“He’s smuggling us out of Shifter City.” Griff pulled me tighter to his body and shifted. “Demon enforcers always get a little jumpy after our runs and search vehicles going in and out of the wards.”I huffed a laugh. “Do they think anyone would transport souls in a car?”“It’s their way of saying they know Fenrir’s behind the raids,” he growled. “Now shut up.”The engine rumbled beneath us, and Griff scooted backward, pulling me with him. With each movement, my ass bounced against his hardening bulge, and the trunk became too hot, too cramped, too intimate.His cedar and woodsmoke scent curled around my senses, awakening parts of me that should have lain dead. Even though I hated Griff with every fiber of my psyche, my body hadn’t gotten the message and longed for his hands to wander.My nostrils flared. “What do you think you’re doing?”“There’s a second compartment in Beowulf’s trunk,” Griff said, as he continued shifting, his body lighting up my pleasure centers like a New Year’s
“Let go of me, you dick.” I snatched my hand away. Why did he even give a shit?He rang the doorbell, but it made the kind of ominous sound I’d only heard in Hammer House of Horror movies. “That thing arranged Lydia’s murder and the sacrifice of her wolf.”I glanced over my shoulder at the dark-haired figure sitting in the front of the cab. “Why on earth would he have done something so cruel?”“The details are murky, but if you know what’s good for you, stay away from Beowulf Kenneally.”There had to be more to this story. For starters, Lydia looked alive and happy and in love with Fenrir. I was pretty sure that the shamaness up on the stage had been Gerrison’s wife, Aunt Sybil. But just because someone was in the living world didn’t mean they weren’t dead.“If Wulfie was that bad, then why would Fenrir call him to transport us?” I asked.“He wouldn’t risk any self-respecting shifter on such a dangerous task.”I was about to remind Griff that Fenrir had sent us out while the demons we
I turned to where Griff stood by the tree and swings, my brows raised. Why wasn’t he using his charm on the old crone to get her to find an alternative solution? It was as through the mention of faeries had put him into a state of shock.Perhaps he was thinking about the awful bargain he’d made with them to spare his father. Perhaps he was reliving what the faeries had made him do when they discovered he would never have a first-born to pay off his debts.Clearing my throat, I turned to meet Demeter’s cornflower-blue eyes. Within those irises were a multitude of colors—golds, greens, and glimpses of white that made them look like a washed-out globe of the world. Perhaps once she had been an earth goddess, but whatever had happened to her had left her devoid of magic.“How did you build the tunnels in the first place?” I asked.She exhaled a long breath, her shoulders sagging. “Back when I had my powers, I only needed to look at a seed, and it would grow.”“All right,” I said with a no
“Do you see this?” She raised a gnarled finger and ran it from my chest to the door.“No,” I said.She plucked an invisible string, making my heart twang.I clutched a hand over my chest. “What did you just do?”Demeter threw her head back and laughed. “I’m not just the goddess of the harvest, I also govern fertility.”“Well, there’s no chance of me being pregnant.”She tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing. “But there was some recent activity. The strings connecting you are taut with sexual tension.”“They’re not.” I glowered into my lap.“You desire him as much as he desires you.”My head snapped up, and I stared into her wrinkled face. What was she, the goddess of false hope? There was no way in Hell Griff and I felt any sort of mutual attraction.“That’s not true,” I said, my words clipped.“Why? Because he’s a pretty boy and you’re…” she wriggled her fingers.My throat tightened, as did my fists. What would she say next? That I was too large for a woman, too tough, too
Wulfie bent over double with his hands braced on his thighs, looking like he’d expended every ounce of energy on the work.“Where’s the font?” I asked.Griff scowled. “Where else do you want us to dig?”“Follow me.” She jogged out of the room.Griff and I followed her down a darkened hallway, and through a kitchen of wooden units that had seen better days. One of the cupboards was a door that led to a storeroom filled with supplies covered in a thin layer of dust. Then we stepped through a door that opened up into a stairwell illuminated by a bare lightbulb.“Where are you taking us?” I growled.“Do you wish to employ my services as a plant specialist or not?” she snapped from the bottom of the stairs.Griff leaned into my side and whispered, “How did she get so much energy?”“Don’t ask,” I whispered back.She flung open the door, activating a set of fluorescent lights. Griff and I remained at the top of the stairs, and I curled my hands into fists. None of this made any sense. What w
The sun had set by the time we returned to Wulfie’s car, and neither of us were in the mood to huddle together in the trunk. Not only had Demeter been a complete and utter waste of time, but she had drained us of a significant amount of power.Spots appeared before my eyes, largely because the magic had interpreted my protecting her from Griff’s wrath as an act of worship. Only Wulfie was in fairly reasonable spirits, and that was because he’d only dug up the paving stones.Our driver tapped a few commands into his phone. “Ophois… would that be the key maker or the wolf shifter who makes the enchanted safes?”I slumped forward in my seat and grabbed a bottle of Dragonade. The cool, citrusy liquid slid down my throat, infusing me with a little of the energy I’d lost to the wretched old crone.“It’s probably the one who makes the keys,” Griff said. “If that Ophois doesn’t know what we’re talking about, we can try the next one.”Wulfie twisted around in his seat and cleared his throat.“
Beki barked something, but I wasn’t in the mood to listen to her voice of reason. Not when Griff was trying to rewrite history and make it look like I was obsessed with him.She barked again.“If I was fixated with Griff, it was because of his betrayal,” I said into our bond.If she had brows, they would have risen.“It’s true,” I snapped. “He’s the most aggravating man I’ve ever met. We have nothing in common except for our wolves.”Beki pushed against the bond, seeming to reach for Griff… or rather the part of his soul that was her mate. I shuffled a little closer to the annoying creature at my side, just as he did the same.“My wolf won’t stop pestering me about yours,” he said, as though that explained anything.“Keep telling yourself that,” I said, even though I was moving toward him until our bodies touched.Griff’s hand brushed against mine, sending a shiver of anticipation down my spine. He turned his head toward me, his gaze boring into the side of my face.I licked my lips.
I rose off my seat and glanced at the door, looking for his pale companion. When Benny continued to the door with no sign of the other man, I followed after him.“What happened?” I asked.Benny turned to me, his dark eyes not meeting mine. “Ophois said he would make us a key.” His voice trembled. “But his price was Greg.”“Wait.” I held out a palm. “What does that mean?”The small man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “I paid for the key with my best friend.”“His life?”“His life, his soul, his past, his future.” Benny’s face crumpled. “As soon as I step out of this place, Greg will have ceased to exist.”“What?” Griff rushed past me and grabbed the smaller man by the collar.Benny’s body collapsed like a broken marionette. “I didn’t even say yes.”“Yes to what?”The woman from behind the desk rushed between us and loosened Griff’s fingers from around Benny’s neck. “Please wait your turn to see Ophois.”“So he can consume one of us?” Griff said.I shook my head. Right now, selling m