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  Oh God.

  Cho screamed out the rest of her spell, but I could no longer make out any of her melodic Japanese. My dad’s witch was engaged in a battle of wills with a demon fog straight from the underworld, which meant it had arrived with all of its power undiluted. She shook from the power needed to maintain the spell.

  The remaining witches and warlock began to show signs of their own strain as Cho’s power linked to theirs through the spell. My cousins, the weakest among the bunch, though they were in no way weak compared to normal witches, began to quiver from the strain first. Willemena, Tianna, Johnny, and Bertie lasted the longest, until eventually they, along with Cho, began to tremble from the effort of trying to trap the demon fog and hopefully blast it out of existence.

  When Paula and Amy began to convulse from the strain, Cho let out an almighty roar, filled with so much power it electrified the hairs across my arms, and Brock pressed himself against my back.

  The demon fog produced hands out of the dense wall of black and began to pound against the bubble, which had started to shake alarmingly in a way it hadn’t done before. It suddenly looked like the demon might break through.

  Cho looked like she was fighting to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head.

  “Fuck,” I breathed in a terrified whisper. “It’s not enough. We need more power.”

  “No, Evie, no way,” Brock said.

  “I have to,” I said reluctantly, while bringing a protective hand across my belly. “If I don’t add my power to theirs, our baby might not have a world to be born into. This fog spread to the entire town overnight. Imagine what it could do if left unchecked.”

  “I’ll link my power to yours,” Cass said. “That’ll help.”

  I nodded and smiled sadly.

  ‘Brock, can you lend me some of your power?’ I didn’t want to mention out loud that I wanted him to add his alpha power to the mix. That ability was secret.

  ‘We don’t know how much of it I have left after the earth binding ceremony,’ he said. ‘Whatever is mine is yours, but don’t you dare let harm come to you or that baby of ours. Promise me you’ll pull back if you feel it will injure either of you.’

  ‘Of course. I promise I won’t let any harm come to our baby. Ever.’

  The demon roared louder than I thought possible, threatening to crush the last speck of fight in any of us as I stepped forward, fists clenched.

  Bring it, you fog demon motherfucker.

  We were out of time. With one last glance at the three horrendous eyeballs and those gaping jaws wide enough to clamp the bubble in two, I ran for Cho. Brock and Cass were right behind me.

  The white light connecting the ten sorcerers flickered, and I knew without a doubt that if I didn’t help the spell would fail; Tianna’s protective bubble would probably fall soon after, exposing us all to the fog demon.

  I plastered my hand against Cho’s back, clammy from the effort of sustaining the spell. Purple light shot from my palm and straight into her skin. Brock pressed his hand to my bare waist, and half a second later I felt Cass’ stubby, four-fingered hand as well.

  The white, blazing pentagram flared to life as magic coursed through me and into Cho. The flames marking out the five lines of the pentacle surged past their previous levels. I sensed Brock’s magic running through me, the entirety of his pack’s power behind him, and I knew that the earth binding spell hadn’t weakened him at all due to our bond. If anything, it had strengthened him. I wasn’t sure how, but that’s how it felt.

  Cho screamed as her body rocked from the increase in power streaming through her. A second later the eight other witches and the one warlock bellowed in joined pain.

  When the pain of so much power became unbearable even to me, and I felt my own scream coming up my throat, Tianna’s bubble collapsed.

  In the exact same moment, the pentagram sucked the fog demon within its fiery light, trapping it within the five searing lines of magic.

  The fog demon shrank to fit the size of the pentagram, becoming the size of a very enraged and dangerous bear.

  The demon turned in a frantic circle, trying to escape the trap.

  But it couldn’t. It bellowed its defeat, bringing every single one of us, including the policemen, to our knees.

  Still, we didn’t break the link. Our power alone was containing one of the greatest threats to ever escape the underworld. Now that I was a part of this spell, I could feel the fog’s sickly demonic magic pressing against the corners of my mind, fighting to get in.

  My magic, and Cass’ and Brock’s, and that of every one of his wolves, kept pulsing through me. We couldn’t give up now. If we did, it’d all be over.

  I grit my teeth against the demon’s wrath and continued to stream my amassed power into Cho. The baby was still all right, proving that Aunt Bertie was correct. The little nugget was going to be crazy powerful. Now I just had to give it a decent world to live in.

  I roared and powered on. The unified battle cries of our team echoed in my ears, blotting out the enraged bellow of the demon fog.

  “Give me everything you’ve got on the count of three!” Cho screamed.

  The group’s faces set into grim lines of determination.

  “One!” Cho roared, and I felt Brock and Cass pulse magic into my back.

  “Two!” Cho grew louder, and the beast slammed so hard against the fire wall containing him that it flickered for a split second.

  “Three!”

  With that I pushed every ounce of magic I had within me.

  “Die, motherfucker!” Cass shouted over my shoulder.

  The fog demon gnashed its teeth and screeched a terrifying cry, pounding against the invisible force of the spell. Then the pentagram lit up like a Christmas tree. At the same time, the fog demon exploded into a ball of blinding light and dissolved into greenish, black ash, a small inoffensive-looking pile on Officer Gary’s front lawn.

  Cho and the rest of the witches fell backward from the burst of energy. Brock pulled me out of the way just in time.

  We’d done it. We’d killed that bastard and saved the town.

  I stood there for a moment just catching my breath.

  Crotchety old Aunt Bertie looked at Tianna and Cho then, catching her breath. “If you ever need a coven, we would welcome you with open arms.”

  Clearly Auntie B was impressed with their power.

  Johnny stayed silent.

  Tianna nodded. “I prefer to work alone, but I wouldn’t mind sharing a drink.”

  The detective stood, brushing off his pants. “A round of drinks for everyone. On me. After that crazy shit, we’ve sure as hell earned it.”

  I grinned. “Let’s all meet at—”

  My words were cut off by the sight of Molly aiming a shotgun at Cass’ head.

  I didn’t think, I just burst forward like a fucking ninja and high-kicked the shotgun, knocking it out of her hands.

  “What in the hell?” I shouted, rounding on my apprentice.

  Oh. Fuck.

  Her eyes were completely black.

  “Cass, tell me this doesn’t mean what I think it means,” I groaned, staring at my not so sweet apprentice.

  My bestie flew over my shoulder to take in the possessed version of Molly before us.

  “Yep,” he confirmed. “Some of the fog demon jumped into her before we killed it.”

  Molly lunged forward, hands out like she was going to strangle me. Brock gave her a quick knock to the temple with the butt of his handgun.

  As he caught her limp body, he looked up at me. “Postpone the drinks. Meet on my land so we can sort Molly out.”

  Are you fucking kidding me?

  Never a dull day in the life of a bounty hunter.

  9 Kill it with fire

  Molly awoke in the truck halfway to Brock’s and started cursing like a sailor, trying to head-butt Johnny and Willemena, who sat on either side of her. She was magically restrained but powerful, way too powerful for a human.

/>   “This would never have happened if she weren’t human,” Willemena said.

  “We can do an eviction spell,” Johnny offered.

  “And risk that demon tearing her apart on its way out? No way,” Willemena said.

  Tearing her apart? Oh my God. I couldn’t handle this. Not Molly. Why was she always the one getting in harm’s way?

  I’d already called ahead and warned Haru and Reo what had happened. They were in some thruple relationship with Molly and I didn’t want to blindside them by driving up with her in this condition. As Brock pulled onto his land, the two warriors were already outside in his front yard waiting for us, standing beside my father’s wheelchair. Worry lined all of their faces.

  “Those are her…?” Johnny had heard my conversation in the car that alluded to calling Molly’s lovers.

  “Boyfriends. Plural,” Willemena said with surprising pride.

  I grinned at the old broad. Girl power.

  “Even the older dude in the wheelchair?” Johnny sounded completely mystified.

  My grin fell. “Eww, no! That’s my dad.”

  Before Johnny could retort, Brock threw the truck in park and jumped out, hurrying across the front of the truck to open my door.

  Haru rushed over to us, looking more worried than I’d ever seen the stoic warrior. “Molly. Baby.” He spoke with absolute adoration.

  Molly’s head tipped down so that she looked extra horror movie creepy. “I’m going to skin you all alive.” Her voice sounded like wicked sandpaper.

  “Oh God.” Haru recoiled, stepping back a few paces and knocking into Reo. The brothers wore matching expressions of despair.

  “Yeah, she’s not exactly herself…”

  Brock and Johnny hauled Molly out of the truck. Tianna pulled up behind us in her cherry red ’67 Mustang Fastback, and she, Cass, and Cho got out and joined us.

  “We killed that thing! How is this even a possibility?” I asked the surrounding group.

  Cho rubbed her chin. “We did kill it, but a small part of its essence must have jumped into Molly. The fog demon is only alive now because of its host.”

  Host. What the fuck?

  “Molly. Her name is Molly,” I said.

  Cho nodded, looking sad. “Right. Because Molly is human, it’s able to control her, and she’s too weak to evict it.”

  Oh Jesus. I felt sick.

  “We can try to trap what remains of the fog demon and pull it out with a pendulum, similar to a house clearing spell,” Johnny offered. “It’s more gentle.” We’d told the rest of the Blacks to head home. Johnny had agreed to stay on and help us figure this out. Maybe the Blacks weren’t all bad after all.

  “Hmm,” Tianna mused. “Not sure it will be strong enough to pull out this level of demon, but it’s worth a shot.”

  “Don’t you fucking touch me!” Molly roared.

  Oh God. Seeing her like this … it killed me.

  “Do it,” I told them. I knew Molly would want to try anything possible to get this thing out of her.

  Tianna and Johnny circled her while Brock stepped forward with Ray to grab one of her arms each. Brock had used his telepathic link with Ray, who’d appeared out of nowhere, to warn him of the situation. Willemena and Cho watched on, eyes astute, following every one of their moves, while Haru and Reo hovered around them, acting a bit like worried hens, something I’d never seen the warriors do.

  “Shouldn’t take long,” Tianna told me. “We’ll know right away if it’s working.”

  “Shall I lead?” Johnny asked our fae-witch hybrid with only a quick glance at Cho and Willemena, who seemed content to take a back seat to the action.

  Wow, Johnny asking permission for anything meant Tianna had gained his respect. I was certain that didn’t happen often, but Tianna was no ordinary witch. Neither were Willemena and Cho for that matter.

  Tianna simply gave him a curt nod, while I silently thanked the universe that Aunt Bertie had decided to go home with the rest of the Blacks. If she were here, she wouldn’t like Johnny being so deferential to another witch, and we all would have heard about it.

  “Evie, take off her shoes,” Johnny told me. I didn’t question his command. I stepped forward, bending a little awkwardly over my baby bump, and wrestled with her bucking legs as she screamed and thrashed, mindful not to get kicked anywhere that could harm the baby. Finally I managed to press her bare foot on Brock’s front lawn and step back.

  My cousin clapped his hands together and sparks of white magic leapt from his palms. “I call on the cleansing energies of Mother Earth to assist in this clearing, to surround Molly with your protection…” A magical charge settled in the air, like an electrical storm brewing around us. I could feel a stirring in the earth, which was crazy, but at the same time made sense because I was now tied to the earth. My eyes flicked up to meet Brock’s, and I knew he could feel it too, through our pack connection.

  “Fuck off and die, witch boy!” Molly hissed.

  A whimper caught in my throat. This so wasn’t our Molly.

  Johnny pulled a pendulum from his pocket and swung it before Molly. Her gaze fixated on it as he swung it left to right, left to right, over and again in a circle.

  Tianna stepped forward, arcs of magic rolling off of her hands and winding around Molly’s body. “I call on the energies of Mother Earth to sweep through Molly,” she declared, calling the spell out in a strong, booming voice, “to disconnect all holds the demonic energy has on her, to disconnect any and all cords that bind them together. Remove any and all energies that do not serve her highest good, releasing her from their influence. Let all impurities be washed away. Only light remains.”

  For a second I thought it might work. Molly was watching the pendulum like a zombie, while Tianna’s spell had encased her body in a cocoon of light. But then Molly tipped her head back and laughed. She full-on creepy laughed and my stomach sank. Disappointment rippled through our group.

  “This won’t work,” Tianna said, huffing in frustration. “Molly needs to fight it herself. It’s the only safe way.”

  “She’s human. How the hell is she supposed to do that?” I clenched my fists, trying not to growl.

  Molly thrashed in Brock and Ray’s hold.

  My father, who’d been silent this entire time, wheeled forward. “It’s quite obvious.”

  I raised one eyebrow at the man. “Enlighten us.”

  My dad’s gaze fell on Molly; her eyes blazed with hate as she stared him down. “Something similar happened in the village where I grew up. The only way the human was able to be saved was to remove her humanity.”

  We all stared at him, deadpan. He continued: “If we were to make her not human anymore, she’d have the strength to fight off the demon herself. In my village, a vampire turned the girl so she could resist the demonic possession, but in this case a werewolf would do.” He smiled grimly.

  Chills ran up the length of my spine. “You’re not suggesting…”

  “No way in hell,” Brock snapped.

  My father shrugged. “If Molly were changed into a werewolf, she would have the stamina and power to evict the demon herself. I’m sure of it.”

  Why couldn’t I get a break? Just a little tiny, itty-bitty break without all hell breaking loose? Was it really that much to ask?

  Cho threw her hat in the ring: “I agree.”

  “Unfortunately, so do I,” Tianna said, holding Cass’ hand and towering over him, in a cute way. “I’ve heard the same stories … that in cases like these, if the human is turned they gain enough strength to fight the darkness naturally.”

  Haru swallowed hard and stepped closer to Molly. “She would approve. She’s been talking about wanting to become a supernatural since the day we met her.”

  And I’d suggested it on the boat ride back from the selkie cave when she’d almost died. But still … this was a huge decision.

  My gaze flicked to Brock and he grimaced. “Even if the werewolf council were to approve it, she cou
ld die. You don’t just bite a human and they turn into a werewolf an hour later, simple as that. Not everyone survives the change.”

  “Yeah, I remember, but Molly is strong.” It wasn’t too long ago that Nathan bit me and I was the one shifting into an animal. It was painful and foreign feeling, but I’d survived. Hell, I’d thrived—and so would Molly. She had the balls for it, that was for damn sure.

  Brock let Molly go and Cho stepped in his place. He grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. “Evie, do you understand what you’re asking of me?”

  I gulped. “Yes. I think this is the only way to save her, and time doesn’t exactly seem to be on our side. Look at her.”

  Molly, sprawled out on the ground between Ray and Cho, looked feral, trying to kick out at Cho.

  Brock gritted his teeth as Molly yanked against the grip Cho had on her ankle. My alpha looked tired. Hell, I was tired, but this needed our attention now.

  “I’ll call the council and ask,” he finally said. “But be prepared. They might say no, and if that’s the case … I can’t go against them or I’d be risking the whole pack. We need the council’s sanction.”

  I nodded. “Just tell them what’s going on and see what they say. That’s all I ask.”

  Brock pulled me farther away from the group. He placed both hands on my shoulders and met my gaze. “Today was a big day—huge—and you haven’t rested at all. Go lie down now. I’ll get Molly as settled as she’ll let us, and then call the council. I’ll wake you once I have news.”

  It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order, and a man ordering me to go take a nap was about the only way I’d obey. I was fucking exhausted. I’d linked my power with the earth, seen the Blacks, and taken out a fog demon. And I still had to deal with Molly. All in a day’s work.

  “Alright … but wake me the second the council has an answer … or if Molly gets worse.”

  He nodded. “Promise.” Leaning forward, he placed a kiss on my lips and gave me a playful nudge toward the house.

  I wasn’t about to object, and shuffled up the steps to the porch and down the hall before shutting myself in our bedroom. The bed looked so fucking comfortable I could cry. I kicked off my boots and shrugged out of my pants. Walking over to my side of the bed, I was about to crash into it when the small ring box on the nightstand caught my eye.