Fuck. It was probably Isabelle. He thought he’d have more time to tell Jacinda about his plan, but the last few hours had passed like minutes, and now it was too late.
“Jacinda, wait. Don’t open the door yet.”
She turned to look at him over her shoulder, her face pinching with worry. “What’s going on?”
He slipped in between Jacinda and the door, barring her from opening it. “Whatever we need to do to track down Viansa—whatever spells, whatever dark magic you need to perform—we both know you can’t handle it on your own.”
“Wow. Okay.Wow.” Hurt flashed in her eyes, and she took a step backward, popping her hands on her hips. “I get that you don’t trust me—totally fair—but if this is going to work? You need to get over it. I know I fucked up, and I’llgladlyspend the rest of my life making amends, but not until we nail my sister. We don’t have time to—”
“It’s not about trust, Jacinda. It’s about this being too big for one witch.” He stepped close to her again, resting his hands on her shoulders. “You need backup.”
“You mean a babysitter?”
“I meanbackup,” he repeated.
“What about you? You said this task binds us. I thought… It’syourcurse! You can’t just bail.”
There was more to it than his curse, and they both knew it. But Jacinda would no more admit that now than she had earlier.
You already know…
“I’m not bailing,” he said. “I’ll work every angle I can possibly work, but at the end of the day, I’m not a witch. I can’t do magic and craft spells. Can’t figure out bindings and hexes and rituals. For that, you need one of your own.”
The knock came again.
“Just a moment,” Gabriel called out.
Before him, Jacinda shook her head. This time, it wasn’t sadness or regret that turned her eyes glassy, but anger, as sharp and hot as he’d ever seen it.
“One of my own,” she snapped. “Right. And guess how many of myownopened their arms to me when I first arrived here? Guess how many showed even ahintof compassion or friendship? I wandered the streets for months. Trying to find a coven, trying to find even a single witch willing to give me a chance. Do you think I would’ve made myself available to Duchanes if I had another option? If I had friends or witch sisters that could help me get on my feet? They practically spat on me, Gabriel. Like I was a rat. A fucking cockroach.”
Gabriel swallowed hard, sadness and anger tightening his throat. To think of her like that, alone after the death of her father, fresh out of a tortured existence in hell…
“From what I understand…” he said, trying to keep his voice even, “the path of a dark witch is often a solitary one. Your own father—”
“Itissolitary. But that’s not always by choice. My father would’ve loved nothing more than to share his practice with his coven, but they shunned him. They didn’t trust him, all because he was more advanced than the elders.”
“I understand, but certainly there are witches who don’t feel that way. Not all—”
“Seriously? You’re about to ‘not all witches’ me? Trust me, Prince. I’ve been around enough of them in my time topside to say it with certainty. Yes, all witches. And no, I won’t be trusting any of them with this.” She stomped into the kitchen in search of the alcohol, but they’d already polished off most of it. “And since when the fuck doyoutrust witches? I thought you hated them. Devil knows you’d never letmeforget it.”
“I don’t,” he said. “Generally. But thereisone who’s proven to be—”
The door rattled once more. This time, Gabriel opened it. Jacinda wouldn’t be swayed by words, anyway.
No sense delaying the inevitable.
He ushered Isabelle inside, keeping one hand firmly on the door, one foot over the threshold, more than eager to make his escape.
“I’m not sure you two were ever properly introduced,” he said. “Jacinda Colburn, meet Isabelle Armitage. Bonded Redthorne witch, empath, occasional explorer of the dark arts, and—until we send your sister back to hell in a locked box—your new best mate.”
Isabelle nodded sagely, then headed to the table, where she set her magical case and took a seat.
Jacinda merely glared at him, her eyes flashing with warning.
I’m going to kill you,she mouthed.
“I’ll check back in a few hours. Oh, and before I forget…” Gabriel grinned, taking more pleasure than he should in Jacinda’s obvious irritation. “In the interest of full transparency, Isabelle is also adamngood demon exorcist, sodotry not to piss her off.”
