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His mouth pulled into a grimace. “They used magic to make it look like it was a couple of separate accidents, her and the guy. But there wasn’t even any debate about it, as far as I could tell. Standard procedure, as soon as they found out. Eliminate the problem and the evidence.” He dragged in a shaky breath. “There were two names on the report, signing off. One of them is Eliza Hammersmith, one of the women in the Assembly that Mr. Cortland was talking to.”
A sharper chill washed over me. “You thinkhe’sinvolved in… in murdering people?”
Ky shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how many people even in the Assembly are in on those kind of… operations, or whatever you want to call them. I had to do a lot of digging just to find those records. Very few people were on the approved list, and that area of the network was set up so you wouldn’t know it was there at a glance. But if Cortland suspected you’d started seeing us—any of us—and mentioned it to Ms. Hammersmith, we’d still be in just as much trouble.”
My knees wobbled. Seth was at my side in an instant, his hand on my back. Jin came up on my other side, slipping his arm around my waist. They both bowed their heads close as the shock of that information rolled over me.
“Hey,” Jin said. “It’s just one case. That’s all you have, right?” He glanced at Ky, who nodded.
“I’ve got no idea what the other records in that section were about,” he said.
“You’d never heard anything about the Assembly resorting to violence?” Seth asked me.
“No.” My voice came out small. “If it was necessary, because a witch was being violent and they had to subdue her in self-defense, but otherwise… We have due process. We have lawyers and trials like anyone else.”
Except when a witch dallied with an unsparked man, apparently. Spark help me, what had I dragged the guys I loved into?
I tried to catch my breath and slow my spinning thoughts. I’d thought no matter what happened with my father, I’d be able to present a case to the Assembly, show that a consorting like this was possible and fruitful… So much for that. So what options did that leave me with?
“You didn’t see anything in your searching about my dad, did you?” I asked Ky.
“Just what looked like standard stuff, his witnessing of your engagement, that kind of thing. Nothing that made me think he’s involved in anything… murderous. But the way your stepmother was going to manipulate your ceremony isn’t something they’d officially report anyway, right?”
“No. But so far, with everything I’ve seen, it looks like he has no idea what Celestine and Derek were planning. Maybe I can go to him, and he’ll have some idea of where to go from here, how to keep the Assembly from finding out.”
“Are you sure you’re ready to trust him?” Gabriel said. “I know he’s your dad, and I know Celestine isn’t trustworthy, but he has made… questionable decisions before.”
He had, and particularly when it came to my guys and their families. I bit my lip. “I don’t know. Maybe when he gets back from trying to talk to Celestine and I see how that’s affected him, I’ll have a clearer idea. Or I can go back to my original plan.” I could conjure another paper like the one Derek had stolen. Push Dad toward it more insistently.
I couldn’t risk opening up to him about what I’d done when not just my life but all four of my consorts’ were on the line.
“And if it seems like I can’t trust him… I’ll figure something out. I just need time to think.” I glanced around at my guys. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
My consorts eased closer around me. Seth dipped his head right against mine, his breath warm against my cheek. “You know we’ll do the same for you,” he said.
Jin kissed my shoulder. “We’re in this until the end, Briar Rose, brambles and all.”
I held out my hands, taking Kyler’s and Damon’s. “Right here with you,” Ky said firmly.
“Yeah,” Damon said. “It’ll take an army of witches to get rid of me now.”
My thudding pulse slowed with their presence all around me. My gaze drifted from them to the one guy now completely outside our ring of devotion.
Gabriel was watching us, his expression rigid, his normally bright eyes darkened with emotion. When they caught mine, the heat in them seemed to leap from him to me, sweeping through my body from head to toe. My heart skipped a beat. Then he was wrenching his gaze away with a clearing of his throat.
“I’ll still be keeping an eye out around the house,” he said. “I can try to chum up to Derek more and see what he’ll spill. However I can help, I will. It’d probably be better if I get back to the estate well ahead of you, though.”
“Gabriel,” I started. What was wrong with me that I ached to call him over to join us, after what I’d just learned?
What was wrong with me that I couldn’t find the words to do it, as much as I wanted to?
His jaw worked, but he smiled. “I’ll see you at the house,” he said, and ducked out the door.
My throat tightened as the lock clicked back into place behind him. Kyler studied my expression.
“He should have been here,” he said.
The words echoed my thoughts so well that for a second I could only blink at him. “What?”
