Bruja

Teresa’s gaze followed her as she moved across the room. “Getting bored under the constant threat of attack?”



“Hardly.” Cosette waved a hand as she plopped down on my bed. “That part makes me feel right at home.”



“Well don’t get too comfortable,” Teresa said. Her tone was surprisingly firm. “Mr. Dawson and the rest of the Seven have been looking for you all over campus. They want to talk.”



“Which is why I’ve been avoiding them.” Cosette tilted her head to the side as if brushing off the most powerful alpha wolves in the world was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.



“Why? If you can help us—”



“When the time is right.” Cosette gripped the edge of the bed so hard her knuckles whitened. She was finally showing a little of what must be her real thoughts.



“You can’t stay on the sidelines forever.” Teresa crossed her arms as she stared Cosette down. She looked more than a little annoyed with the fey. “Not with what’s coming.”



That thought made me swallow hard. The evil wasn’t coming. It was already here. Daniel was proof of that.



So was Raphael.



“I wasn’t planning to.” Cosette let out a heavy breath. “But I do what the queen says or I pay the price. For now, just think of me as an objective observer. Later…” She waved her fingers, letting us interpret her trailing words how we wanted. “Well, we’ll see about later.”



“What about your coven?” Maybe she was tied on the fey side, but the wolves would need more than the handful of us to fight Luciana and the allies she was probably gathering right now. Any help they could send would be better than nothing.



“They worship the queen.” She shrugged. “They’re not going to risk pissing her off.”



A coven loyal to the fey? I’d never heard of such a thing.



“That’s not normal, right?” Teresa turned from Cosette to me. “I’m still brushing up on this whole magic thing, but I thought brujas pretty much kept to themselves.”



“We usually do.” It was what I’d been taught. Most things didn’t like what our magic could do to them. Covens kept in touch, but our ancestors had been hunted and burned for so long that keeping secret seemed the only way to stay safe. I’d never considered there being another way.



It gave me hope that Muraco wasn’t totally insane with his stories about the ancient supernaturals mixing. If fey and witches could get along, then why not witches and wolves?



There was every possibility that the mages still existed in Peru. And if they existed, I’d find them. I had to.



“Either way, Mr. Dawson wants to—” Teresa’s head tilted to the side and her aura flashed with bits of amber. There was no missing the change in her as her eyes slipped out of focus. She was busy talking to Dastien through their bond.



No matter how often I saw it, it surprised me. The brujas didn’t have anything like that. Our marriages were more human and normal than the mate bonds the werewolves had. Witches got married, divorced, cheated. I’d be lucky to click on more than one level with a guy.



Teresa stood up, dusting off her hands. “Duty calls. It seems the boys have found something in the woods.”



I swallowed and took a breath before speaking. “Luciana?”



“Dastien isn’t sure. He’s in wolf form, so he’s not communicating very well, but he says it smells bad.”



“Bad?”



She shrugged. “It could mean anything.” She pointed to the next pair of pants in my pile. “Just lay them on the floor and make them as flat as possible before you start rolling.”



“Got it. Thanks.”



“Yell if you need anything.” She hurried out, already distracted.



When I was sure she far enough away that she wouldn’t overhear, I finally spoke. “Would it help you if I told her what I suspect about you?”



“I don’t know.” Cosette leaned forward. “What do you suspect?”



“That you’re more than you say you are.” I doubted ‘objective observer’ touched the surface. She always introduced herself as part fey, but it finally struck me that she’d never said which part. I’d just assumed half or less. Part could mean ninety-nine percent. Or part fey and something else that wasn’t necessarily human.



She smiled. “I could say the same of you.”



I almost laughed. “Right.”



“Don’t worry about me and Tess.” Cosette patted my shoulder, and a bit of her energy crackled against me. Her power seemed bright and tranquil when I felt exactly the opposite. “If my plans work the way I hope… Maybe we’ll be BFFs by the time you get back.”

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