“Keep with it, baby,” she called her encouragement.
He stood, crossed his arms on his chest, and kept with it.
Barb’s voice started rising and the rest of the witches’ voices rose with hers. They weren’t shouting, but they were loud and more motes formed. Tons of them. They lit the space to the point Abel could see nothing but them.
More chanting (a lot more) and they stopped floating and started swirling.
“What the fuck?” he heard Hook ask.
But he couldn’t see him. He was enveloped in red and green sparks that were spinning around him, now so fast, they were streaks.
“Shh, Hook,” Jian-Li shushed him.
More chanting. More motes. And now the things were blowing like a breeze in his hair and against his clothes and skin.
The witches got louder.
“I am not liking this,” Delilah said.
Then Abel growled and crouched as if to turn to wolf, his fangs descending when he felt it, the threat, right before the swirls exploded in a firework of white sparks and all five of the witches flew back, right to their asses, Aurora doing it and landing on the edge of the table.
Yuri was at her side in a flash, down on a knee, bending over her.
But the threat was gone.
Abel retracted his fangs.
The motes were also gone. The sparks were gone. The room was clear.
“She good?” Abel asked.
Not taking his attention from Aurora, Yuri answered, “Banged up but okay.”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Aurora said, pulling her hair out of her face.
“He’s blocked,” Ruby decreed.
“Crazy, stupid blocked,” Jezza added.
“Abel, he’s with a witch,” Barb announced, and Abel looked to her. “A powerful one.”
“Come again?” he asked.
“There’s no way to block a witch finding you,” Barb explained, “except by using a witch.”
“We got some mojo,” Ruby declared. “The five of us against one cloaking spell?” She shook her head. “He didn’t find some random witch to give him a bit of invisibility that’d see him through. He’s got an active witch with him who’s keeping him hidden. And whoever she is, she’s got more mojo than us. By a lot.”
“I’m sorry, Abel,” Aurora said softly, and his gaze turned to her to see her on her feet.
“Not a problem. You tried.” He grinned at her. “Even wounded in the battle. I appreciate it.”
She grinned back.
Yuri put an arm around her and tucked her close.
Abel grinned at him, but it was different this time, seeing as the guy was seriously digging his little witch.
He felt Delilah take his hand and he looked down at her.
“Bummer,” she whispered.
He wasn’t sure he agreed, but he could see she felt that word intensely, so he lifted his hand to cup her jaw, running his thumb along her cheek.
She pressed into his hand and he slid it back into her hair and tugged her face into his chest.
She wound her arms around his waist.
He looked to Jian-Li.
The second she saw his eyes on her, she wiped the concern from her expression and gave him a small smile he knew she didn’t feel.
He returned it.
“Sorry, son,” Hook said from close, and Abel turned in that direction just as the man patted him on the arm.
“We’ll try some other things,” Aurora offered.
“That’d be good,” Abel replied, not sure he meant it. His brother wanted to stay hidden? He’d done a brilliant job with that for maybe centuries. Abel wasn’t sure he was real fired up to make him stop. Still, he finished with, “Thanks.”
She tipped her head to the side and grinned at him.
“Fuck, that was some crazy shit. Need bourbon,” Moose grumbled. “Like, immediately.”
That, Abel agreed with.
Delilah pulled away, letting him go. “I’ll go get it.”
“I’ll help,” Aurora said.
“Don’t forget the nuts,” Ruby called as they made their way to the door.
They took off and Abel moved to Jian-Li. He sat on the arm of her chair, bent deep, and touched his lips to the top of her hair.
When he lifted up, she tilted her head back to catch his eyes.
“I’m good,” he said quietly.
She studied him.
Then she reached out, grabbed his hand, and gave it a squeeze.
“Our luck will turn,” she promised.
He squeezed her hand back, hoping she was right.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Visitors
Delilah
I crouched my body low to avoid a karate chop from Wei, dropped into a squat, swung out my leg, and caught him at the ankles.
He went down to his ass.
The first time I took him out.
I jumped up, throwing my arms up in the air, shouted, “Woo hoo!” and immediately was tackled in the back by Xun. I fell to my stomach with an “Oof!” and then was incapacitated with a knee between my shoulder blades and one arm twisted back, my wrist imprisoned in his fist.
It was two days after Aurora and her witch sisters had tried to help Abel locate his brother. Leah and I were out with the guys, learning self-defense (and then some).
Sonia was with the wolves since she was one and asked Callum if she could start to train with them so she had both human and wolf defense at her disposal.
Leah had sat everything out the last couple of days, but I’d talked her into starting up again because she needed to take her mind off things. She’d understandably been moping. Although two of her cousins had been rescued, one had been killed and another was still captive, still….she couldn’t mope forever. There was a world that needed to be saved.