Page 20 of Cursed Magic (Rejected Fate Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY

M y wolf whimpered, and my vision blurred. We’d had disagreements before, but this one was different. I wasn’t quite sure why, but I wanted a chance to fully explain myself. He was right that both of us had been wrong.

He dropped his hand and stepped toward me once again.

Silence enveloped us, and my mind raced as I tried to determine how to begin. This moment would define everything, including whether I lost him.

He was opening his mouth when Briar opened the door.

She juggled two plates and had two large cups with straws clutched between her arms and chest. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed us standing there. “Oh! I was bringing your food in here. I didn’t expect…” She trailed off.

Ryker kept his gaze locked on me, but when I didn’t say anything, he let out a shaky breath. “I can eat just fine in the kitchen.” He took a plate and drink from her and headed out the door.

The weight of what just happened pressed heavily on me, and I felt as if I were suffocating.

When the door shut, Briar turned to me, eyes wide. “Ember?”

I blinked, trying to hold back tears and pull myself together. I forced a smile, making my cheeks hurt. “Thank you so much for the food.” I took the other plate and drink from her and headed back to the bed. I sat on the edge of the mattress near the end table, where the sheet was clean of blood.

As I placed the plate and drink on the table and grabbed the knife, she sat on Gage’s bed directly across from me.

She leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. “What just happened? You don’t have to pretend with me.”

I picked at the food, my appetite gone. “Everything’s just…complicated. But it’ll be fine.” The words sounded hollow, even to me. “Our focus has to be on finding evidence to get all the packs to work together to take down the Blackwoods. We’re not going to be able to do it alone. Thank Fate the vampires are on our side, or Raven, Ryker, and I would’ve died last night.”

“Speaking of which, I’m not happy with you about that.” Briar crossed her arms and glared. “I get that you’re my alpha, but you’re still my sister and the only family and pack member I have left. I should’ve been informed, at the very least. Put yourself in my paws.”

She might as well have punched me in the gut. Once again, I hadn’t made the right call. What an amazing alpha I was turning out to be. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Being the older sister and alpha, my gut instinct is to protect you. But you’re an adult, and I should treat you like such. After all, you’re my beta.” I cut a piece of steak off, noting that it was medium rare. Still, my stomach wasn’t enthusiastic like it had been ten minutes ago. I placed the fork and knife down and dropped my hands into my lap.

“Okay then.” She pursed her lips. “I wasn’t expecting you to agree that easily. And I’m your beta by default.” She stuck her tongue out but then placed a hand over mine. “I’m assuming this feeds into your argument with Ryker.”

I toyed with the straw in the cup. “Partly.”

She straightened, concern etched on her face. “What’s going on?”

I wanted to loop her in, but it wasn’t only my story to share. “All I can say is that I know something he’s kept secret from his own pack. I wish I could tell you more. I want to, but it’s not my place.”

Laughing, she tilted her head back. “Why is he so upset if he’s the one keeping secrets? What right does he have? It sounds like he’s taking it out on you.”

“He’s not the only…” The temptation to just agree with her was there. I did believe he was taking out some of his frustration at being caught on me, but he wasn’t the only one in the wrong. Something I had to see and admit, even if I didn’t want to.

All mirth vanished from her face. “What do you mean?”

“I’m doing the same to all of you,” I replied softly, feeling the sting of my admission.

She blinked. “So…both of you are being hypocrites. What haven’t you told me?”

That was the problem. I couldn’t tell her without ratting him out. My head bowed, feeling the weight of everything even more. “He called me out just before you came in.”

“What are you going to do?”

I rubbed my temples, trying to quell the renewed pounding there. “I don’t know. Yes, I kept something from him, but it was only because the thing I found out was what he was trying to keep from us.” For a second, I felt like I was back in high school.

She leaned over and squeezed my hand before letting go. “Well, it’s a damn good thing you have me. You’re not alone this time. I’m here, and we’ll figure all of it out together.”

That did provide comfort, but my wolf and heart still ached. I stared at the food without touching it.

Briar picked up my fork. “You need to eat.”

I sighed and took the utensil from her then ate a bite of warm steak.

“You’re lucky you didn’t die of blood loss.” She crossed her legs and watched. “Maybe you want to starve yourself because you feel as if you did something horrible, but you’re not allowed to do that when lives are on the line.”

The meat lodged in my throat, so I took a sip of the putrid drink she’d made me. It washed the steak down, but the combination tasted like ass on my tongue. Still, the one forkful had my appetite slowly returning, even though the knot in my stomach was still there.

Right now, I had to focus on getting better and figuring out our next steps. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of lives at stake. I didn’t have time to figure out a man who kept things from the people closest to him.

So I tried like hell to push him out of my thoughts and heal.

Three days passed, during which Ryker and Kendric avoided the house like the plague, staying in the woods to help the vampires guard the perimeter.

Gage told me that Ryker had informed their pack about the spell placed on him, and it had caused a divide and a ton of tension among them.

Each night that Ryker and Kendric didn’t return caused my heart to splinter more. The only comfort was that Gage, Xander, and Briar were with me, so I didn’t feel alone.

However, I didn’t have time to focus on Ryker doing everything he could to avoid coming back to help us. He’d been keeping in touch with Gage and Xander, giving them updates, and they returned the favor begrudgingly.

The two of them, Briar, Raven, and I, were in the study, surrounded by ancient books, maps, and a laptop on the long oak table. We were trying to pinpoint where additional witches who might provide us with information might be.

Briar tapped her pen against her notepad. “I don’t get it. It’s like these witches just disappear into thin air.”

Across from me, Raven typed on the laptop, her fingers dancing across the keyboard. She leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers. “That may be exactly what they are doing. There are several remote locations historically known for witch activity.” She paused, eyes flicking toward me. “During times of unrest, it’s common for them to retreat, especially if they sense danger or seek to avoid getting entangled in power struggles.”

“They’re out there, but they won’t be easy to find.”

Gage snorted from his spot to my right and said, “Yeah, or maybe they just want to keep everyone in the dark and avoid answering inconvenient questions. I understand that strategy well enough.” He glanced at Xander, on my other side, and gave him a smart-ass smile.

I flinched. Even though I was still upset with Ryker, I understood why he’d done it. He’d been misguided, but we were all doing the best we could.

Raven continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “They might know more about the attacks and Ryker’s condition than we realize. But I must warn you—approaching them will not be easy. Trust is not given lightly in their circles.”

I sighed, pushing a map aside. “Well, it won’t be an issue unless we can find one. We should focus on pinpointing a location before worrying about how we’ll approach them.”

Xander dragged a hand through his hair, leaning over the table. “Then where do we start? We’ve been searching for days, and they’re like ghosts.”

“Good one, man.” Gage gave a thumbs-up. “I’m down with puns.”

I bit my bottom lip, trying to hide the grin that wanted to spread across my face. Even though the situation seemed dire, Gage had a way of lightening things up.

Blinking, Xander tilted his head back. “What are you talking about?”

“Ghosts, bruh.” Gage patted his chest. “I dig it.”

“Not following, man.” Xander’s face smushed into confusion.

“Dear Fate.” Briar dropped her pen on the notebook. “Ghosts can’t be seen. Blackwoods are being cloaked.”

“That’s not even funny.” Xander blew out a breath.

Raven cleared her throat, trying to get us back on topic. “Elara mentioned that the witch performing the cloaking spell would have to be staying near the Blackwoods.”

“The Blackwoods’ territory is massive, and we can’t be sure she’s actually on their land.” Every time we tried to get ahead of them, we wound up falling several feet behind.

I wanted to scream in frustration. “If they’re working with more witches, we might be looking in the wrong places. We have no idea who their allies are. It could be other wolf packs for all we know. ”

Briar braced both hands on the table. “Would they have more than one working with them? Surely not.”

I clenched my teeth. “We can’t keep going in circles like this. Each minute that passes is a minute closer to another attack.”

Gage opened his mouth, but Raven’s phone rang, silencing him.

She glanced at the screen and then placed it to her ear quickly. “Yes?” Her dark eyes widened slightly before she held it out in my direction. “It’s for you, Ember. It’s Bruce.”

I grabbed it and held it to my ear. “Bruce?”

The familiar voice, smooth and low, came through the line. “We’ve got something, Ember. We’ve been watching the Blackwoods’ perimeter, keeping tabs on any unusual activity.”

My heart leaped at the urgency in his tone. “Okay. Did you find something?”

“Two pack members mentioned they saw a witch leave the property. A car came by and picked her up.” I heard a pause and then some rustling as he seemed to be moving. “She wasn’t carrying anything, so we’re hoping she’ll be back soon. Maybe a run to get herbs or something for a potion.”

My chest expanded with hope. Maybe we finally had a breakthrough. I gripped the phone tightly. “Can you let us know if she returns? We’ll get ready in case we need to move.” Luckily, the mansion was only about twenty minutes from Blackwood territory.

“Will do. Keep the phone close. More of us are heading that way since we have a longer drive.”

It was a good call. If we had to attack, we’d want as many hands on deck as possible. “Don’t take too many people. We don’t want them alerted in case they’re watching.”

The click of a door closing sounded on the other side of the line. “We’ll keep it small. I’ll be in touch once we have more news.”

The phone went dead, and I lowered it to see everyone staring with wide eyes, excitement practically vibrating off them.

“They spotted a witch leaving the Blackwoods’ territory. There’s a chance she’s running an errand and will come back soon.”

Gage pumped a fist in the air while Xander let out a low whistle.

“Can you link with Ryker?” My wolf ached as I spoke, desperate to see him. “Let him know what’s going on?” It was a good thing that I couldn’t pack-link with him because I might have tried to talk to him despite our needing space from one another.

“Do we have to?” Gage pouted. “He might find her and not tell anyone. I trust you more than him.”

The words were a slap in the face. I’d kept something from them too, but if I had shared, then Ryker’s spell would’ve been outed by me. “Yes, we need him.” The words were both hard and easy to say. Ryker was one of the strongest wolves out there, and we needed our best to be involved.

Xander’s eyes glowed. “I just informed him and Kendric—they’re on their way back now.”

“The four of you should meet with them and resolve this issue before we try to locate the witch.” Raven stood and smoothed her tunic over her black pants. “Like Ember said, we won’t be able to take a massive group, so we need to be able to operate well with each other. I’ll talk with Lucinda and the others and coordinate the group from our side.”

My mouth dried. She was right. We all had to talk, but I wasn’t sure that this problem could be fixed in the time we had. This issue was one of massive betrayal and lack of trust.

We all exited the study, leaving the laptop and maps scattered across the table. Raven headed out the front door, and Briar’s footsteps padded right behind me.

Raven’s right. It’s imperative we get on the same side before we head out. I’ll talk to Ryker first so we can determine how to solidify the group. Can you distract Xander and Gage so they don’t follow me outside? Even though all that was true, I also needed to see how bad things were between Ryker and me. I didn’t want to figure that out with an audience.

She nodded and gave my arm a comforting squeeze. I got you, sis.

As I stepped into the backyard, the cool mountain air hit my face, and my wolf grew restless. We hadn’t shifted in days, and she wanted to be free. However, I hadn’t wanted to risk running into Ryker while he wanted distance from me.

The sounds of leaves crunching had me looking to the right, and Kendric stepped out of the trees. Twigs stuck out of his dark hair, and his mouth was set in a deep frown. He slowed down to speak, but I wanted him gone before Ryker got here. I had to talk to Ryker alone.

“I’ll be in shortly with Ryker.” I stood straight, trying to appear more confident than the trembling mess I was inside. “I need to talk to him.”

His eyes flickered with understanding, but he didn’t push. “Sure thing.” Then he slipped past me and went into the house without another word.

My gaze returned to the tree line where Ryker’s brown wolf was peeking at me from behind the tree trunks. He vanished, and bones cracked, informing me he was shifting back to human form. Moments later, he emerged in jeans, still pulling on a shirt as he walked toward me.

The way his abs rippled distracted me, and I noticed his wound had vanished from him being in animal form. Heat flooded my body, and my legs took a step toward him without my permission.

He frowned and stopped about fifteen feet from me, making it clear he didn’t want to get any closer.

For some reason, I hadn’t expected that, and I flinched outwardly. “I…I wanted to talk to you.”

He laughed bitterly, making me realize that maybe he didn’t want me at all anymore.