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Especially when any sort of confrontation was something the sixteen-year-old inner me was still desperate to avoid.
“Not us, specifically. I’m thinking more along the lines of Monty, Ashworth, and Eli—”
“I suspect it’s gone well beyond the point of talking sense into him, given what Ashworth said about his fall from grace in recent years. Combine that with the impotency spell—”
“A spell I will never regret, no matter what he does to us.”
Even as she said that, trepidation stirred and my gut began to churn. Not for my safety, but rather Belle’s. I put the suddenly tasteless brownie down and said, “Are any of your gran’s spell books upstairs?”
“Yes—why?”
“Look through them and see if there’s anything that will protect you against magic.”
“What’s the point? No spell we create will ever stop Clayton’s magic. He’s just too powerful.”
“Maybe, but if I wrap wild magic in it, it’ll help.”
Her frown deepened. “I thought you wanted to avoid any overt displays when it came to wild magic.”
“I do, and it’s a risk, but I’d rather that than risk losing you.”
Alarm overtook the confusion. “Do you really think he’d go so far as to hurt me?”
“The easiest way to stop me is to hurt you, Belle, and he’s well aware of that.”
Fear, anger, and determination all flashed through her expression. “Then maybe we need to do more than simply talk to him. Maybe what we really need to do is give him no choice but to walk away.”
I snorted. “And how the hell are we supposed to do that?”
“Well, he has to be staying in the reservation somewhere, and he certainly won’t be camping out. He’s not the type to go without his luxuries.”
“True, but—”
“If we can find him, we can confront him. All of us, together, recording everything that is said and done. Combine that with the truth seeker’s report, and we may just be able to force his agreement to an annulment.”
“I don’t know.” My voice was uncertain. “It’s a big risk.”
“Sitting around waiting for him to show us his cards is an even bigger one,” Belle said. “At least this way, we have a fighting chance.”
“A fighting chance of what?” Aiden said, as he sat back down at the table.
“We’re talking about Clayton,” Belle said. “I don’t suppose you can abuse your ranger powers and get someone to check if he’s staying within the reservation?”
“Already doing it,” he said with a smil
e. “But there’s a lot of hotels and B&Bs here, so it will take a few days. I take it you’ve now got a plan of action for when he is found?”
“Confrontation,” Belle said. “A pack of us—wolves and witches—with the meeting fully recorded on a number of devices.”
He glanced at me. “I like this plan, but I suspect Liz doesn’t.”
“I don’t. I can think of too many things that could go wrong.”
He reached out and caught my hand. “So can I. But no matter what evidence we collect, no matter what Ashworth or this Black Lantern Society does to help you out of the marriage, you will have to face him in the end, Liz. It’s the only way you’ll ever be truly free.”
“All of which makes absolute sense. But this is something I’ve spent a good part of my life running from. It’s going to be hard to change that habit.”
And hard to ignore the fear and the memories that would rise the minute I saw him. Memories that might well freeze me in place for too many vital seconds.
