Shamelessly Spellbound (Spells That Bind Book 2) (27 page)

I was still having trouble recovering from the shock of
walking in on my sister kissing Gryph when my phone rang. I sent the call to
voicemail and decided to text my witch. She’d been right about me acting like
an asshole when it came to Gryph and Julia.

ME: I was an ass. How about if I bring dinner?

Not surprisingly, she didn’t reply, probably because she was
driving.

I recognized the missed call as my office number. Shortly
after that, my voicemail indictor popped up, so I called to listen to the
message.

Sage’s voice came over the line. “Trevor, it’s Sage. The
killer is here at the office. Please help me. She’s says she’ll kill me if you
don’t meet her.”

The call ended on those words, and my gut tightened at the
confirmation that this was about me. Sage might die because of me. I dialed
Detective Anson’s number on the way to my car. It was my hope the police could
get to the office quickly, but I wasn’t about to take any chances with Sage’s
life.

“Anson,” the shade answered on the first ring.

“This is Trevor Dupree,” I told him and continued without
giving him time to respond. “The killer is at my office. She has my assistant.”

“We got a tip that the killer is at the studio where they
film
Night High
,” he replied.

“She has my assistant at my office,” I insisted. “I’m on my
way there now.”

“Do not go near the killer, Mr. Dupree,” Detective Anson
warned. “We are going to send part of our group to your office. There was a
delay at the transport tunnel, so it will take about an hour to get there.”

“She could be dead by then,” I argued. “I’m not letting one
of my crazy exes kill Sage. It’s possible I can talk her out of it until you
get there.”

“Or, she could kill you,” Detective Anson spat out.

“I need to go,” I replied, ending the call and pulling out
of the driveway. I decided to make one more call, in case I ended up getting
killed.

Thankfully, Melina answered. “I’m not mad at you,” she said
right away.

“Listen, honey, I love you,” I said, needing her to know how
much she meant to me.

“I love you, too, Trevor,” she responded, her voice filled
with emotion.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” I began. “When we
took our affinity test, I kind of fucked up.”

“How’s that?” she asked, sounding almost amused.

“I bound our magic,” I admitted. This was something I needed
to explain now because if I was killed today, she’d feel an almost unbearable
physical pain.

“I know, Trevor,” she responded.

“You know?” I asked.

“Yeah, you bonded us, but not completely. You still need to complete
the process after you get the balls to ask my permission.”

“I really thought this was going to make you angry,” I
admitted.

“If I’d been unwilling, I could have stopped you,” she
explained. “Why are you telling me this now? Something is wrong, isn’t it?”

“I’m on my way to meet with the killer,” I admitted.

“No!” Melina shouted, her voice echoing through my car.

“The police are on their way, but I don’t know how long it
will take them to get there,” I told her.

“Don’t you dare try to deal with that psychotic bitch,” she
insisted.

“She has Sage,” I stated, hoping she’d understand why I
couldn’t just wait for the police.

“Sage?” Gryph asked.

“Yeah, she’s a werewolf who’s worked for me for a few
years,” I clarified for Gryph.

“Don’t go anywhere near there,” Gryph began.

“I have to,” I told them, ending the call before either
could try to talk me out of helping Sage.

“That moron!” I shouted as I made an illegal u-turn and
headed toward Trevor’s office. Trevor had probably forgotten that with his
magic bound to mine, I could find him anywhere. While I understood why he
didn’t want to leave Sage with the killer, I was still furious about him
putting his life at risk. I was also terrified of losing him.

“Do you know who Sage’s boyfriend is?” Gryph asked.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “She’s not very friendly, and
she never talks about the pack. Why?”

“I think Sage may the killer,” Gryph stated. “If I’d known
she was working for Trevor, I’d have probably suspected her before.”

“What?” I asked. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would
Sage do this?”

“Sage is half-witch,” Gryph explained. “I think she may be
obsessed with Trevor.”

“She’s what? Trevor never mentioned her being half-witch.”

“He probably doesn’t know,” Gryph stated. “It’s never been
something she was particularly proud of. She went to a witch school back east
for several years, and the pack had hoped she wouldn’t return.”

“Why didn’t they want her to return?” I asked. That sounded
really messed up, considering how much werewolves relied on their pack.

“Because we were on the brink of a civil war that had a lot
to do with some pack members believing only perfect werewolves should be
allowed in the pack. Half-breeds were considered an abomination by that
faction. We were trying to get the half-breeds out of the way because we didn’t
have the resources to protect them and our leadership. If it had come down to
it, we’d have been forced to let the half-breeds die.”

“That is really fucked up,” I muttered.

He let out a weary sigh. “I agree with you, but I was an
enforcer. I took orders and never questioned them. I didn’t even think about
questioning them. I’m not entirely sure the pack would have wanted Sage back,
even if it hadn’t been for the threat of civil war. She was also lashing out
with her witch magic. At first, I thought it was self-defense, but then I
started noticing that she was more than a little crazy,” Gryph explained. “When
she was finally cast out of the pack, she went on about how she didn’t need the
pack because she’d found a warlock to take care of her.”

“I don’t understand,” I muttered. “Trevor had to negotiate
with the pack to hire her.”

“They cast her out when the new leadership took over, same
as me,” Gryph explained.

“This still doesn’t mean she’s the killer,” I argued. “Maybe
she really did find a warlock.” Wracking my brain, I tried to remember anything
I could about Sage, but most of what Trevor had told me had to do with what a
good employee she was, not her life outside of work.

“I remember her saying her warlock was a lawyer,” Gryph
added. “Obviously, as an enforcer, I wasn’t involved with the negotiations
regarding her employment, so I didn’t know she was working for Trevor.”

I decided to call Dylan to see what he knew about Sage.
Thankfully, he answered on the second ring because I wasn’t feeling patient or
calm.

“Hey, Mel,” Dylan greeted me.

“Is Sage dating a warlock?” I asked urgently.

“Er,” he paused, sounding genuinely confused. “I don’t think
she’s dating anyone. She didn’t bring a date to the wedding, and I’m not sure
her pack would be okay with her dating a warlock.”

My panic level was on par with my anger at the moment. “I’ll
kill that bitch if she hurts Trevor,” I practically growled.

“What’s going on, Mel?” Dylan demanded.

“Trevor told me the killer has Sage,” I explained. “Gryph
thinks Sage is the killer, and I’m beginning to agree with him.”

“Sage?” Dylan asked in disbelief. “That’s impossible.”

“Sage is half-witch, and her pack cast her out,” I told him.
“Did you know either of those things?”

I tuned out Dylan’s string of profanity, knowing I needed to
focus on getting to Trevor. “I’ll call you back later,” I interrupted Dylan.

“Where are you?” Dylan asked. “Do you know where they are?”

“No, but I can find out,” I said, pulling over to the side
of the road. “I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out,” I assured Dylan,
ending the call and turning to Gryph. “I need you to drive. Can you manage it?”
It was a reasonable question since my car wasn’t set up for Gryph to drive with
only one arm. “There’s a spell that holds the wheel in place in case you
release it.”

“I got it, Ms. Melina,” he assured me.

I nodded and focused on finding Trevor. Thanks to his hasty
bonding of our magic, I’d be able to find him anywhere.

Once I reached my office, I hesitated before getting out of
my car. There was no doubt I was walking into danger, but I couldn’t think of
any other solution. Waiting for the police to arrive made it more likely the
killer would harm, possibly kill, Sage. There was always a possibility I was
already too late, but I had to try.

I skipped the elevator and ran up two flights of stairs. The
reception area was deserted, and I saw no sign of Sage, which made my gut
tighten. It didn’t seem that anything had been disturbed. I had no idea what
I’d do if the killer had gotten tired of waiting for me and taken Sage
somewhere else to kill her.

“I’m here!” I shouted. “Let Sage go, and we can talk.”

No answer came, but I thought I heard movement in Dylan’s
office, so opened the door slowly and scanned the empty room.

There was movement behind me, but it was so fast, I didn’t
have time to turn before a blow struck the back of my head, and then the world
faded to black.

I had no idea how long I was unconscious. When I woke up,
the first thing I tried to do was rub my aching head, which was when I realized
I was tied to a bed. As my fuzzy brain attempted to make sense of what had
happened, I opened my eyes a slit. The light hurt like I had a hangover, but I
knew a concussion was likely the cause. Taking in my surroundings, I found that
I was in a bedroom, possibly a studio apartment. I saw a sofa and coffee table.
I couldn’t make out too much of the room without moving my head, and I wasn’t
ready to endure that kind of pain yet.

“You’re finally awake!” Sage squealed happily.

“Sage? What’s going on? Where is the killer?” I asked.

Sage frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. The fingers on
her right hand trailed along my chest, which is when I noticed I was naked.
“You’re so pretty, Trevor, but not terribly bright. How is it that you still
haven’t figured out what’s going on?”

A shudder of revulsion ran through my body when her fingers
continued to trail down my body. “You can’t be the killer,” I insisted.

“Why not?” she asked. Her fingers stopping their decent.
“Oh! You must mean because you assumed one of your exes was involved. You
probably also didn’t think I could be the one pursuing you because I’m not a
witch. Not a full-witch, anyway. My mother was a witch whore who passed me off
to my werewolf father because she was embarrassed by me. You know how elitist
witches can be.”

“You’re half-witch?” I asked. “How did I not know this?”

Her eyes flashed with anger, and her nails dug painfully
into my lower belly. “You never noticed because you were too busy with those
stupid sluts to realize that the witch you were meant to be with was right in
front of your eyes, waiting for you to see her. I thought you’d come around
after our date. Perhaps, I should have told you about me being a witch then,
but I was too excited about you finally noticing me to think clearly. I could
tell you felt the connection between us, too.”

I had no idea what date she was talking about since I’d
never even considered dating Sage. She was an employee, and I’d always avoided
crossing that line. Still, I figured it was a bad time to bring up the fact
that I didn’t remember any date with her.

“Even after we found each other, you continued to fall for
those slutty witches.” Her nails remained in my skin as they dragged down my
flesh, making me hiss. “You think this hurts? Imagine the anguish you’ve caused
me over the years, flaunting your whores in front of me, expecting me to wait
patiently while you fucked those sluts.”

“I didn’t know you felt this way about me,” I explained,
which seemed to make her angrier.

“Liar!” she screamed. “You knew how I felt. I’m the witch
for you, and you ignored me, but you won’t be able to ignore me now,” she
taunted. “I tried to get you to drink my special love potion at the wedding,
but you ended up fucking that fat demon instead.”

“There’s no such thing as a love potion,” I told her, and
that was mostly true. A potion couldn’t make someone love you, but a potion
made with dark magic could steal free-will. That sort of potion had been
considered a love potion by some deluded witches and demons throughout the
years.

Sage laughed, and the sound sent chills down my spine.
“Maybe it can’t make you love me, but I’ll own you just the same.”

“Not fucking likely,” my witch shouted.

“Melina, get out of here!” I said urgently, already knowing
she was going to ignore me.

Sage stood and grinned. I craned my head, despite the pain,
to see Melina marching down the stairs with Gryph right behind her.

“Let the warlock go, Sage,” Gryph ordered.

Sage let out a maniacal giggle. “Are you really stupid
enough to think I’d take orders from some deformed wolf?” she taunted.

“With the dampening spell, we both know you only have
physical strength to rely on,” Gryph reminded her. “Even with one arm, I’d
wager I’m a much better fighter than you are.”

“Care to test that theory?” Sage asked with a smile, moving
away from the bed to face Gryph.

Gryph walked down the stairs. “You can’t think you can beat
me in a fight.”

Before anyone could react, Sage raised a gun and shot three
tranquilizer darts at Gryph. The first missed, when he dodged to the right, but
the second and third hit their mark. Gryph struggled forward before collapsing
a few feet from Sage.