I arched an eyebrow. “Let me guess, the testing somehow involves me?”

“Yes.” Commander Klebus waved toward the cuffs. “The reason I asked you here is because we need you specifically for the test. Our witches and sorcerers have developed a spell that we believe will counteract the debilitating magic of these cuffs. If the spell is successful, you should be able to break out of these shackles as Kaillen did in New York. However, without you or Mr. King to test the spell on, we’ve been unable to verify its viability.”

“You asked Kaillen here too?” My wolf perked right up at that comment, her tail thumping madly.

“Not here, specifically. We invited him to our Chicago division to have the spell placed on him.” Her lips pursed. “He’s still considering it.”

Of course he was.

“But we are delighted to have you with us today,” Major Fieldstone said with a flourish.

I eyed those hateful blue cuffs again. They weren’t glowing. They simply appeared to be metallic cuffs with a robin’s-egg-blue sheen. So deceiving. “And if the spell works, those cuffs won’t contain my magic anymore?”

“Correct.” Bavar smiled, a flash of his sharp teeth making an appearance.

I nodded. “Okay, that’s fine. One question, though. How long will the spell last?”

“That is a very excellent question, indeed,” Bavar replied. “If the spell works as predicted, you will have immunity from these cuffs indefinitely.”

My spine snapped into a straight line. “Seriously? Then sign me up.” ’Cause if Jakub did get his hands on me again, I knew his beloved blue cuffs would be part of my capture, yet if I could break out of them . . .

Major Fieldstone stood, his uniform crisp and his orange hair glowing in the overhead lights. He bowed slightly. “If you would be so kind as to follow me.” He gestured toward the corner door.

I rounded the table, passing Commander Klebus on the way. Her nostrils flared, her gaze narrowing. Something in her face flickered, as though . . .

I quickly checked my cloaking spell again, but it was still in place. My witch magic, otherworldly powers, and werewolf capabilities were all hidden. Still, that look on her face remained.

I made a beeline for the corner.

Major Fieldstone pushed through the door, and it opened to a large training room. “We’re ready for you, Eleni,” he called to someone across the room.

Commander Klebus followed behind us and cast me another shrewd glance as her nostrils flared a second time.

It took everything in me not to fidget. Instead, I did my best to appear unaffected by her calculating assessment while remaining the portrait of innocence. But if there was one thing I knew about Commander Klebus it was that she wasn’t easily deceived. I’d have to make sure to keep my distance from her after this, just in case she could detect changes in me through my cloaking spell.

Thankfully, everyone’s attention shifted to the woman gliding across the room toward us. She wore a hijab of glistening purple silk, and her ochre complexion was clear and bright, hinting at her youth. Midnight-black hair peeked out of the top of her hijab.

“Eleni is one of our most talented up-and-coming witches,” Major Fieldstone said with a smile. “She was instrumental in producing this exciting new spell.”

I gave the young witch a hello. She returned it, then bobbed her head at the major. “May I, sir?”

Bavar swirled his hands elegantly in my direction. “By all means, please begin. Ms. Davenport has given her consent.”

Eleni approached me on graceful steps. Her rosebud mouth lifted in a small smile, and I was struck by how calm and composed she looked. It was unusual to see that kind of demeanor in someone so young.

“You might feel some tingling, but it shouldn’t hurt.” She lifted her hands and began to weave her fingers languidly through the air while whispering a spell. It was a long one, and what I caught of it told me that it was a mixture of complicated maximizer and cloaking spells.

When she finished, a subtle feeling washed over me that was there one moment and then gone in the next. It didn’t have the same heavy feeling that my daily cloaking spell gave me, but it tingled and sparked my nerves, letting me know that it was strong.

“Did you invent that?” I asked her.

She bobbed her head. “With the help of my mentor.”

“Shall we?” Major Fieldstone held out the cuffs.

I gave him my wrists. “And if this spell doesn’t work? Do you have a plan to get those off me?”

“Of course.” Commander Klebus crossed her arms. “Your mate has told us he possesses an ax that is capable of breaking them. If needed, we will call upon him.”

My stomach fluttered at the mention of Kaillen again. My wolf wasn’t any better. Once again, she was yelping and whining inside me, eager to be reunited with Mr. Swoony Wolf Hunter.

“Let’s hope that the spell works,” I muttered under my breath.

“What was that?” Bavar asked.

I flashed a smile. “Nothing. Go ahead and put them on.”

He snapped the cuffs around my wrists, and that buzzing feeling washed over my skin when their power activated, but even though that draining feeling didn’t begin, a fearful tremor ran through me as a memory flashed to the front of my mind. It was of Cameron betraying me, when he’d clamped identical cuffs around my wrists and had taken me from Kaillen’s cabin. He’d laughed at my terror. Actually laughed.

Rage began to burn inside me, and I used that emotion to channel my witch magic while letting it hum through my body.

“It might be best if we all take a step back.” Bavar waved Eleni and Commander Klebus to the corner. “Try your best, Tala.”

The cuffs’ magic buzzed along my skin, and a moment of trepidation washed through me as I dipped my concentration inward and tugged at my witch magic. My witch powers swelled and rose as I called upon a maximizer spell. They responded normally, but I wouldn’t know if the immunity spell had worked until that power reached my fingertips.

I closed my eyes. Here goes nothing. With an explosion of power, I jolted a maximizer spell down my arms into my hands. When my magic reached my fingertips, I held my breath, but my spell flowed right out of me and engulfed me in momentary power. I wrenched my arms apart as hard as I could and felt my new werewolf strength inadvertently rise.

The cuffs snapped, easily breaking in two.

My jaw dropped when I beheld my free hands.

“It worked!” Grinning, I lifted my arms and stared at the separated metallic bands. The glow emitting from them flickered and then vanished, their metallic blue sheen turning dull and lifeless. All of the cuffs’ magic that had been buzzing along my skin disappeared with it.

Eleni clapped in delight.

Commander Klebus eyed me, then inhaled again. “Very impressive . . . for a witch.”

My face paled as a knowing look grew in her eye.

“Do you care to share with us how you broke them?” the commander added.

“I used a maximizer spell, and, um . . .”

We stared at one another, and with a sickening sense of dread, I realized she knew that witch magic alone couldn’t have broken those cuffs. Even without the cuffs’ magic containing my witch power, I’d just broken through a metal chain. A stronger species of supernatural—a vampire, werewolf, or fairy—could have done that as easily as I had. But a witch? Probably not. Even with a strong maximizer spell, that kind of strength would be incredibly rare, yet I’d just ripped through the cuffs’ thick metal chains like tissue paper. I hadn’t even struggled thanks to my wolf.

And Commander Klebus had seen that.

I ground my teeth together. Smart, wily, Commander Klebus. She’d tricked me after all.

I realized that was part of the reason she’d flown all of the way here. The SF could have used any supernatural to test Eleni’s spell but they’d chosen me.