Again.

CHAPTER 15

Pamela

The trance Milly had me working made my skin prickle, as if a thousand ants ran over my nearly naked body. I was wearing nothing but a bra and panties, the same as Milly as she sat cross-legged in front of me. She’d told me that this was the best way to work the stronger magics, keeping our skin bare to the elements. We were both inside the pentagram, searching for Rylee.

I was supposed to be staring at the central part of the pentagram, which wasn’t really all that hard. But I was also supposed to be thinking about Rylee. About finding her. A drop of blood on the middle of the star was our focal point. The last of what Milly had of Rylee’s blood and she’d created a tracer spell from it. Only, it wasn’t working.

Milly’s eyes narrowed. “Put your thoughts away and let me carry your power to keep the spell going, child.”

She reached over and put her hands on my bare legs, her skin cool as her fingers dug into my thighs. Massaging them. My skin popped up in gooseflesh with the way she touched me. I fought to keep my breathing normal. To keep my mind on the task at hand.

But I couldn’t stop wondering why she would touch me like that. As if she heard my thoughts, she trailed one finger up my thigh to the edge of my panties. “So much I could teach you.”

I scrambled backward, breaking out of the pentagram, disrupting the spell. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break the spell.” I scrubbed my hands over my arms, trying to quell the shivers. Milly was going to teach me how to work my magic. That was all she meant. I had to believe that.

Her eyes flickered, and there was pain there, a deep pain I recognized. I’d seen it in my own face when I looked in the mirror. “No,” she whispered. “Not like this. I won’t allow it. Leave her alone.”

The chills that had started struck through me, icing me until I thought my lips would chatter. Who was she talking to? Those eyes flicked and the pain was gone, the look of calculation back.

Her eyes traced my body in a way that my perverted grandfather used to. Bile rose in my throat as she swayed toward me, a hand on her shoulder, the other at her hip.

“Why do you need to find Rylee, anyway?” I blurted out. Stupid, stupid question.

Milly stopped. “She took my son. I want him back. If I could find where she took the babies, then this would all be over. I would never look for her again.”

“Babies?” What in the world was she talking about? Zane was the only baby.

“Ah, she didn’t trust you enough to tell you, did she? I see that now.” She slid out of her panties, kicking them to one side. I took another step back, but she didn’t follow. “She was pregnant when she left. That’s why she ran away. To protect the brat she gave birth to. The Wolf’s child.”

I realized as I stared at her that she was telling the truth. All the pieces fit together, Rylee’s strange behavior, Liam’s desperation to keep her safe. Why she was gone so long. Could I blame her for going when her child was in danger?

Milly stroked herself in a way that had me blushing. I looked away. “I’ll go back to my room now.”

“I want you to stay. Stay, Pamela.” Her throat was husky and deep, and I knew she was spelling me, charming me. I couldn’t move.

I had to do something to distract her. She continued to fondle herself, faster, and I fought to come up with something, anything that would allow me to break the spell.

“Rylee’s searching for the Destroyer,” I spit out.

“I know.” Her voice dropped another octave, into a range she shouldn’t have been able to reach as a woman. Her eyes were no longer green, but a deep, dark black with flickers of red. “Come here, pet. I want to touch you. I have so missed the touch of a young one.”

My feet remained rooted. The last thing I’d overheard in London was the only thing I had left in my arsenal. “She’s looking for the last one who knows the Destroyer.”

Milly blinked, her eyes fading back to green for a moment. The spell was broken and I took my chance. I bolted for the door and down the hallway to my room. I fell inside the small sanctuary that was my own, Milly’s laughter following me. Struggling with the door, I slammed it shut, leaning hard against it. Sobs rippled in my body and I fought them, fought not to let them out.

A soft knock on the door snapped my head up. I prepped a death spell, the black tendrils wrapping around my fingers. I would not be used like that. “Who is it?”

“Frank,” he said but I knew Milly could impersonate his voice. She’d shown me how that morning.

“Go away.”

“Are you okay?”

Our rooms were side by side, so it was possible he heard me slam the door shut. I didn’t open the door, though. “I’m fine, just tired.” I backed away from the door, slowly lowering my hands.

Footsteps retreated and I started to shake. I wrapped my arms around my middle and clung to myself. “Get a hold, Pam.” My teeth chattered. “Get a fucking hold of yourself.” That’s what Rylee would say.

I straightened. Rylee wouldn’t be afraid. She would deal with this. But how?

I jerked on clothes, jeans and a long sleeved shirt despite the heat. Under my pillow was the short knife Rylee gave me for my last birthday. I strapped it to my lower back, the way she’d shown me. Squaring my shoulders, I opened the door and strode back to the spelling room. Rylee wouldn’t let anyone intimidate her, and I’d be damned if I let Milly scare me.