Asher certainly wasn’t doing me any favors by burning me at the stake.
“That’s not going to happen,” Calandra said. “Sienna’s coming with us, but I’ll leave it up to you. We can do this peacefully, or we can fight.”
Asher chuckled. “The three of you against all of us? I don’t care how powerful you are. You’ll never make it out of here alive.”
“Who said it’s just the three of us?” Calandra smiled. Holding her arm out in front of her, she slowly closed her fist. The light from the orb dimmed. “I brought a few friends along. I know they’d love to kill a few wolves tonight.”
Several wolves howled in the woods behind her, and one by one, red glowing eyes appeared in the darkness—both wolf and human. There must have been at least thirty vampires, all ready to fight the Norwood wolves.
It was hard to believe they’d all come for me. I wondered if the two vampires who’d captured me were here too. Calandra must be on good terms with the vampires for so many of them to turn up. How many of them were tatcho vampires?
Tessa’s face went white, which made me grin. She glanced over her shoulder at Kaleb, probably hoping he’d protect her. But Kaleb didn’t move. He just gripped the torch tighter as he scanned the woods and then nodded at Markus. Were they crazy enough to take on thirty vampires and three witches?
“That’s a lot of friends,” Asher said. He didn’t seem scared, but he had to know they were outnumbered. He couldn’t possibly be telling his wolves to prepare for an attack. “I’ve alerted the rest of my pack. They’ll be here soon.”
“Unless you want your wolves to die, you’d better call them off.” Calandra opened her fist, and the orb brightened again. “We’ve put a barrier around this area. Any wolf entering or leaving will be touched by our spell and will die an agonizing death within the hour.”
Damn. Calandra was a more powerful witch than I’d ever imagined.
“That’s impossible.” Asher shook his head. “The only witch strong enough to manifest such power is dead. She died in a fire almost eighteen years ago.”
My eyes widened. Asher was talking about Marie. Was she the witch Kaleb killed? It sounded like Asher knew her and knew what she was capable of.
“Marie didn’t deserve to die,” Calandra said. “If we learn the Norwood wolves had a hand in her death, we’ll punish every—”
“My pack didn’t kill her,” Asher insisted. “Why should we believe you’ve used a barrier spell? You’re not known to dabble in dark magic, and even if you had, you’d need fresh olden blood. A wolf would never agree to such a spell.”
Dark magic? Was this barrier similar to the one around Norwood Isle?
“It might surprise you what a wolf would do for a witch,” Calandra answered as she folded her arms. “Why don’t you send someone to check out the barrier? You can’t miss the faint blue line. I give you my word that the vampires won’
t harm whoever you send.”
Asher glanced at his ten wolves, and a small gray wolf trotted toward the woods opposite the vampires and witches.
“It’s barbaric and cruel to burn someone alive.” Calandra glanced in my direction. “Tell me again, why are you punishing Sienna? I don’t believe this nonsense about an eye for an eye. From what we’ve heard, that wolf challenged Sienna. It was a fair fight, and she won.”
“Lexi wouldn’t have challenged a witch,” snapped Tessa. “Sienna deserves to die.”
“You never pick a fight without knowing your opponent,” the warlock standing next to Calandra said. He placed his cane in front of him, resting both hands on it. “Lexi broke your rules by going after someone she thought was weak. That’s not Sienna’s fault, and if you don’t set her free, the coven will destroy Norwood Isle.”
“That isn’t possible.” Asher growled. “Our barrier spell is strong. You can’t—”
“Spells can always be broken,” the warlock said.
“Are you willing to start a feud over a wolf your own son refused to marry? She must have been worthless, and you know it,” Calandra said.
Tessa growled and took a step toward the witches, but Asher held her back.
“Let her come at me.” Calandra laughed. “I’ll teach the Rocklin Pack a lesson for marking Sienna.”
“No.” Asher released his hold on Tessa. “There’s more to this than Lexi’s death. Sienna’s admitted to putting a spell on Kaleb to get him to claim her. If it weren’t for her spell, he wouldn’t have agreed to an alliance with the Romanies.”
The warlock glanced in my direction, a look of surprise on his face. Obviously, Calandra hadn’t told him everything.
“Have they completed their bond yet?” Calandra asked, even though I’d told her we hadn’t. Did she think I’d lied?
Kaleb glanced at me, and I could have sworn I saw regret in his eyes. Was it possible he still loved me despite the whole witch thing?
“No,” Kaleb yelled. If there had been regret in his eyes, it had now disappeared.
“I don’t see a problem here. Break the alliance with the Romanies and let Sienna go,” the warlock said. “She’s a young witch, still testing her powers. I’m sure she wasn’t aware of how dangerous it is to put a spell on an olden. The High Council will punish her, and she’ll never do it again. I give you my word.”
I sighed. Why did everyone want to punish me?
“No,” Asher replied. “She’s destroyed Kaleb’s life. He’ll never be pack alpha with a spell hanging over his head.”
“She needs to remove her spell,” Tessa insisted.
The warlock glared at me. “You didn’t do a cleansing spell?”
“No,” I replied, hoping he didn’t demand I cast a spell right now. At least I’d been right, a witch could remove spells, but the warlock looked angry. Had I broken some kind of rule? “Kaleb won’t let me touch him.”
When the warlock looked at Calandra, I knew I’d said something wrong. Was it possible for a witch to remove a love spell without having the person around?
Crap.
“Sienna looks too weak,” Calandra said. “I’ll take care of the cleansing spell, and we’ll be on our way. The barrier spell will end in two hours, and your pack can return to Norwood Isle.”
“No,” Kaleb grunted. “I don’t trust you.”
“He’s right. How do we know you won’t put another spell on Kaleb?” Asher asked.
“You can trust me,” Calandra replied. “I wouldn’t put Sienna’s life in danger.”
Asher and Calandra argued back and forth. He didn’t trust the witches and was hesitant about letting me go. He brought up the Rocklin wolves again and mentioned marked witches, but I missed the details because something had caught my attention.
In the distance, the small gray wolf emerged from the woods and trotted toward Asher. He appeared unharmed, but something felt wrong. No one else seemed to notice him except for Kaleb. His gaze followed the wolf, and then he suddenly turned to me.
My heart skipped a beat. For the first time tonight, Kaleb’s eyes softened. He glanced over his shoulder at the commotion going on between Asher and the witches. Now they were arguing about the barrier spell and dead wolves.
Garrett tightened the chain around Carmel’s neck. As soon as she started choking, Markus lunged at him.
Kaleb moved closer, catching me by surprise. As he lowered the torch to the pile of wood, his gaze locked onto mine, and his lips slowly moved, mouthing the word—RUN!
“What?” I shook my head in confusion. Had I read his lips wrong? How could I possibly run when I was tied to a stake?
I stared at the torch, inching as far away from it as possible. I wiggled my hands, and the rope didn’t seem as tight as before. Somehow, the knot had come loose. Maybe one of the witches had cast a spell. Had Kaleb seen this?
Looking at Kaleb, I waited to see if he’d mouth the word again. I needed to see him do it, needed to be sure I hadn’t imagined it. Instead, he growled and tossed the torch onto the wood.
Flames shot up all around me and I screamed.
Chapter 35
I screamed, struggling against the ropes around my wrists. The more I struggled, the looser they became.
“Sienna,” Garrett screamed from somewhere behind me.
By now, everyone had seen Kaleb drop the torch and the flames leap up around me. But even though it was hot, the fire hadn’t burned me alive. Not yet.
Once I’d freed my hands, I bent down to untie the ropes from my boots and noticed the strangest thing. The wood around my feet wasn’t on fire, and it didn’t smell like gasoline. I ran my hand across a piece of wood and felt mud. Someone had only doused the logs at the edge and had soaked the rest with mud.
The heat of the flames scalded my cheeks as I frantically looked around for Kaleb and Markus. They must have had a hand in this. The elaborate ‘Let’s Burn the Witch’ party had been a rescue plan, but the witches showing up had changed everything.
In the distance, two vampires pinned Kaleb to the ground. He’d shifted into a large black wolf and had sunk his teeth into one of the vampire’s legs.
As I watched, chaos erupted, with vampires and wolves attacking each other all around me. Asher and the warlock were fighting each other while Calandra faced a brown wolf.
Taking a deep breath, I leaped through the flames and dropped to the ground. With the smell of singed hair filling my nostrils, I hugged my body and rolled several times, ensuring my clothes hadn’t caught on fire.
I stood, my heart torn as I tried to decide who needed my help most. Or even which side I was on. The witches and vampires had come to my rescue while it seemed the Norwood wolves had been about to burn me alive. Although, I was sure it had been Markus and Kaleb who’d wet the wood so I wouldn’t burn.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a vampire jump on Kaleb and sink his fangs into Kaleb’s back. Kaleb yelped, and I ran toward them, desperate to help. But what if he hadn’t wet the wood? What if I’d only imagined him mouthing ‘Run’?
“What are you doing?” Garrett pulled me away from Kaleb and pushed me behind some trees, sheltering us from the commotion. “We have a van waiting on the road. Let’s go.”
“I can’t leave.” I looked back at the open field, wanting to stop the fight.
There was no sign of Calandra or the warlock, and Asher now had four vampires coming at him as he kneeled and shapeshifted into a large black wolf. As wolves, he and Kaleb were almost identical. Telling them apart would have been impossible if Kaleb hadn’t still been in the same spot, fighting off the vampire.
“We need to leave.” Garrett grabbed my arm to pull me deeper into the woods, but I refused to move.
I couldn’t leave. I needed to know Markus was all right. Which brown wolf was he? And where was Carmel? Was she okay?
“What happened to the girl you captured?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Garrett replied. “I released her wh
en that other wolf jumped on me.”
“Did the wolf hurt you?” The other wolf was Markus, and I couldn’t believe he’d hurt Garrett.
“No. Calandra pulled him away and told me to find you. I promised her I’d get you to the van.”
The orb dimmed. Within seconds, it had disappeared, and night descended on the field once again. The flames from the bonfire still illuminated the area, but not enough to see everyone.
Garrett took my hand and pulled me into the woods as the wolves’ howls and yelps filled the night air. “We need to get past the spell barrier before the wolves figure out the truth.”
“What truth?”
“We only have a few vampires with us. Calandra created an illusion to make it look like an army.” He squeezed my hand. “We need to run for it. Don’t stop until you’re past the barrier. You’ll know when you reach it.”
I released Garrett’s hand and followed him into the darkness, hoping he was right. I didn’t know what a spell barrier looked like. As tears ran down my cheeks, I pushed my legs harder. Running away felt wrong.
A strong gust of wind struck me, pushing me backward and forcing me to stop as Garrett carried on running. As the temperature plummeted, I shivered and goosebumps ran down my arms. I looked up; even the night sky looked brighter. Glancing over my shoulder, I realized Garrett was right. You certainly couldn’t miss the spell barrier.
A thin blue line hovered just above the ground, and a shimmer of red dots twinkled from the ground to five feet above, as a warning not to enter. How had I not noticed it before crossing over?
Garrett disappeared in the distance as I stood there, trying to still my shaking hands. An anguished cry escaped me as I struggled to decide what to do. Should I follow Garrett to safety? Or should I go back and try to save Kaleb and Markus? How could I choose?
It seemed Marie’s vision had been correct—she’d seen me surrounded by flames and had assumed I’d die in a fire. If only she’d seen the entire vision, my life might have been different. Everyone wouldn’t be here fighting, and I wouldn’t have to make this impossible decision.
Romani Witch (Shifter Blood: Romani Curse Book 2) Page 23
