Jaxson(55)

One moment he was sinking his fangs into Sybil, the next he had Olivia collapsing in his arms and falling to the floor. She was convulsing and twitching in the most horrifying way, and just as he realized, holy fuck, I bit Olivia, the other witch came along and literally shoved him away. He was so stunned, it took him a moment to react.

Then he was back with a fury. “What have you done to her!”

The witch shot a hand at him that he barely dodged. Blue energy swirled in her palm. “Do not interfere, wolf!”

“What the fuck is going on?” Jaxson gaped at Olivia. She moaned and struggled to open her eyes… and failed. “What is happening to her?” Tears pressed against the back of his eyes.

“She’s dying from your bite, you fool!” She spit out the words, but all her focus was on the blue energy dripping from her hand and melting all around Olivia’s head. But it didn’t touch her, just pooled on the floor around her body.

Jaxson’s heart and mind were spinning, but the pieces quickly fell into place: Olivia had tricked him. She was half witch. For some reason, she had used a spell to pretend she was Sybil to get him to bite her. And now she was dying from the poison in his bite.

But why? “Why would she do this?” he whispered out loud, as much to himself as to the witch.

But she still answered, muttering as her hands floated over Olivia. “Because she was stupid enough to fall in love with a wolf. A cursed wolf. Only my sister’s daughter could be this stubborn and foolish at the same time.” Then the witch cursed in some ancient language—or maybe it was a spell. The energy pulsing from her hand turned green and continued to swirl around Olivia.

“Can you save her?” He didn’t really understand what was happening, but the only thing that mattered was keeping Olivia from dying.

“I’m trying, wolf, now shut up.” The witch muttered some more words in that strange language, then said, “Dammit!” She clapped her hands together, dissipating the green magic, then rocked back on her heels. Olivia’s body was still twitching, but less so. Not because she was getting better... because her face was slowly turning gray. The witch’s shoulders sagged.

Jaxson looked between Olivia and the witch. “You have to keep trying!”

“There’s nothing more I can do.” There were tears in her eyes—she meant it.

No, no, please, no. He reached shaky hands to Olivia’s cheeks, but she wasn’t moving anymore, and her beautiful skin was clammy to the touch. All this time, he’d done everything he could to keep the curse from finding its target. To keep some innocent woman from paying the price for his foolishness. And now, just as he’d found the one girl who stole his heart with her very first words, even as he tried to shield her from all the dangers in his life, the curse had still found her.

“Nooo!” he roared. All the fury and pain of his inner wolf came to the surface, and he nearly let his beast loose. The pain of this was too much. But he couldn’t give up. Refused to give up. He turned to the witch. “There has to be something you can do!”

“Do you think I would hold back?” she hissed at him. “She’s my niece! If I could save her, I would. This is your fault wolf! And hers for wanting to free you from your curse!”

That struck him like a cattle prod to the chest. Olivia had been trying to save him… again.

“What can I do?” he begged the witch in a whisper filled with pain. “I’ll do anything. Just tell me what to do. I can’t let her… she can’t do this!”

The witch narrowed her eyes. “Anything?”

“Yes!” Olivia’s utter stillness drew his attention. For all he could tell, she was already dead. He thrust both wrists toward the witch. “Take my life! Give it to her. You’re a witch. You can do any goddamn thing.” He was fighting to keep back the tears because he knew that wasn’t really true. They had limits. Witches were insanely strong in magic, but they couldn’t conquer death. They couldn’t bring someone back if it was too late.

The witch was nodding and looking quickly between him and Olivia. “It might be possible,” she whispered. Then she grabbed hold of one of his wrists and took Olivia’s in the other. The witch fixed him with an intense look. “I can transfer some of your magic to her. The healing properties may be enough to save her.”

“Do it!” His eyes were wide. Was this really possible?

She mumbled a few words, briefly closed her eyes, and kept her grip on his wrist rock-hard. At first, he didn’t feel anything. Then it hit him like a white-hot poker had stabbed him in the back. He arched, holding in the scream that wanted to work loose, but he couldn’t help the groan that escaped. The pain went on and on, like a cleaving of his soul in two, half remaining howling inside his body, the other gushing in a stream through his wrist and the witch’s touch. After the shock of it passed, he welcomed the screaming pain, the gut-wrenching torment. It was only right that he be the one to pay for this. He would give all he had—all in, all the time—to save her. He prayed through the agony: please God, let this work.