“The warehouse district is finally secured,” Orendiel said, “Along with most of the residential neighborhoods. There are a few remaining strongholds in the Rockport area, but it won't be long before they surrender.
“Witches, I presume?” Trinity asked, her lip curling in disgust. “What, precisely, is the issue?”
At this, Fenlos gave a slight bow of his head. “They’ve been strangely resistant to the glamours, mistress. Furthermore, it seems the remaining witches in the area have banded together, making it nearly impossible for us to have any effect whatsoever.”
I squeezed my sisters’ hands, the first hopeful thing we’d heard yet. If witches remained in the Bay, and had gathered together to resist the invasion, they might be able to help us get inside.
I looked at Trinity, waiting for her to unleash her ire on Fenlos, but it never happened. She simply shook her head, clucking her tongue as though she could barely stand the weight of such disappointing news.
“Georgina really needs to work on gaining their trust,” she said. “Whereisthat stupid girl?” She rolled her eyes, then shouted at the ceiling, “Georgina!”
My heart leaped.Georgina. She was here. Our sister was here, right upstairs.
That was two pieces of good news in the last minute alone.
At least, I hoped it would be good news. We still didn’t know whose side Georgie was really on.
“Setting aside Georgina’s oversights for the moment”, Talia said, her tone even icier than Trinity’s, “have you made any progress with her sisters?”
The three of us immediately tensed.
“I don’t mean to question your authority, mistress,” she continued, her tone suggesting that she’d meant to doexactlythat. Unlike the men in the room, she did not appear to be theleastbit enthralled with Trinity. “But you assured us the full cooperation of all four Silversbane witches. That was a condition of your appointment. This plan will not work without them—not in the long term.”
“There’s no cause for agitation, Talia.” Trinity lowered her eyes, her fingernails running along a crack in the table.
Was she actually nervous?
“I’m getting closer to them each day,” she said.
Like hell you are.
“So you’ve said,” Talia replied, glancing at Fenlos as if to say,see what I mean?“At every meeting this month, you’ve made your empty promises. Yet we’ve seen no evidence that you’ve evenattemptedto reach the others, let alone gotten closer.”
“Georgina knows. Ask her.” Trinity glanced at the ceiling, as if my sister would apparate from thin air. “Georgina! Get down here! Now! You’re—”
“Trinity,” Fenlos said, calm and steely, “How can you be so certain they’ll follow you?”
Trinity looked at the man as if that were the dumbest question ever uttered. “I’m theirmother, Fenlos. Of course they’ll follow me.”
At this, Orendiel finally spoke up. “Forgive me, mistress, but I'm not so certain we should presume their loyalty just yet.”
Yeah? Good call there, glitter dick.
Trinity folded her hands on the table in front of her, her eyelid twitching. She looked about three minutes away from core meltdown.
“What was that, Orendiel?” she asked, her lips stretching into a menacing smile.
Orendiel shifted uncomfortably in his chair and lowered his eyes, but he didn’t back down. He simply cleared his throat and began again. “From my limited observation, Morgan and Serena areextremelyloyal—not just to each other, but to the demons, the vampire, and the wolf. Somehow this motley assortment has convinced a great many others to join their cause—primarily witches—and after the losses we suffered at the cemetery, it’s my opinion that we are underestimating their strengths, their numbers, and their ability to pose a serious challenge to our plans.”
Morgan and Serena.Me and Haley. How the hell did everyone at this table seem to know so much about us?
How long had they been watching? How long had they been planning, plotting, killing?
“My understanding,” Orendiel went on, “was that your daughters were removed from your care at a young age, raised in separate homes with no knowledge of you or each other. There's no guarantee they will evenrememberyou, let alone agree to follow you into a cause that flies directly in the face of everything they now stand for.”
“Agreed,” Fenlos said, and Talia smiled at Trinity, vicious and vindictive.
“A mother’s love for her children is a bond that cannot be broken,” Trinity snapped, and again I tried not to puke, but she was just getting warmed up. “Not by time or by distance,” she ranted on, “not by magic or rumors or lies, and mostcertainlynot by creatures so vile as demons, vampires, and shifters. Yes, my daughters and I have some things to work through, as any family would after a prolonged estrangement. But as I’ve said countless times before, I’m confident that once we clear up those misunderstandings, we will be united again as a family.”
