The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Read online

  “You say that,” I said, “but I read that book you gave me. Shadow mages have a particular set of spells that work solely against werewolves. It’s in my nature to fight them. Bone mages are suited for fighting demons. Blood mages for vampires. Rising Sun mages for fae. And Shadows? We’re good against werewolves.”

  “Then, practice,” Dorian said. “Learn. Embrace who you are. Until then, you don’t know how to take on a werewolf. You said yourself that you can’t control your magic.”

  Sighing, I shifted my eyes to the ground, that familiar unease churning in my gut. It always went through me when I thought about who I was. Even after all this time, I still hadn’t come to terms with it. And even though my grandmother was the same as me, I couldn’t see it as anything other than a curse. Because no matter what I did, I could never forget what it had once whispered in my ear. It had wanted me to destroy Dorian.

  Anything that put that idea into my head was something dangerous. Something I couldn’t give into no matter what.

  “I just can’t,” I said, my voice tight. “I don’t want to give into my darkness.”

  “One day, you’ll figure out that you don’t have to give into the darkness to harness your powers.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. “You’re so strong, Zoe.”

  My heart flickered in my chest, and my entire body went warm. It had been months since we’d encountered this kind of attack, and the adrenaline running through my veins fueled more than just my urge to fight. With a sharp breath, I turned my head to search Dorian’s eyes for any trace he felt the same sort of tension I did. His mouth slightly parted, showing off the tips of his fangs. What would it feel like, I wondered, to have him feed from my neck?

  “What are you thinking, partner?” He murmured softly, his voice barely heard over the din of distant traffic. “You know you want it. Deep down inside. Will you finally give in?”

  My mind reeled. What were we talking about? My shadow magic? Or something else? His lips were so near that I couldn’t focus on anything other than his mouth, his body, his hands. All this time we’d been working closely, but I’d refused to entertain thoughts of anything more, except when I was home all by myself, wondering what he did all night when I wasn’t around and working on a case with him.

  Did he lie in bed and stare up at the ceiling, just like I did? Was he wondering what I was up to? Remembering the moment when our lips almost met?

  Had we only come that close to kissing because I’d tasted his blood?

  Or was there something more to it than that?

  I yearned to know, but I could never bring myself to ask him, especially because a moment like that had never presented itself again. If he’d really wanted to kiss me, surely he would have tried again. Surely there would have been a moment of truth.

  But there hadn’t been. And even now, our moment together on the roof of his car could be nothing more than this.

  “I’m not ready to give in.” I ripped my gaze away from him and swallowed hard. “And I can’t say more than that.”

  He let out what sounded like a disappointed sigh as he shifted away from me. “Well, we should probably get out of here. I’m sure the cops have been notified of the disturbance, and I’d rather not be questioned all night.”

  “What about your FBI buddy?” I asked. “Wouldn’t he be able to divert attention elsewhere?”

  “It was an animal roar,” Dorian said. “The FBI wouldn’t be called in for something as routine as this. Let’s go.”

  I jumped off the car and landed on a pile of glass, the shards crunching underneath my boots. The werewolf had made a mess out of Dorian’s vehicle, but I had to admit, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. If the wolf hadn’t run off, there was no telling how much damage he would have done. Not just to the car, but to Dorian. And to me. And as much as I’d wanted to help my partner, I was relieved the werewolf had fled.

  Curiosity and confusion sparked in my mind at the thought. Like Dorian had said, I was just a witch with a dagger, and the werewolf wouldn’t know I had shadow magic running through my veins. He had no reason to be scared of me.

  “Dorian,” I asked as I hooked my fingers underneath the door handle. “Do you think it’s odd the werewolf bolted when I tried to join the fight?”

  “He must have smelled your magic,” Dorian said. “I can’t because my curse likes to limit my abilities, but Daywalkers can. No reason werewolves can’t as well.”

  I frowned, my mind flipping through everything I’d been reading the past few months. “The book never mentioned anything like that.”

  “It’s a basic enough ability that the author of the book probably didn’t find it important enough to mention.” Dorian rubbed his jaw, sighing. “I don’t know, Zoe. This whole thing is getting stranger and stranger by the moment.”

  “No kidding.” I looked up at the full moon, a big bulbous circle illuminating the dark city streets. Somewhere out there, a werewolf stormed through the night, doing goddess knew what. So far, he’d killed two blood mages, but would it stop there? Like Dorian, I didn’t think so.

  “Come on.” Dorian slung his arm around my shoulder and squeezed tight. “We’re not going to come up with a plan standing out here in the cold.”

  To emphasize Dorian’s words, a distant howl broke through the quiet alley. We didn’t have much time. Because even though the wolf hadn’t gone on an out-of-control rampage yet, I’d seen his yellow eyes. The wolf was hungry.

  Chapter 11

  “What the hell happened to your roof?” Laura asked as she slid into the backseat of Dorian’s car. Overhead, the metal sunk down in random spikes, evidence of the wolf’s anger. I’d tried to talk Dorian into asking the coven for alternative transportation, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

  No time, he’d said. I couldn’t really argue with that.

  “A werewolf attacked us,” I said, twisting to face her. “A male. Pretty large but also on the skinny side. From what I could tell, he was angry and really fucking hungry.”

  Laura’s face blanched, and she dropped back her head to stare at the roof with a newfound horror. “A werewolf? But I thought…”

  “They don’t like to come into the city?” I gave her a grim nod. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.”

  “Trust me,” Dorian said as he pulled the car onto the road, his headlights swinging across the darkness. “That was a fucking werewolf. I saw him up close and personal.”

  Laura shook her head, frowning. “How did you guys manage to piss off a werewolf? I thought they tended to keep to themselves.”

  “This one is the blood mage killer, so I don’t think he tends to play by the usual rules.” Just like everything else right now, I thought. “Another body got reported. He caught us at the scene of the crime and tried to stop us.”

  “Another blood mage is dead?” Laura whispered. Her face drained of color, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Shit. What’s going on, Zoe? Why is a werewolf killing us?”

  “I don’t know, Laura,” I said. “But we’re on our way to the nearest werewolf pack to find out.”

  The nearest werewolf pack was located in a coastal town called Seaport, Massachusetts. About an hour’s drive outside of Boston and a stone’s throw away from the infamous Salem, where shadow witches had once been burned at the stake. The little town was fairly small and pretty secluded, surrounded on all sides by thick woodland or ocean waves. Back when I’d been younger, Grams and I used to vacation there on mini-vacations while my parents were MIA.

  But we hadn’t been back since after the war. When my parents died and Grams got sick, my old life went up in flames.

  Dorian edged the car down the main street, past rows upon rows of old-timey shops. An ice cream parlor, a butcher, a barber with the yellow and red sign spinning just outside the window. When we reached the boardwalk where the signature red barn cast eerie shadows on the rippling water, we took a hard right into the woodland that lined the coast. Deeper
and deeper into the brush we went until the bright moon was blotted out by towering trees.

  My skin skittered with unease the further we drove down the dirt path. Werewolves didn’t like it when people intruded on their property. Humans were one thing, but two witches and a vampire? They weren’t going to be particularly pleased. And they’d know we were coming far sooner than we’d see them ourselves. In fact, I thought as I turned to gaze out the window at the flash of trees blurring by the windows, we’re probably being watched right now…

  In what felt like hours later, the dirt path came to a sudden stop in a small clearing. Dorian shifted the car into park and cut the engine. Silence rose up around us, punctuated by the occasional rustle of leaves and the chirp of a nearby bird.

  Laura leaned forward and peered out the front windshield. “Where’s their house?”

  “In the trees somewhere nearby,” Dorian said in a low voice. Like vampires, werewolves had enhanced hearing, and they’d be able to hear anything we said if they were within shouting distance. “It will be off the main path where random hikers can’t stumble on them accidentally. They value their privacy.”

  I reached for my dagger, feeling the need to have my weapon in my hands, just in case. Even though werewolves and mages had kept peace for decades, much longer than the peace with vampires, things were shifting in the supernatural world. I no longer knew what to expect. If this pack was home to the werewolf who had attacked us, no telling what would happen when they found us on their property.

  “Don’t.” Dorian grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my sheath. His touch was electric, even if cold, causing my adrenaline to spike up another notch. “We can’t do anything they’ll translate as aggressive. The alpha will take your weapon as a sign you want to question his authority.”

  “Well, if he’s sending one of his pack into the city to kill blood mages, then I sure as hell want to question his fucking authority.” I narrowed my eyes but didn’t try to force my hand out of Dorian’s grip. I knew from experience that I’d never be able to break free.

  “Should I have left you in Boston?” he snapped. “Because if you go in with an attitude like that, you’ll get us all killed.”

  “Or maybe it would get us the answers we need. Sometimes you have to fight aggression with aggression.”

  “You’re impossible.” He shook his head and scowled. “Why do I even bother trying to train you?”

  “Um, guys. I don’t think this is the time for your bickering,” Laura piped up from the backseat. Heat filled my cheeks as I glanced away from Dorian’s face. I’d almost forgotten that Laura was here with us, too caught up in my volatile feelings toward Dorian Kostas. But I couldn’t help it. The man drove me crazy. One minute, he had his arm slung over my shoulder. The next, he acted like he wanted nothing more than to toss me to the curb.

  “Sorry, Laura,” I said, rolling my eyes at the clench of Dorian’s strong jaw. “You’re right. We need to figure out what we’re going to do when we confront these asshole werewolves.”

  “Sure,” she said, swallowing hard. “But also, they’re standing right outside the car.”

  Shit. Heart lurching, I twisted toward the window to find a cluster of scowling werewolves staring us down. They were all in human form, thank the goddess, but that didn’t do much to squelch the fear rolling through my gut. They looked pissed as hell, all stern faces and fisted hands. Probably because they heard me calling them assholes.

  “You two stay in the car.” Dorian reached for his door handle. “I’m going to go talk to them.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but he was out of the car before I could speak. Talking about assholes…I frowned at his back, irritation masking my fear. Of course, he’d regulate me to sitting-in-the-car-and-waiting duty. Despite the fact I was his partner, he treated me like a minion when it counted the most.

  Laura leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. “They look so normal. I thought they’d have like massive beards and hairy hands or something.”

  “Same,” I said, feeling a slight smile creep onto my face. Just like Laura, I’d never actually met a werewolf in person, not until today. Well, at least I thought so. Because, as she’d pointed out, they looked startlingly normal. The five werewolves who stood in the clearing were all men, save for one, wearing jeans and flannel shirts. They were clean cut and physically fit, and the girl wore her hair in beautiful waves. The only odd thing about them was their bare feet.

  If I’d passed them on the street, I’d never know what they were. I’d just assume they were regular humans like anyone else.

  Dorian stood talking to them, the intensity of his gesturing arms increasing with every passing beat. The werewolves looked angry but they didn’t look particularly aggressive. Just annoyed. After several moments, the man who stood in the front of the pack shook his head and stepped back, clearly putting an end to their conversation.

  With tense shoulders, Dorian turned and stalked toward the car. But instead of climbing back into the driver’s side, he ripped open my door. “They’re refusing to talk to me. Said they’ll only talk to the mouthy witch. That’s you, I’m assuming, since you decided to call them assholes on their property.”

  My heart throbbed, and I licked my lips. “Do you think they’re angry about that?”

  “Just don’t do it again, Zoe.” He sighed and motioned me out of the car. “Come on. I know you’ve been dying to barrel into something like this, so here’s your chance.”

  Translation: if you screw this up, I won’t ever let you do it again.

  This was my now or never moment. A way to prove that I could do more behind the wheel than in the passenger seat.

  With a deep breath, I stepped out of the car and took slow and determined steps toward the waiting werewolf pack, brittle leaves crunching underneath my boots. The wolves watched me with the same amount of intensity as I watched them, their light yellow eyes burning bright even in the darkest part of the night.

  “Hi, I’m Zoe,” I said when I reached them, glad to hear my voice come out clear and strong. “My partner said you preferred to speak to me instead of him.”

  “We don’t like vampires,” the man at the front of the pack said, crossing his lean arms across his chest. He quirked his lips. “Besides, we figured you wouldn’t bullshit us.”

  “Anyone who calls a pack of werewolves assholes on their own territory has no need for lies and manipulation,” the girl said, brushing her curls over slender shoulders. “But don’t be mistaken, any aggressive move on your part will be met with aggression.”

  “Totally understood,” I said with a nod. “The thing is, a werewolf has been killing mages in Boston, and you’re the closest pack by a long shot. We figured if anyone had answers, it would be you.”

  Even though they weren’t in wolf form, I swore the hackles rose on each and every werewolf in that clearing. The man in front spoke up again. He must be the alpha. He held himself with a certain kind of authority that commanded respect, and his body was ripped in ways the other men in the group could only dream of. He was older, tougher, and his eyes gleamed with a ferocity that hinted at the wolf within.

  “I hope you aren’t insinuating that we were involved in these deaths,” the alpha said. “That’s a pretty serious accusation to be lobbing at a werewolf on his own territory.”

  “Agreed.” I glanced behind me and caught Dorian’s gaze from where he watched from the car. He gave me a slight nod, the small move giving me the courage to move forward. “But two mages are dead, and the wolf came after me in the middle of a city street. I’d say that’s pretty serious as well.”

  The man frowned, glancing at each of his pack mates in turn. From what I knew about how the whole werewolf thing worked, I understood that a pack’s minds were one and the same. They were bonded, able to share thoughts and emotions without speaking a single word aloud. Whatever they were communicating to each other now, they didn’t want me to know.

  After several lon
g, tense moments like this, the alpha finally turned to face me once again. “We don’t attack humans, and we certainly don’t kill them. Whoever this werewolf is, he is not one of ours.”

  I frowned. “Would you mind if we talked to all your pack mates to confirm? Or see if they know anything that can help us?”

  “Talking to me is talking to the pack. When I say that none of my pack mates killed your mages, then that is the final word on the matter,” the alpha said. “However, I may have some information that could be useful in your investigation.”

  My heart lifted in hope. For a moment there, it had felt like we’d hit another dead end and that we’d wasted our entire night on a wild goose chase through the woods. “Yeah, of course. Any information would be great.”

  “Not so fast.” The alpha lifted his finger. “There’s an object we’ve been seeking for decades, and rumor has it that a blood mage has come into possession of it. Agree to find it and bring it back to us, and I can give you some information that might help you find this rogue werewolf who is killing your kind.”

  “An object?” Mouth dry, I glanced behind me at Dorian. I had a sneaking suspicion where this was going, and I doubted Dorian would go along with it in a million years. But we didn’t have any other leads in this case, and if we didn’t move fast, then another mage could end up dead.

  “It’s a ring.” The alpha turned to one of his wolves, who passed him an open book. He flicked his fingers for me to come closer, and I stepped to his side, smelling the musky scent of wood and grass. “See here. There are diamonds lining the sides and a dark blue stone in the center.”

  Yep, just like I’d thought. The pack wanted the ring we’d found in the blood mage’s apartment. The one that gave the wearer immunity from any damage the wolves could do. If they wanted that, I couldn’t help but wonder why. Were they trying to prevent the blood mages from gaining immunity from them? Or someone else?