Page 125 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

“I love you, Jayce Westwood, only you,” I say. He knows it, but I still want to remind him, even if I wish I could hear it back.

I leave the room just as my phone buzzes. I take it out and read the message that is written in Arabic.

AHREN: We’ll see you soon, sister.

I clutch the phone to my chest, a wave of relief washing over me. ‘We’ll’ meaning the girls are with him.

Perfect.

A Plan

Sienna

“Ijust spoke to Aunty Kiara,” Jayce says as he enters the room. I look up as he shuts the door to the suite we’re in. It’s a while later, and we’re all in a hotel in Birmingham; the tracking tag Jayce had slipped onto Uncle Liam is blinking away on the tablet in Allie’s hand. I’ve cast a privacy spell on the room to be safe, too.

Currently, I’m sitting on the bed between Heaven and Allie.

They had arrived with Ahren about an hour ago, and to say I was ecstatic to see them is an understatement. Having them near makes me feel even more confident in what we’re about to do, knowing we can rely on one another from a magical standpoint, too. Even though my control has gotten better, it’s comforting to know others can take over in that department if the need arises.

“What did she say?” Ahren asks from where he’s lounging on the sofa by himself, his feet propped up on the coffee table.

Jayce sighs as he walks over and leans against the wall. I notice Heaven’s sharp eyes analysing him and realise it’s his clothes – Theo’s clothes. She must have recognised them. A sliver of sadness washes through me. She won’t let on, but she misses him.

“She said the werewolf they talked to in Italy had said a rabid wolf had bitten him, and due to the poisoning, he lost his shifting, healing and mind-linking abilities,” Jayce says, combing his fingers through his hair.

“So either the primordial was the rabid wolf, or he was around when the rabid – I’m assuming a rogue who had gone feral – bit him,” I say, frowning slightly.

“It seems so.” Heaven nods, and Ahren hums in agreement.

We’ve already filled them in on everything so far.

“So, what’s the plan then?” Allie asks, raising an eyebrow.

Ahren sighs. “Well, to make it clear, it is going to be risky, and if I had to choose my team, I may not have gone for you three, but at the same time we do need witches, and you two – forgive me – Allie, are stronger than Mom or Aunty Ri. But we do have to be really careful that we do not get any open wounds in the process of this operation.”

“And yet when you came for Jayce and me, you had an open wound. What if something happened?” I remind him.

He smiles slightly. “I know, but I lost nothing; I checked. But yeah, we can’t afford something like that again. It’s a risk we can’t take.”

“Agreed,” Jayce says. “So Dad and Katara are leaving in about an hour; Dad’s dealing with the emergency report that came in.” He looks at Ahren, who chuckles.

“That’ll keep him busy for a while.”

I sigh, poor Uncle Liam – Ahren messing with him means he made it complicated.

“So, we set up our trap. Leo has sent what we asked for,” Jayce begins.

“You mean I collected it; no one gives me credit,” Ahren complains.

Jayce barely spares him a glance, refusing to acknowledge his contribution. “Leo isn’t happy with whatever we’re doing, but he didn’t really push for information. But once he knows the full extent of what is going on, he’s going to lose his shit. So, let’s succeed and not give him a reason to get pissed at us. We do this carefully, swiftly, and without mistakes.”

“Right, we know,” Allie says flatly, folding her arms. “We all understand the risk, so what’s the actual plan?”

Jayce turns, grabs a folded-up paper and, unfolding it, spreads it across the bed to reveal an A2-sized poster. The three of us turn and shuffle closer to see the map properly.

“We start by placing three high-level spells to contain him across the city centre,” he says, marking the locations with precise movements. “We discussed the three spots; you girls chose these, so I hope one of them turns out to be the right one.”

He taps each marked location in turn.