Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
L iam wouldn’t wish artemisia poisoning on anyone. Even if he had gotten a day of reading out of it. Reading and Kade bringing him everything he could possibly want, often before Liam realized he wanted it.
Not having access to his magic had left him empty, his entire body aching from the lack. It had been like his magic was hovering on the edge of his vision, disappearing when he turned to look. As the artemisia’s effects had begun to fade and his magic had returned, it had remained elusive, on the other side of glass, a fraction of an inch from his fingertips, but impossible to grasp. It’d been late afternoon the following day before he could use it, and the first contact had been blissful relief. Feeling his magic, feeling Kade’s energy—he’d been whole again, and it had shaken him how thoroughly he’d missed both, how much he needed both. He wasn’t sure he’d feel like himself without Kade’s energy in his system anymore, without Kade’s presence in his mind, without Kade reading in bed beside him every night.
He had to decide what to do.
Part of him wanted a few more days of cleaning. It had kept him somewhat occupied. He didn’t even have the distraction Aran presented since he’d switched his focus to testing the white flower, though he was having the same amount of luck as Liam was with the spirits. Never in Liam’s life would he have believed he’d be missing Aran and all his inappropriate jokes.
Instead, he was alone with Kade. Stupidly attractive, apparently ridiculously compatible Kade.
Kade, who sensed that Liam needed time and space and was doing his best to give him that, as much as the bond allowed. Who was sweet and funny, even though he told almost as many dick jokes as Aran did. Who longed to travel the world, but had too many responsibilities here to do that.
Liam glanced up from his book to where Kade was sitting against the wall opposite him in the pack house’s workroom. Aran had given him three books on sex magic, and Kade was reading them with far more interest than any of the books on spirits. He’d nod thoughtfully, an occasional thrill of arousal sparking in their connection, and Liam refused to let himself think about what it would be like to do any of those spells with Kade. To have Kade’s energy flowing through him as Kade—
No. No. No.
He wasn’t going there. No matter how attractive he found Kade or how intoxicating his energy was. He wasn’t being logical when he thought about things like that, and he needed to be logical right now.
He returned his attention to his own book, though he couldn’t concentrate on the words on the page.
Would he want a life with Kade? Certainly not here. Or, maybe, not here more than a few months out of the year—preferably the months without snow. Spending more time with Elijah would be nice, and the pack seemed amazing. He’d love to see what they were like when this situation wasn’t hanging over their heads.
The more he considered it, the more he loved the idea of traveling the world to gather all the knowledge he could and make it accessible to as many people as possible.
Would Kade want a life like that? Them traveling together, with Liam working on his archive while they explored the places Kade had dreamed of visiting?
There was so much Liam had to learn. The fact that he hadn’t figured out these damn spirits yet was proof of that. Everything he didn’t know about shifters would fill volumes, just about bonds alone. He’d recognized there was more to them after what had happened between Elijah and Victor, and since then, it had continued unfolding. He still didn’t comprehend the full scope of them.
Which brought him back to his main question. What did it mean to be compatible?
“Do shifters—” he started, then cut himself off. The realization that this might be an awkward conversation to have with Kade caught up to his curiosity a second too late.
Kade looked up from The Joy of Sex Magic , which couldn’t be remotely academic given the warm buzz of his emotions. He cocked an eyebrow at Liam. “Do shifters…?”
Liam repressed a sigh. He might as well ask. Not knowing would drive him crazy. “Do shifters have multiple people they’re compatible with?”
Kade closed the book and set it aside, immediately alert and attentive. “Yes and no. Like we were talking about before with shifter energy and magic, it’s on a spectrum. Take Victor, for example. No one else in the world could be as compatible as Elijah is with him. But if he and Elijah had never met, Victor might have found someone compatible enough. They would have developed feelings for each other and had scents that combined fairly well. They would have bonded and had a connection between them. It just wouldn’t have been as intense.”
“So you have a choice? You don’t have to be with one specific person to be happy?”
It felt like Kade was choosing his words carefully as he answered. “Not everyone is lucky enough to find someone as compatible as Victor and Elijah are. They can be happy without that level of connection, but I think anyone who finds something like that would be a fool to let it go.” His eyes didn’t leave Liam’s face, and the scrutiny made Liam want to squirm, but he pressed on.
“You can tell based on scent? Not just if people are compatible, but how compatible?”
“It isn’t an exact science, but generally, yes, we can. The way Victor and Elijah’s scents combine is on a different level from an average, decently compatible pair. Saying their scents are complementary isn’t an adequate description. Together, they’re almost transcendent. Our grandparents were similar. I’ve only ever smelled one combined scent that was better than either of those.”
Kade was expecting him to ask the question that hung between them, but Liam wasn’t ready to do that. Not yet. He had plenty of other questions though. “Do people ever have compatible scents, but then don’t work out?”
“Not that I’ve heard of. If they aren’t a good match, their scents would clash.”
“But some shifters ignore that, right? Or don’t care? Otherwise, transactional bonds wouldn’t exist.”
“Yeah. There have always been arranged marriages for alliances and, more recently, the transactional bonds with mages. Our pack has never done that though.”
Liam breathed in, catching hints of Kade’s scent, their scent, on his clothes, on his skin. He was dancing around this. He should ask. But did it matter? Whether or not they were compatible, did he want this? Whatever it was? He’d never imagined himself with a shifter. He’d hardly imagined himself with anyone at all. It had never been a priority. He had future plans, but he’d never pictured himself in a long-term relationship. Hell, he’d never even dated. Not seriously. The closest things he’d had to relationships were the ones Aran had labeled “academically stimulating arrangements,” and those didn’t require exploring what sharing his life with someone might entail.
Kade studied him, still waiting for a question Liam was certain he could already answer. The workroom stretched wider than usual, heavy silence blanketing the distance between them.
If he asked, would the answer change anything?
“Let me take you out,” Kade said, his voice low and smooth.
“What?”
Kade stood and prowled over to where Liam sat, then reached down. Liam took his hand out of habit, and Kade hauled him to his feet but didn’t step back, didn’t let go of Liam’s hand. His energy hummed against Liam’s skin. He leaned closer and inhaled in a way that answered any unspoken question Liam might have had about their scents, his wolf flashing in his eyes, a hint of a rumble in his chest. “Let’s go for a drink.”
Quiet confidence radiated from Kade, just a step away from cocky. Not to the point where he’d transformed into the type of guy Liam automatically disliked in clubs, but sure enough in himself that he exuded the promise of a good time, if Liam would allow it. He was the Kade Liam had gotten to know, but with a heat banked in his gaze that had Liam’s breath hitching, something dangerous and hungry about him that wasn’t entirely his wolf.
This didn’t seem like the smartest move while Liam was still confused.
“I don’t drink. I hate how it makes my head feel.”
“It doesn’t have to be alcohol.”
“I haven’t figured out how to destroy the spirits.”
“Do you have a spell you want to try?”
Liam sighed. He really didn’t.
“Will staying here help you think of something new?”
He was loath to admit it, but probably not. If inspiration was going to strike, it would have done so by now.
“Then let me take you out,” Kade repeated, so close that Liam felt the heat of his body, that tempting warmth.
Liam wondered if he was being foolish to agree, but when he nodded, the pleased gleam in Kade’s eyes made it hard to regret the decision.
Kade drove them to a local bar. If there was one thing Lost Creek wasn’t lacking, it was bars. Considering there were fewer than ten thousand people in the town, Liam wouldn’t have expected such a selection.
Inside, the lights were dim and the music would make it difficult for anyone to overhear their conversation.
Kade ordered a beer and water, passing the latter to Liam, then gestured at a pool table in the corner. “Do you play?”
“I haven’t in over a year, but I can.” Pool was all about calculations; he’d always been decent at lining up shots and working out the ideal angles to hit the balls.
But that didn’t prepare him for how Kade played. He swore Kade had to be deliberately provoking him by bending over the table to take his shots, even the ones that didn’t call for it, from the side of the table Liam was on, like he was making sure Liam got the best views of his ass he could offer. He stood in the line of sight of Liam’s shots, his jeans tight enough that Liam had no doubt which way he hung. And Kade knew he was looking too; it seemed to encourage him.
“Okay,” Kade said as Liam lined up his next shot. “Two truths and a lie. I’ve never been more than a day’s drive from Lost Creek. I’ve never gotten higher than a B on a report card.” He leaned in and continued under his breath. “And I’ve never had sex on a pool table.”
Liam missed his shot.
“What?” he asked, standing quickly, though that brought him closer to Kade.
“Two truths and a lie. You have to guess which isn’t true.”
“I’m familiar with the rules. But why?”
Kade shrugged. “Maybe if I distract you with other puzzles, your subconscious will do what it did with identifying the spirits, and you’ll solve it.”
That seemed unlikely, but Liam could play along.
“The middle one. It makes the most sense that you’d hide the lie in the middle.” Plus, whatever image he projected, Liam knew Kade was smart.
Kade grinned, still too close for Liam’s sanity. “You think I haven’t had sex on a pool table?”
Liam swallowed, doubting himself until Kade’s smile grew wicked.
“Wanna help me fix that?”
Liam shivered.
“Your turn.” There was a low growl behind Kade’s words, and all Liam could picture was himself getting bent over the table, hands scrambling against the baize as Kade pounded into him from behind.
But then Kade stepped away, and it took Liam a minute to process that he hadn’t meant it was Liam’s turn to have sex on a pool table. He wet his lips as Kade bent over and took a shot, sinking the eleven in the far left hole.
“I’m… uh, closer to Elijah than my blood siblings. I secretly do like Aran. I helped Miles research his final project for his apprenticeship.”
“Miles?”
“Yes. Though you aren’t allowed to tell Aran.”
Kade chuckled, sinking another ball. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He circled around the table for the follow-up. “I like eggplant. Especially big purple ones. I like cucumbers; they’re so nice and firm in your hand. And I like thick, meaty sausages.”
Liam wasn’t laughing at that. It wasn’t funny. “I know you’re fond of meat, so not that. Eggplant?”
“Why?”
“Because last time, the lie was second.”
Kade snorted. “Are you going to guess the first one is also the lie next because you think I’ll put it there to try to outsmart you?”
“Maybe.”
“Your turn.” He sank a third ball, then looked at Liam expectantly.
“I met Elijah—”
“Nope. I let that slide once. This should be about you , not you via your friends.”
Liam opened his mouth to protest, then snapped it shut. That did seem fair. He considered what to say.
“The first time I used magic on my own, I set fire to the curtains in my bedroom. When I was a teen, I was convinced I was developing foresight for about a week.” He inched toward Kade, his cheeks heating. “During my apprenticeship, I studied some sex magic. Hands-on. Literally.”
Kade raised an eyebrow at him.
“What? Yours were dirty.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about. My last one was about food.”
Liam scoffed. “Sure it was.”
Kade aimed his shot, drew back his cue, then cut his follow-through short as he straightened abruptly. The ball veered off course, missing its target.
“With who?” he asked.
“You have to guess which isn’t true,” Liam teasingly parroted back at him.
“The first one. You always had a stack of books on your bedside table. Even as a kid, you never would have done fire magic near them. With who?”
Liam blinked in surprise at Kade’s confidence and accuracy. “Ah… another apprentice. I was curious. So was he.”
“Not a shifter?”
“No. I barely worked with any shifters before you.”
That seemed to please Kade. He lowered his voice to say, “You know those books Aran lent me? One mentioned using shifter energy during sex magic is better than—”
“Your turn.” Liam knew what it was better than. Everything . He didn’t need a book to confirm that theory for him.
Kade shot him a sly look, but let it drop. “PE was my favorite subject in school. My favorite trope to read is fated mates. I fantasize about leaving my pack.”
“Leaving your pack.”
“My favorite subject was art, actually. Not that I was any good at it, but it was fun messing around with whatever supplies they gave us. PE, on the other hand, requires us to constantly suppress our natural abilities so we aren’t suspiciously fast or strong.”
Liam frowned, but before he could ask, Kade was moving on, not giving him time to think about the third statement being true.
“Let me give you an easier set. My favorite DickHunt scene is Celebrating the Exclusive Contract . I would happily be the meat in a DickHunt sandwich. I have Richard’s merch, but have never used its… most famous feature.”
“Most famous feature?”
Kade leaned in. “It has a fully functioning knot.”
Oh . There were toys like that? Okay. Well. Kade seemed romantic enough for that particular scene to probably be his favorite. While Liam hadn’t watched it yet, he’d be willing to bet that much. But if Kade did want to be in a… sandwich, surely he would have tried that feature. “The second one?”
“They’re the hottest stars on MateHub, but I’ve never been into threesomes. Plus, Richard would kill me.”
“But you haven’t—” Liam snapped his mouth shut. He shouldn’t ask. Instead, he aimed for the seven… and failed to sink it. When he straightened, Kade was right there, his breath fanning Liam’s ear.
“I wanted to save that for my mate. Feeling my knot expand in them and the echo of that through the bond. How tight and hot they’d be clenching around me. How full I’d made them feel. Our bond connecting us as pleasure built, until there was no separating us.”
Liam remembered how that had felt. What would it be like without the spirit affecting them?
Kade inhaled deeply, his eyelids drifting shut, but then he pulled back. “No toy could live up to that. Not even Richard’s.”
He went to take his shot, and Liam tried to convince himself that the space between them didn’t bother him.
They stayed at the bar longer than Liam would have expected, and it did end up distracting him from his failure with the spirits and from everything else they didn’t know, but it absolutely didn’t distract him from his thoughts of Kade. Not with how Kade kept getting close before pulling away. With the provocative options he gave Liam to choose from.
Liam was almost regretful when they called it a night.
He assumed it would be a one-off evening, but they did the same the next night and the night after that.
They’d try some experiment on a spirit that was all but guaranteed to fail, or Liam would research until even he was sick of it, and then they’d head out to a bar.
He wasn’t sure what Kade’s intentions were. Their evenings together felt like dates, but were they? He didn’t want to ask. At least not until he decided whether he wanted them to be dates. That didn’t stop him from enjoying them though, even if they weren’t offering any brilliant insights into destroying the spirits. They weren’t helping with their other problems either. Niall’s pack was still in danger, and those mages were still out there.
And as the full moon drew nearer, Liam realized they had another problem on their hands.
Kade was growing restless, his energy more potent and rousing when Liam used it. His wolf prowled with an untamed hunger that permeated their bond.
Kade’s wolf craved things, and Liam could sense it, could sense how frustrated it was that Kade wasn’t acting on its desires. Liam was finding it harder to deny that he wanted those things too.
He’d thought the last full moon had been as bad as it would get, that he’d be able to resist that temptation. But with Kade getting more worked up with each passing day, Liam was starting to doubt that, and it wasn’t even the full moon yet.
Kade’s phone vibrated as they left the bar, and he dug it out of his pocket. A jolt of shock flashed through him so suddenly, it caught Liam’s breath. He looked at Kade.
“What is it?”
It took Kade a moment to tear his gaze away from the screen. “It’s Pierce. He’s asking to meet tomorrow.”
“What?” Liam’s eyes wanted to pop out of his skull. “Are you kidding? It’s been nearly two weeks, and he wants to do it now ? The full moon is in two nights.”
Kade held up his phone to show him the message.
Pierce
Wanna hang out tomorrow night?
“Nope. No way,” Liam said. “I know Elijah is struggling to figure out how to break into the wards fast enough, but we can’t trust him, and I don’t think we should attempt to capture a spirit with hooks in a pack so close to the full moon.”
Kade grimaced. “He’s a good guy.”
“A good guy who could be so messed up by a spirit that he isn’t aware he’s not being a good guy.”
“Let’s see what everyone else thinks.” Kade sent off a quick message, and they drove to the pack land, Liam tapping his foot against the floorboards.
Pierce had to be setting them up, right? Why else would he have waited so long to contact Kade? Trusting him seemed like a mistake on all fronts.
When they’d assembled, most of the group agreed with him.
“Yeah, fuck that,” Aran said. “This is beyond suspicious. He likely set us up so we couldn’t get to the shop while it was being broken into, and now he’s setting us up again.”
“But why would he do that?” Miles asked.
Aran shrugged. “The spirit?”
“Or his alpha found out and he hasn’t been able to contact us.”
Liam shook his head. He knew Miles was giving Pierce the benefit of the doubt, but they couldn’t trust him.
“If Niall found out,” Elijah said, “we’re fucked. Every option is shitty here. If I try to break through their wards, they’ll arrive before we capture the spirit. If we agree to meet with him, we might be left in the middle of nowhere while someone does who knows what somewhere else.”
“Or he shows up with his pack ready to fight.” Aran’s tone was tense.
“That too. And even if this isn’t a trap, I’d rather not do it directly before the full moon because Miles needs to reset Grant’s wards, and he should be conserving his magic over the next few days.”
“If it comes down to it, my pack can wait another month.” Grant clearly wasn’t thrilled about it, but saving Niall’s pack was the more critical issue.
Elijah blew out a breath and exchanged a look with Victor, some silent communication passing between them, then he turned to Kade.
“See how he reacts to meeting on a different day. If he insists on tomorrow, there’s something going on. Say we’ll meet him exactly one week before the new moon. That’ll give Miles about a week to recover from resetting the wards, and any effect the moon has on the spirit’s strength should be decreasing by then.”
“But regardless of him insisting,” Liam said, “there might still be something going on.”
Aran nodded in agreement.
Liam watched Kade type a message and hit send. They stared at his phone, but the reply wasn’t immediate.
“I don’t like this,” Liam said.
Elijah grimaced. “None of us do. But we don’t have a choice.”
Liam wished he could argue with that. They needed someone in Niall’s pack to help them, and Pierce was their best bet.
Kade’s phone buzzed. He opened the message and read it aloud.
Pierce
Same time, same place. Don't contact me again.
An uneasy silence settled over the room until Elijah finally broke it.
“If anyone has a better plan, I’m all ears.”
Liam had nothing, and neither did anyone else.
Dread pooled in his stomach, cold and heavy. Kade’s hand rested on the small of his back, offering what comfort he could.
He’d do this if he had to, but every cell in his body was certain it wouldn’t end well.
Liam walked around the clearing in Grant’s territory. It was hours from moonrise, but Kade was already a jittery ball of energy. He attempted to push that sensation away and concentrate on the task at hand.
He marked out a circle larger than the one Miles would be drawing after he was finished. This wasn’t a difficult spell, but it would require a fair amount of magic.
Only Miles, Grant, and Grant’s pack would be on his territory that night. Victor had offered his pack as guards, but Elijah hadn’t thought it was advisable to have energy from Victor’s pack on Grant’s territory during the ritual.
It hadn’t snowed yet, but the air was wintry and it would just get colder as the night progressed. Miles and Grant would be in this clearing until dawn, and Miles wouldn’t have the magic to spare to keep the area warm as he worked. That was where Liam came in.
After he’d finished his circle, he sat in the center and channeled his magic. Though his access to Kade’s energy was limited without Kade there with him, it was so tempting to let the sweet burn of it fill him. He tamped down that desire and set a warming spell over the clearing, giving it enough magic to last until morning.
When he was done, he let himself sense how perfect the spell was. Even with as little of Kade’s energy as he’d used, it was still better than any similar spell he’d cast before.
He opened his eyes and saw Miles outside the circle, watching him.
Liam stood and walked over.
“This is beautiful spellwork,” Miles said, his gaze unfocused as he took it in, then he blinked at Liam, too nice to ask the obvious question.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. Sort of. If your magic and Grant’s energy are compatible, be careful how you sever the connection between you after the ritual. Make it a clean cut so there are no side effects like Elijah had.”
“Oh. Yeah. I can do that.” Miles’s cheeks were tinting pink. “Don’t want any lasting effects from the ritual. Because we’re definitely doing the same ritual Elijah did.”
Liam narrowed his eyes at an increasingly flustered Miles.
“Right. Thanks for setting this up. It’ll really help. I mean, I’ll be wearing a coat. And clothes, of course. You know. Warm clothes. So it’s not like I need it. But it’ll be good to have. For the ritual. With the clothes. I mean, the ritual doesn’t involve clothes, just that I’ll be wearing them. Like one does. For rituals.”
Well, that wasn’t suspicious at all. Miles appeared to be broken.
“Are you okay? If you don’t think you can handle the ritual, we can figure something else out.”
“No. I can… handle it.” He was brighter red than Liam had seen even Elijah get.
“…Alright. If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. This was my idea.” He swallowed audibly.
Liam stared at him for a beat longer, and Miles vibrated with nerves.
“If you change your mind, we’ll understand.”
Miles’s resolve solidified. “No. I want to do this.”
Liam gave him one final skeptical look, but Miles seemed determined and it was his call to make.
Shrugging, Liam turned toward the pack house. Miles took the lead, already familiar with the territory after weeks of capturing spirits on it. But if he hadn’t been there, Liam could have found his way without any problem.
Kade was waiting, his presence a beacon that pulled at Liam, drawing him in, luring him closer.
His agitation eased as Liam stepped out from between the trees, the relief of no longer needing to restrain himself from storming into the forest to find him washing over them both. The drive back to Victor’s territory didn’t settle him, and neither did running with his pack that night. Liam had thought that might help, but he’d been wrong.
Elijah had suggested Liam stay out with the pack’s human members at the bonfire that night, but it didn’t feel right to Liam. He didn’t belong there for this. Elijah wasn’t staying there either; he was as wild as the wolves and had slipped into the trees with them. So Liam headed to Kade’s room as twilight fell around the house.
But if anything, Kade seemed to be getting more restless as he ran. Liam sensed his exhilaration at running through the forest for the first time in months. It had him pacing the room like he needed to run as well, like he should be out there with Kade, which was ridiculous—there was no reason for him to run with the pack. Running with them was something he should only do if he wanted to stay, but acknowledging that didn’t help.
His clothes rubbed against his skin, too rough and too constricting. He couldn’t read, couldn’t sit still. He was too on edge, too horny, but there was nothing he could do about that either. Not without making the situation so much worse for them both.
Or so much better.
No. Doing that would be the epitome of a poor choice.
A highly pleasurable, mind-blowingly hot poor choice.
He tried to breathe through it. Another thing that didn’t help.
The window was still cracked open, the chill night air gusting in, but it did nothing to cool his heated skin.
He tried to focus on anything other than Kade, on his instincts and urges. That became infinitely more impossible as he sensed Kade approaching, stalking toward the house with single-minded determination, like he was hunting down his prey.
The moment Kade entered the house, Liam knew it. Anticipation crackled between them, through their bond, in Liam’s blood, as Kade neared, as he climbed the stairs.
Liam shivered.
The only prey Kade wanted to hunt down that night was him.