Malcolm had not changed a bit since I last saw him – the cropped military style black hair, the slender body structure, and the piercing green eyes that glared into people's souls.

Back when the two of us were apprentices, there were several witches who found Malcolm attractive despite his less than stellar personality. He was known to be the hump and dump man of the Coven because he could care less about all the broken hearts he left behind.

"Jaslynn," he purred, "You look as stunning as you did when we worked together. It is a pity that you are taken. Word around the witch's corner is that the Moon Goddess had assigned a mutt as your soulmate."

I stiffened and immediately gripped the bottom of Alrik's shirt as he growled behind me, sending vibrations down my spine.

His breath tickled my ear when he leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Can we not just kill him? It would save us a lot of trouble."

I shook my head lightly so Malcolm, who was busy studying our crew, wouldn't notice, "You see how the tree is glowing? He turned that tree into a shield and as long as he is attached to that tree, nothing can get to him. Anything thrown at him will ricochet and backfire on us."

It was hard to see at certain angles, but I could make out the faint silver glow around the tree. We would have to force Malcolm to move away to attack him.

Alrik snorted and muttered quietly, "That explains why he is practically grinding against the poor tree."

"And who is this pretty lady?"

My eyes darted back to Malcolm, who was running his eyes up and down Reece's figure. She snarled at him and yanked a large hunting knife out of her bag, "The woman who will skin you alive."

"Feisty she-wolf. I like it," He smirked, " Why don't you come with me, baby? We can have a lot of fun."

She growled, "Oh, we'll have fun alright, while you scream and bleed in pain and I laugh at your misery."

It seemed Alrik and Reece were more alike than I thought. I supposed being his commander meant she was used to blood and gore.

I pursed my lips as Reece continued to yell at Malcolm, who was highly amused, and pulled my wand out of my pocket carefully, making sure to not draw his attention to it.

"Salutem creaturae," I whispered, causing a silver, glittery strand to flow out of my wand in waves and form a little circle before me and out of Malcolm's sight.

The waves of magic crackled as they flowed up and down in quick motions, circling the tip of my wand. I rotated my wand in the same direction the waves were moving and made the circle larger.

When I was satisfied with its size, I directed my wand at myself, and then at Alrik, and continued to point at every person on our side. It was like playing connect the dots with a strand of magic.

"Oh Jassy, you did not need to make a safety net. I'm not here to hurt you," Malcolm said as he eyed the net.

I gave him a blank stare, "If you're not here to hurt us, why did you make a shield?"

"Because I feared that you would attack me before I explained my presence. But now that I have your attention, I wanted to tell you that you could stop your stupid little search for the Book of Demonic Magic. I already have it."

He was lying through his teeth. His posture was too stiff, his jaw was ticking, and his fingers kept twitching nervously.

"Is that so?" I asked, playing along to his little game.

"I found it just a few days ago. When the full moon comes out, I will open the portal to the underworld, and none of you will be able to stop me," he hissed at the end.

I pretended to be paying attention to what he was saying when in actuality, I was watching his hand. It was the only part of his body touching the tree, and I was waiting for the moment he would let it fall.

"Alrik, distract him," I whispered, "Keep him talking."

I felt Alrik's eyes bore into the back of my head, but he complied to my demands as I moved to the front of the group, "If you have the book, why don't you show us?"

And just as I thought, Malcolm let go of the tree when he addressed Alrik's question.

"Mortemous alegerda!"

A burst of light flew out of my wand and straight at Malcolm, who stood there calmly. It hit him hard, and he flew back, hitting a tree before landing on the ground in a heap.

I stared at his body in a stunned silence.

That was too easy.

Alrik appeared by my side and frowned at the body, "He didn't even move. It was almost as if he wanted you to kill him."

I walked up to Malcolm's body and kneeled next to it before searching through his clothes for his wand. When I found it in the inside pocket of his coat, I pulled it out and studied it.

"This isn't his wand," I said, looking back to find the whole group standing nearby.

"If that isn't his wand, that means it isn't..." Miles trailed off, swallowing as he understood what that meant.

I exhaled deeply and placed the tip of my wand on Malcolm's forehead, quietly muttering a spell to change his body to its original form.

His body glowed and started growing smaller and thicker. His hair changed to a muddy brown color, and his cheeks grew chubbier. All of his facial features changed to that of a much younger boy.

He had used a teenage wizard as a host and morphed the boy's appearance to look like him.

"He's still alive then," I stated, "And he doesn't have the book. He was trying to stop us from going."

I straightened and turned to face the group, "We bury the boy and finish loading the boat. We have to move quickly."

There was a simultaneous hum of agreement, and two of Alrik's warriors picked up the boy's body and carried him away while the rest of the crew went back to the dock where we had abandoned the bag, leaving Alrik, Reece, and I in our places.

Alrik's eyes were studying Reece, who was staring at the splatter of blood on the tree trunk.

"Is something wrong, Commander?" Alrik frowned.

She swallowed hard and looked at me with watery eyes, "I think he was my mate."