“I bet the Coven loved that.”
“Not so much. I was told not to do it again, and this is my penance to prove I care about the paranormal community and that I don’t want to start another round of witch hunts.” He stared at his bare feet. “They offered me a job if I succeeded. Maybe it wasn’t a setup.”
Only Landstrom was keen to see him fail. Had the other two known his mate was here?
“A job? Doing what?”
Jude shrugged. “As an investigator…doing this.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I don’t know. I was planning on traveling to get away from all of this. I was waiting for my passport when they called me in. I worked hard to win that jackpot. It took me months to figure out how to manipulate the machines. I need to use my magic for more than charging my car and phone. I didn’t expect my win to land me in trouble that would get me sent here and mess up your life. You have a place, a home, and you know what you are and always have.”
“But no one else does,” Mack whispered.
Mack’s loneliness hit Jude hard. There were no other paranormals in town. No one he could share anything with. Seeing Mack in his bear form had been amazing and terrifying and he’d never forget it, but Jude didn’t belong here. He didn’t belong anywhere.
Jude pushed it all aside. He shouldn’t have let himself grow fond of Mack. But what they had…he bit his lip…losing that would hurt more than losing his magic. He understood why witches wanted a familiar, not for the power, but for the connection. A connection Mack had never wanted.
“When the Coven gets here, they will break the bond. I’m sure they’ll be happy to do it as it gives them another reason to take my magic.” They’d probably do it even if Mack didn’t ask.
“What do you mean?”
“You can petition for your freedom, but there is a cost. I lose my magic.”
“That’s not right.”
“That’s the rules.”
“It wasn’t in what I read. You should’ve told me.”
“Why? The odds are I’ll lose it anyway. I’m not leaving here with my magic.” He’d go back to the city magicless and mateless. “I’m trying to be okay with that.” He’d rather get eaten by an aufhocker.
Chapter Thirteen
Mack made himself a pile of sandwiches and ate without tasting. Jude was making a horrible mistake in trying to be noble. There was no glory in being a dickhead. And Mack didn’t want to be saved.
“We still have to survive tonight before the Coven gets here.” And stop the remaining aufhocker from killing any more people. Which meant they couldn’t hide in the house.
Jude strolled into the kitchen from the living room. “I know. I was thinking we could go back to North and trap it before it goes hunting.”
Mack nodded. At least Jude hadn’t completely given up. “If you hadn’t called the Coven, I could’ve asked a few more bears to come down.” He couldn’t ask them to fight, but they could be backup and help contain the creature.
“We can’t involve others or ask them to put their lives in danger. I shouldn’t have involved you.”
“You think you could’ve avoided what the Fates planned?”
“If I hadn’t gone to the bar.”
“Then we’d have met some other way. The kiss was always going to happen. I liked you the moment I saw you.” But Jude was going back to the city then going traveling. The distance was already forming, and this time it wasn’t his fault.
“Lust.” Jude shoved his hands into his pockets. He was trying to appear unbothered, but the misery was there, threatening to drown him and take Mack with him.
He couldn’t let Jude have his magic stripped. It wasn’t his fault he’d screwed up. The Coven should’ve trained him better or given him more help or something.
Mack studied Jude. “Do you really want to leave Mercy and go back to Seattle?”
Jude hesitated and wouldn’t meet Mack’s gaze.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“I thought I belonged in the city around all that electricity—it feels so good on my skin. I missed it out here. Hated it at first. But now I love the silence. Yesterday there was nothing. I had the same experience at North, too. I’ve never been able to play with my magic like that.” He shrugged. “Not that it matters.”
“It does matter. It matters to me.” Do you want me? was the question he couldn’t ask, or was this nothing to Jude?
“When the bond is broken, you’ll be free again.”
Which is exactly what he’d wanted at first. How could he have been so blind to what was in front of him? “And so will you.”
“I’ll be human.”
“But you’ll know the truth. You don’t have to leave.” Mack had said too much. He shoved a sandwich into his mouth to stop more words from tumbling out.
Jude looked at him. His eyebrows drew together. “I’ve messed up your life enough, don’t you think?”
Mack swallowed, the bread like wool clogging up his throat. “You’d mess it up more by leaving.” Mack put the empty plate in the sink. “I’m going into town to get supplies for tonight.”
“Like what?”
“Dunno yet.” But he couldn’t stay here another minute. He wanted his life messed up because it was better that way. Jude couldn’t see that because he was too busy trying to be a martyr and save everyone but himself. As Jude’s familiar, it was his job to stop his witch from doing something stupid. “But if we can stop the aufhocker tonight, you get to keep your magic.”
“Do you want to die? We barely survived last night.”
Mack crossed the small kitchen and backed Jude up against the wall. “Do you want to quit? Or do you want to fight? Why have you given up? You’re rolling over for
