Good thing I’d ordered four plates of food.

∞     ∞     ∞

“We’ll lure him here.” Kaillen stood at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea. Starlight graced the sky, the three moons easily visible in the cloudless night. “It won’t be easy for him to escape once he arrives.”

A warm breeze caressed my skin, and for the first time since I’d hatched this plan, a sense of foreboding filled me.

“Tala will be exposed on the cliff,” Fallon pointed out.

“Which is what I want,” I replied. “Jakub thinks I’m the key to something. The more it looks like I’m vulnerable, the more he’ll be tempted.”

“And if he whisks you away using a portal key?” Barnabas asked.

I stiffened. It was the concern Kaillen had too. “Kaillen and I have a blood bond. He’ll be able to find me.”

Kaillen paced along the rocky ledge, dust and pebbles skittering from beneath his soles. “If you think he’s going to transport you, back off. While I’ll be able to track you anywhere, there’s no guarantee I’d be able to penetrate whatever place he imprisons you.” He raked a hand through his hair as dark energy poured from him.

I gave the vamp a look, as if to say, don’t bring up the risky stuff. It’d been hard enough to convince Kaillen to allow this plan to move forward. I didn’t need the vamp planting more seeds of doubt in my mate’s mind.

Barnabas shrugged and rested a hand on the hilt of a sword. Yep, the vamp had graced himself with a weapon from the Middle Ages. He said it reminded him of home. I had to admit, he wielded the heavy monstrosity like a champ, the skill no doubt learned in his pirating days.

“How long do you think it’ll take for him to detect you?” Fallon stood casually with his arms crossed.

“If my awakening power pulls on the three of you, and I activate the curse to Jakub—if it hits its mark—not long. My magical footprint will be really high.”

“Do you think he’ll know that he’s being manipulated?” Fallon asked.

“Not if I don’t fully activate the curse. If I only partially activate it, he’ll feel me, but I won’t be able to feel him. He’ll know it’s one-sided.”

A snarl tore from Kaillen.

I raised my shoulders apologetically. Giving Jakub direct access to me was a concern I had, too, but it was a risk I was willing to take. This ended tonight.

“I want you both ready to intervene the second he shows.” Kaillen scowled. “He’s already failed three times in trying to capture Tala. He’ll no doubt try to make this attempt a guaranteed win . . . if he’s still alive.”

“Should we get on with it then?” I pushed wispy strands of hair away from my face. A long braid trailed down my back, and form-fitting pants hugged my legs. I’d worn comfortable clothes that would allow me to easily move and fight. Battle gear was what Prisha would have called it.

Thinking of my friend made an ache form in my chest. It felt like years since we’d properly spent time together, and I hadn’t spoken to her since before my first shift. Just as soon as this is over, Prish, you and I are going out on the town together.

Kaillen crossed the distance between us in a blurred move. He towered over me, his inherent citrusy cedar scent rolling to me on the wind. Burning crimson fire stoked his irises, and the energy rising from him was palpable. “You do know that I’ve never felt like this before, right?” he said quietly. “I’m honoring your wishes, but my wolf is trying to make me shift as we speak. He wants you in his den, properly cared for and safe.”

I peered up at him, and my stomach flipped at the fiery possessiveness in his eyes. “And what do you want? Do you want to lock me up too?”

A groove appeared between his brows. “I don’t know anymore. It’s all tangled up—my feelings and my wolf’s feelings. I’m inclined to say that I want you locked up too, but I’m not sure if that’s because my wolf is trying to rule me right now.”

An ache formed in my gut, but I pushed it away. Kaillen loved me, even if neither of us had declared those words to one another yet out loud. But our feelings for each other would always involve our wolves. It was simply the way it was. “Hopefully at this time tomorrow, you and I will be enjoying a late dinner, plenty of drinks, and your large bed back in Montana.”

The gold in his eyes brightened. “Naked?”

I snorted, unable to help myself. “If you insist.”

A wicked smile streaked across his face. “Oh, I insist.” His arm encircled me, and he hauled me closer before he leaned down and inhaled along my skin. “My beautiful, colantha. I would slay dragons for you.”

My neck arched, my pulse fluttering rapidly at his contact. “Hopefully, that won’t be necessary.”

He kissed along the column of my throat, his lips firm and urgent. I knew he wanted to do more. Wanted to bend me over, claim me again, and plunge his length inside me. I knew all of that because those were the feelings sparking through me, and our wolves were so intertwined it was as though they were one.

“Make him suffer,” Kaillen whispered.

I smiled. “Still a demon, I see.”

“Always.” He pressed one last kiss to my jaw before claiming my lips, and even though his kiss was quick, it was full of heated promise.

“Are you two lovebirds done yet?” Barnabas called. “Your scents reek of sex, and considering I’m downwind, I’m getting a hefty dose of it.”

“You know he’s enjoying it, right?” Kaillen grumbled before pulling back.

“I kind of figured.”

Kaillen’s nostrils flared when he cast a look at his vampire friend. Sure enough, Barnabas was grinning while Fallon stood stoic, the picture of a battle-hardened warrior.

“Make him suffer, but also make it quick,” Kaillen said with one last squeeze around my waist. “Don’t give him a chance to take you.”

“I won’t.”

He finally released me and joined his friends.

I took a deep, steadying breath as salty sea air whipped around me. In a blink, Kaillen and the assassins had vanished under a cloaking spell. I squinted, straining to see them, but my mate must have conjured a huge amount of magic because I couldn’t detect a thing.

“Impressive,” I murmured under my breath.

Giving them my back, I faced the sea and closed my eyes. The time had come to take matters into my own hands. No more running. No more chasing.

I was bringing Jakub to me.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 24

I whispered the spell to activate the curse that I hoped I’d placed on Jakub. If it’d been successful, a tiny threaded connection would activate between us. It would be enough that Jakub would be able to sense me and know my whereabouts, but I wouldn’t know his. And then the question was, would he take the bait? Or would he know that I was trying to manipulate him?

Magic sparked in my chest, my witch powers humming and activating. A surge of heat encased my limbs as a tiny flutter began in my belly, then spread through my chest and arms.

My heart beat harder as the curse activated, linking me to an unseen force on the horizon. It felt as though a spool of thread grew from me, as if spinning and stretching across the galaxy. It flowed and flowed, unwinding its imperceptible ribbon of awareness. And when it reached its recipient, a distant consciousness strummed toward me.

Oh my gods . . . he’s truly alive.

The curse tugged, anchoring to Jakub and connecting us with invisible arms, but I backed off, letting it stay tethered to me but withdrawing my awareness. One-sided it needed to remain, as vulnerable as that made me.

I bit my lip, wondering if Jakub had sensed me. I knew this could be a long process, that I could be out here for hours waiting for Jakub to show, and if he didn’t, I would be forced to fully activate the curse and chase him down. If I fully activated the curse, though, Jakub would also be able to feel me coming. It would be a cat-and-mouse game of potential endless chasing. Not ideal.