security I’d found. “This handsome young man who’s been following you around... Did you know he turns into a wolf when prodded?”
Oh holy moon. I clenched my hand into a fist and glared at the wall as magic bubbled in my blood and started to swirl around me. It threatened to burn through the phone and sever that connection, to leave whatever wolf Rocko had in his hands. “Release him.”
“What will you give me in return?”
It echoed too close to something Henry had said the night before and I shuddered, pushing away the thought. No. Rocko was evil. He didn’t deserve space in my head. I would keep everything Henry said close to me, every precious word. “I won’t kill you in your sleep. Release the wolf.”
The sorcerer laughed, a crescendo of creepy out-of-tune violins. “You’re so adorable when you’re desperate and angry. Meet me and we can talk in person. I want to know that you’re well, Ophelia. I’m concerned about you.”
Bile rose in my throat. “You’re a liar and a coward.”
“Don’t insult me too freely, dear, or your little dog will pay the price. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
I clenched my jaw. I just had to hold on to my temper. The magic was still uncontrolled and uncontrollable, like Deirdre said, until I’d had a lot more practice managing it. The last thing I wanted was for it to backfire and burn down Deirdre’s house. “Where?”
“There’s an empty lot half a mile north from where you’re fuming and trying not to vent your magic at the world. I told you, you can’t control it. Only I can help you. You’re too dangerous, Ophelia. You must know that.”
I hated that I’d fallen for that cajoling tone once. More than once. I hated that he’d had power over me and I’d believed him. Hated that I might have believed him again, if not for Henry.
Henry.
I didn’t have to face Rocko alone. I had Henry, and even though he might not forgive me for getting his pack in trouble, I didn’t think he’d leave me out there on my own. I swallowed those regrets and steeled myself for another confrontation. “Fine. Two hours. Bring the wolf with you.”
“I’m not stupid, Ophelia. The wolf will be caged where it is safe. We will negotiate his release when we meet. Be serious, dear. There is only one way this ends, hmm?” He managed to sound completely reasonable and rational, like he was sane and I was the crazy one.
“Two hours.”
Rocko chuckled and the call ended with a crackle. Maybe it wasn’t actually a call at all, but some terrible spell he used instead. I shuddered the dropped the phone to the floor, wanting to smash it under my heel. I didn’t want anything that he’d touched or known about. I wanted nothing of him in my life ever again.
But that left me with only one thing to do... tell Henry. I had to tell Henry and Miles and Deirdre, and admit that I’d brought disaster to their pack. I’d gotten one of their wolves captured by a sadistic son of a bitch with access to horrible spells that could make you not want to live. He could torture that wolf beyond what anyone could tolerate, beyond what the imagination could dream up. It was the worst kind of hell—one that existed in your own mind, making you doubt yourself and everything you knew. Making you believe, all the way to your bones, that nothing would get better and you were stuck in hell forever.
I swayed, wanting to hide under the covers again. Henry wouldn’t make me face Rocko, of that I was certain. I could tell him the time and the place and he would go deal with it.
If I was a coward and chose to hide.
I definitely wasn’t brave, but I wasn’t going to just stick my head in the sand. I’d brought Rocko’s attention to the city and their pack. It was all on me. And I couldn’t let someone else take responsibility for my bad choices.
I made it halfway down the stairs just as Deirdre, Evershaw, and Henry strode into the living area, all of them looking serious. I knew in a split second that they knew something had gone wrong. I just hoped they would forgive me. I gripped the railing as my knees weakened and I thought I saw fury in Evershaw’s eyes.