Wolf Spell 1 Read online

  Torres furrowed his eyebrows. “That’s more south than east. Are you sure?”

  I waved my phone a little before slamming it down against my leg. “Yeah, that’s what it said.”

  Torres placed the car into drive. “Alright, well we better get going.”

  A Promise to Help

  – Esmerelda –

  November 19, 2012

  “Ugh, how much longer?” I leaned my head against the passenger window. I hadn’t been around Jarak since yesterday, and I questioned everything I felt the longer I was around Ian. I needed to get some distance between us. Fast.

  “We should hit Memphis in about an hour.” Ian looked so laid back. He rested a hand on his thigh with his tight jeans, and his legs spread apart to make me wonder… Oh my gosh! What am I thinking? I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head so I couldn’t look anymore.

  I opened my eyes one at a time until I stared out the windshield. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him grin at me. It was devilish and made him look mysterious yet extremely sexy. It caused tingles to shoot through my veins. I held in the urge to smile back at him.

  “Are you sure Jarak’s okay with us staying in Memphis? I don’t have my cell so I can’t text him. It feels weird not talking to him.” I wonder what Jarak honestly thought of me staying in a hotel room with his brother. It would’ve been easy to magic my phone, but some small part of me wanted to keep it just Ian and myself, with no distractions.

  “Yeah, he said to do whatever you needed. I think he just wants to make sure you’re okay and rested.”

  “Okay.” I closed my eyes again. The glare from the oncoming headlights blinded me. I could feel the lull of the car putting me to sleep. I tried to stay awake, but I could tell I already lost the battle. Ian was wide-awake, and I trusted him, so I let myself drift off.

  – Jarak –

  “What is going on?” I slammed the car door shut and covered my eyes from the glare of the early sun. Where was she?

  Adonia’s SUV pulled into the parking lot behind us, and both her and Ailaina walked around the front of the car, “I’m sure we just beat them here.” Her face seemed pinched as she talked, giving away her insecurity about the situations too.

  I shook my head. “No. Do you feel her? Cause I sure don’t, and I’m starting to get mad. Maztic can no longer hear her, and that worries me too. How can we make sure that she’s okay? I thought that stupid spell of yours was supposed to keep us attached to her.” I threw my hands in the air and then ran them through my hair. I wanted to yell, as loud as I could, but I kept my cool.

  “Ian must be the one who is connected to her at the moment. I told you that it might only be one person at a time, and it will be whoever the spirit chooses.” Adonia’s small frame looked weak as she folded her arms over her chest, but I knew better. Inside that small, petite body was a fierce and well trained witch.

  I didn’t mean to yell at her. I just didn’t know what to think with Es and Ian together. If he has so much as laid one finger on her… I couldn’t fathom the thought of him being close to her. I’d seen the way he’d been looking at her lately, and my stomach churned with the thought of his lips on hers. An involuntary shiver coursed through me. If that happens, I will kill him. Brother or no, Es is mine.

  I spun around. The parking lot was empty. An overwhelming feeling that something wasn't right swarmed my entire body. I kicked the tire. Where were they? This got us nowhere closer to Es. I thought they said they would meet us here.

  Adonia and Torres walked toward the abandoned building. Thick green branches covered it almost entirely. Most of the windows had already been broken out. Red, blue and green spray-paint covered the side of the brick where I assumed a group of local kids had been bored.

  I spotted Adonia and Ailaina ducking under the branches and slipping into the structure. Torres must've gone in first because I couldn’t see him. I slumped against the side of the car, letting it support me as I zipped my coat up to keep the winter chill away.

  “I honestly didn't expect to see you again, not that I didn't notice the way you looked at her in Spain. I should've guessed you'd be with her. Where is she?”

  I knew that voice. I scanned the parking lot and twisted to look behind me. He stood among the edges of the trees just off the pavement.

  “Victor.” I whispered it under my breath, but I knew he’d heard it. What did he want?

  He stepped closer. “Where’s Esmerelda?”

  I shook my head, wasn't that the question of the day. “I don't know. What do you want with her anyway?”

  “I need her to finish,” he stopped mere inches away from me. I could see the muscles in his neck tighten and his jaw clench as he stood there. “I went to Idaho, but she wasn't there. You told me that she would be there, and yet here I am tracking you in the south.”

  “Things changed.” It was weird seeing him after Spain. “Nicholas lured Es here. We stayed with her to keep her safe.”

  “And yet you don't know where she is. That's not keeping her safe. She’d probably have had a better time if she'd stayed with me. And I trusted you to keep her safe.”

  “That's not fair! I have kept her safe. I have fought beside her and killed for her. You weren't here. Where were you when Nicholas sent his vampire cross-breeds after her?” I could feel the rage inside of me grow. How dare he say I haven't kept Es safe. I clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to keep my anger in. “What do you really want with her?”

  “I told you, she has things I need her to finish.”

  “Yeah okay, but what exactly are you doing here, in this town?”

  He raised a corner of his mouth. “I texted you. Although, I did think you'd be bringing her with you.”

  “So, this is a set up. It’s because of you that we’re here and she's not. You have no idea what you've done by doing this. Nicholas is out there and he's going to kill her, she needs our help, and you just led us away from her.” I clenched my jaw and ground my teeth together.

  “You were supposed to have her. I paid you to guard her, not lose her.”

  The sound of glass breaking caused me to turn around. Torres led Adonia out of the building, Ailaina following them close behind. He picked up his pace when he spotted Victor, the women keeping up with him. “What is going on?” I could see his body tense and tighten as he came closer.

  “It's his fault that we’re here. This was a trap for Es.” I threw my arms in the air. I wanted to deck Victor in the face. Why didn't he just call me? Running my hands through my hair, I took in a deep breath and looked up at him. “Why?’

  A deep rumble came from beside me, glancing down Maztic was there. This couldn't be good. I hadn't seen him since he searched for Es, and coming back without her must mean either one of two things: he couldn't find her or he knew I needed help.

  “Did you find her?” I asked him in my mind.

  “I did. She's with Ian driving out of Memphis. They stayed there last night, and it looks as if they are headed east.”

  My mind screamed in frustration. If she gets hurt because I'm not with her, I will behead Victor myself for leading us away.

  Glancing over, I could see Hela next to Torres. His fur rose on his neck, and he snarled.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Maztic as I scanned the empty lot one more time, half-expecting to see a crowd of vampires.

  “Victor is not here to help. He wants Esmerelda just as much as Nicholas, but we are unsure of what his true intentions with her are.”

  I nodded. Torres also looked around. Hela must have told him, putting him on high alert too. No one but Victor was around, but I couldn’t trust that right now. Meadow might be close.

  “Where is she? Don’t play with me Jarak, I know you know.” Victor came even closer, standing on the other side of the car from me.

  “You are not in a position to make threats Victor. Do you forget who I am?” Adonia spoke, and I could feel the electricity in the air as she stepped up behind me
.

  Victor hesitated. “No, I do not forget. I need your daughter and will fight to have her if necessary.”

  Maztic’s hackles rose up, and my insides churned. “I will fight you then because you cannot have her.”

  He clicked his tongue with the side of his cheek. “That’s not really fair. You have a dog and no powers. Unless she gave you one?”

  I didn’t speak, but I could feel heat rising inside of me and Maztic trying to hold back from ripping out his throat. Dog? He seriously didn’t just say that.

  “I’ll take your silence as a no. I guess that means she doesn’t love you as much as you thought. Who did you say she was with?”

  He goaded me. I knew it, but it still irked me. I let him get to me. “Maztic, anytime you’re ready.” I wasn’t about to let him go any further, and I sure wasn’t going to lead him to Es.

  Maztic didn’t need anything more. He lunged forward, clamping his jaw down on Victor’s arm. I jumped and slid over the hood of the car. Clenching my fist, I forced it hard into his face, knocking him backwards. He stumbled, but came forward with strength I momentarily forgot he had. Magic.

  He shot his hand out, palm facing me. A streak of blue hit me in the chest paralyzing me. I watched helplessly as Maztic flew through the air, landing on his side, sliding over the pavement. He was back up and running toward Victor when Hela raced with him and jumped on Victor’s back. Maztic clenched down on his leg.

  He released his power and I was able to move once again. Torres was now running behind me, throwing fierce jabs into Victor. He was a well-toned man, and I knew those had to hurt. I took a step forward, waiting for my moment. Victor held his hand out again, throwing all four of us back. He used his energy to throw me back about a hundred yards, my back hit the building, and I slid down. I glanced around. Torres was about three feet away from me, but electric blue streak from Victor’s hands held him down.

  Maztic was on the pavement, getting back up, but Hela was already attacking Victor’s back. It didn’t make sense. That kind of magic shouldn’t work on us, Guardians are immune to it.

  “Enough!” Adonia’s voice rang out loud. She held her hands out, stopping the flow of any other magic other than her own.

  Victor dropped his hand and Hela let go of him. Torres and I got up, first on my hands and knees, then pushed myself to stand and walked over to her with Maztic right behind us. I cringed, my back hurt from landing so roughly. It was still hard to breath from getting the wind knocked out of me.

  “What is it exactly that you want from my daughter? Answer truthfully or I will strip you of all your powers. I have that ability with those who mean to do harm to my family.” She held her hands out and kept an unyielding look on her face.

  Victor bent over, holding his arm where Maztic bit and blood trickled down his neck from Hela’s attack. His breathing was heavy and labored. “I need her to help me save my sister.”

  His sister? “What is going on? You had better be telling the truth.” I still didn’t trust him.

  He stood up straighter, cringing as he did. “About twenty five years ago, Nicholas took my entire family trying to create his crossbreeds. My parents died within two years of being turned, but my sister is still alive, barely. I have kept her hidden and gave her everything I could to keep her alive. Esmerelda is the only one who can break this curse over her and keep her alive. I promised her that I would help her. I won’t break that promise. That’s why I had Meadow turned when I realized I couldn’t save her. I thought maybe if Meadow went through and survived the process, then she could help me save Katrina, but she chose to follow Nicholas and left. It is so hard to know that everything I thought we had is gone.”

  “Well you throwing us off from our meeting spot might get Es killed. Then what are you gonna do?” The thought of something happening to her made me grimace even more.

  “Like I said, she was supposed to be with you. Not my fault you let her slip through your fingers.”

  Maztic’s hackles rose again, and I lunged for him, only to be struck by the paralyzing electricity. I couldn't make any sense of how the magic held me.

  Victor's eyes narrowed. “Did you honestly think, I would choose to fight you if my magic did not work?”

  I strained to speak. The pressure from his power was so intense that my chest felt as if it would collapse.

  Electricity surged around my body and I dropped to the ground. Adonia kneeled beside me. Her icy stare at Victor chilled even my blood. There was something unspoken about the way she looked at him. It was as if she knew the source of his power over us. The austerity of the situation became grave. Something was going on, and I believed Adonia failed to tell any of us about it.

  She placed her hand on my shoulder. “I stripped his powers. Are you okay?”

  I looked up. Victor was on his knees staring at his hands, and then he looked over at us. “What have you done to me?”

  Adonia stood back up. “Until you are worthy I have taken your magic and stored it away.”

  “You can't do that! You don't know what you're doing. I need my powers to help my sister.” His voice choked as he held back a sob.

  “If what you speak is the truth Victor, I will restore your magic, but if you lie I will strip them for eternity.”

  I looked up at Adonia. “That doesn't answer my question of how he was able to use his magic against me.”

  “There are a few of us with that magic, and I mean a very few. We have what is called a Wolfing power. Myself included. We are able to use our powers against you in small amounts.”

  “Well you, him and who else? This is kind of important if you want us to help.”

  She hesitated for a moment. “Esmerelda.”

  “Is there anyone else? Heck I didn't even know Victor had that power.”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  I looked over at Torres who stood with his arms folded across his chest.

  “Did you know?”

  He nodded. “I knew, I am the reason Victor has this power.”

  “What! And you didn't warn me?”

  “We'll talk about that part later. Right now I think we have bigger fish to fry.”

  I let it go for now, but I wouldn’t give up on that. I deserved a truthful explanation.

  “Enough. I will find out the truth, and then we can go from there.” Adonia walked closer to Victor, placing her hands on his head. “With the truth shining through, the lies stay in the dark.”

  She stepped back closer to Torres. “Victor I will ask you one more time, what do you want with my daughter?”

  Victor looked up, his eyes rimmed with tears. “My sister, Katrina, she needs my help. It’s just as I said before. Nicholas turned her, and she has fought to stay alive, but she doesn’t have much fight left. Please, please help me find Esmerelda. I need her. Kat needs her.”

  Adonia looked at Torres, then me. “He’s speaking the truth. He can’t lie right now.”

  He was still down on his knees. “Victor,” I said to get his attention first. “Are you going to hurt Es?”

  He shook his head. “No. I mean that. I just need her to break the curse. She’s supposed to have the power to do it. I started her training, so she’d be ready, but Nicholas pushed her away before we could get that far.”

  I snickered. “I think you forgot the part where she needs to awaken the dead witches before she can break the curse.”

  He furrowed his brow together. “The five witches? That’s impossible. I don’t understand.”

  “We need them to help carry out the Reaping Spell. Only Esmerelda and I together can awaken them from their sleeping deaths.”

  “So she can’t break the curse…” Victor looked forlorn, staring at something behind me.

  “The curse cannot be broken without her. She is the key, and the witches with myself are like the door. We need her to break through the spell used to create crossbreeds.”

  “So where are the witches? Where is Esmerelda?” Victor
stood up, brushing his black pants off. “I can’t believe you lost her. Didn’t you do some sort of tracking spell before traveling?”

  Adonia’s eyes flashed red. “Of course I did! I did a joining spell.”

  “That works with the spirit, so one of you must know something. That’s how it works, whoever the spirit deems worthy or of most importance to the person will have full knowledge and sometimes even visions.” He scanned each of our faces, “So who is it, which one of you knows where she is?”

  I clenched my jaw. “Ian.”

  “Great, where is he?”

  I opened the front passenger door to the car. “With her…”

  “Why would the spirit do that?” He asked.

  “My thoughts exactly.” I slammed the door after getting in.

  The other three doors opened, and they all climbed in. “Why is he coming?” I asked, pointing my thumb back at Victor.

  “We are taking him with us. We might need him.”

  Slamming my fist down on the dash. “I refuse to just hand her over.”

  “You won’t have to. She will have a choice.” Adonia looked over at Victor. “Right?”

  “Talk about a daytime soap opera,” Ailaina said as she buckled her seat belt. She’d been so quiet I almost forgot she was with us. “I’m glad I stayed out of that one.”

  The Tomb

  – Esmerelda –

  November 20, 2012

  “Get out.” I slugged Ian playfully in the shoulder. I hated to admit it but I honestly treasured being around him. I felt more like myself than I had in a long time. He reminded me of Nevada and home. He was fun, and I enjoyed myself with him.

  “I’m serious.” He laughed.

  “I can’t believe you threw doughnuts at the police department building! Were they maple or chocolate?”

  “I think they were cream filled.” We both laughed. It felt so good, so natural. I didn’t want to lead him on because honestly, I wasn’t sure what was happening between us. At this moment, I’d say I have a crush—or something more. Flirting couldn’t hurt, could it?