Chapter 338

I heard the door open and Shannon gasp. “No freaking way!” My mom turned to me. “What the hell is this?” “Mom, did you think I didn’t notice you eyeing up Jora’s SUV the last time you came up?” My mother blushed. “It was nice,” she pouted. Shannon ran up to us. “Whose it for?” I ignored her. The SUV was fully unloaded, and the delivery guy was walking over. “I am looking for a Mrs. Maclean.” I smiled as my mom turned to me. “An Ainsley Maclean.” She whipped her head back around to face the driver. “I’m guessing that’s you.” His chuckle was soft as he walked over and dropped the keys into her hands. “Hope you like it.” Then he was gone.

My mom turned to me. “I might have gotten you a new car, too.” I grinned. “But I’m going to go help Lynn and Toya pack, so I’m going to go. Go look at it.” I pushed her towards her new car and turned away. Shannon was pouting behind us. “You bought your mom a new car?” I nodded as I went to go past. “This isn’t fair,” she stomped her foot like a child. I paused. “Why isn’t it fair?” I looked back at the red SUV. “I don’t even have a car.” She crossed her arms as she watched my mom get in. “Well, you can have her old one.” I laughed as I walked inside, leaving her to pout and scream. I ran upstairs to find Lynn lying in my bed, blankets wrapped around her, and Toya rubbing her back. “How is she doing?” I closed and locked the door behind me. Toya sighed. “She cried until she fell asleep.” She turned to face me. “I’m worried about her.” I nodded as I walked closer. “She’s strong. She will bounce back.” I knelt down and brushed the hair out of her face. Lynn’s eyes snapped open, and I could see the anger in them—anger and accusation. Her nostrils flared, like she was scenting me, so I waited. “You didn’t sleep with him.” Her words were soft and confused. I smiled softly. “Of course, I didn’t. Even if he wasn’t your mate, which he was, he was a scumbag.” She closed her eyes for a moment. A tear fell from her eye and down her nose. “Then why?” I ran my hand down her hair. “Then why, what?” She opened her eyes, and this time they were full of pain, rage, and hurt. “Why didn’t you kill him?”

I smiled as I pushed her hair back again. She was pissed at me, but it was okay. “Because. We are going to get you back up to full strength, and then you are going to kill him.” She blinked at me a few times. “After everything he did to you…don’t you want that?” She nodded. She was getting choked up. “Yes, yes, I want that.” She looked down at the bed, at her body. “But I am too weak.” Toya rubbed her back again. “We will help fix that.” Toya smiled. “Nothing a good meal, some rest, and training won’t fix.” “I can’t stay here. Not with him.” “And you won’t.” I leaned over and kissed her temple. “I’m going to fix that right now.”

“How?” I stood and turned to look at the closet. “Magic.” I went into my dresser and grabbed the candle I had there. It was a scented candle that I rarely used, but for this, it should do the job. I looked at Toya. “The book?” She pointed to the closet. “I moved it in there so I could lay Lynn down. She was shivering so much I was worried about her.” I nodded.

I headed into the closet and knelt down in front of the door, and dropped the zip-top bag of spices and the candle. Then I opened the book and found the spell. “Nix, I need you to send this to Wendy’s wolf. She needs to carve these symbols exactly into the door frame.” Nix forced herself to the surface, gazing at the page, and then she disappeared. I knew without asking she was headed down the bond to speak to Wendy’s wolf directly—no mind linking to be overheard, no texts being monitored. It was the safest way we communicated, with no one knowing.

I sat and waited for Nix to come back. While I waited, I reorganized the closet. I wanted clothes in front of the door, but not the full racks like I had it. I moved the front rack closer to the door and moved the back rack up. I had almost finished as Nix stepped out of the trees. What are you doing? Her voice was amused, but I moved the last few things and then opened and closed the door a few times, making sure nothing would get in the way. “I am just making sure we can come and go as needed.” I turned back to the book. “Is it done?”