Page 30 of Rogue Witch

“Cheer up,” Matthias claps me on the shoulder. “With Ciarah’s return, we will, no doubt, see him soon.”

Matthias is right. At their very heart, wolves demand freedom, and their instincts make them nearly impossible to capture. But he loves Ciarah as much as we do. He’ll show up.

“What did a bishop have to contribute to the latest Shadow war?” Raith asks.

“There are Margiddians in the Church. As you well know, Raith.”

Raith lifts his somewhat-full glass in salute. “Oh, yes, I know.”

“You three did quite well in defeating The Shadows,” Matthias says.

“It was your job to be here,” Raith says.

“Should I have abandoned defenseless members of the Church?”

Raith’s eyes narrow.

“Do you think Tychon sent the Thol’guk to the potionary to kill Ciarah?” Matthias asks.

“What?” Blade blurts in unison with my “You know?” and Raith’s “I should kick your ass.”

Amusement ticks at the corner of Matthias' mouth. “You should have seen Ciarah. She was magnificent. And that night howler pig.” His eyes gleam. “I have never seen one in its natural form. The creature is formidable.”

“You were there when the demon attacked?” Blade demands.

“Don’t get your knickers in a bunch.” “Knickers in a bunch” is said with a good approximation of Blade’s British accent. “She was quite safe. She had me and her familiar. The night howler pig gave the demon quite a beating. Ciarah—” He pauses. “She did something I have never seen her do before. She conjured black balls of churning magic.”

“What do you mean ‘black balls of churning magic’?” Raith returns to his seat on the couch and pins Matthias with a stare.

“Just that. They were balls of wispy black fragments.”

“Shadows?” Raith demands.

Matthias’s brow furrows. “No. Nothing like Shadows. Shadows are solid black ribbons. These were wispy, translucent, swirling.”

“I don’t like it,” Raith mutters.

“I don’t know why not,” Matthias says. “She defeated the demon.”

Raith grunts. “Demons can be defeated with Shadows.”

Matthias snorts. “In what world?”

Raith scowls and takes a gulp of whiskey.

“So, there was an attempt on her life,” Matthias says, “and she encountered a Thol’guk at her grandmother’s house.”

“You think the Thol’guk was sent there to kill her?” Blade asks.

“That is what they do best.” Matthias shrugs. “The night howler pig gave the demon no opportunity to talk. Thol’guks are sometimes used to capture someone.”

“Bounty hunters,” I say. “I suppose we should be glad it wasn’t an Il’gis.”

Matthias’s expression darkened. “One of the unholy creatures attacked and killed a priest a couple of years ago.”

I exchange a look with Raith and Blade.

Blade gently asks Matthias, “A priest in your order?”