Page 25 of Curses and Casualties (Hunters Hollow #3)

“I engineered your destiny,” he corrects, still maddeningly calm despite his position.

“Without my intervention, Ryan would have lived and died never knowing Georgia existed. Luna and Kane would have continued jumping from vessel to vessel until magic burned out or one of them let go, causing the other to go mad with grief. Is that the alternative you prefer? The one where everyone dies longing?”

The worst part is, I can’t answer that. Because despite everything—the pain, the loss, the manipulation—it led me to Georgia. To our bond. To a love I never knew was possible. The realization makes me sick.

Don’t listen to him, Kane snarls. He used us. Hurt Luna. Kill him now!

But as I stare into Magnus’s eyes, I see the exhaustion there. The weight of centuries pressing down on him like mountains. Whatever else he is, he’s not lying about his motivations.

“If you kill me,” Magnus says quietly, “you’ll never meet the witch who created the curse.”

My claws dig deeper, drawing more blood. “What?”

“You need something from her to fully break it.” His voice comes out forced, each word a struggle against my grip. “Without her, you’re gambling with Luna’s life. Is your revenge worth that risk?”

“Where is she?” I demand, giving him a shake that rattles his teeth.

“Safe. Hidden.” He swallows carefully against my claws. “Release me, and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

“Ryan,” Georgia says softly, her hand touching my arm. Through our bond, I feel her conflict—her anger at Magnus warring with her desperate need to free Luna. “We need that information.”

Every instinct screams at me to end him. This man who orchestrated so much pain, who treats our lives like chess pieces in his game for freedom. But Georgia’s right. We need him.

I release him, stepping back as he drops to his feet, one hand massaging his throat.

The puncture wounds from my claws are already healing, supernatural resilience kicking in despite his bound wolf.

He straightens his jacket with hands that barely shake, composing himself with centuries of practice.

“The curse will weaken as the supermoon approaches,” Magnus says, his voice hoarse but steady. “Luna will grow stronger, more viable. Georgia might even achieve partial shifts, perhaps even a full shift if the conditions are right. But the link will remain tenuous, fragile.”

“Until?” Georgia prompts, her scientific mind latching onto the details.

“It will remain so until the Soul Bond ceremony is complete under the supermoon’s light.

” He moves back to his desk, pulling out a leather journal.

His fingers trace symbols on the cover that activate before he opens the cover, the words on the page floating into place as he smooths out the page.

“The ceremony must happen in a place of power—for you, that’s the Soulcave.

The ritual requires specific elements: moonwater blessed by the witch who cursed you, wolfsbane to thin the veil between spirits, and.

..” He pauses, meeting my eyes, “fragments of the heartstone that originally held Luna.”

“We have that,” I say, thinking of the stone shards my brother pulled from her leg when he cleaned her wound that day I found her in the caves. The memory of her pain makes Kane whine.

“Good. The ceremony itself is deceptively simple. Physical union under the moon’s light, but it’s not just about sex.

It’s about complete surrender—human to wolf, wolf to human, soul to soul.

Both pairs must be willing participants.

Any hesitation, any holding back, and the bond remains incomplete. ”

“And if we complete it?” Georgia asks, leaning forward despite herself.

Magnus’s expression turns almost wistful, and for a moment I see the man he might have been before centuries of existing consumed him.

“Then you become what hasn’t existed for three hundred years.

True soul-bonded mates. Your power will be unlike anything the modern supernatural world has seen.

And most importantly—and for my purposes,” his voice hardens again, “magic will begin to flow freely once more.”

“All so you can become human,” I say, disgust coloring my tone.

“All so I can finally rest,” he corrects, and the naked exhaustion in his voice almost makes me pity him. Almost. “You may not agree with it. But I’ve earned my mortality.”

“And Scarlett?” Ethan asks quietly from where he’s been watching. “What’s her part in this?”

The change in Magnus is instantaneous and terrifying. His entire body goes rigid, hands clenching into fists so tight I hear bones creak. The temperature in the room drops ten degrees. “She has no part. Keep her away from me.”

“She’s hurting,” Georgia says, concern for our packmate overriding caution. “When she saw you?—”

“I SAID KEEP HER AWAY!” The roar rips through the room like an earthquake, his eyes flashing molten gold despite his bound wolf.

The raw power rolling off him makes the windows rattle and my instincts scream.

When he speaks again, his voice is deadly calm, but I can hear the effort it takes.

“The witch you need is named Evanora. She’ll be at the Stonecrest Falls Coven, two days north of here.

Tell her who you are. She’ll know what comes next. ”

“If you’re lying to us—” I start.

“I’m many things, Ryan Blackwell, but not a liar.” Magnus returns to his window, clearly dismissing us. His reflection in the glass looks shattered. “You have what you came for. Now, go. And whatever you do, keep that woman away from my territory.”

“Scarlett,” Georgia says, soft but firmly. “Her name is Scarlett.”

Magnus’s shoulders tense so hard I’m surprised his spine doesn’t snap. “I don’t want to know her name. I don’t want to know anything about her. Just... go. Complete your bond. Fix magic. And let me find my peace.”

The guards appear to escort us out, and I’m turning toward the door when I remember. “Oh. One more thing.” Magnus looks up, eyebrow raised. “Nicolai asked us to give you a message.”

The change is instantaneous. Magnus goes absolutely rigid, his hands gripping the desk so hard I hear the wood creak. “What message?”

“He said to tell you...” I pause, suddenly unsure. The air in the room has gone arctic. “He sends his regards.”

The sound that comes from Magnus isn’t quite human. It’s somewhere between a growl and a keen of pain, and the temperature in the room plummets. His eyes flash that brilliant gold again, and for a moment the carefully controlled mask slips completely.

His whole body shakes—not with fear, but with a rage so profound it makes the air itself vibrate. When he speaks, his voice is barely recognizable, scraped raw with centuries of fury.

“Get. Out.” Each word drops like a stone into still water. “GET OUT NOW!”

We don’t need to be told twice.

As we exit the dampening field, I feel Kane surge back to full strength, his fury still burning hot as a forge.

Should have killed him, he growls.

Maybe, I admit. But Georgia was right. We needed him to tell us about that witch.

Should have killed him after he told us then.

I can’t really argue with that logic, so I don’t even try.

As we approach the car, we find Scarlett leaning against it, her face pale but composed. She looks up as we approach, and I see the questions burning in her eyes.

“Did you get what we needed?” she asks, her voice neutral though I can hear the strain underneath.

“Yes,” Georgia says, immediately pulling her into a hug. “Are you feeling OK?”

“I’m fine.” But I can hear the lie in her heartbeat, the slight catch in her breathing. “Just felt weird in there.” She shakes her head, trying for casual and missing by miles. “Probably just the dampening field messing with my wolf.”

Ethan and I exchange a look. We both know it wasn’t the dampening field, but now isn’t the time to push. Whatever happened between her and Magnus, she’ll accept it and tell us when she’s ready.

“We need to head north,” I say, helping Georgia into the car. “Two days’ drive to find the witch who created the curse. We need her to bless some water so we can do the bonding ritual.”

As I start the engine, I glance back at Magnus’s compound in the rearview mirror.

A figure stands at one of the upper windows, watching us leave.

Even from this distance, I can feel the weight of his gaze—centuries of regret and ruthless choices pressing down on the world like a storm we can’t stop.

“What did he tell you?” Scarlett asks as we pull away. “About the curse?”

Georgia fills her in as I drive, but I notice she carefully omits Magnus’s violent reaction when we mentioned Scarlett again—she does tell him how crazy he got when we passed on Nicolai’s message, though.

“Oh, so it’s not just me he can’t stand then,” Scarlett says in an attempt at humor. But through our bond, I feel Georgia’s worry for our friend, her growing certainty that something significant passed between Scarlett and the lone wolf.

Mate bond, Kane confirms quietly, his earlier rage settling into concerned observation. Saw it in his eyes. His wolf recognizes her.

But he’s rejecting it, I realize. He wants to become human so badly he’s willing to deny his own mate.

Fool. Mate bond is gift. Greatest gift.

I reach over and take Georgia’s hand, feeling the warmth of our connection pulse between us. Kane’s right. Whatever pain Magnus caused us, whatever manipulation led us here, I can’t imagine life without this bond. Without her.

“Two days,” I say aloud, squeezing her fingers. “Two days to find this witch, then we head back to Whisper Valley.”

“Shit,” Scarlett breathes from the backseat, her expression turning serious as reality sets in.

“No pressure, right? Just save the world and try not to die before the supermoon pops up. I mean, cool that we’re getting all the pieces needed for you guys to complete this ritual.

But just how exactly are we supposed to get into that cave without the pack enforcers tearing us to shreds? ”

I glance at the road ahead, my mind already racing through possibilities. The mountain pass, the cave system, the pack’s patrol patterns... “We’ll need a plan.”

“Yeah,” Scarlett says, sighing as she leans back in her seat. “A damn good one.”