Gaius tensed, poised and ready to strike. “Remove your hand, witch.”
Hastily, the female snatched back her hand, sensing death in the air. But she stubbornly refused to back down.
“First the ceremony and then the girl,” she said.
Gaius offered her an icy glare. “You aren’t foolish enough to believe you are in a position to give me orders?”
There was a sudden crimson fire in the witch’s dark eyes and a warning heat that sizzled through the air.
“The order doesn’t come from me.”
Gaius shuddered. Cristo. He didn’t know what was worse. His fear of being at the mercy of the witch’s spell or the heavy weight of the Dark Lord’s smothering powers.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Let us be done with this ridiculous ceremony.”
Sally nodded her head toward the end of the hallway. “I have prepared the room.”
Still twitchy, Gaius followed the witch into the large room, his gaze landing on the thick line of salt poured into a circle in the center of the wood floor.
“Wait.” He turned to regard Sally with a deep scowl. “Explain precisely what you intend to do to me.”
She heaved a resigned sigh. “Again?”
He bared his fangs. “You’ve been remarkably unwilling to reveal the details.”
Her eyes widened before she attempted to hide her fear behind a mask of bravado. “With the master’s assistance I will conjure a spell that will remove your . . . scent.”
“Why?”
“It will not only protect you from being tracked by your enemies, but as a shape-shifter you will be capable of becoming whomever or whatever you want to be without giving away your true identity.”
She tried to make it sound oh so simple. Just a flick of her hand and, abracadabra, his scent was gone.
But nothing was ever simple.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.. . .
Especially when it came to magic.
There would be a cost that he was far from certain he wanted to pay.
“I can accomplish the same goal with a disguise amulet,” he pointed out in cutting tones.
“Yes, well, this spell will strip you a little . . .”
“What?”
“Deeper.”
“Deeper?”
“It will remove more than just your scent.”
Gaius narrowed his gaze. “You mean it will take away my very identity.”
“Only on a physical level.”
Her casual dismissal made his hands clench. It was that or wrapping them around her neck and crushing the life from her.