10. Don’t be afraid
DON’T BE AFRAID
ah. gus’s wolf friend needs some
private time with the magic lady…
— gus
Faith. The first dead witch.
Now that gets my attention. I just thought Faith was in charge of bolstering them due to her speciality, not that she found that they were failing in the first place.
Delilah folds her hands in her lap. “There had been fluctuations for a while, but nothing we were overly concerned about. The wards around Moonburrow are old. They need maintenance occasionally. Then Faith found a few areas that were much weaker than they should’ve been.”
“Faith specialized in ward magic,” I explain to Riordan. I’m not sure if he knew that already, but he nods a thanks my way before turning his attention back on Delilah.
“One of the best I’ve ever known,” Delilah adds softly. “She volunteered to survey the boundary before we attempted any repairs. We needed to know how extensive the damage was first.”
“And she went alone?” Riordan asks.
Delilah nods. Her expression crumples for a second. “I should’ve gone with her.”
“You had no reason to think she was in danger,” I say.
“I know.” She gives me a sad smile. “But knowing that doesn’t make me stop wishing I’d made a different decision.”
Riordan purses his lips. “What happened after Max cleared the scene?”
“We brought Faith home. Performed all of the ritual ceremonies that we do when we lose a sister witch, and then, after her burial, we finished the job.”
I blink. I mean, I was aware that that the wards were closed a day or two after Olivia snuck into town, but it’s still a surprise to me that they went straight to work instead of mourning their sister witch. “Already?”
“We had to, Penelope. Especially after Faith died.” Delilah’s grief gives way to something firmer.
“We didn’t know whether whatever killed her had come through one of the weak spots.
And Olivia was outside Moonburrow by then, causing all sorts of trouble for the coven.
It was better if she couldn’t return. Leaving the wards vulnerable wasn’t an option, and the sheriff agreed. They’ve been closed ever since.”
I knew that, too. It was a recent change, but without knowing about Faith’s murder, it just seemed like a little too little too late, that Max was shutting down the wards to stop all known threats from coming into Moonburrow because he finally accepted that Riordan wasn’t coming back.
But he did. He came back because of my spell, and now he’s sitting so close to me, I can feel his shifter heat pouring off of him…
Riordan nods. “And the wards are stable now?”
“As far as we can tell. I went out with three other witches to make sure of it. Nobody went anywhere alone, and Max ordered some of his trusted predators to stay nearby while we worked until the borders were closed. There shouldn’t be any other weak spots.
” She shudders out a breath. “Though I’m sorry that Olivia was able to sneak in before we were done.
I banished her from the coven because she wanted trouble.
To know that she was another victim… I’m sorry that happened to her. ”
Olivia… I reach out with my senses, checking to see if there’s a hint of her spectral energy nearby.
I wouldn’t put it past her to pop in while we’re talking with her old coven leader.
I don’t feel her anywhere near, though. Of course, that could be because Delilah has the coven house warded against witches, or because Olivia used up her energy coming to nag me while I was talking to Riordan last night.
Either way, she’s not here, but I don’t feel all that comfortable talking about her now. We’re here to ask about Faith, and that’s what I do.
“There was something else Max found when he was checking over the crime scene after Faith was removed,” I say. “A potion bottle.”
“Yes. The broken one. He brought it to the house after. I’ve been trying to figure out what Faith brewed before she died.
It might’ve been a protection spell, but I haven’t been able to reverse it yet.
But I promise you: the coven is just as determined as the pack to find out who killed her.
And you can tell that to Serena when you talk to her. ”
If I talk to her.
“You’re the head witch in Moonburrow,” Riordan says. “If anyone can figure out what potion Faith brewed, I’m sure it’s you.”
Delilah’s eyelashes flutter. “Oh. Thank you, Beta. I’ll try my best with what I have, but if you think it’ll help…
Faith has a notebook. I offered it to Max, but he didn’t seem interested.
” She leans in conspiratorially toward Riordan.
“Because it’s about magic. Her wards and her potions… I can give it to you if you’d like.”
“I would appreciate that.”
Delilah smiles at him.
And Riordan smiles back.
Not the little twitch of his lips I’m already becoming accustomed to. A full, easy smile that changes his entire face and makes him look less like a dangerous alpha wolf and more like the sort of male who could charm just about anyone when he wants to.
Right now, it seems like he does.
Delilah fluffs her hair as she rises up from the armchair before turning, leaving the room, and disappearing down the hall. A moment later, she returns with a notebook.
She hands it to Riordan who accepts it with one of those grins that has my fingers curling.
“I just want to say… I hope this won’t strain relations between the coven and the pack,” Delilah says, resuming her seat. “Faith was killed by a wolf’s claw tearing out her throat. Now it seems as though Olivia suffered the same fate. Some of my witches are already frightened—”
“Tell them they shouldn’t be. We’ll find the wolf doing this and take care of them. You have my word. As long as there is anyone targeting witches in my territory, I won’t stop until I’ve put them down.”
He turns slightly, catching the way I’ve been staring at him. The smile he flashed Delilah disappears as a very predatory, very solemn expression twists his handsome features.
“I promise.”
We spend another twenty minutes with Delilah.
I finally relent and accept a tea from her.
Unlike his brother, Riordan doesn’t drink coffee.
He passes on both tea and water, focusing on asking questions about Faith, then Olivia.
Only when he notices that discussing the state of Olivia’s body and how her burial is scheduled for later that afternoon does he stand up and thank Delilah for her time.
Taking that as my cue, I tell the coven leader that I’ll stop by for tea later that week. I make a point not to peek at Riordan, though there’s no way the Beta doesn’t know I’m lying through my teeth. Instead, I stand up. Sensing my movement, Gus finally wakes up.
The opossum scratches my leg lightly, trying to get my attention. I swoop up Gus, cradling him to my chest, and follow Riordan toward the front door of the coven house.
Riordan unlocks the cruiser’s doors for us before glancing down at the notebook in his hand. “I want to go through Faith’s notes before we head out to the border of town. So why don’t we say nine o’clock tomorrow again? Then we can check out the wards ourselves.”
I stop, one hand cushioning Gus’s rump, the other reaching for the door handle. “The wards?”
“Yes. I know you’ve been to the spot where Olivia died. I’d like you to see if you can… I guess, see something where Faith was murdered.”
Right. Because I’m a seer, the only one in Moonburrow just like Olivia said, and if Faith’s ghost decided to hang around there, I might be able to tell.
There’s a chance I might be able to pick up on any remnants of a spell she cast before she fell.
While I’m good with herbs, I’m pretty shit with potions, so I’m no help there.
But I know all the colors of magic. If any still lingers near her murder site, I’m uniquely qualified to pick up on it.
So of course I have to go. Sometimes investigating a murder means talking to witnesses. Sometimes it means visiting the murder scene. And now it seems like, tomorrow morning, I’m going into the woods where a witch was brutally killed by a wolf shifter.
And I’ll be going with a wolf shifter.
It doesn’t matter that I know that Riordan can’t be the killer.
I’ve been so good, working past my nerves and my fear lately.
Just thinking about being that close to another wolf while heading out into the woods…
it doesn’t matter that it’s Riordan. The same thing happened when I went with Olivia and Max.
I was scared then like I’m scared now, and without meaning to, I hug Gus a little tighter.
He squeaks in protest.
“Sorry,” I whisper.
Riordan looks over the cruiser at me. “Something wrong, Pen?”
Ah, shit. He noticed my minor freak-out.
I quirk my lips up into a smile I don’t mean. “Nope.”
His eyebrows rise, and I’m suddenly reminded that, even if he’s the Beta, any alpha wolf shifter who knows what he’s doing can tell when a less dominant supe is lying to them.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I amend, and that is the truth. “But if you want me to help you with going through her notes, I can do that.”
He watches me for another moment, then says gently, “Is that something you want to do? Maybe you’ve done enough for today. I… this can’t be easy for you, and I know you didn’t sign up for this. I appreciate your help. So if you want to cut out until tomorrow… I understand.”
How does he know that the idea of going through a dead witch’s notes makes my stomach twist?
That’s not all that’s leaving me anxious and queasy, but he’s not wrong…
I love going through a coven’s archives, but I know I’m reading notes and spells and thoughts of witches that passed a long time ago.
Faith was alive last week. It doesn’t feel right, and I’m a little stunned that Riordan realizes that.
Huh. There might be more to the Beta than I first thought…
“If you don’t need me for that, I’d like to go spend a couple of hours at the library. I told Ash that I might not make it today, but if I can, I’d feel a lot better about going.”
I wait to see if Riordan asks me why. He doesn’t. That tells me that he either knows about the disaster at Moonburrow Library and the role I played in knocking all of the books off the shelf or he doesn’t care what I do when I’m not helping him with his investigation.
I don’t know which it is, and when he nods, I let it go. I like to think that he’s being gracious and not mentioning my magic mess-up and I leave it at that.
“I’ll drop you off on my way home,” Riordan tells me. “Deputy Gus? You want to catch a ride with me or would you rather go back to the bakery and head out with Max and Honey later on?”
Gus uses his tiny pink claw to tap his badge.
“That’s what I thought.”
Ash seemed surprised when I came dashing into the library about an hour-and-a-half later.
Claiming that he was hungry and that the single donut I gave him only whetted his appetite, Riordan insisted that we stop in at a small cafe off of Main Street to have breakfast. Before I could refuse, Gus bobbed his head in what could only be considered a nod of agreement.
Accepting that I was outnumbered, two to one, I tagged along.
Everyone in Moonburrow knows Riordan, and it seems as though everyone in town all decided that they wouldn’t mention the two months the Beta was gone.
Everyone we passed gave him a jovial hello, and because of his popularity—and the town gossips wondering what he was doing with the newcomer witch—our quick breakfast lasted nearly two hours.
Riordan teasingly joked that it was near lunchtime, and he could take me to this cozy restaurant where they serve the best steak sandwiches. Already stuffed from the pancake platter he suggested I order, I politely refused, and told myself that he wasn’t trying to keep me from leaving.
That my spell wasn’t getting stronger inside of fading.
That Riordan doesn’t feel that tie between us strengthening…
When he dropped me off at the library, it was a relief. He can stay away from me, and I only hoped that meant that the locator spell was finally dissipating enough that he won’t insist on being my protector.
Of course, then I thought of the way he pointedly told Delilah that he wouldn’t let anything happen to a witch on his watch.
And while I did get a little jealous at the way he schmoozed her into getting Faith’s notebook from the coven leader, there was something in the way he looked at me as he made his promise.
Which is why, despite how anxious I am about going into the woods with Riordan, I find myself almost looking forward to it.
The first thing I notice when we approach the exact spot where Faith Mathers was murdered is how strong the wards are—and, oh.
I’m sorry. I’m being a fibber. A big, ol’ nasty fibber.
I want to believe that my mind was completely on the task at hand, but when I can’t stop fixating on how close Riordan is to me… yeah.
It’s just the two of us. He showed up at the bakery at nine o’clock on the dot.
I was ready to go, even though my knees were knocking beneath my skirt.
I thought Gus was coming with us, too, but before the opossum deputy could tag along, Gus took him to the side and whispered something to him.
I have no idea what, but Gus nodded, brushed against the side of my boot as though wishing me good luck, and went to return to the front of the bakery where Honey was.
However, despite how determined I was to be the best investigative partner I could, I forgot that it was just me, the woods, and an alpha wolf with such amazing shifter senses, it doesn’t take long before he finally catches on to my nerves.
The first time he asked me what was wrong, I brushed him off. The same for the second. But the third time? He doesn’t quite tell me what to do—so I could refuse him if I wanted to—but I can sense there’s a hint of desperation to his request.
“What’s the matter? You can tell me. Promise. Because something’s wrong, and I don’t want to be pushy, but it’s been distracting me all morning.”
He’s right. I probably should. If we’re going to be working together until we figure out who is killing witches in Moonburrow, I should. I mean, it was bound to come out eventually…
“I’m afraid of wolves,” I admit at last. “Not just wolves, either. Dogs and coyotes and anything like that… I can’t help it. And I should’ve told you already, but I usually can deal with it. It’s just… the woods and we’re alone.”
“Is it being alone with me that’s a problem? Or that I’m a wolf shifter?”
“Wolf shifter,” I whisper.
I expect Riordan to roll his eyes or scoff. He’s the strong, powerful—gorgeous—Beta of the Moonshadow Pack. I can’t imagine him being afraid of anything.
Only he doesn’t.
Instead, approaching me slowly, he cups my jaw in his hand. “Be afraid of wolves, Pen. But don’t be afraid of me.”
Whoa.