23. Lodestone no more
LODESTONE NO MORE
gus knew better than to trust all that pink.
— gus
The roar is followed by a crash somewhere behind the trees. A yelp, another roar, and I know instinctively that whatever wards Delilah laid down hastily to trap me mean shit when it comes to an enraged wolf coming after his mate after she screamed.
She must’ve really thought that her wards would hold. One second, she’s cocky, standing there as though he’s not threat. The next? Riordan suddenly appears and she jolts in place, stunned to find him standing there as wild as I’ve ever seen him.
Now, I felt the wards zap me. I felt how strong they are.Then again, Delilah told me he couldn’t get through the wards, and I believed her because what witch would leave her wards to chance because she didn’t have time to layer them properly?
Of course I believed her. I’m a witch, too. Wards are barriers. You don’t break through them. You find the weakness, dismantle the spell, or convince the witch who cast them to let you through, either by dropping them or by creating a lodestone-type key.
But Riordan? Riordan is a wolf.
And it seems like wolves have a fourth option: hit the fucking things harder.
He didn’t shift to do so. I almost had expected him to after hearing that animalistic sound, but he comes charging through the woods in his skin, his gold eyes blazing, and his claws out.
One look at me slumped against the tree is all it takes for the last of whatever control my mate usually possesses to simply disappear.
“Pen.” My name is a snarl and a promise of vengeance all in one as he lopes toward me as though he didn’t just smash through a ward to do so.
“I’m okay,” I gasp out, struggling to stand up all the way.
Yeah. I’m not okay. Every nerve in my body is still buzzing from Delilah’s sneak attack, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a bruise the size of a softball on my back tomorrow, but I’m alive at least. That’s all that matters to Riordan.
I’m alive, and he isn’t going to let Delilah get a second shot at me.
He maneuvers his body so that he’s standing directly in front of me. He’s still shirtless. He must have stood on the porch, keeping his distance like he said he would, but keeping an ear cocked out in case I needed him.
And, oh, do I need him.
He hunches his shoulders, staring off against Delilah. “You hurt my mate.”
“She left me no choice. Now, come, Penelope. Stop hiding behind your brute. Finish this and know that, with your death, you’re returning Avalon to its former glory.”
“Death? His shoulders bunch, legs bracing as if he’s about to pounce. “Never.”
“Riordan!” I grab the back of his arm before he can make a move. I’m fueled by panic, but that’s because I can only imagine what sort of spell she’ll shoot at Riordan if he tries to attack her in order to protect me. “She has the lodestone and she’s using it!”
Riordan has learned enough about a lodestone these last few days that he knows what a credible threat that is. He goes still, biding his time, while Delilah laughs.
She laughs.
Peeking around Riordan’s bulk, I can see her. She’s standing across the way, holding the lodestone in one hand while she’s reaching into the pocket of her pink dress with the other.
“True lodestones are fully powered by sacrifice. I was just explaining that to Penelope here when you decided to interrupt, Beta. Now Garnet… that was a mistake, and I wasn’t prepared the way I ought to have been because I never expected to kill her.
With Faith, I poured the activation potion on the lodestone and dipped it in her blood, but I left the bottle behind. ”
So that was why there was a broken bottle found where she died? Because of the lodestone?
I don’t get the chance to ask before Delilah says, “I didn’t make that mistake with Olivia.” She takes a potion bottle out of her pocket. “And I won’t make it with you, Penelope.”
Riordan growls. I saw the way his shoulders tightened again as Delilah brought up Garnet, and I promise myself that, if we get out of this in one piece, I’ll tell him all about poor Garnet’s fate. For now, I notice his fingers flexing, claws on display, each time she mentions another victim.
Faith.
Olivia.
Penelope.
“Try to harm a hair on my mate’s head,” snarls Riordan. “Just try it. I don’t know what’s going on. Don’t know how you’re the one who killed those witches, but it doesn’t matter. When I’m done with you, they’ll see how much damage a wolf shifter can really do.”
An ugly sneer twists Delilah’s features. For a moment, she lifts her hand, conjuring her illusion spell again so that Riordan can see how easily she turns her witch hand into a wolf’s paw. As he throws an arm out, trying to shield me, she laughs again.
“Such a good puppy you are, Riordan,” she coos. “Always protecting everyone. Even when no one wanted you to. You just trot along at their heels these days, ever since your curse neutered you. Well, since you want to get involved… why don’t I finish the job.”
Before I can shout a warning or do anything to stop her, neon green magic erupts from the lodestone. It arrows directly at my mate, slamming into his chest.
His big body locks in place an instant before goes crashing down to his knees. A howl rips from his throat, and I lunge for him, calling out his name.
It takes more effort than it should, but Riordan manages to resume the same position: one arm thrown out, doing his best to stop me from getting in front of him.
“Stay back, Pen,” he says, his voice strained, his arm shaking.
My heart breaks. Even on his knees, he’s trying to protect me, and I have no idea how I’m going to protect him.
Delilah preens from across the clearing. “Do you know how long I’ve wondered what would happen if someone finally put the great Riordan Lobo in his place?”
“Go fuck yourself,” he grates out.
“What a naughty pup. You’re not talking to the future queen of Avalon like that, are you?” Delilah tsks and raises the lodestone. “Someone needs to teach you some manners.”
Another burst of green shoots out of the lodestone, hitting him even lower this time. As I watch in horror, the neon green magic forms a length of chains, wrapping around Riordan, dragging him down until he’s genuflecting in front of Delilah.
His claws dig into the dirt as he tries to use brute force to break the curse that Delilah placed on him. It doesn’t work. Not only do the chains keep him flat on his belly, but when I rush over to him to check if he’s okay, I see that his mouth is moving but no words are coming out.
That witch! She stole his dignity and his voice, and she’s still not done.
Delilah lifts the lodestone. This time, there’s no way for Riordan to stop me. Besides, after all he’s done to protect me from the monster killing witches in Moonburrow, it’s my chance to return the favor.
It’s so clear now. I love him. I already knew I did, but with love comes clarity that there isn’t anything I won’t do to save Riordan from this psychotic witch.
And it just might be that I’m thinking clearly for the first time in a long time, but I’m not overthinking.
I’m also seeing what’s right in front of me instead of pretending I don’t, instead of blaming the obvious answer—that there was a tie between Riordan and me because we’re fated mates, not because of a spell gone wrong—I finally tap into my full abilities as a seer witch and look.
And you know what I see?
When I first saw the lodestone, it didn’t have a magical color. It was shimmering and wavy, the promise of everything you can accomplish with such an artifact, but now?
I see green. Pure neon green pouring off of the lodestone.
Curse magic.
There’s so much of it that I don’t know how I missed it before.
Maybe because I wasn’t focusing on the lodestone.
Or because Delilah was hiding it beneath her illusions.
Honestly, it’s probably because I’ve spent my entire life thinking of lodestones as amplifiers like Morrigaine’s mirror and an immense source of power.
But, above all, I’m a cursebreaker. Finally, I know what I’m looking at.
“I think I understand.”
Delilah’s attention snaps to me. “What’s that, Penelope?”
“Lodestones aren’t just anchors. Deep down, they’re also source for curse magic, like never-ending batteries for dark witches.” I give my head a shake that’s pure disbelief. “No wonder they get buried and forgotten. They’re pure dark magic after you ‘activate’ them, aren’t they?”
“In the right hands.” Her smile returns. “Very good. See? This is why I would’ve much preferred you to be one of my witches instead of one of the lodestone’s sacrifices. But we follow the paths we’re on, and this is what has to happen for both of us. I’m sure you understand that.”
I understand that Delilah is insane. And that Riordan is in danger.
And that the lodestone might not have always been corrupted, but if Delilah has been sacrificing witches and feeding it blood, there’s nothing else it can be.
Facing off against Delilah, I spare a moment to look at Riordan.
She makes a small noise in the back of her throat.
“I wouldn’t think about unraveling his curse, Penelope.
I’m sure you’ll find it much easier. After all, the curse the Beta was under became near-unbreakable after he spent a decade-and-a-half living on top of land that hosted a lodestone.
By then, only a mate bond could replace it, but if you love him…
I’ll let him go if you come here and do what I say. ”
I don’t need an alpha’s ability to detect a lie to know that she’s full of shit.
If she kills me, Riordan will hunt her to the ends of the Earth to make her pay.
She would be in danger so long as he was alive so of course she’d kill him.
Considering her plan was to blame the wolves for her witches’ murders, then use the widening chasm that was growing between shifters and witches in Moonburrow to get rid of them all and keep Moonburrow—as Avalon, I’m betting—for spellcasters, she might kill every wolf in town.