Blue glanced her way, one of the few times he had since she’d arrived at the cabin. “We’ll accept whatever decision you make as long as we’re with Callie. We can’t and we won’t ever leave her.”
Her heart opened wide, accepting the men in whatever form they came in. She wanted the proud, strong men standing up for her and she’d do whatever it took to protect them just as they’d protected her.
Charlton leaned his elbows on the table. “Very well then, let us vote. Xnax?”
Xnax bowed his head and when he lifted it, the hard tone of his face tightened the knot growing in her stomach. “Banishment for all of them.”
She moved then, coming to Raine’s side. “I’m so—”
Raine touched his finger to her lips, stilling her. “No. You don’t have to say you’re sorry. We did what we had to do and we’d do it again. As long as we end up together, we’ll be happy.”
She choked back a sob as she saw that Blue and Pete felt the same way. Instead, she lifted her head high and waited for the rest of the vote.
“Harrison?” asked Charlton.
“They turned on their own kind. As a werewolf, that’s their worst crime.” His eyes blazed with amber. “I vote for banishment.”
“Tina?”
Callie gritted her teeth and prepared to hear the awful word again.
Tina found her gaze and held it. “I vote for forgiveness.” The fairy smiled at her, letting her know that she’d already forgiven her.
“Wisa, what do you say?”
Wisa, whose face reminded Callie of an alley cat she’d once had, squared off with Charlton. “I vote for forgiveness also. After all, who amongst us hasn’t made a mistake?”
Everyone turned their focus to Charlton. Callie gripped Raine’s hand tighter.
“Very well.” Charlton sighed. “That’s two votes for banishment and two for forgiveness. Unhappily, that leaves the deciding vote up to me.”
Charlton stood, preparing to cast his vote and proclaim the decision final. “I vote to—”
“Please, help me!”
As a group, they faced the frantic woman who’d flung the door wide and burst into the cabin. Her hair was as wild as her huge eyes. She pushed through the crowd that parted for her and reached for Charlton. Clutching his hand, she begged for help. “Please, The Cursed took my child. Please. Someone please help me.”
Chapter Eight
Stunned at the woman’s sudden appearance, Callie couldn’t move, but that didn’t keep several men, including the Deacon brothers, from coming to her side.
“Shelly, slow down. Tell us what happened.” Blue took the young woman by the arms and gently shook her.
Tears streamed down her face and her body shook as she tried to tell them what had happened to her child. “The Cursed took her. My little Bryna was playing by the woods near the path leading to the waterfall. I swear I only took my eyes off her for a second and then, when I looked back, I saw one of them put his hand over her mouth and pull her into the bushes. I screamed then ran after them, but I couldn’t find her.”
She fell against Blue’s chest and he had to wrap his arms around her to keep her on her feet. “Please, she’s all I have. Please find my little girl.”
Callie’s heart went out to Shelly. The worst thing she could think of, even more than having to give up the men she loved, was to lose a child. But she had to wonder. Why would The Cursed want the girl? No matter what everyone had told her about them, she couldn’t think of Scrunch as an evil creature. If his kind would take a child, then why hadn’t he hurt her?
“We will. I promise you we will.” Blue handed the woman off to Lyra who stood nearby, then waved for the other men to follow him.
“I’ll bet that damn creature Callie was messing with is behind this.”
She gaped at Harrison. “You don’t know that.”
He lifted his lip in a snarl. “And you don’t know it didn’t. They’re all alike. Murdering animals is all they are.”
“No. Not Scrunch.” She answered the crowd’s glares with one of her own. “And I’ll bet more of them are like him.”
“Let’s go. I know where their cave is.”
Pete and Raine were among the men who followed Blue out of the cabin. The other people in the camp shouted at them to bring the child back and to make The Cursed pay for what they did.
Could Scrunch have done this?
She could be wrong in not accepting the perception of him that the others had, but her gut told her differently. Just like her intuition had told her that she needn’t be afraid of the Deacon men, it told her that Scrunch was not a part of the kidnapping. Maybe one of his people had taken the girl, but she couldn’t let Scrunch take the blame.