“Fine. Where do I meet him?”
“Atta girl.”
11
Easton
I sped through town, my wolf practically breathing down my neck for answers that felt much closer today than they had last night. A short text had woken me this morning. Angus’s message had been clear. I had one shot to meet with the witches and bargain for my healing. I was in. His last line: Don’t be late.
Considering my appointment was in twenty minutes and the coven wanted me to come to them, I hauled ass.
The witches’ land butted up against national forest area. It was the most remote stretch of road there was in Midnight Falls. It’d been a favorite hangout for me and my friends as kids. Every game of Truth or Dare usually involved being dared to walk through the woods near the witches’ ceremonial grounds.
Weird shit always happened in this part of the Falls.
Like now, cheerful daylight turned to a dark and cloudy sky as I approached the turnoff. If that was the strangest part of this meeting, I was getting off easy.
No other cars were parked outside the dilapidated cabin when I pulled up. I knew the witches didn’t actually live here; they just used the place to hold meetings they didn’t want humans knowing about.
I thought of Cat as I climbed out and headed for the cabin’s door. When I’d asked, she’d agreed to come with me despite the knowledge that this place was spelled against anything that wasn’t supernatural. And she would have too. If I’d had time to stop and pick her up. But I couldn’t afford to offend them with something as simple as being late.
Witches were moody like that.
Before I could reach the cabin’s porch, the rickety screen door was pushed open from the inside.
A woman stepped out, her black skirt swishing against the ground as she moved. A narrow face set on a slim, bony body peered down at me. Her dark hair was swept into a severe bun, and the collar of her dress rose high on her neck. Peering down her nose at me, she looked more like a nineteenth-century countess than a modern-day witch.
“Easton Raines.”
“Delphine.” I stalled, realizing I had no clue what her last name was. No one did. Delphine just … was. The coven leader and the most serious woman I’d ever encountered. Also, the scariest, if I was being honest.
She’d once caught me trying to sneak into a coven meeting and threatened to turn me into a speedbump in the town square.
I kind of believed she could do it too.
Now, peering down at me, she frowned, and the air hummed with some electric current that wasn’t altogether friendly-feeling against my skin.
“Why have you come?”
“Uh, Angus texted. Said I could meet to ask the coven for help.”
I looked over her shoulder, but no one else had joined her.
She folded her hands in front of her. “You may state your request.”
Damn.
These witches hadn’t changed a bit.
No sense of humor and no love lost when it came to werewolves.
“I injured my knee a few weeks ago. Despite all my efforts, it hasn’t healed. I think something’s wrong with my wolf.”
Her lip curled at my mention of the beast inside me. Not surprising. The witches and wolves existed in a teetering sort of peace pact. It was fragile and constantly leaning one way or the other. Apparently, today, she was leaning toward “screw werewolves.”
“I can’t help you.”
She turned to retreat inside and I hurried forward. “Wait.”
She turned, sniffing.
“I am willing to bargain,” I said before she could walk away.
It wasn’t my first choice, but apparently we were skipping Plan A and going right to desperation.
She turned to face me again, interest gleaming in her dark eyes. Overhead, the clouds roiled, and in her dead gaze, storm clouds rolled there too.
I planted my feet, unwilling to go any closer.
“What are you willing to give up?” she asked.
Damn, we were getting right to the point then.
“What do you want?”
The gleam deepened. “You would bargain nearly anything for the healing then?”
“Not just the healing,” I admitted. “I need to be free of . . . this place. And I need to be healthy to do it.”
“You hate Midnight Falls that much?”
She sounded morbidly curious, and I reined in my impatience. I didn’t feel like spilling all my feelings to a witch who obviously was only in it for the gossip.
“I hate the pain it caused me.”
She was silent a long moment, watching me with such steady scrutiny I had to fight the urge to look down and defer to whatever alpha vibe she was giving off. What the hell. This woman was powerful.
“You have nothing I want,” she said finally, and my shoulders sagged in defeat. She was going to refuse me. And I would be stuck like this forever.
“I knew this was a waste of time,” I muttered, turning to leave.
“There is another who wants something from you,” she said sharply, and I stopped, turning.
“What?”
“There is a woman.”
My gut tightened. I wasn’t sure where this was going, but I knew Delphine was dangerous. Damned if I’d give her anything on Cat.
“She’s not part of this.”
“Your wolf has chosen to tie its fate to hers. You can’t undo what the fates have willed.”
My eyes narrowed. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised she knew that, but it only made me more wary. “I came for healing. For myself.”
Overhead, thunder boomed. Delphine’s expression darkened.
“You came to bargain. This is the price fate will extract.”
A flash of lightning lit the sky, startling me into silence.
Delphine’s face began to glow, and despite the fact that I’d grown up around supernatural beings and magic, whatever weird shit she was calling up was really fucking unsettling.
“At midnight, the mate call will no longer be ignored. When blood is spilled under the moon, your healing will be complete. And the fates will have their offering.”
Her voice boomed unnaturally loud, and the storm clouds
