House Of Bears 7: The End Of Peace (Bears Of Oregon) by Samantha Snow

Author:Samantha Snow [Snow, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simply Shifters Press
Published: 2020-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN—ELISE

Elise cast her gaze down the deck to Holly, Wyatt, and Garret lined up in the morning sunshine. This was becoming a recurring pattern. “The Four Musketeers.”

Garret narrowed his eyes in the forest. “This is a bad idea. Every time we go out there, some new disaster strikes.”

“What could possibly go wrong?” Holly asked. “We’re going to the witches’ cave—that’s all. We’ve been there before.”

He swiveled around to glare at her. “Did you really just say ‘what could possibly go wrong?’”

Wyatt laughed and stepped off the deck. “Let’s do this if we’re doing it. The day isn’t getting any younger. If the witches can do something against the Fair Dryad, they better do it now before she attacks again.”

The four friends set off through the woods. Elise found herself checking every shadow and flickering leaf, but the Fair Dryad was miles away. Knowing the Dryad’s power centered around Witch River Bridge should have made her feel better, safer.

The Dryad’s attack on Holly herself turned this outing into something closer to a funeral march. The longer this catastrophe went on, the more hopeless it seemed. There had to be a way to defeat the Fair Dryad. Elise just couldn’t think what in the hell it might be.

The hike to the witches’ cave took hours. That gave Elise plenty of time to rifle her magical knowledge—not that she hadn’t already been doing exactly that for days. She recited books she’d read, spells she’d learned, incantations she perfected. She read, learned, and perfected all of that to accomplish ends that meant a lot less to her than this.

She had invested decades of effort to help Trevor. Now she transferred that sense of loyalty and mission to Holly. This baby—Ursula—this was Elise’s niece. Elise worked tirelessly, making sure Holly survived to bring peace to the shifter clans.

Now Elise faced the prospect of a new little life coming into the world. This baby was the closest thing to family Elise had in the world, especially now that Trevor was gone.

This baby never betrayed her. This baby never did anything to Elise the way her parents had done. The love and protective instinct Elise felt toward Holly extended to Ursula. Like Garret, Elise was fully prepared to lay down her life to stop the Fair Dryad from getting her grubby paws on Ursula.

The most tragic part, though, was that doing that wouldn’t stop the Dryad. Whichever way Elise sliced it, the Dryad won. She would take Garret and Wyatt. She would overpower Holly and Elise and the witches. Then she would take the baby exactly the way she planned all those centuries ago.

The party arrived at the base of the hill. Wyatt squinted at the witches’ cave looming between the trees. “Now what? Do we just stroll on in and say, ‘How about a glass of iced tea between spells?’”

“I’ll go.” Holly set off. “I’ve been up there enough times.”

Garret grabbed her. “Hold up, you. You’re not going anywhere near the place. It could be dangerous.

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