She snarled at my bitterness. The hound fed me promises that she couldn’t ensure. Even though she thought Ryder would fall for me, too, there was no way that would happen so long as he had Bri.
I tried to focus on the sound of gentle waves lapping against the rocky banks just so I didn’t have to listen to my hound. Ryder held out a hand to me to help me into the boat. I ignored his touch and jumped in on my own.
“Got a problem?” Ryder asked, his tone terse all of a sudden.
I clamped my lips together and shook my head before taking a seat in the small boat. Ryder looked as though he wanted to press the issue, but the captain started up the engine in the back, drowning out anything Ryder might have said.
He must have realized that he wouldn’t get anything out of me now because he opened the map for the captain and pointed to the island that the crystal point had touched earlier. The captain’s brows furrowed, but he gave a nod.
This was going to be expensive. I could already tell.
Ryder
More than once,I stole a glance at Ness. She peered out at the open waters, her eyes catching on the myriad islands we passed. More than once, I caught her staring at the idyllic castle that loomed just off the coast.
She wouldn’t tell me what was on her mind. No matter how I wanted to squeeze it out of her, I couldn’t force the issue. Though, I had to admit that I had an idea of what might have been bothering her.
The witch was responsible for the curse that Alvin had put over her. Now that we were getting closer to the witch, Ness was getting nervous. It was a reasonable response after what had happened.
I could have promised Ness that I would keep her safe, but I’d already failed her when Alvin managed to partially entrap her in his curse. Maybe the ritual hadn’t run its course, but it obviously had power over her.
Leaving the map with the captain, I went to sit beside Ness. I reached for her hand, but she yanked it away from me and sandwiched it between her thighs. Hurt, I studied her face for a hint. I had no idea what I’d done to make her pull away.
My beast growled. It made demands that I couldn’t fulfill. It wanted me to tell Ness that she was my mate. The beast thought that perhaps that was why Ness pulled away time and time again.
I could have told her. What was stopping me? Aside from the looming threat of her insane Alpha and the curse trying to control her? No time seemed right. If we weren’t in danger’s way, then we were trying to figure out how to get out of danger’s way.
The trip across the water dragged on while I tried to untangle my twisted thoughts. The damn beast didn’t help a bit. Every time I pushed a thought aside, the beast dredged it back up and shoved it to the forefront of my mind.
Don’t die without telling her.
Though I wanted to tell the beast to shut up, it was right. Its words rang around my skull in a way that I couldn’t ignore. But when I looked back at Ness, her closed off demeanor stopped me.
Before I could figure out what to do, the boat came to a halt. A small house sat on an island that was almost as small. This time, when I extended a hand to Ness, she took it and let me help her off the boat.
The boat captain took one look at the island and shuddered. It seemed the witch had put up wards already. Ness and I would have to tread carefully from here.
“I’m going to take a little jaunt while the two of you do your business.” The captain pulled away from the dock before either of us could ask him to stay.
The witch’s wards were doing their job, it seemed. They weren’t enough to keep Ness and myself away. I squared my shoulders and led the way forward. There weren’t any bone chimes hanging from the front porch this time.
I climbed the steps and rapped my fist against the door. After a moment of startled shuffling inside, the witch cracked the door open.
“Oh, seriously?” The witch groaned. She released the door and stepped aside.
When she didn’t make any effort to stop us from entering, I peered cautiously at the doorframe, scanning for any trace of spell work that might bite us in the ass later. When I couldn’t find anything obvious, I glanced at Ness.
She shrugged, heedless of her own safety, and ducked inside. I followed after her because there was no way I was going to let her get far from me now. The urge to touch her, even if to just brush my knuckles against hers, damn near overwhelmed me. My beast snarled and told me to push her behind me.
I almost laughed at the over-protective beast. Didn’t it know our mate by now? Ness wouldn’t talk to me for the rest of the day if I held her back. I needed to keep an eye on the witch, that was all.
“Listen,” the witch began. “I do the jobs that pay well. Since you and the others didn’t bother dropping money into my account, I didn’t see a problem helping your Alpha.”
“He’s not the Alpha anymore,” I interjected.
The witch tossed a smug grin in my direction. She looked me up and down. For a moment, I thought she would sidle up to me and ask me to open my wallet. That look told me all I needed to know. She’d found a new opportunity.
I didn’t have anything to make it worth her while, though.