Jodi Redford - Maximum Witch

The mattress dipped beside her, snapping her back to the present. Peering over her shoulder, she spotted Boone digging through his bag again. He hauled out a small metal case and clicked it open, revealing a syringe and several marked vials filled with clear liquid. Tension seized her. Sure, she’d known this part was coming, but it didn’t ease her instinctual dislike of needles.

Boone gave her another of his soothing smiles. He was amazingly good at instilling an air of calm. No doubt he was a real pro at lulling innocent puppies and kittens into a false sense of security before poking them in the rump with vaccine shots.

“I need you to sit up so I can administer the shot into your upper thigh. I promise you won’t feel much more than a fast prick.”

Yeah, likely story. Heaving a sigh, she wiggled onto her side before scooching onto her rear. Eyes widening, she watched him depress the plunger slightly, releasing any air trapped in the chamber.

“Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself, Willa?”

She gaped at Boone blankly before realizing the question was one more tactic designed to distract her from the big bad needle in his hand. “W-what do you want to know?”

Max cleared his throat, drawing her focus to him. “How about what the hell you were doing in your human skin in the middle of the Atlantic?”

Boone sent him an admonishing frown that she barely registered while she blinked at Max. “Huh?”

“I think what Max is trying to ask in his typical gruff fashion is why didn’t you shift? It would have offered you more protection.”

She divided her confused stare between both men. “Shift?”

Max’s hand gestured impatiently. “Into whatever the devil you are.”

The conversation was shuffling further and further away from anything resembling normal. Or comprehendible. “ What are you talking about?”

Boone patted her knee. “If you’re worried about exposing your secret, don’t be. We’re shifters too.”

Finally some of the fog began to clear in her brain as the meaning behind the word sank in. Shifters .

Being a witch, she’d been around more than her fair share. Or more specifically, shifter familiars, though she herself didn’t have one. She eyed Boone and Max, doing a double take. Jeez, she probably should have guessed they weren’t entirely human. No mere man looked as scrumdiddlyumptious as these two.

She opened her mouth, intending to ask exactly what type of shifters they were, but stalled short, the unspoken inquiry log jamming in her throat when the rest of Boone’s statement crystallized with glaring clarity. “Wait a minute. You think I’m a shifter?” She smothered a laugh at the absurdity of the notion.

Confusion scrunched the corners of Boone’s eyes. “Aren’t you?”

“Nope. Definitely not.”

Max grunted. “Then explain how the hell you even know what shifters are? Or that we exist?” His tone held a certain provoking quality. Clearly he thought he’d caught her in a lie.

Oh, she was really going to enjoy proving him wrong. “I work for the southern sector of the National Alliance of Witches. I’m surrounded by shifters all the time.”

Surprise flickered over Max’s features. “You’re a witch?”

“Yep.” She smiled serenely. “Must really suck to have your theory blasted to smithereens.”

His eyes narrowed. “You being a witch doesn’t change anything. I’m still tellin’ you, you’re not human.”

Goddess, he was stubborn. “And I’m telling you that I am .”

Max’s eyebrows slashed into a V. “No, you’re not.” His arms crossed over his expansive chest. “It’s impossible.”

The idea that he even questioned her claim, much less countered it, was odd. And kind of annoying. She sat up straighter, mimicking his posture. “Pretty sure it’s not.”

“No, sweetheart, it is.” The endearment sounded ridiculously sexy slipping past Max’s lips, despite it being paired with a dark scowl.

Some foreign feistiness that she didn’t quite understand prodded her to keep sparring with him. “And the reason would be…?”

He hunkered in front of her, his eyes flashing with challenge. “Because, darlin’, last time I checked, humans can’t breathe under water.”

Max observed the stunned look that fell over Willa’s face and knew with absolute certainty she couldn’t be faking it. He’d done plenty of interrogation in his days, something that’d gifted him with the ability to tell if someone was attempting to pull the wool over his eyes. Which presented a big quandary, since he could only come up with one explanation for her expression.

She hadn’t known she wasn’t human.

Shit. Hefting to his feet, he shot Boone a desperate glance. The unhelpful dickwad returned it with a don’t-look-at-me-this-is-your-fuckup glare.

“What do you mean I was breathing ?”

He returned his attention to Willa and noticed how she seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating.

“That isn’t possible,” she whispered, echoing his previous sentiment.

“Maybe Max was confused. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

He glared at Boone, silently delivering his assessment of that remark. There was no mistaking damn bubbles coming out of someone’s mouth. Or the lack of water clogging their lungs. He was about to point that out when Boone shook his head, his eyes flashing a warning before he slanted a pointed look in Willa’s direction. Max got the message loud and clear. Boone didn’t want him upsetting her any more than he already had. Damn. He hated admitting Boone was right about anything, but Willa had been through enough today. It’d be wrong to give her one more thing to stress over. He’d drop the issue, at least for the time being.

“If you’re ready, I’m going to give you the antivenin now.”

A loud gulp shot from Willa, and at first Max considered chewing Boone a new one for giving him a hard time for frightening her. But then he took in the way her wide-eyed focus was pinned to the approaching needle. He begrudgingly acknowledged that Boone’s pronouncement had managed to do the impossible—steer Willa’s thoughts away from her previous worries. The needle slowly pierced her pale skin, and she sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers digging into the bedspread. Unable to temper his desire to comfort Willa, he crossed to the empty spot next to her and rubbed her shoulder.

He didn’t understand this constant need to touch her but decided to just go with the flow. Particularly since she glanced up at him with gratefulness shining in those beautiful, teary eyes. They continued staring at each other for a long stretch, until a cough from Boone shattered the moment.

Shaking off the strange fascination that’d gripped him, Max jerked his gaze to Boone and bit back a growl at the grin overtaking his friend’s mug.

“One down, one to go.” Boone reached into his medic kit for a fresh syringe and vial of antivenin.

Catching Boone’s meaning, Max shook his head. If there was any chance he could avoid that needle, he sure as hell was going to use it to his advantage. “I wasn’t infected.”

“Better to be safe than sorry. Now drop your pants, you big baby.”

Max’s gaze veered back to Willa. There was no way he could go along with Boone’s command without awarding her a prime viewing of his privates. “Uh…”

A pink stain crawled along Willa’s cheeks as she apparently caught on to his dilemma. “If you don’t mind, I’m just going to wash up a little.” She launched herself off the mattress and hightailed it into the bathroom.

The second the door shut behind her, Max scrunched his sweats down. “Is this really necessary? Or do you just like the idea of jabbing me with that big-ass needle?”