Page 11 of Spellbound & Speechless (Witches of Starbrook #2)

Mac

I clap my hands over my ears. It’s as if she’s in my head. The screams. The cries.

Help! Help! Someone help!

She isn’t here. Why can I hear her like she’s right next to me? Maybe it’s a witch trick, but it doesn’t matter. Aspen needs me.

It’s late in the evening. Bodies densely pack the bar, but none of them are hers. I can’t smell her. My wolf claws at my mind as if he’s trying to escape. My skin ripples. A growl builds in the back of my throat.

I should stop. Ask Juniper.

No . That’s not an option. My wolf roars. Somewhere, Aspen is screaming for my help, and I will fucking tear apart the thing that is making her cry.

Where is she?

My mate…

My mate…

My boots pound against the pavement as I run. A car would be faster for most people, but I’m more than a person. Even in my human form, I’m quick.

Am I fast enough to get to her? Fast enough to save her? To help her?

Each scream is more desperate than the last. Blood-curdling. Begging. Pleading. The sound drives me to where she is. A large home, painted red, peaceful from the outside… but it’s not. Not for me. Not for long.

Aspen’s scream tells me it’s the opposite of peace on the inside. Aspen is begging for help, loud enough that I know the neighbors can hear. Why isn’t anyone doing anything?

I barge in. The front door is unlocked.

“Aspen!” I chase her sweet scent through the house, but the sugary smell I already know so well is tinged with fear… and something rotten. “Shit. Fuck. Where are you?”

“Help!”

This time her screams aren’t in my head. I can hear her. She’s begging for me. A growl rips free from my throat as I run through the house, which smells of rancid magic. It’s not Aspen’s magic. Hers is sweet, like a cherry bursting between my teeth.

There’s someone else here. I already know who it is.

I sprint up the stairs. A second voice mingles with Aspen’s, something wretched, a scratchy sound that haunts my nightmares.

The corrupt witch corners Aspen in the tiny attic, a room so small I have to duck my head to get inside. Aspen cowers on the floor, pressed into a corner, with a thick book in her hand—a grimoire.

Many witches have grimoires. Some covens use the books to pass the magic down the family line. Grimoires hold intense magic.

If the corrupt witch gets her hands on it, she’ll be too powerful .

I lock eyes with the evil witch and lunge at her with my claws out. Before I can grab her, she dissolves into a bat.

“You stole vampire magic?” I growl. “That’s new.”

It’s harder to grasp the tiny creature, my hands swiping wildly through the air as she flies from the room. My wolf is conflicted—hell, I’m torn, too. To chase after the corrupt witch, or…

To go to her. To Aspen.

Aspen trembles in the corner, wrapping her entire body around the book. Tears stream down her face. Her magic still surrounds her, but there’s something more, a tainted smell from the other witch’s attacks.

If the witch took anything from her, whether a drop of her blood or a speck of her magic, I will fucking?—

No. This isn’t about revenge, not right now. That can wait. Aspen. Aspen needs me. Well, she needs someone , and I’m the only one who can help.

“Shh…” I kneel by her side and cradle her face, directing her to look at me. “You’re all right. I’m here now.”

She meets my gaze with watery eyes and chokes out a sob. “She wanted my magic.”

“I know.” My claws retract. I wipe her tears away with soft, human fingers. “She didn’t get it, did she?”

She shakes her head. Her knuckles are white, her hands trembling as she grips the grimoire. “I was planning to do a spell, but?—”

“You don’t have to now. She’s gone. C’mere.”

I crush her against my chest, and to my surprise, she doesn’t push me away. Her sweet magic overpowers everything else, even the corruption rot.

Aspen melts against me, and I dissolve into her, my eyes closing tight.

My mate is in my arms. I can’t deny the bond any longer. It’s not her magic, and it’s not my wolf overreacting. It’s a true, fated connection. I was brought here for a reason.

My purpose is not to be with Aspen. I can never do that—but I can keep her safe, and I will, even if I go down fighting. Death has always been an option. Chasing the corrupt witch is what I live for; it will be what I die for, too.

The front door opens with a loud creak, noisy enough for us to hear it even in the drafty attic. Aspen jumps. I can tell she wants to run, but I hold her tighter.

We’ve been up here for too long, hours with her in my arms. The only sounds she made were soft sobs.

“It’s Juniper,” I say.

I haven’t known the witches long, but I already know their scents and the sounds of their footsteps. It’s part of my job to pay attention. Sometimes, I’m not perfect at it, and tonight is one of those times.

I should have come sooner. Faster.

Guilt pushes down on my shoulders. As I lead Aspen downstairs, I fight an urge to hold her hand, comfort her, or do anything . I can’t. The spell breaks, and she won’t even look at me. I don’t care. She’s alive, and it’s enough to make my wolf quiet—sort of.

Protect her… my mate…

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m fucking trying.

“What happened in here?” Juniper asks.

Juniper, Maple, and Laurel all stand in the messy room. A nail polish bottle was knocked onto the hardwood, staining the floor. The rot of the corrupt witch is stronger than the smell of chemicals. A toppled chair blocks the staircase, likely a part of Aspen’s struggle.

“The corrupt witch attacked,” I say.

“No!” Laurel covers her mouth with her hands. “How did she know you were in here?”

“We don’t know.”

“I don’t understand,” Laurel says. “How does she know where we live? Why did she…?”

“All I know is that she wanted my magic.” Aspen’s voice shakes. “And I think… I think she wanted to use me as a lure—to hurt the rest of you.”

Juniper’s face hardens. “Why are you here?”

“I heard…” I swallow thickly. There’s no way to explain how or why without saying what Aspen is to me. I can’t say she’s my mate. She doesn’t seem to feel our connection, and I need it to stay that way. “I left the bar early. On my walk to the motel, I heard her screams coming from the house.”

My hearing is good enough that it’s a likely story. This isn’t my usual route to the motel, but they don’t know that.

Juniper doesn’t seem to question it. She doesn’t even ask why I left the bar without telling her. Her shoulders relax. “Thank the gods…” She shakes her head. “And thank you , Mac. You saved our sister.”

I run my hand through my curls. “It was nothing. Anyone would have helped.”

They don’t know shit. They don’t know how I feel about her or how I wish I could have done more. I should have done more. A stone drops in my stomach.

“We may need to fix up our protective wards now that Mom is gone.” Maple doesn’t smile like she usually does. Her soft eyes reflect fear as they shift around the room. “I thought hers would do fine, but?— ”

“They’ve lost power over time,” Juniper says. “We’ll make that our next task.”

“Good plan.”

Juniper turns back to me. “Have you really been staying at the motel?”

I nod.

There’s no use in looking for a place of my own. I’ll only be here for as long as the corrupt witch is. She never stays in one place for long, and I doubt she can stay in a town this size for more than a few weeks.

“Well, you’re not staying there anymore.” Juniper crosses her arms. “You’re staying with us.”

I blink. “What?”

“If you want to,” Aspen says. She still isn’t looking at me. “You don’t need to, but… it seems like we need protection here, too.” Aspen passes the grimoire to her older sister. “She was trying to get this.”

“Of course.” Laurel’s eyes widen. “The family magic. This must be the weapon she was talking about.”

I lift a brow. “The book is the weapon?”

It’s not exactly what I had in mind.

“It has powerful magic,” Juniper says. “It is the closest we have to a weapon, as far as I know.” She holds the book against her chest, treating it like a newborn baby.

A grave silence passes through the room. Wind whistles outside.

“Will you stay?” Aspen peers up at me with a look that makes me want to say yes .

Fuck. I’ll do anything for her.

I should deny the offer. It may be safer to have me around, but it also means getting closer to them… and to Aspen. That’s a risk I can’t take. As much as I want to run away from it, I also want to chase it .

My heart thumps. “If you feel safer with me around, I’ll stay. It’s the least I can do.”

They’re offering me a room, probably a better room than the one I’m staying in. I can give them protection in return, while staying close to Aspen. There’s no reason to turn it down.

“I think we would all feel safer with you around,” Laurel says. “You’ve been a big help at the bar.”

“And you saved my magic,” Aspen murmurs.

“Then it’s settled,” Juniper says. “Now, onto the grimoire.”

I guess that’s that.

“There should always be at least one witch watching it.” Juniper continues speaking. “If the corrupt witch gets her hands on this…”

My face grows grim. “She can drain your entire family of magic, can’t she?”

Whether it’s a weapon or not, the book is powerful. It will only strengthen the corrupt witch. Juniper is right. It has to be protected.

Juniper nods. “She can, and I think given the chance, she will.”

It turns out that when the witches offered me a place to stay, they didn’t have a place. Not really. Not a room to myself, at least.

That’s how I end up sharing a bedroom with… well, with Aspen. Apparently, she has the largest room, and she doesn’t complain when Juniper suggests letting me sleep with her .

Well, not with her—near her. Fuck.

This is the best and the worst outcome. I’m close to her now, as near as I can be without crawling into her bed, which means I can keep her safe. That’s the problem—we’re too close. All I can smell is her .

She showers off the scent of the corrupt witch, and now… it’s just her . Sugar, almond, and flowers that I don’t know the name of.