Page 38 of Bewitched By the Voodoo King (The Bewitching Hour #7)

The magic was strong in our blood as we marched forward.

My shadows had stayed with Maple even when the trail ran cold for Louis and the other men.

It didn’t matter. We would need more manpower for what was to come.

My shadows told me nothing of her condition, which meant we would need to tread carefully.

No matter what I asked the ancestors, they were quiet. This was the journey I was supposed to go on alone, it seemed.

The swamp was restless.

Even over the sound of boots hitting damp earth, I could hear it breathing—trees shifting in the wind, water lapping somewhere in the distance, and the faint crunch of something moving in the dark that wasn’t us.

Louis and the others fanned out behind me, weapons drawn and magic at the ready. I’d told them not to use it unless absolutely necessary. The last thing we needed was to alert every cursed creature in a ten-mile radius that their midnight snack had arrived.

My shadows coiled low along the ground, darting ahead like hunting hounds. I could feel their pull in my bones, a thread stretching between me and where they’d taken her. They didn’t show me what they saw—cowards, or maybe protectors—but they tugged harder now. We were close.

The scent of burning wood hit first, then something else—something sharp and wrong, magic that didn’t belong to me or my people. It slithered along my skin like oil, and I had to fight the urge to peel it off.

I slowed, raising a hand to halt the men. Through the wall of moss and cypress branches, I caught the faintest flicker of gold firelight. Voices carried on the wind, and I knew we’d found her.

We crouched low as we moved forward. I didn’t know much about wolves.

But I did know that without our magic cloaking us, they would have scented us from a mile away.

We had the element of surprise in our hands.

I forced my magic down even though it pushed against the bindings I’d set on it. I couldn’t let it out yet.

Through the hanging moss, I caught sight of them—shapes that weren’t entirely human, bathed in the flickering glow of the fire.

Right in the center of all of them, beside the fire, was Maple.

Her hands and feet were bound, but she still had her head held high.

The determined slash of her mouth made pride swell within my chest.

“What’s the plan?” Louis whispered beside me. Knowing my best friend, it was more for theatrics than being stealthy. Our magic kept us hidden and the air around us silent, no matter what we did. But once someone saw us, the illusion would be broken.

“Get her clear first,” I murmured back, never taking my eyes off Maple. “Then burn the rest to ash.”

Louis’s grin was all teeth. “My favorite kind of plan.”

I let my shadows ripple forward, stretching along the ground until they were just shy of the golden firelight.

They slithered between the wolf-people’s feet, unseen but waiting for my command.

My magic pressed harder against its bindings, sensing the proximity to its target, my wife.

It wanted blood. I wanted to destroy anything and everything that had touched her this night.

No matter what happened with her lack of magic, she was mine. Nothing else mattered.

I gave Louis the smallest nod, and my shadows surged.