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“I’ll be with the other Ancients while we work on finding out who freed Saul.” Cain squeezed the side of her neck. “Stay safe.”
“You be careful too,” she very much ordered. “Saul wants you dead as much as he does me.”
Cain planted a quick kiss on her mouth. “I’ll be careful.” He left through the front door of the cottage, finding Maxim waiting for him outside the gate to the yard.
“Seth wished me to tell you that he and the other Ancients will wait for you at his Keep, Sire,” the aide reported.
“Thank you, Maxim. I’ll head straight there.” And hopefully not discover that one of his relatives had betrayed them all.
*
As the front door closed behind Cain, Wynter could only stand there, utterly stunned. The others were just as quiet, looking to her for cues as to what to do next.
Snapping out of her daze, she rolled back her shoulders. “First things first, we need to do a quick but thorough search of the cottage. It’s unlikely that that Aeon asshole is hiding somewhere inside, but let’s not take any chances. Xavier, Delilah, Anabel—look upstairs, including the attic. Hattie and I will search down here. If there are any windows open, shut and lock them.”
Everyone dispersed. Wynter walked from room to room, checking cupboards, looking behind large furnishings, and even peering under the sofa. She left no corner unchecked and was sure to lock both the front and rear door shut, just as she did the windows.
“He’s definitely not upstairs,” Xavier declared as they all gathered in the hallway.
“Downstairs is clear as well,” Hattie announced.
“I glanced through the attic window to check the backyard,” began Anabel, “but it doesn’t look like anyone’s out there.”
“We need to try scrying for Saul again,” said Delilah. “I’m not saying we should go nab the bastard ourselves—like it or not, we can’t do it alone. I’m saying we could then tip off whoever comes to search the cottage for any sign of him.”
Wynter nodded. “Considering there’s every possibility that he’ll come here for me, we need to take some magickal precautions, too, and maybe even lay some traps.”
“I’ll whip up some brews that will help,” declared Anabel, hurrying up the stairs.
Xavier squeezed Wynter’s shoulder. “If he does come here, he’ll fucking wish he didn’t.”
“Amen to that,” said Hattie. “Who do we think freed him?”
“The three Aeons living with Seth are the obvious suspects.” Delilah folded her arms. “One of them could have acted independently. Or they could all have been involved.”
Wynter bit the inside of her cheek. “I would agree if Saul merely wanted to return me to Aeon so I could fix the land—that would for sure suit them. But he doesn’t intend to do that at all. He wants me dead. I don’t see how Eve, Rima, or Noah would benefit from that.”
“If they’re thinking that there’s no way they can get you back to Aeon to lift the curse, they may be instead willing to settle for a little revenge,” mused Xavier.
Wynter inclined her head, conceding it was possible.
“Or they could have managed to convince him to instead return you to Aeon,” suggested Hattie. “He probably would have agreed to just about anything if they’d only free him.”
“Definitely. But we shouldn’t overlook that it could have been someone else.” Delilah perched her hands on her hips. “Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Ishtar had something to do with it.”
Wynter felt her brow furrow. “Ishtar?”
“I don’t know what exactly Cain told you about himself—purely because you won’t satisfy my nosiness like the good bestie you’re supposed to be—but I’m betting she won’t be happy that he trusted you with it,” hedged Delilah. “It means she has to face that he’s serious about you. That will have crushed her delusion that she could somehow shove you out of the picture. Might she seek some other way to get rid of you? Possibly. She has to know that Saul would be sure to come for you if he was released.”
Xavier pointed at Delilah as he said to Wynter, “That is worth considering. Ishtar has proven time and time again that she’s one vindictive bitch.”
“But I’m not the only person Saul wants dead,” said Wynter. “He’s also gunning for Cain. She wouldn’t want anything happening to him.”
“She might trust that he could defend himself against Saul,” Hattie suggested. “Or maybe she’s mad enough at Cain for choosing you over her—something she’ll for sure see as a betrayal—that she won’t mind betraying him right back. After all, she’s done it once already. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: A scorned woman is a dangerous creature.”
A theory of which the old woman was living proof, so she did indeed make a good point. Wynter let out a heavy breath. “Ishtar’s a spiteful enough person to be capable of it, I’ll grant you that. But I would think that she’d hesitate to do it, since she’d have to know that someone might point the finger at her—especially given that, as Hattie pointed out, Ishtar recently betrayed Cain in a whole other way. The Ancients won’t find it hard to believe that she’d do it again even though it would mean another punishment.”
Delilah raised her index finger. “But unless they can prove it was her—and she’s devious enough to ensure that the crime can’t be traced back to her, even if it means having someone else do the deed for her—she won’t be punished again. Technically. I mean, taking Cain’s nature into account and how he feels about you, it’s possible that he’d punish her on the off-chance that it was her.”
