Blood Witch_ Book Three - Cate Tiernan [59]
“Oh God, what’s he doing here?” I groaned. “It’s one in the morning!”
“Who knows?” Cal said tersely. “But I need to talk to him, anyway.”
Hunter left his car running as he stepped out and faced us. The headlights put him in silhouette, but I could see that his green eyes were solemn. His cold seemed to have gotten better. His breath was like white smoke.
“Hello,” he said precisely. Just hearing him speak made me clench up. “Fancy meeting the both of you here. How inconvenient.”
“Why?” Cal asked, his voice low. “Were you going to put sigils on my house, like you did Morgan’s?”
A glimmer of surprise crossed Hunter’s face.
“Know about that, do you?” he said, shifting his gaze to me.
I nodded coldly.
“What else do you know?” Hunter asked. “Like, do you know what Cal wants from you? What you are to him? Do you know the truth about anything?”
I glared at him, trying to think of a scathing reply. But again the only thought I had was: Why is he tormenting us like this?
Beside me Cal clenched his fists. “She knows the truth. I love her.”
“No,” Hunter corrected him. “The truth is, you need her. You need her because she has incredible, untapped powers. You need her so you can use her power to take over the High Council, and then you can start to eliminate the other clans, one by one. Because you’re a Woodbane, too, and frankly, the other clans just aren’t good enough.”
My eyes flashed to Cal. “What is he talking about? You’re not a Woodbane, are you?”
“He’s raving,” Cal muttered, staring at Hunter with pure contempt. “Saying anything he can think of to hurt me.” Cal put his arm around me. “You can forget breaking us up,” he said. “She loves me, and I love her.”
Hunter laughed. The sound of it was like glass shattering. “What a crock,” he spat. “She’s your lightning rod—the last surviving member of Belwicket, the destined high priestess of one of the most powerful of the Woodbane clans. Don’t you get it? Belwicket renounced the dark arts! There’s no way Morgan would agree to what you want!”
“How would you know what I would do?” I shouted, infuriated by how he was speaking as if I weren’t there.
Cal just shook his head. “There’s no point to this,” he said. “We’re together, and there’s nothing you can do. So you can go back to where you came from and leave us alone.”
Hunter chuckled softly. “Oh, no, I’m afraid it’s much too late for that. You see, the council would never forgive me if I left Morgan in your clutches.”
“What?” I was practically screeching. What the hell did the council care who I dated? I hardly even knew about the council. How could they know so much about me?
“You should know about forgiveness,” Cal snapped. “After all, the council has never quite forgiven you for killing your brother, right? You’re still making up for that, aren’t you? Still trying to prove it wasn’t your fault.”
I stared at the two of them. I had no idea what Cal was talking about, but his tone terrified me. He sounded like a stranger.
“Go to hell,” Hunter snarled, his body tightening.
“Wiccans don’t believe in hell,” Cal whispered.
Hunter started toward us, his face stiff with fury. All at once Cal ducked into the car and snatched the athame he’d given me from the pile of gifts. My pulse shot into overdrive. This isn’t happening, I thought in panic. This can’t be happening. I watched, immobile, as Cal backed away from me. Hunter glanced between the two of us.
“You want me?” Cal taunted Hunter. “You want me, Hunter? Then come get me.” With that, he turned and sped straight for the dark woods bordering the property. I blinked, and he was out of sight, hidden by trees and darkness.
Hunter was wild-eyed as he scanned the woods’ edge.
“Stay here!” he commanded me, then he raced off after Cal.
I stopped for just a moment. Then I ran after them.
20
The Seeker
By the time I reached the edge of the woods, it had started to snow again. While Cal and I were inside, the sky had been consumed by thick gray clouds that blotted out the moon and the stars.
“Dammit,” I whispered. Cal had obviously led Hunter away