Captive Mate - Eliot Grayson Page 0,58
cutting the engine. Deep breath. I could deal with them. I had my magic under my own full control now, and I could handle any of them — any of them besides Nate, maybe, and he had his hands full with preparing a reception for the Kimballs.
Gathering up my backpack, I stepped out of the car.
Nate trotted over to me, his cheeks pink and his hair flying every which way. He had on a giant sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up, one sleeve starting to slide down his arm. He shoved it up impatiently as he came to a stop, the flashlight in his other hand blinding me for a second as he waved it around. Nate looked like what you’d find in a dictionary to illustrate the word flustered.
“I’ve gotten the wards set up to trigger a barrier spell to hold them, but the barrier spell isn’t fucking working,” he said in a rush. “Seriously, this is bullshit. I know I need the components arranged in a circle to match the salt circle that’ll form the barrier itself, but the order in the book doesn’t seem to be working and —”
“Don’t tell him that,” Ian put in, pacing over to take up his usual position at Nate’s shoulder. “He’s not here to help us. He’s probably spying.”
I lifted my chin and stared him down. I was done taking Ian’s crap. “What did Matthew tell you?” They probably wouldn’t notice that my voice shook a little when I said Matthew’s name. “You’re not the Armitage pack leader, last I checked.”
Ian’s scowl deepened. Good. Asshole. “Neither is Matthew while he’s not back to normal.”
What? “But he is back —” I broke off, shaking my head. Ian probably didn’t trust Matthew’s state of mind even after the spell was broken, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to convince him. “Whatever. You’re not the pack leader, and if the council’s letting Matthew call the shots tonight, that ought to be good enough for you. Are they?”
A pause. “Yes, they are,” Nate said, sounding thoroughly exasperated. He punched Ian in the arm, and Ian winced and rubbed at the spot. I covered my mouth to hide my smile. Right. Like Nate had hurt him. “Matthew is in charge, and he said Arik’s helping us. I’m not happy about it either.” He paused to glare at me. “But I need a second set of magical hands, and you sure as fuck aren’t going to be useful, Ian.”
“I’ll be useful once we start fighting,” Ian grumbled.
“If this works there won’t be any fighting,” Nate said. “Hence, you know, the treacherous shaman who was trying to kill us a couple weeks ago and may or may not sabotage us.”
“Thanks for the introduction,” I said. “Really. I’m blushing. Also, could we maybe stop with the pleasantries and get to setting up the spell? Because the Kimballs are supposed to be here in less than an hour.”
Nate gestured with his arm, turned, and set off into the woods. I followed, with Ian lurking between us and baring his teeth at me.
We ended up in a small clearing about a hundred yards into the forest, off the path and closer to the territory boundary.
I stood, hands on hips, and surveyed Nate’s preparations where they were set out in the center of a small dirt circle. To the side was a battery-powered lantern with a tattered volume of spells set out beside it, a couple of pebbles weighing the pages down so they didn’t flap in the mild breeze.
His candles were the wrong width, but I chose not to comment on that. They’d do. That was just nit-picking.
On the other hand…
“That’s common mallow, not marshmallow root.” I set down my backpack and crouched to dig through it. “That’s not going to work for you.”
“What?” Nate snatched up the herb, peering at it and turning red. “I picked it myself!”
“Yeah, and it looks really similar. Easy mistake to make.” I mentally patted myself on the back. I could be tactful! I could get along! “I can tell by the smell.” I set aside a few baggies, rummaged a little more, and pulled out a sack of marshmallow root. Thank the gods I’d grabbed some. I hadn’t been planning on doing this type of spell, but you never knew.
“I don’t have a shifter’s nose,” Nate muttered, sounding somehow sulky, apologetic, and defiant all at once. “I thought it was the right thing.”
“We’ll just replace it.” It took real