An hour later, we stood in the center of the coven where a lot of the community rituals and gatherings were held. I imagined it used to be a beautiful courtyard and playground for the kids. Now it was a pile of broken swing sets and monkey bars. The small crape myrtle trees—I assumed that was what they were at one time—had been uprooted and scattered about. The paver stones smashed and ripped out of place.
The only thing left was the fountain in the middle.
It broke my heart that the coven still lay in ruins. Then again, there hadn’t been anyone to fix it. All the residents were either dead or hiding from the demon. Some of the deceased hung out in the ritual room of D’s house.
Our house.
It was all of ours—Zane’s, Wyatt’s, Trever’s, Dimitri’s, and my house.
Together, after Salrus was dead, we would fix it up. A feeling deep down drew me to the coven like it I was meant to be here. Rebuild and convert it into a sanctuary for all half-breeds to come to live without fear of harm. It’d be my first stand against the council and whatever evil plan they plotted. Like a “Fuck you, we will survive whatever you throw at us” kind of thing.
“Reese, you listening?”
I snapped my gaze to Zane across the courtyard. Of course, I wasn’t listening. He knew it, too. “What?”
He rolled his eyes while his lips twitched. Gods, he was sexy. “I said Wyatt is going to shoot me and you have to teleport to me before the bullet hits me.”
Do what? Panic rose, tightening my chest. They couldn’t be serious. “No fucking way. Pick another motivator.”
Zane growled, low. “I could shoot Wyatt. He’s human and wouldn’t live if I hit his heart.”
Was he serious? “You wouldn’t live either if shot in the heart.”
Zane shrugged then nodded to Wyatt. I glanced at Wyatt as he raised the gun. They were fucking serious. My heart hammered and I began to sweat. Fear ran hot and cold in my veins. “Don’t do this.”
“Focus, Reese,” Zane growled.
My head was a buzz of thoughts. I didn’t know how to do it. Then Trevor spoke from beside me. “How do you enter the Inbetween?”
That was easy. At least for me. Most beings had to create a portal to go to one of the many portals around the ley lines. But I was a hedge witch. The afterlife was my business. Like the spirits, I didn’t need a portal. “I just think about being there and I’m there.”
Trevor smiled. “There’s your answer.”
I narrowed my gaze. It made sense when he said it out loud. After all, he’d studied magic and everything to do with how to defeat my father after the guys were marked.
“On the count of three,” Zane announced.
My pulse quickened and I focused on him.
Three.
Two.
I imagined standing next to Zane, then I was. I teleported.
One.
The shot echoed through the coven and I shoved Zane out of the way and made sure I went with him.
We fell to the ground and he pulled me into his arms, kissing my face all over. “I knew you could do it.”
When he rolled so my back was on the ground and he hovered above me, I slapped at his chest, laughing and crying at the same time. “Don’t do that again.”
Zane laughed. “Wyatt shot up in the air.”
I huffed and pushed out of Zane’s embrace, not knowing if I should be mad or relieved. “That’s not funny.”
After taking a few more deep breaths, I asked, “What’s next?”
“Teleport us to your bed.” He took my hand, linking our fingers together.
A smile lifted my lips and without a second thought I did. Within moments we were sitting on my bed. I reached out through the demon marks and touched Trevor’s and Wyatt’s threads that connected us. They responded and opened their minds to me instantly. Wyatt then spoke to me telepathically. “Trevor and I will take a walk.”
“Love you guys,” I sent the thought back to him.
They would have sensed me still in the coven. They may have guessed where Zane and I went. Or overheard the wolf’s request.
Zane leaned in and kissed me. “Now we go to the council’s mysterious traveling mansion.” He kissed me again hard enough that I fell on the bed. “Right after I make you scream my name several times.”
I was so on board with that. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I deepened the kissed. Our tongues danced and twined together. Sparks of pleasure nipped at my skin while desire uncurled inside me.
Zane broke the kiss and trailed his lips down my jaw and throat. He bit down lightly, and I groaned, fisting a handful of his hair. Even though he’d been gone for a few days, it felt like months.
Need built inside me. I didn’t want gentle or teasing.
As if sensing it through our mating bond, he growled right before he bit down harder. Pain turned to raw, unforgiven pleasure. With a single thought, I willed our clothes away.
The skin on skin contact almost made me come. “Zane.”
He spread my thighs with his hand, then rubbed my clit. A wildfire of sensations erupted and my body jerked as an orgasm shook me to the core.
When the last shudder left my body, he positioned himself between my legs. Then he thrust inside, spreading me. A moan escaped me and I wrapped my legs around him.
Picking up the tempo, he kissed me again. Each thrust drove him deeper. Pleasure mounted again, creating a second wave that threw me over the edge.
I cried out, scoring his back with my nails. He followed me over with his own climax.
He pulled out and cuddled me to him. Sighing, I relaxed and enjoyed his warmth as it enveloped me. His wolf rubbed against the bond, letting me know he loved me, too.
“I hated not being here with you.” Zane’s husky words made my chest tighten. He wasn’t much on expressing his feelings.
Lifting up, I kissed him. “Me, too. But tomorrow we see if the time apart was worth it.”
“You mean if we walk into a trap.”
He gave me a grin, so I rolled my eyes. “You know it is. It was too easy for you to find it.”
“We’ll be prepared.”
As much as we could. I kept that thought to myself. I hated walking into the unknown. A few months ago, I’d send Wade to do some spying.
But Wade wasn’t here. My heart ached for him and D all over again.
But for them, I’d walk into the council’s trap tomorrow and see what they wanted from us. I might be open to negotiating a deal.
Me for the safety of my guys and the death of my demonic father.