I tried to propel the water out of the shop, attempting to protect the books, the shop itself, anything that my aunt loved. I needed to safeguard those I loved. Rowen and Faith began circling one another, and Faith just winked.
“This is only the beginning, dear Ravenwood. Oriel says hello.”
Rowen frowned, her face fierce. “Who is Oriel?”
“You don’t know? You should. And you will. Soon.”
Rowen slashed out with a dagger, and a man came out of the darkness from the back door. I didn’t recognize him. A stone flew through the air in front of him, propelled by his magic, and smashed into the dagger.
“Not today,” he growled, and Rowen’s eyes widened.
Laurel grinned for a minute, surprise on her face, and I wanted to know who this stranger was. He had dark hair, blue eyes, and a strong jaw. The hawk shrieked, and the man winked at him before going back to fighting at Rowen’s side. My friend and fellow witch stiffened for a moment before she looked at the other man, nodded tightly, and they moved towards Faith as one.
Faith looked between them, a small smile playing on her lips. “Interesting. Very interesting.”
And then she shoved out her hands, lightning crackling on her fingertips. The revenants moved forward, and then…she was gone.
Laurel cursed under her breath, and the rest of us went to work destroying the remaining revenants. I hated what Faith had done with these corpses, with the bodies that had once contained the souls of those who had been loved. I didn’t see any of the bear shifters, but I knew they were out on a hunt. Those who remained were here, protecting us.
I hugged my aunt tightly as everybody began cleaning up. My chest heaved, and I looked over at the stranger. Laurel smiled and threw her arms around him.
“I didn’t know you were coming.”
“I didn’t know I needed to be here,” he said, his voice wooden.
Rowen rolled her shoulders back. “You weren’t needed.”
“What if I was?”
I now knew who this man was—this stranger who had saved us. When I looked over, I saw Rome running towards us, Trace at his side. They both had looks of surprise on their features, and I knew who was here.
Ash was back.
As was Faith.
Chapter Fifteen
Faith
Faith moved through the hallway and up the stairs to where her lover sat. He sprawled on a large chair, phone in his hand. He raised a single dark brow, a smirk on his face. “It’s done, then?” he asked, his voice low, a deep, throaty purr.
Faith grinned. “Oh, it’s done. He’s back. Now, the key players are all here. Just like you said they would be.”
Her lover grinned. “Of course, things are coming along, moving down the right path. It’s our plan. I would never have even let us come here without everything in place. They don’t even realize the chess game they’re playing.”
He held out his hand, lightning sparking off his fingertips and onto the dying wolf below. The shifter was in human form, naked, and covered in cuts. Faith grinned.
“A present for me?” she asked as she crawled onto her lover’s lap. The man with dark eyes and a wicked grin kissed the top of her head as she snuggled against him.
“Of course.” His voice was smooth as whiskey, low, deep, and tantalizing.
Faith leaned down and brushed her lips against his. He tugged on her hair, a punishing grip, then pulled her head back and crushed his mouth to hers. He bit her lip, causing her to bleed, and then lapped at the blood, laughing.
“They don’t even realize what they have in that little girl, do they?” he asked, kissing down her throat.
Faith chuckled. “No, they never do. They think that fate decided to hide Sage from them all this time. They don’t even realize that it was you.”
Her lover grinned. “Of course, they don’t. They didn’t need to know that I was the one who forced them to never realize Sage was missing. They didn’t know anything. Now, they will. They don’t understand curses. If they did, they might’ve broken a few. Piece by piece, our plan is coming together. Soon, Ravenwood will be ours. He kissed Faith again, and she snuggled into him even as they tangled their fingers together. Lightning struck out from their twined fingertips, and the wolf beneath them screamed, agony pouring off him. Faith smiled again.
“What do you say we make things interesting?” Faith asked, a wider smile playing on her lips.
“How interesting?” he asked.
“A few players are a little too much for our board. I’m working on one of them. It will take some time, but it’s been years in the making. There’s another, one we don’t need anymore. Their time is up, don’t you think?” Faith asked, and her lover grinned.
“Oh, their time has been up for a long while. It will be good to hear them scream.” He kissed her again, and she moaned. They stripped each other, both naked and writhing in the chair as they made love. Lightning pierced the air around them, blending with the screams of the dying man and sending them over the edge.
“Soon,” he whispered as he slid his hands down her sweat-slick back, the jagged waves of her anchor tattoo wrapping around his hand.
“Soon,” he repeated. Faith fell asleep, her lover wrapped around her, still deep inside her, and his magic soothing her soul—whatever she had left of it.
Chapter Sixteen
Rome
My hands clung to the steering wheel, my fingers turning white as I let out a slight growl. I nearly drove off the road when a gentle hand touched my forearm. I looked over at Sage as she gripped my arm, and she shook her head.
“Breathe, Rome. We’re okay.”
I let out a breath through my nose, inhaled again before I turned down the street towards her cottage.
“I’m not okay right now,” I growled, my bear pushing at me. It wanted me to shift, to eviscerate anything in its path, but I couldn’t do anything about it. The revenants were gone, as was Faith, at least for the time being. Someone had tried to hurt Sage again, and I hadn’t been there. I didn’t know if I could deal with the fact that I couldn’t always be there to protect her.
“I’m going to need to run,” I growled, hating myself for being so weak.
Sage patted my arm again as if she didn’t know what to say. I didn’t blame her. I wasn’t acting like the bear she knew. Hell, I wasn’t acting like the bear I recognized in the mirror, for that matter.
I pulled into Sage’s driveway. “Let me help you out.”
“Rome, I can handle myself. You saw that.”
“I know,” I growled, my bear at the surface. I let out another breath and gripped the steering wheel tight enough that I knew I’d break it off if I weren’t careful. Like when I’d been a teenage bear learning my first tendrils of control. “Let me do this. I need to.”
Sage met my gaze. “Of course. Come on.”
I turned off the car, got out, and went around to help her out. I opened her door, and she already had her seatbelt off, her purse clutched to her chest. I held out my hand. “Let me walk you inside.”