He’s been coiled and ready for action. And also a little grouchy despite the fact I’ve told him I’m feeling better.
I have a feeling I know what would cheer him up, but I’ll test out my powers of seduction another time when someone isn’t out to get us.
His phone rings and we both straighten up. Erica’s calling.
“Erica,” Jase greets, putting her on speaker.
“How’s Bailey?” she asks.
I answer, “I’m okay. Better now that I’m inside, thanks. What’s happening?”
She replies, “Alta and her stepsons are behind the drone. Alta’s behind the spelled flowers. She’s a green witch with significant knowledge about toxic plants and she’s known for using gray magic. Fabio, the younger of the two, is a hacker, so we suspect the combination of her magic and his hacking skills meant she found you guys in Rome, attaching a locator spell to the council here instead of to Dani. Their magic could mean the growth catches up with their planned schedule, not normal growth cycles so we’re on alert.”
“Hacking what?” Jase asks.
“Joel says there haven’t been any breaches on any networks within the village; he’s got strong security protocols. But possibly through the airlines to find out you were flying to Bucharest. Aphra knows him and it’s what she thinks he probably did.”
“Okay… so how is Alta still pulling strings with the sanctions?” Jase asks.
“That’s a good question,” Erica replies. “We think she either set it all in motion before her magic was taken, she still has her magic, or she’s working with someone. We can’t tell.”
“What now?” I ask.
Riley pipes up through the phoneline. “Now, we wait.”
“What about the flowers?” Jase asks.
Erica answers. “Aphra merged a new spell with Alta’s. Everything’s now frozen in terms of toxins, but not growth. This might be the last intervention Aphra can perform on a Starling spell; Anya can easily figure out she’s back in the grid, so to speak. Aphra’s work should mean the flowers won’t cause any harm, that they’ll still grow as they’re supposed to do. If Alta sees them full-grown, she’ll think they’re weakening all the shifters here and she’ll make her move. Can you test that out, Bailey?”
I say, “I’ll go do it now.”
Jase looks annoyed. I know he doesn’t want me to experience discomfort again, but if I can help, of course I will.
I step out onto the deck, Jase right with me, holding the phone.
I pull in a big breath and let it out slowly.
I do it again. “I do smell the plants, Erica, and I think the fragrance is getting even stronger, but they’re not bothering me.”
“Good news,” she says. “Can you shift and touch one in wolf form?”
I undress and Jase commands the shift, following me outside the yard. I walk, as wolf, along the river’s edge and they feel like regular grass to my paws.
I hear Jase telling her the good news with relief swimming through my veins.
58
JASE
It goes against the nature of a predator to just sit back and wait for a viper to strike. My instincts tell me to hunt down the threat and take it out first.
I don’t shy away from a fight; I thrive on competition. Everything about my nature is designed to not only hunt and take down those lower on the food chain, but I’m also built to protect. Protect my mate. Protect my pack.
And win.
This adversary coming for us isn’t looking for a fair fight. She thinks she’s poisoning us, so we’ll be weak when she decides to strike out. From her actions and from meeting her myself, I think all this is about more than curing her sick husband. I think she’s another power-hungry Starling witch willing to delve into dark magic to not only get her way but also to get a leg up. She’s a predator too, and she’s slated us as her next conquest.
We defeated that other SCC witch. We took their property to the SCC when they wanted it back. We hid Aphra and Halla and pissed them off further. We got her on radar with the SCC. If she just wanted the magic from our cave, would she plant toxic flowers that’d not only weaken us from fighting back but also potentially kill us through our water supply?