“I can obtain the weapons,” Riley said. “And I will summon my brothers. They will help.”
“You have brothers?” Mary Ann asked, eyes wide.
He nodded. “Four by blood, raised by Vlad like me, and many by circumstance.”
“Wow.”
Aden heard the uncertainty in her voice and wondered what she was thinking.
“They will like you,” Riley promised. “Do not worry.”
Ah. Now he understood. He looked to Victoria, whose hair was braided in a crown around her head, giving her a regal appearance. “Do you have any siblings?”
“Two older sisters. Lauren and Stephanie. And I’m sorry to tell you this, but they will not like you. I tell you only to warn you, since you will be meeting them tomorrow. You are human and they consider humans a food source, nothing more. Already they question my…preoccupation with you.”
“You don’t have to explain,” he said. He’d been despised his entire life. Adding a few names to the list of people who hated him wasn’t a big deal. “You’re the only one I care about.”
Suddenly Victoria threw her arms around him, kissing him hard and deep. He spun her around, despite his surprise, holding her close, kissing her back with everything he had. For that single moment, he was able to forget his troubles, the future. Victoria, too. Laughing, more carefree than he’d ever seen her, she allowed her head to fall back, watching the trees spin above her.
“You’re always astounding me,” she said. “In all the years of my life, no one has managed to shock me even once, yet you have time and time again. I expected you to run from danger. You didn’t. I expected you to hate me for what I am. You don’t. I expected you to be hurt by my family’s prejudice. You aren’t.”
He stilled and gazed down at her, this beautiful girl of his dreams. “Because I, well…” He cleared his throat. He wouldn’t admit that he loved her, not with witnesses. “I told you. You’re the only one I care about.”
Her lids fell to half-mast as she planted another kiss, this one swift but soft, on his lips. “I have a surprise for you. It’s under your bed.”
“What—”
“No. Do not ask, for I will not tell you.” Reluctantly, she moved from his embrace and clasped his hand. “I hope you like it, though.”
A gift from her? “I know I will.” Now, he couldn’t wait to get home.
Riley, he saw, had Mary Ann pinned against a tree, a lock of her hair in his hands, whispering to her as she peered up at him shyly.
“Come on, you two,” Aden called.
At first they ignored him. Then Mary Ann laughed and shoved him away. Riley gave a mock growl. Aden had never seen the shifter so at ease. “Aden’s right,” Riley said. “We should go. Dmitri’s waiting for you, princess.”
The princess in question gasped, stiffened. “Shut up!”
“My bad,” Riley muttered.
That reminded him…“So who is Dmitri to you?” he asked Victoria as they all jumped back into motion.
Riley’s attention whipped to Victoria, eyes narrowed. Gone was his relaxed demeanor.
There was no color in her cheeks, and she stumbled over her own feet. “Aden,” she began.
“It’s time,” Riley said. “He needs to know.”
Oh, no, Elijah suddenly moaned. Oh, Aden. I’m so sorry. I just heard her answer. She’s going to tell you, but please don’t react right away. All right?
Aden stiffened.
Victoria gulped. “Dmitri is my…betrothed.”
Betrothed. Took him a moment to recall the meaning of the word. When he did, he stopped. Betrothed—engaged. He’d thought himself stiff before, but now his muscles clamped down on his bones with so much force, his entire body shook.
“I didn’t choose him,” she rushed out. “My father did. I want nothing to do with him. I hate him. You have to believe that.”
“But you will marry him?”
Her gaze fell to the ground. A moment passed. She nodded once. “I cannot fight my father on this. He has planned it since my birth.”
“What about your sisters?”
“They are promised to others.”
Filled with fury, he gripped her upper arms. “Why didn’t you tell me?” If she had, he would have fought the urge to love her. Or fought Dmitri when he’d had the chance.
“I wanted to be with you and I didn’t want that between us.” Slowly her lashes rose until that crystalline gaze was on him, burning deep. “You wouldn’t have kissed me.”
“You’re not marrying him,” he gritted out. “You’re not.”
“My father desires the alliance because Dmitri’s family is strong. There is no getting out of it. Not without bloodshed and death. And pain. Oh, God, the pain he can inflict…Not just on me, but on you and everyone you love. I’m sorry, Aden. So sorry.”
In the distance, he heard a twig snap. Heard Riley suck in a breath. Heard a gasp as the shape-shifter shoved Mary Ann behind him.
Riley was ripping off his clothing, snarling at the trees. “Sneaky witches.” Finally Riley was naked, Mary Ann was looking at him, blushing, and then he was changing from man to wolf, fur sprouting from his skin, bones elongating, reshaping until he was on all fours, sharp teeth bared.
“Witches?” Frowning, Victoria turned.
Aden fought past his emotions and followed suit just as woman after woman stepped between the trees, encircling their group.
“Break the circle before it solidifies,” Victoria cried. One moment she was beside him, the next she wasn’t, moving so quickly he only saw the blur of her clothing. When she hit the edge of the trees where the women were, she slammed into some type of invisible wall and flew backward, tumbling to the ground.
Aden rushed forward, placing himself in front of her. All eyes were focused on him as he bent down and drew the daggers out of his boots. He kept the silver hidden by pressing it against his arms, the hilts tight in his hands.
Witches, Riley had called them. He studied them. There were eight of them, all wearing white cloaks that draped their bodies. Hoods covered their heads, casting shadows over their faces. Power hummed from them, coating the air, glistening in the sun like flakes of snow.
“At last we have found you,” one of them said in an eerie, almost hypnotic voice. She stepped forward. She had long blond hair that hung over her shoulders, poorly concealed by her cloak. “The source of the summons.”
Riley snarled at her.
Inside Aden’s head, Caleb was sputtering, something he’d never done before. I—I think I know her.
Aden nearly moaned. Eve had said the exact same thing when they’d first seen Mary Ann. Was Caleb somehow connected to the witches? Perhaps Aden should have been studying the list of the dead and figuring out exactly who occupied his head. But he’d been too depressed, too preoccupied. He would remedy that, he decided.
If he lived.
“No way you can know her,” he whispered. “You can’t even see her.”
But I can feeeel her. Ask her to remove the hood. Please, Aden. Please.
“Let me see your face,” Aden called after only a moment’s hesitation.
He was ignored, and Caleb pushed out a frustrated breath.
Again, Riley snarled.
“Which one of you calls us?” another asked, ignoring the wolf, too, as if he were of no importance.
Victoria was on her feet and beside him a second later, panting, leaves falling from her clothing. “You will leave us,” she said, “or you will feel my father’s wrath.”
The word vampire rose on the air, voices a mix of fear and fury.
Aden raised his chin and opened his mouth to admit the truth.
“No, Aden,” he heard Mary Ann plead. “Don’t.”
He continued on. “I am the one who summoned you. Let the others go.”
Ask her again!
“Now please, show your face.”
“He lies,” Victoria shouted. “Do not listen to him. I am the one you seek.”
As they had done to the wolf, they ignored her.
“Why?” the blonde demanded, concentrating on him. “Why do you call us? If you dared plan to lead us to slaughter—”
“No,” he interjected. “Never. I can’t help what I am any more than you can help what you are. Though I might wish otherwise, I am the one who summoned you. I didn’t want to, didn’t mean to, but nonhumans feel the pull of me.”
They murmured among themselves, their words too jumbled to hear.
“We have never heard of one such as you,” the blonde said when the others quieted.
He shrugged. “I had never seen a real vampire or werewolf until a few weeks ago. That doesn’t mean they weren’t always real.”
Another witch stepped forward, hair red and long. “If you cannot help what you are, how have you masked your pull so often?”
Riley snapped at her, saliva dripping over his lips. She flinched but remained in place.
“That,” Aden said, raising his chin yet another notch, “I will not tell you. Unless you let the others go as I asked, of course.”
Trade the information for a peek at her, Caleb pleaded. I have to see her face.
“I can’t,” he whispered frantically. Information was the only card he held right now. To play it would end his usefulness—and thereby everyone else’s. The witches could attack his friends.
Again, they muttered amongst themselves. Again, he couldn’t understand what was being said. This time the words were frantic, determined. Elijah moaned inside his head, perhaps sensing the direction of their conversation.
“We will call a meeting in one week’s time, when our elders arrive. You will attend that meeting, human. If you fail to do so, the people in this circle will die. Doubt me not.”
In unison, the witches stretched out their arms and began muttering. Riley leapt forward, slamming against the same invisible wall Victoria had met. The power Aden felt pulsing from them grew in intensity, coagulating just above their upraised palms, first white, then blue, then exploding into golden flames. As one, they tossed those flames into the circle. Several hit Riley, several hit Victoria, but only one hit Mary Ann.
