Heir of Night (The Thorne Hill)

We have to help, and these wolves have done nothing to us to make us refuse. Vampires don’t like other supernatural species for some reason or another. The War of Light and Dark was started by a group of vampires who were jealous of how the witches could walk in the sun as well as the night and our ability to do magic.

Stepping away, I hold out my hand and telekinetically open the front door the rest of the way, inching it back slowly to make sure Eliza and Lucas get out of the harmful rays of the sun. Though I’m sure Lucas is more than willing to temporarily burn so he can stay by my side.

“I’m Callie,” I tell the woman and move onto the porch. My familiars shadow by me, shifting into cat-form and staying by my feet. “And I’ll do my best to help. Come in and tell us what happened.”

The possessed werewolf breaks free from the two who were struggling to hold him.

“Somnum,” Tabatha says, flicking her wrist. The werewolf slumps down, and the two guys catch him before he hits the ground. “It’s a sleeping spell.” Tabatha turns, eyeing me for a moment in a silent thank-you. Not all that long ago, she was right where the wolves are, watching her own son get possessed. “It won’t last long.”

“You can come inside,” I state, almost out of habit. They’re werewolves, not vampires. They don’t need to be invited in, but I do have to temporarily dispel the final warding around the house. The demon is basically hibernating inside the sleeping wolf but crossing the line could still cause some harm to fall on this kid.

“Oh, goodness,” the woman says when the door is closed behind her. “Did we interrupt a party?” Her eyes are wide, but she’s not worried about crashing my baby shower. She’s worried nons could be here. Humans fear what they don’t understand, leading them to hunt the witches. Werewolves are just as feared and hated, and in old demon-hunting groups like the Order of the Mystic Realm, killing a wolf is bragging rights.

“Uh, not exactly. It ended a while ago,” I say and motion for them to follow me into the library. “Lucas, can you move the coffee table?” I ask when we are in the library. Grumbling, Lucas speeds forward, making all the wolves gasp.

“He’s a vampire,” the younger of the two brothers says with a snarl, eyes flashing yellow for a second. “Out in the day. How is that possible?” He hefts up his unconscious brother and looks at his mother in concern, thinking them coming here was a big mistake.

“Good observation,” Eliza says, flashing her fangs. “I thought you mutts were supposed to have a good sense of smell.”

The wolves sputter, eyes going from the large windows to the two vampires in the room. “How—that’s not—what’s going on?”

“The windows are spelled,” I quickly explain and grab a pillow from the couch. “Lay him here.” I look at my friends. “What do you think? Containment spell on top of being tied and put in a salt circle? A demon in a werewolf’s body will put up a good fight.”

“Don’t forget to enchant the rope.” Evander’s voice comes from behind us, making me jump. Hah, I forgot he was astral projecting in so I could tell them about the Four Horsemen.

But then four werewolves showed up instead.

“Now, can someone tell me what the devil is going on?” Evander’s projection moves right through the coffee table, and the wolves look like they’re about ready to bolt out of here. “Is this why you wanted me to astral project here?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not,” Tabatha tells him. “I think we may need you in the flesh. Bring black salt and the sleeping draft I have in my office cabinet.”

Evander takes another look around the room and then disappears.

“Okay,” I start, leaning over to put the pillow on the floor. Elena’s foot jabs me in the ribs, and I make a face, grunting when I stand back up. I suddenly feel bad for thinking pregnant women were dramatic to huff and puff with every movement. “How long has he been possessed? And did the demon do anything to make you think it had any powers or mention any names?”

Mama Wolf stares at me, unblinking, before sucking in a shaky breath. “Last night, and…and I don’t know. We think it’s speaking Latin. We don’t know Latin.”

“There are a few of us here who do,” I assure her.

“We need to know everything that happened.” Tabatha pulls out a chair from the desk for Mama Wolf as the others lay their possessed brother down. Kristy grabs a canister of salt from my secret stash in one of the bookshelves, and Naomi, Nicole, and Ruby stand in a circle around the wolf, holding out their hands to cast the containment spell. Melinda reties the ropes around the wolf’s hands, knotting it in such a way it won’t be as easy to pull apart this time.