“What?”
“It’s true,” he said. “We’re meeting them at the office tomorrow at one. This guy will do protection spells, and then we’ll be safe from any attacks.”
“Only if his spells are strong enough.” Cece frowned.
“They will be,” Briggs said. “You can’t fight this alone, Cece.”
She rubbed at her forehead, her body slumping against the couch. “I’m so tired, Briggs.”
“I know. Go to bed and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be better.”
“Yeah, okay.” She stood, and when he stayed on the couch, she gave him a look. “Are you not going back to bed?”
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said.
“I doubt she’ll come back tonight, and if she does, I don’t want you alone down here,” Cece said.
“It’s not because of the witch,” he said. “It’ll be more work for your plants to -”
“They won’t bring me to you again tonight,” Cece said quickly.
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“My magic is depleted. I don’t have enough left in the tank for it to manipulate the plants.”
He studied her carefully. She looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes and no sign of a green glow.
“All right,” he said. “Let’s get some rest.”
She nodded and, being careful to keep a healthy distance between them, they headed toward the stairs.
CHAPTER 18
When Briggs stopped at the red light, Cece held her phone out to him. “Can you take a look at this picture and tell me if it’s the witch from last night?”
He studied the photo carefully before shaking his head. “No.”
“Are you sure? It was pretty dark out there, right?”
The light turned green, and he stepped on the gas. “I’m sure. Who is that?”
“My grandmother,” Cece said. “It’s a picture of her from some charity event she hosted last year.”
“Just because she’s not the witch who attacked last night, doesn’t mean it isn’t her behind it,” Briggs said.
“I know.” Cece lapsed into silence and stared out the window. She was exhausted and could barely think straight. She hadn’t gone back to sleep last night, and she wasn’t someone who did well on very little sleep. But her worry that the witch would return kept her awake.
Was it that? Or something else.
She sighed inwardly, squinting her eyes against the sunshine that reflected off the snow. She’d told Briggs last night that she didn’t have enough magic left to manipulate the plants, and while she’d been pretty certain that was true, she wasn’t completely confident. Her worry that she would carry herself right back to Briggs’s room had also been a big factor in not sleeping.
She stole a glance at Briggs. He looked tired and a little grumpy, and she wondered if he’d gotten any sleep either. From the look of the bags under his eyes, she guessed no.
Guilt washed over her, but she did her best to shake it off. They were on their way to the security firm to meet the warlock who would be performing the protection spells. If she had even a hint that his spell wouldn’t be strong enough, she would politely but firmly let Mal know that she no longer required their protection.
Her guilt at them spending so much time and resources on her at no cost was becoming overwhelming, but her worry that one of them would be hurt had been what pushed her to make the decision. The thought of Briggs dying or being injured because of her sent nausea rocketing through her. She grimaced and pressed her hand against her stomach as Briggs sniffed the air.
“What’s wrong?”
