: Chapter 16

Savannah

After dinner, we cleared the table, and then my uncle came into the room with a tray of beautiful purple flowers with roots, leaves, and all. “If I’m going to help you make a potion, you’ll need to work. Time to prep some potion components.”

Casey snickered. “Welcome to my childhood. And adulthood.”

Uncle Pete set the tray down and tossed me some plastic gloves.

My eyes widened. “Is this for the scrying potion?”

“No, this is just for the family business. This place is a sweatshop. Get used to it,” Casey said.

I pointed to the flowers. “What are these? They’re beautiful.”

“Aconitum,” my uncle said. “We mostly import it, but this is locally grown. It’s a good component for potions, but toxic. Be careful while you’re handling it.”

He showed me how to delicately remove the beautiful, hood-shaped blossoms without damaging them, and then how to clip the leaves and roots. We separated them into little jars. He wasn’t kidding when he’d said they were toxic. My eyes were itchy and began to water.

Laurel joined us, pulling apart the flowers. She regarded me closely, then handed me a box of tissues. “I assume you were unable to get your car back today?”

The thought of Jaxson killed the sense of peace I’d gotten from plucking blossoms. “What’s the deal with you and the Laurents, anyway?”

My aunt and uncle paused. Apparently, this was not an after-dinner conversation, or at least not a flower-plucking conversation.

“They’re furry, and they suck,” Casey said from the sink, where he was half-assing the dishes.

I figured I’d crossed into forbidden territory, so I looked down and began to pick at the pretty purple flowers again.

“There’s a lot of bad blood,” my aunt finally murmured. “But we don’t need to talk about that tonight.”

My uncle leaned forward and put his arms on the table. His voice was bold. “Three centuries ago, Magic Side was a cluster of little islands in Lake Michigan. People filled in the spaces and created a unified city. But our island stayed separate. Ultimately, the city council, which was largely made up of wolves, forced us to join them. They got rid of our harbor so that we’d be beholden to the city. Then they tried a land grab.” He waved a flower defiantly. “We taught them a lesson about what’s ours and what’s theirs.”

My eyes darted between my aunt and uncle, unsure if I should encourage him. It was better I had the information, though, so I blurted, “But that was so long ago.”

“They control all the bridges and the harbor, and they haven’t stopped trying to squeeze us. You’ll learn. Give them what they want, and they’ll take more.”

Didn’t I know it. “But why do they hate you? Jaxson…seems angry.”

My uncle leaned back and drummed his fingers on the table. “Because we provide people with the means to stand up for themselves.”

“We shouldn’t talk about this tonight,” my aunt commanded. “Let’s speak of brighter things.”

I swallowed.

During the drive to Eclipse, Jaxson had told me the LaSalles dealt in illegal arms and materials. I looked down at the flowers so I wouldn’t stare at my hosts, but my mind was churning. What did the LaSalles actually do? Was it just trafficking weapons, or did they make them, too? Were they guns like the ones I’d grown up shooting, or something worse? Something magical? Something to do with dark magic?

Jaxson had pushed me hard into staying at the motel, but when I thought about it, this was probably the safest place for me to be—with people who’d been in a standoff with werewolves for centuries.

He wants control.

But things were spiraling out of control. Some idiot had posted pictures of me all around Belmont, letting my assailants know exactly where I’d gone. Worse, Jaxson had paraded me through pack headquarters. Tons of werewolves had seen me and knew that a red-haired girl with a tattoo had just shown up in town. If one of them were in cahoots with my attackers, they’d know exactly where I was. It was practically a slam dunk.

I dropped the flower I was holding.

It couldn’t be.

But something clawed from within my chest, and my pulse quickened. Was Jaxson using me as bait?

He’d had people keeping an eye on me. He’d tried to keep me in Belmont, where they could strike again. Now he was keeping me in town, holding my car. I was a sitting duck, and he knew they’d be back.

He’s planning on it.

I jumped up from the table, my heart thundering.

“Everything okay?” Laurel asked.

“I just remembered I have to make a call,” I stammered, then hurried out the front door and scrolled through my phonebook to find the entry for Asshole.

Jaxson picked up after the first ring. “Savannah. Good to get a call. Have you changed your mind?”

“You ass, have you lost yours?” I snapped, keeping my voice low in case anyone inside was listening.

“What are you talking about?”

For all my anger, the sound of his whiskey voice still lit a fire in me, but I fought to keep myself focused. “Are you using me as bait?”

“What? No.” He scoffed. Was it genuine?

Shit.

I should have confronted him face to face. I had a good sense of when people were lying to me, but it only worked when I was right there, looking them in the eyes and making them sweat.

I pushed on anyway. “Apparently, someone plastered posters all over Belmont that said I was last seen heading to Chicago. The sheriff didn’t know where I was headed, nor did anyone else in town. Did you have your people post those signs?”

“Absolutely not.”

Was he lying? I couldn’t tell, and it made my palms itch.

“You’ve tried pinning me down. You’ve got your stalkers watching me wherever I go. You wanted me to stay in your motel, on your lands.”

“I’m doing my best to protect you while you’re doing your best to get yourself killed,” he said coldly.

I’d bet money his eyes had turned honey-gold, like they always did when he was pissed.

“You posted those signs. This isn’t werewolf witness protection! You’re using me as goddamned bait!”

His breath caught, and when he spoke, it was practically a growl. “I would never put you at risk. I’m doing everything I can to stop these people.”

Was he picking his words carefully? God, I wished I could see him now. I’d be able to smell the lies on him.

“Screw you, Laurent.” I jammed my finger on the end call button, as if he could feel it. He immediately called back, so I pressed the power icon until the phone turned completely off.

“Fuck,” I said to the rising moon and dark summer night air. It was a filthy word that I reserved for rare circumstances. For when I was good and truly fucked, like now.

One thing I knew—I wasn’t going to be staying on pack land tonight. The LaSalles were perfect strangers, but they weren’t actively trying to get me killed. Plus, Laurel had offered to put me up twice.

I slammed the door out of habit on my way back inside, then blushed and remembered I was a guest.

Casey poked his head around the corner. “Everything okay?”

I glared. I was pissed at Jaxson but okay with settling for Casey as a target of my ire.

He threw his hands up. “Whoa, hey there, Medusa, point those viper eyes somewhere else. Remember, I’m the guy who’s going to help you get your ride back.”

I shook my head vehemently. “No, you’re not. But it’d be great if you’d be willing to give me a lift to get my things. I think I’ll stay here, if that’s still okay.”

“Of course! Mom will be thrilled. We’ll get your things and your car.”

“Stealing my car back from a werewolf is a terrible plan,” I replied, though it would give me a hell of a lot of satisfaction to see the look on Jaxson’s face. And I’d be out from under his thumb, free to make my own decisions.

Casey waved a hand dismissively. “It’s a great plan, and it’s already in motion. We’re going to meet Zara up near the Midway in three hours.”

“In motion? Who’s Zara?”

“She’s the gal that drives the truck that’s going to tow your car out of Jaxson’s auto body shop and into glorious freedom.”

I crossed my arms, raised an eyebrow, and gave him a deeply skeptical look. “So what, we just break in, steal the car, and escape without consequences?” I didn’t see Aunt Laurel or Uncle Pete, but I whispered anyway.

“Don’t worry, I’m a pro at shenanigans like this.”

I rubbed my temple. “Casey, I appreciate it, I do. But this sounds unnecessarily risky. Let’s say we pull this off and don’t die. Won’t Jaxson just come take the car back?”

“No way. You’ll have made your point and demonstrated that you’ve got a backbone. Plus, we’ll stash it in the Midway Dens, which are run by devils and demons. Wolves respect that line in the sand, if not much else.”

The world spun a bit, and I had to brace myself against the wall. “Devils and demons?”

“Ah, shit, right. You just learned about magic and werewolves. Devils and demons are more like day-two material. On the other hand, Zara is half demon, so there’s that little thing.”

“You want me to work with a demon?” Who were these insane people?

“Not a demon, a half-demon. The other half is mage or something like that. She’s cool.” He grinned. “And hot. Get it?”

There wasn’t much more I could really take. I was way past the point of keeping up, so I just slumped against the wall and sank down on my butt.

Casey crouched beside me. “You don’t want to be beholden to this asshole, right?”

My stomach soured. I was up to my eyeballs in trouble. Jaxson had taken my only option for escape and might actually be using me as werewolf bait. I rested my arms on my knees. “Jaxson can shove it, for all I care.”

“I fully agree. He’s an alpha and accustomed to just taking what he wants. To having everyone around him defer. He’s going to expect that of you. Do you want him bossing you around for the rest of the time you’re here?”

“I want my goddamned freedom back, that’s what.”

Casey stood and slapped his hands on his pants. “Well, let’s go get it back, then.”