Chapter 40

I pace the cabin, fear licking up my spine.

Aster knows something, and I’m not sure how much she knows. All I know is that my witch is not back and Iris and Ember haven’t answered my calls.

There’s a knock on my door, and I quickly rush over to answer it.

I’m not sure who to expect, but an older woman with a cane and a ridiculous amount of jewelry stares at me.

“The rings, son,” she says, holding out her hand and I blink at the woman.

“What?”

“Give me the rings. A witch is needed to give them their abilities back,” she says and I just stare at her and she sighs. “You’re a good man, I’ve seen it. I’ve seen what happens. Give me the rings,” she says and then I realize the connection.

“You’re related to Iris?”

“Yes, my dear granddaughter has no memory of the past few weeks. I can only assume what happened, but I know where I’m needed,” she says.

I’m so scared for Violet’s life that I go over to Walter and remove the rings from his collar. He doesn’t even protest as I hand them to the woman.

“What do I do?” I ask her, feeling vulnerable and truly afraid for the first time.

She hands me a small pearl and closes it in my hand. “Find my granddaughter and give her this. Get your wolves ready.”

“I need to find Violet,” I tell her.

“Aster is many things, but a murderer is not one,” she says.

“Atticus Collins,” I reply, and the woman shakes her head.

“That was pure dumb luck. She wouldn’t do that kind of harm to her family.”

“I’ve seen the harm she’s done to that family,” I reply, and the woman gives me a soft smile.

“Aster doesn’t have all the pieces, only whispers of a disgruntled wolf. I will go to New Orleans, ask upon the Salvador Coven for help. You will band your wolves and give this to my granddaughter. I will return tonight,” she says.

Walter rubs his head against my shin and looks up at me with his creepy yellow eyes. He’s telling me to trust this witch. It’s against everything I feel in my gut, the need to find Violet and make sure that she’s okay. But I nod, the witch smiling at me and tapping her cane, before popping out of existence.

“She better not be betraying us,” I say, and Walter chirps with agreement.

I have a witch to find and a rat to kill.

Surprisingly, finding the wolf that betrayed us is easier than I thought.

“I told you we should’ve killed him,” Thorin says in my head. He’s just as anxious as me, pacing around my mind, worrying for Violet and Azure.

The man is on his knees. Jonas’ grip on the back of his neck is fierce.

“That’s my son. This is my fucking pack,” he snarls.

“Ah, but he’s mine. Paige is my mate. This pack never wanted you, Silas is ten times the Alpha you ever were,” Jonas snarls in his face.

“Paige, baby. I’m sorry I left. I can make things right. I’m making things right,” he says.

Paige shakes her head, holding her small newborn son to her chest.

“Hoyt, what have you done?” she says, looking at Jonas with sad eyes.

“I did what I had to. What I need to do,” he says and I tilt my head and get on my haunches and look over his face.

I thought he was crazy before but he looks deranged right now. I couldn’t piece together why every Alpha since Atticus Collins has been a nightmare, but when I look at his gaze, something is wrong.

“Paige?” I ask, and she approaches, but doesn’t get too close with her son.

“Yes, pack leader?” she says respectfully. I’ve come to like my best friend’s mate. She is sweet and soft, just what Jonas needed.

“Have his eyes always looked like this?” I ask.

A growl erupts from Jonas and his grip tightens on the man’s neck as his mate inspects her former lover’s face. I’d be the same way, but you’d have to be obtuse not to realize the way she’s looking at him isn’t with affection but hate. He wasn’t just a terrible Alpha, but a horrible man.

“No, they changed after he became Alpha,” she says.

“Thank you. Why don’t you take the baby home?” I tell her and I can see that Jonas is filled with relief over the idea.

“That’s my son! Paige, get the fuck back here, you ungrateful fucking?—”

Jonas snaps his neck. I can’t blame him. The man’s body falls to the floor and my best friend sighs.

“Sorry about that.”

“We already got everything out of him anyway. I’m surprised no one knew he was still creeping around on the property,” I say.

“He only knows what he saw from that night, that Violet can shift, and possibly that she’s your mate.”

I have to keep my temper in check. I almost wish the hex was still plaguing me, that I could find her in that way, but there’s nothing. I know she’s still alive. I can feel that through our mating bond, but other than that, I feel hopeless.

I can’t go knocking down the High Priestess’ door or else I’ll wind up getting killed myself. I just have to follow the guidance of the witch from earlier. So that’s what I do, making my way to Goddess Apothecary.

Downtown looks slower than usual as I open the door to the business, the chime overhead dinging at my arrival. As soon as I walk through the door, Iris gives me a disgusted look.

Right, she likely doesn’t remember me.

“Can I help you?” she asks with an attitude that she absolutely does not want to help me.

“I was told to give this to you,” I say, holding out the pearl and her brows furrow.

“Who gave this to you?”

“Older woman, cane, lots of jewelry.”

Her furrow deepens as I place the pearl in her outreached hand.

“Mawmaw gave this to you?” she asks.

“She didn’t give me a name. She said to give this to you and you would know what to do—I’m praying you do. Violet’s in trouble,” I say.

“Violet?” she echoes, her fear palpable as she looks down at the small iridescent pearl.

“I fucking hope you know what to do with this thing and can help me. Might not seem like it right now, but I gotta tell you we were on the path to becoming friends,” I tell her, which makes her more suspicious.

But she puts the pearl between her two fingers, crushing it, her eyes going white for a second and she takes in a strangled breath. I watch in horror and fascination as her eyes roll and I just wait.

She takes a deep inhale of breath, clutching the table in front of her as she blinks at me.

“Fuck,” she curses, grabbing her wand and grabbing my wrist.

She turns the store sign to closed and locks the door, her grip on my arm impressive as she glances over at me.

“We’ve got to reverse this spell on Ember and get to Violet quickly.”

“Do you know where she is?” I ask, wanting to get back to Violet as soon as possible.

“No, but I know if we don’t figure it out soon, there might not be much of her left,” she says.

Before I can answer, everything is going black. It feels like I’m being whipped around in a tornado of smoke before I fall promptly on my ass in front of a cottage covered in florals. There are a million toadstool statues scattered around the gardens, with multiple appearances of frogs. I swear I hear little bugs or whisperings, but I ignore them as I glance over at the witch who brought me here.

“Hurry up,” Iris snaps, as I get off my ass and dust myself off as Iris flings the door open.

Ember yelps and clutches her hand to her chest.

“Holy Hecate, you scared the fuck out of me. Don’t you knock?” Ember says and Iris sighs.

“Violet needs us. High Priestess fucked with our minds.”

Ember looks between the two of us.

“Who’s he?” Ember asks.

“Not totally sure, but mawmaw trusted him enough to give me a vision. Then I realized time is missing, don’t you feel it?” Iris asks Ember.

The redhead’s eyes look over her friend and she’s contemplative as she nods. “You’re right,” she says with a gasp.

“I guess now is as good of a time as any to fill you in?” I say.

“Not necessary,” Iris says, holding out her wand and pointing it to Ember’s temple. The other witch winces, but gasps as all her memories come back into her mind.

She returns the favor, holding the wand to Iris’ head, and then they both turn and face me.

“She must have been quick with making us forget, the spell was nowhere near as strong as Violet’s mother’s,” Ember says.

“Let’s just be glad we didn’t need another witch to get this done. Did Violet get the magical items?” Iris asks.

“She sent them to Walter. I don’t know how. Your mawmaw is headed to New Orleans to reinstate Lavender’s magic and Oberyn’s wolf.”

“We’re going to need more witches to take on Aster. She’s too fucking strong,” Iris says.

“I think your mawmaw might have us covered there,” I say.

Iris nods, clearly trusting her mawmaw’s ability.

“We need to find where she took Violet,” Ember says and I groan.

“We’re doing a seance, aren’t we?” I ask.

“Best we do it at Violet’s house,” Iris says. I just hope I don’t find myself trapped in a room again, and that Atticus Collins will lead us to his granddaughter before anything unrepairable happens to the woman I love more than anything.