Broken Bonds (Lizzie Grace 3)

And considering what had been done here, it was a desire I could totally understand.

I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Thanks, Liz.”

I nodded again and forced my feet forward, keeping my gaze more on the ground than the raw mess of sinew and meat that had once been human. When I was close enough, I took another deep breath and then glanced at Aiden. “You ready?”

He nodded and raised his phone. I squatted beside the body and reached out, letting my hand hover just above the end of the needle jutting out of the wolf’s flesh. Faint wisps of power teased my skin but they weren’t coming from the needle itself. I frowned and skimmed the rest his body. It wasn’t until I reached his front leg that the magic grew stronger. I frowned and, after a moment, spotted a light indentation near his wrist. He’d been wearing a bracelet tight enough to leave a mark even after he’d been skinned, which was rather odd. Werewolves had what was generally called a set point—a natural biomarker that slowly changed as they aged. It meant that no matter what happened in either form, by shifting their shape, their body basically repaired itself back to that set point—with the exception of a fatal wound, of course. Which meant that even if the bracelet had been tight enough to mark his human wrist, it shouldn’t have in any way left a mark on his wolf form.

I shifted slightly and skimmed my hand down the leg. The nearer I got to the indentation, the stronger the sense of magic became.

“You’ve found something?” Aiden asked.

“Yes. Can you come around this side?” Once he had, I added, “Pick his leg up.”

He pulled two pairs of gloves from the apparently never-ending supply he kept in his pockets, offered me one set, and pulled on the other. Then, very carefully, he lifted the stranger’s right leg.

I pressed one gloved hand against the ground to steady myself and peered closely at the limb. After a moment, I saw it—the fading curl of a magical thread; this time, it was attached to an actual thread.

I glanced at Aiden. “Can I have your phone?”

He gave it to me instantly. “What have you found?”

“A thread.”

“What type of thread?”

“Some sort of cotton, by the look of it. The magic I’m sensing is coming from it.”

“How can you attach spells to something as simple as that?”

I took a couple of shots then handed the phone back to him. “You can attach spells to anything at all. All it takes is knowledge and skill.”

“How big a thread are we talking about?”

“Tiny. I’d guess it was part of some sort of charm he’d been wearing that has been left behind when the rest of it was removed.” I glanced up. “Do you want me to pull it free?”

“If it’s not dangerous to do so, yes.”

“It doesn’t feel dangerous.” I carefully touched the tip of the thread with gloved fingers. Magic swirled, whispering its secrets. The tension within me eased. “It’s little more than a magical tracker.”

“Does that mean we have a second unknown witch on the reservation?”

“Not necessarily, because trackers like this can be bought at most craft markets. They’re not difficult to create.”

I carefully gripped the thread and tugged on it. The thread came free easily enough, but the faint wisps of magic slowly spinning around the bloody piece of cotton started fading even faster. I doubted Ashworth or the heretic tracker would be able to use it to uncover its origins, but I just might.

I held up the small piece of thread so that Aiden could see it. “Do you want me to use my psychometry skills to try and track down either the source of this thing or the rest of it?”

“Will it be dangerous?”

I hesitated. “To be honest, I don’t know. I guess it’s always possible this thread was left behind deliberately, but given the magic is fading and appears to be nothing more than a simple spell, I doubt it.”

“Can you nevertheless employ a protection circle? I don't want to be picking up your bloody pieces as well.”

I rose. “It’s not something I particularly want either, given the hole it would blow in future seduction plans. Hold this.”

I handed him the thread, then walked back down the hill until I reached a flat, relatively stone-free piece of ground. I dug my spell stones out of the backpack and then placed them carefully on the ground until I had a circle large enough to sit cross-legged in.