Bewitched (Betwixt & Between #2) - Darynda Jones Page 0,63

it with power. I just didn’t know what power to infuse it with.

Still, I tried. I slowed my breathing and concentrated, trying to remember what the spell meant, wondering how Ruthie, who didn’t know the language, could be aware of its meaning. When I raised my shaking hand, it seemed to upset the wolf.

I concentrated on him. On his calmness. The steely resolve in everything he did. Even in his agitated state, it helped. I examined the symbol again, tearing through my memories, trying to spot the right one like a facial recognition program trying to match a face to a name.

There.

It sat on the fringes of my memories the way a child sat in a corner after being scolded. I pulled it forward. Drew it on the air. It blinded me with light for a split second.

Roane pushed Ruthie aside and took my hand. Wrapped his long fingers around mine for a better grip. Twisted our hands together. And held on.

The spell worked. The pain began to leech out of me, and I could draw in a slightly deeper breath.

I felt Roane squeeze my hand. His face, so near mine, was simple perfection. Ruggedly handsome. Five o’clock scruff. Sparkling olive irises. Lashes to die for. Or kill for.

But then, as I watched him, his shoulders went stiff.

“Stop!” I heard Ruthie in the distance, the ringing in my ears ebbing at last. “Defiance, stop!”

His face tightened into a mask of barely controlled agony, and he panted like he somehow felt my pain. He kept his gaze locked on mine, those perfect olive irises shimmering with unspent tears. He bit down on his lip and closed his eyes, pushing a tear past his lashes.

Ruthie and Annette were both yelling at me. Annette shook me. “Defiance, stop!”

I snapped to attention. Pulling my hand out of Roane’s grip, I tried to sit up. But the pain, while manageable, was still there.

Roane fell to the ground.

I gaped at him. “What happened?” I asked Ruthie. “What did I do?”

“Now’s not the time. You need to ease his pain. Hurry, love.”

He gripped a table leg with one hand and clutched his chest with the other. What did I do?

“Hurry, sweetheart.”

I rolled over and drew the symbol that practically burst out of me, perhaps putting a little more energy into than I’d planned and pushed it over him like a blanket.

Light enveloped him. Embraced him. Saturated every molecule in his body. It took a moment, but his muscles relaxed. His panting slowed.

I eased off the table despite the pain and lay behind him. “I’m sorry,” I whispered into his ear. Scooting next to him, I brushed his hair off his face. “Roane, please be okay.”

He turned over and buried his face in my hair. “I’m okay, gorgeous,” he said, but he said it through clenched teeth. Slowly, the spell worked, and he relaxed more and more.

I lay my head on my folded arm and petted his hair. Kissed his cheek. Marveled in the fresh scent of him. And fell.

Twelve

Sometimes I wonder if all of this is happening

because I didn’t forward that message to ten other people.

-Meme

I heard a clock ticking down the hall. Felt a weight on my waist. Warm covers over that. I pried open my lids to see a beautiful red wolf in human form.

His lashes fanned across his cheeks as he slept, his breathing deep and even. An arm tucked under his head.

I started to move, but the vines that embraced us tightened gently.

“You’re awake,” Annette whispered from a nearby chair. She’d been working on her laptop. She closed it and eased closer.

My dads sat beside her, draped over the table with blankets wrapped around them, snoring away.

“Am I awake?” I asked, my mouth full of cotton. “This isn’t another dream? Because damn.” I gestured toward the man candy wrapped around me.

She giggled behind her hand.

I heard a soft purr and leaned up to see Ink on the other side of Roane, the cat’s head tucked against the wolf’s neck. “Why is Percy suddenly into bondage?”

“To support your weight,” she whispered. “You were both still healing.”

“Like a cast?” I whispered back.

“Exactly.”

I reached over Roane, and Percy pulled back the vines so I could scratch Ink’s ears. Poor cat had been tortured the last couple of days. I could only hope he’d get used to it. There was no telling how long we would have the little blond with us. If I had my way, it would be forever, but I wasn’t sure how Ink