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Caden growled, his eyes flashing yellow as he hurled himself against the magic.
Melinda yanked Logan closer and took an audible whiff. “Mmm, you’re quite the little treasure box, aren’t you?”
Caden clapped a hand down on Melinda’s arm and grit his teeth. I bet she felt even shittier to touch. I sucked in a breath and wrapped my arms around Logan’s waist, whipping us both away from Melinda. Holy fuck did she burn. It felt like I’d been stuck with a dozen cattle prods but as soon as I detached them Logan sagged against me. She burst into tears and clung desperately to me. Caden pressed against her back a second later, turning to face Melinda.
“Explain yourself,” Caden hissed at the woman.
“What in the sweet holy fuck was that?” I clung to Logan, hands dancing over her torso to reassure myself she was still in one piece.
Melinda looked a little dazed, maybe even a bit high. She floated around the shop gathering up herbs and stones, ignoring us completely.
“Hey!” I snapped.
She finally looked over. “I had to unlock some boxes. There’re more layers still. Whoever locked her down was thorough.”
“Locked her—what?”
“There aren’t that many bound bloodlines, and all the ones I’m aware of are generations separated. I was told to cut those threads, so I did.”
I stared at her, uncomprehending.
“Logan’s a witch?” Caden asked.
Melinda rolled her eyes. “You couldn’t tell?”
“What part of my reaction makes you think we knew?”
Melinda laughed softly. “Her blood was practically screaming when she walked in.”
Logan had mostly stopped crying, but she was still shaking.
“Lo, you okay?”
She didn’t answer beyond fisting my shirt in her hands.
“I may have opened a few too many boxes at once,” said Melinda with a sigh. “She’ll settle in a bit. In the meantime, I have a theory. The creature you’ve mentioned is similar to the records from 1622 when Fiona O’Clery tried to rip out the magic core from her shifter lover so she and her children could have both witch magic and shifter abilities.”
“Holy shit,” I muttered.
“Yes. She failed in her goal. Her mate was destroyed in the process and she nearly died herself before her coven was able to intervene and put the creature into stasis. There have been other similar creatures throughout history, but that’s the last record of one we have, at least on this continent. It’s very possible that some witch recently was very naughty and created a new one. How are you intending to fight it?”
“That’s what we came here to find out,” snapped Caden. “We were hoping you’d be able to tell us that.”
“Honestly, I have no idea. It’s a magic eater, so throwing magic at it wouldn’t work. It doesn’t sound like it has much physical form either.” Melinda wandered off to turn on a small kettle behind the front desk, and she scooped the herbs she’d picked out earlier into a glass mug along with a clear stone. The water swirled as she poured it, tendrils of steam wafting up with a weird blue-ish tint. “Have her drink this once it’s cooled a bit.”
“What the fuck is that?” I inched Logan away from her a little more.
“Nothing to worry about, shifter. It’ll help her stabilize.” Melinda snapped her fingers in front of Logan’s face and I couldn’t stop the hiss that leapt out.
“Fuck off, lady.”
She only laughed. “You two are cute. She doesn’t need you to protect her from me.”
“You’re not making that a believable statement,” Caden growled.
I tipped Logan’s face up. Her eyes were glassy, and sweat made her skin shimmer. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I tore through a lot of mess. It’ll take her some time to process it all.” Melinda examined her nails. “I haven’t unbound anyone for a good, long time, but I know it takes quite the toll on the mind and body. I’ve heard from others it’s better to do as much as you can without breaking them so they don’t get twitchy about each layer. Sort of like a full body waxing all at once compared to ripping off one strip at a time.”
