The Witch's Quest. Michele HaufЧитать онлайн книгу.
and Trouble’s scuffle to escalate, and as their antics moved them beneath a shadowed copse of willow, the men shifted. Shirts tore away, though they both had the sense to shift halfway. Keeping their lower halves in human shape ensured that they remained partially clothed. A necessity should an innocent wander onto the scene and a quick shift back to were form was required.
The two shifted wolves went at each other while Kelyn stalked close but did not step in to interrupt. Valor assumed they both knew what they were doing, so, holding her blade at the ready, she waited.
But would a little magic provide Trouble the advantage? Her air magic could make Trouble’s punches move faster, his leaps more aggressive. If she could focus it to land only on him and not the other wolf...
“No,” she admonished herself quietly. “Let the boys handle this one.”
Grunts and growls accompanied the battle that seemed as if it would continue indefinitely. Valor cast Kelyn a questioning look. He returned a shrug and a nod. He got the hint.
Kelyn lunged for Borse and delivered a fist to his bloody jaw. Valor had heard the rumors about Kelyn. That one punch from him would put any man—or beast—down for the count.
Borse shook his head and smirked at Kelyn when he realized the faery was not as strong as rumor told. He grabbed Kelyn’s arm even as Trouble swung a leg and took out Borse’s stance. Both Borse and Kelyn went down.
And Valor clenched her fingers into her palms. She thrust out her arm, bending her fingers in preparation to release some air magic. Sucking in her lower lip, she bit, almost drawing blood. Cursing at the pain, she inhaled sharply when she saw the fighters roll to a stop. Kelyn landed on top of Borse, and Borse lay still. The thug wolf was out. But for how long?
Kelyn thrust out his hand, gesturing for her to hand the knife to him.
“Oh. Right.” She rushed to him and slapped the hilt into his hand.
Trouble, in half his hulking furry glory, leaned over them. He smelled musky and hot. An animal riled. Valor didn’t fear the man whose upper half resembled an übermuscled wolf, including a full wolf’s head. The one she was concerned with now was Kelyn, and he—he had pressed the side of the blade to his forehead, as if in thought, and closed his eyes as he crouched over Borse.
“Kelyn,” she said, “hurry! He could come to any second.”
“I can’t.” He pushed himself up and stepped away from the fallen werewolf, walking a wide circle.
Trouble swiped a big, clawed paw for the knife, but Kelyn jerked it away from him. “Get out of here,” he said to his brother. “I’m not going to do it. I can’t.”
“What? Do you need me to do it?” Valor asked. Her whole body shook. She was nervous and exhilarated and scared all at once.
“No, I mean I won’t do this.” He handed her the blade. “Who am I to harm another man for something I want? It’s not a need, Valor. I want my wings back, but I’ll survive without them. As deserving as he may be, I won’t maim Borse just to make it so.”
The werewolf on the ground stirred.
“Let’s get out of here.” Kelyn grabbed her by the upper arm and pushed her in the direction of the bar where they had parked his Firebird. “Trouble! Go!”
Trouble growled and snorted, but the werewolf took off in the opposite direction and loped through the park.
And while Valor was disappointed they’d not gotten what had been but a stroke of the blade away, she was even more impressed at Kelyn’s sacrifice. Once again. And his honor.
He truly was a good man. And she was fortunate to know such a person.
They climbed into his car and watched through the chain-link fence for a while. To see if Borse would wander out in werewolf form, or perhaps man shape. And to make sure Trouble didn’t return looking for the trouble he famously indulged in.
“I’m sorry,” Valor said quietly.
Kelyn turned on her with a surprising rage in his eyes. “I am tired of your apologies. You did nothing wrong, witch!”
“Would you bring it down a notch? I was apologizing because I know you want your wings, and now getting them seems an impossibility. Would you let someone care about you? Seriously!” She gripped the door handle tightly. “You’ve more of a chip on your shoulder about letting someone in than about getting back your lost wings. What’s your hang-up?”
“I don’t have a hang-up, other than wondering why in Beneath I decided working with you would be a good idea.”
“Because you trusted me.”
“Trust had nothing to do with it. I’m here because you were my only hope.”
“Sorr—” She cut off the apology. “Fine. I disappointed you.”
“I was the one who refused to take the claw. It’s all on me.”
“Right. Do you thrive on the guilt, Kelyn?”
He cast her a condemning glare, which Valor felt at the back of her neck like an icy prickle over her skin. So maybe he wasn’t as honorable as she’d surmised.
“Okay, not going to discuss that one,” she said. “On to plan B. Do we have a plan B?”
“I do.”
“Which is?”
Kelyn shifted into gear and the vehicle rolled over the tarmac. “There’s a cabin about ten miles south from here. Belongs to a peller. My sister’s husband, Beck, had a run-in with the owner a few years ago. The man...can time travel.”
Valor shot him a glance, but it was too dark in the car to see his reaction to her sudden interest.
“I’m not so sure I believe in the time-travel stuff,” he continued. “But he was also a wolf hunter. He hunts all sorts of species, actually. Anyway, the cabin is sometimes empty because he’s gone. In another time.”
“That sounds too cool, and at the same time, severely whacked.”
“Yeah, but if the cabin is empty, I say we take a look around. If the guy hunts wolves, there could be...things.”
“Like claws?”
She sensed Kelyn nodded. And Valor smiled. “You’re in the driver’s seat.”
Kelyn used the GPS on his phone to locate the farmhouse he’d been to twice before. And that annoyed the crap out of him. Normally, he’d navigate ley lines to find his way or simply recall the directions and turns. The ability to do so had always been innately a part of him, aligned with the sigils he’d once worn on his body.
He did not want to think any more about the skills that giving away his wings had stolen from him.
“Denton Marx is a peller,” he explained as he parked the Firebird on the gravel drive before the guy’s place.
“A spell breaker,” Valor confirmed. “They are generally good, bad or nasty. I’m guessing Marx was the nasty sort?”
Kelyn wobbled his hand back and forth. “Depends on whose story you listen to. He did some bad things for what he thought was a good reason. My sister, Daisy Blu, suffered because of it. But her husband, Beck, who was under a curse that was killing him, gained back his life, so they both sort of won because of Marx. I’d call him situationally convenient.” He peered out the window, eyes taking in the periphery. “Doesn’t look like anyone is home.”
The lot did appear abandoned. Massive willow trees hung over the unmown front yard that edged a gravel road. Tall grasses disguised the ditch and frothed along the narrow drive. The rambler-style house was dark, as was the garage. The forest grew thick