of sweat already dotting my upper lip. Grim’s eyes travel over my exposed flesh. “He said the magic is strong on the cord. It’s too heavy to come from the human.”
“Holy hell, he could have been right under our noses. Did he narrow down the location?” I prepare to stand, but Grim stops me with a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“We’re not going until later. The witch is making us a few things to make sure once we get him, he can’t get away.”
I let my arms sink back into the warm water, and allow the thought of finally getting rid of the fucking witch sink in. “Do you think he knows one of us absorbed the spell?”
Grim dips his fingers into the water then traces them over my arm and up to my shoulder. “I don’t know much about witch magic, but I would assume he would have some way of knowing if the spell was activated,” he mutters distractedly.
“What if it had been you or I who touched it? I wouldn’t even be able to eat if it were I, and who the hell knows what would have happened if you weren’t able to reap. I don’t like knowing something like that can happen—has happened to Kitten. I know it’s making him crazy. The Berserker has been with him for so long.” I let all my thoughts trickle out as Grim moves around until he’s rubbing his strong fingers over my shoulders in a massage.
He kisses the side of my head and mutters, “Yes, I’m very relieved the Berserker took the spell instead of you. You were very close to touching the pendant. Not something we will allow again.”
“I don’t think Gunnar is relieved.”
“He is, Omnia, we all are. I assure you. He can survive without the beast—we all could. But you would slowly starve.” His voice grows hard. “The spell will die with the witch; there is nothing to worry about,” he declares with complete confidence.
I wish I shared it.
Chapter 26
“That’s it?” I inquire. In my warrior’s scarred palm are several little amulets. I’m apprehensive about him touching them, especially considering he still has the marks from the last spell he touched on his hand, but he and Grim have assured me he’s perfectly safe.
I woke up from my too-short nap feeling slightly anxious, and my stomach still feels tight after climbing the couple flights of stairs last night. After we get rid of this fucker, I need to start yoga or something. I can’t stand being this uncomfortable.
I look over at the clock, and it’s barely ten a.m. I should still be sleeping, but I’m already dressed and ready to search the area Gregory pinpointed.
Knowing he might have been this close for all this time pisses me off. His running off to Savannah made sense to me. I’m sure he knows if we get a hold of him, he won’t stand a chance, so why stay so near? There has to be something we’re missing. Or he’s no longer by the school, but that’s too depressing to even think about.
“What will those do, and how do we get them to work?” I motion to the little trinkets Gunnar has.
He pinches one between his fingers, moving it left and right to catch the light. “They are designed to trap the witch much in the same way he was able to trap Aeson. Only he doesn’t need to step on these for them to activate.” He tosses the little thing in the air and snatches it back into his fist. “We do, however, need to get close enough to him for them to actually be effective. If we can put it on him in some way, that would be the best, but if we get that close, we might as well just let Death do his thing.”
“What about that? Can you just end him if you see him or something?” I turn my attention to Grim.
“I would need to touch him, and since we know he has the ability to bind our powers, I’m not sure if I should.”
“So that leaves me.” I shrug, totally okay with ripping the guy’s soul from his body. I don’t need to touch him, hell, I don’t even need to get that close to do it.
“It’s not going to be that easy,” Calix warns. “I’m sure this guy will have the place warded, maybe even have wards that could stop you from feeding off of him. If he’s smart enough to figure