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time in assessing his sister. She crossed the room while Mel stood back with him. Krista looked over her shoulder, “I’ll need to touch her to determine the nature of the hex.”
    Luke nodded.
    “She may scream. This will probably hurt.” She didn’t wait for a second round of approval. Krista grabbed a small wooden chair and sat next to the bed. The hair on Luke’s arm stood on edge as something decidedly not normal entered the room. “Cassie –” The power faded and Krista looked back at Luke once more. “I need her full name.”
    He was surprised she didn’t know it already. “Cassandra Torres-Jameson.”
    Krista nodded and turned back to the bed. Power swept through the room once more. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mel fold one arm across the front of her body and grip her elbow, balling her other hand in a fist. Luke didn’t know what made him do it, but he stepped just a little closer to her and brushed the back of his hand against her fist. Her hand loosened and he almost saw some of the tension ease out of her.
    “Cassandra Torres-Jameson,” said Krista, her voice echoing even in the small room, “Hear me.”
    Luke looked down when Mel grabbed his hand. She didn’t. He decided not to make a big deal about it, instead turning his attention to the witch. Krista spoke in a deep voice, but he couldn’t understand what she said. At first he was convinced it was English, but after focusing for a moment it seemed to morph into Spanish, and then into something else entirely. But it was all gibberish, he couldn’t tell what she was doing or saying to his sister.
    “Try not to focus on the words,” Mel whispered. “If you can’t do magic you can’t understand it.”
    That wasn’t the answer Luke wanted, but he wasn’t an expert on spell craft. “How do you know so much about magic?” He didn’t have a right to ask. He didn’t have any rights when it came to Mel, but it wasn’t going to stop him from asking.
    Mel pulled her hand from his and laced her two hands together in front of her. “Cost of doing business,” she said by way of explanation.
    Clearly that was a lie. But asking now would get Luke nothing, and part of him thought that when it came to this thief, he would want it all. Crazy thought, but it was there anyway.
    The power drained from the room once more and Krista stood, turning away from Cassie and facing Luke and Mel. Her face bore a grim expression, her eyes tired. “I can soothe Cassie’s pain,” she said, “And I can counteract some of the more obvious manifestations of the hex. But I will need time to put together everything to completely rid her of it.”
    For once Luke let himself hope. Her words belied her expression, “So you can make her better?” he asked.
    Krista hesitated and Luke gritted his teeth before she answered, “I can remove the hex. But I don’t know if she’ll survive. Cassie has given me her consent to try.”
    Luke took a step toward her, but the petite witch held her ground. “If you kill my sister, you will be a marked woman.” Mel placed a hand on his arm and he whirled around to face her. “What?”
    “Krista won’t kill Cassie. The hex will. If anything happens to Cassie, it won’t be because we didn’t try. So calm the fuck down right now.” She looked him in the eye while she gave the command, her green eyes lit with an inner fire.
    If anyone had been in the room with them Luke would have needed to reprimand her. No one gave the alpha an order in his own territory, especially not an outsider who’d already stolen from him. But the strangest thing happened –  instead of anger, Luke smiled. It wasn’t completely happy, but that was in the mish-mash of emotions whirling around his head. A part of him liked that Mel was strong enough to boss him around.
    And if she and her witch saved his sister, he’d be in her debt forever.
    “We’ll need Marco’s powder.” Krista addressed this to Mel, ignoring the temperamental lion