Page 67

I was going to die here in this field—at the hands of my best friend.

He stared down at me, gaze wild, excited, as he watched his own hand slowly strangling the life out of me.

I’d failed him.

I’d failed my family.

I’d failed the people who had died at the hands of these spirits.

And I’d never get the chance to make it right.

Warrick’s dark eyes, his rugged face, filled my mind, and the regret grew even deeper, the pain in my chest fiercer. I wanted him. I needed him.

Black spots danced across my vision—

A snarl broke through the blackness, then Ren was torn from me. A terrifying roar came next, and my fox was tossed halfway across the clearing.

I fell back, gasping for air, twisting toward Ren, searching for him in the long grass.

He sprang back to his feet suddenly, and without a backward glance, sprinted into the woods.

Then Warrick was there, looming over me.

That rugged, handsome face all I could see, and those dark eyes were filled with fury.

Chapter 16

Willow

Warrick gripped the steering wheel of the Morris in those huge hands, the big silver rings he sometimes wore catching the moonlight every now and then.

No one drove this truck but me. But I’d been shaking so hard by the time we reached it, Warrick had steered me to the passenger side without a word and lifted me into the seat.

Ren was gone.

We searched for hours, wandering through the forest. Nothing. Not a single sign of him. Warrick couldn’t track him or Edric. Their scents weren’t the same, anymore. They seemed to change and morph when they were possessed, making it impossible.

My sweet fox was out there somewhere right now, and that spirit could be making him do terrible, terrible things, things he’d never recover from. I bit back the sob trying to crawl up my throat. I should have sent him back as soon as I saw him. No, I should have taken him back out and driven him home myself.

Oh goddess, what would I tell his parents? Sally and Calum were like family to me, and I’d promised them I’d look after their son when I became a Keeper.

I gripped the door handle and tried to draw breath.

“Dove.”

“It’s my fault.” I stared out the window and fought back my scream of helplessness. My throat felt raw. “I told him to stay in the salt circle, but his instinct to protect me…” I swallowed convulsively, acid trying to crawl up my throat. “He saw I was in pain and…I should have seen it coming, I should have…”

“A man makes his own decisions. The fox chose to follow you out there, and he chose to ignore your orders to stay put.”

Warrick didn’t understand. How could he? He didn’t love, he didn’t know what it was to really care about another being. He understood loyalty, but that wasn’t the same. He didn’t even have a soul; how could he ever understand? “It’s happening again,” I said, unable to keep the words inside me. I felt untethered, spinning out of control, the kind of fear I’d only ever experienced once in my life, and it gripped me so tight, it was all there was.

“What’s happening again,” he said, voice sharp.

“When Azel hurt me, when he cut me…”

Warrick jolted at that monster’s name, his big body jerking like he’d been struck by lightning. “Dove,” he said.

I ignored him and carried on, I had to get this out. I don’t know why, but I had to purge the horror, the fear. “I remember lying there, his breath brushing my cheek as he leaned over me and carved WITCH into my back. He laughed, but he was so angry, so incredibly angry. I’d never heard a sound like that before. I broke…when he threatened my family. I was in so much pain and he was in my head, breaking me from the inside out, stripping back layer after layer, crushing my spirit, my will to live, to fight.…so much, that I gave up my friends. I’ve never felt like that before…” My hands shook in my lap. “He took me to the knights’ compound and I dropped the ward protecting them. I’ve never felt weaker or hated myself more.” I curled my fingers into fists. “I should have let him kill me before doing that… I should have…”