Annie opened the door to her truck and tried to force her in. “Yes, girl! That spell you cast, the vengeance spell, didn’t ever work properly. You’d maybe feel a jolt, get thirty minutes out of it but then it would sizzle. You’re not powerful enough to wield a curse! Had a feeling something more was up when you said your spell on the wolf felt different—like a rope snapping into place is what you said. That’s why I called Kat. She’s in the Hunters’ service, on the lookout for wayward Huntresses.”
Realization dawned on her a moment later and she pushed back, taking a step away from the truck door. “This was all a set up?” She pointed at Kat. “You made me think the spell had worked! I thought I’d cursed him!”
“Way I see it, you shouldn’t have been meddling with curses anyway.” Kat scoffed, arms crossed over her chest.
“I believed myself a murderer,” Darcy hissed. “I thought I was going to find a trail of dead men that I’d cursed. That’s horrible! How could let me think that? I thought I’d destroyed Raven’s life.”
“I know this is confusing, Darcy. You two weren’t supposed to be here until later tonight! We needed time to get the Hunters in position,” Annie explained.
“You told me I was screwed! You said the wolves would kill me if they caught me!”
“I needed to get you afraid. No way was I gonna let you go to their side. This is war, Darcy. Hunters against the beasts. How did I know they wouldn’t kill you if they caught you? The wolves have killed other Huntresses before.”
“Many.” Kat confirmed with a nod.
“This is bullshit!” Darcy fumed. “If I’m a Huntress, shouldn’t I feel something? Wouldn’t I know?”
“This is not the time to talk!” Kat yelled. “Annie, let’s go!”
Annie touched Darcy’s arm gently. “Honey, trust me on this okay?”
Darcy shook her head, her gaze snapping to the hotel, her heart tugging her in that direction. There had never been a curse. No byproduct of the spell.
“Did you lure Raven here to die?” Darcy blurted the words, her brain jumping miles ahead as all the threads pulled together. If she was a Huntress… “Did you know I would be captured? That the wolves would find me? What was I, bait?” No, couldn’t be, that was too callous even for Annie.
Annie gave her a hard shove, ignoring Darcy’s questions altogether. Her shins hit the step of the truck door, forcing her to scramble into the seat, Annie following close behind with Kat on the other side.
“We suspected they’d catch up with you. Curse or not, when a wolf finds his mate, he won’t rest until she’s under his paws.” Annie finally said, picking over her words carefully. “I was doing what I thought best.”
“You are destined to kill those beasts, not mate with them. You won’t know your true powers until you bond with your Hunter,” Kat snapped. “You won’t understand your proper alliances until you have your Hunter at your side, gracing you with all of the knowledge and power of the Order.”
A howl echoed around them and Annie quickly shut her door and slammed her keys into the ignition.
“So what I was feeling…what Raven was feeling…?” Darcy gulped back a lump in her throat. Every Huntress was tied to two males—the Hunter and the Beast. Choosing would effectively put her on one side, enemy to the other. If this was all true, she could have killed Raven, even by accident, just because somewhere in her DNA lay a marker that made her a wolf slayer. She gulped back bile. Even a small cut could have poisoned him with Huntress power, effectively dooming him to a long, drawn-out death.
“The feelings were real, yes, but trust me, you want to be with the Hunters, not the wolves. You’ll feel the same thing…no, more for your Hunter,” Kat answered with a hard look. “You want to be on the side of the good, don’t you?”
Bait—Annie wouldn’t have used her like that but Kat would. “You wanted Raven to find me, didn’t you? You lied and you lured, just to get him here with me. You wanted this to happen so that I’d be forced to kill him and take the side of the Hunters.” Because that was what would be expected. If she was a Huntress, they’d want her to make a killing blow. To kill the beast and protect the humans: the mandate of the Order.
But that meant Raven was…evil? Darcy shook her head, confusion, denial, the urgent need to get the fuck out of the truck making her panic. The wolf howled again—pain, fear. Annie threw the truck into reverse, and gunned it only to slam on the brakes with a curse. Darcy bounced off the back of the seat and smacked her head on the dash.
“The fucking pack is here!” Kat screeched as Raven’s howl was answered by his pack-mates.
With blood dripping into her eye, Darcy raised her head and glanced out of the side window. Three wolves stood around the truck, a fourth—Raven—stumbled from the hotel room. He snapped his head up, his golden eyes locking with hers, then he raised his head and howled again.
The truck bounced and the women screeched as a huge black wolf jumped on the bed and growled.
“We need to get the fuck out of here!” Kat screamed.
Annie stomped on the gas and Darcy quickly shifted into neutral. The truck’s engine revved but did nothing more than roll.
With another rough curse, Annie tried to pry Darcy’s hand from the gearshift. “You trying to get us killed?”
The giant wolf slammed into the back window, shattering the glass.
Kat opened the door, muttering angrily as she splayed her fingers toward the wolf that stood on the other side. Darcy felt the blast of power as it left the old woman, had a moment of awe and jealousy wash over her. To possess such power…
And then the wolf went flying, frantically digging its claws into the asphalt to stop the backward momentum of her spell. She muttered something else, fingers splayed again and the wolf didn’t stand a chance.
Annie jammed the truck into park, left the motor running and pushed Darcy out Kat’s side, following closely behind. “I’ve got the rear.” She screeched and Darcy felt the power ebbing from her mentor, cocooning her in magic. It should have made her feel safe.
“Raven!” she yelled over her shoulder as Annie continued to push her forward.
Kat latched onto her arm and yanked her. “Smarten up, girl. You don’t want that beast! Once you bond with your Hunter, you’ll feel the revulsion for even touching that cursed thing.”
Darcy pulled back, digging her heels into the asphalt. “You’re wrong!”
Kat stopped, her hand splayed in Darcy’s direction. “I serve the Hunters. Do not make me use my magic against you.”
“I choose Raven. I want to be with him!”
Annie gasped, mid-spell, her attention momentarily diverted from the wolves to Darcy. The expression on her face was one of confusion. “You have feelings for him?”
“Blasphemy!” Kat seethed. “You can’t feel something for a creature so vile.”
In the seconds of distraction, the wolves crowded in, snarling and baring teeth, looking the fierce deadly predators they were. Annie and Kat let her go at the same time, turning their attention to defense. Without the push and pull, Darcy went sprawling to the ground on her hands and knees. She heard a low growl and looked up through hair and blood to see Raven, ferocious. The wolves crowded closer, battling the onslaught of magic jolting them back. Four wolves, two witches; there was only so much magic one could cast.
Two wolves broke free, finding a way to penetrate the wall of power Kat and Annie let fly. One clamped onto Annie’s arm and she screamed. Another barreled into Kat, knocking the woman to the ground. Darcy scrambled toward Raven, scurrying on hands and knees, ignoring the burn of the asphalt against her bare flesh.
Raven closed the distance in one leap, circled her once, golden eyes flaring, fangs dripping with spit, looking wild, uncontrolled.