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I hated that there was something unspoken between us, some kind of rift, but now wasn’t the time to fix it.It’s a saying; it means it’s easy to say something after the fact.
You and your sayings,she grumbled lightly. I had the feeling that she was treading on eggshells around me; she felt uneasy and it was unsettling me, like having an itch under my skin that I couldn’t reach. It was wrong and irritating.
There was a light knock at the window. Bastion was hovering there in his griffin form. We were on the ground floor so he could have quite easily stood, but instead he was using his massive wings. I opened the large window. He moved forward then, at the last moment, he transformed into his human counterpart and hopped lightly through the window. ‘Show off,’ I accused with an eye roll.
He winked, which looked somewhat odd without a corresponding smile. ‘I came as fast as I could. What’s the emergency?’
I didn’t know where to begin. Okay, I knew where to begin but I didn’t want to. How do you tell someone their daughter is involved in something so nefarious as kidnapping children to siphon off their magic? I’m not a parent, but I know that most parents believe that the sun shines out of their progeny’s behinds. I doubted that Bastion was an exception.
Call me a coward, but I started with something else instead. ‘Reynard got snatched after we left the den the first time. He was caught by the female ogre, Gillian.’
‘The one that served us drinks, who constantly looked like she was smelling shit.’ Greg interjected.
‘That’s the one,’ I confirmed. ‘She kidnapped Reynard and took him to an unknown destination, where he regained consciousness in a cage. Whilst he was there he saw a witch, a griffin, an ogre and a succubus.’
‘I didn’t see the witch,’ Reynard corrected. ‘The others just referred to her.’
‘You know about my back story, right?’ I asked Bastion. ‘That a succubus was dating me, we had sex too many times and that caused my organs to go into failure?’
He nodded. ‘Virtually everyone knows your back story,’ he said dryly. ‘Jinx called everyone she could think of when you were dying, including me. I didn’t have a solution, I’m afraid.’
‘As it happens, I’m quite happy with the solution that Jess came up with. I like being a werewolf. I love having Esme with me.’
I love being with you, too.
I know. We’ll work this out.I gave her a mental hug and we both felt better. The itching feeling of wrongness subsided.
‘I’m assuming you’re telling me this for a reason. The succubus is your ex, James.’
‘That’s the one. A few weeks ago, before all that stuff with Ace Frost kicked off, the pack brought James to me as a test. He was accused of trying to kill someone else. I shifted into my wolf form and Esme and I meted out some justice.’
‘Not the permanent kind, I take it.’
‘Well, we permanently ripped off his man junk, but no, we didn’t end his life.’
Unfortunately.
‘And now he’s kidnapped your pup,’ Bastion concluded.
‘Exactly. But it’s not just about vengeance. The four of them are working together to try to strip magical beings of their magic.’
‘Extinguishing them,’ Bastion whispered in horror. It takes a lot to make a hardened assassin looked horrified, but the thought of extinguishing children did just that.
‘Worse than extinguishing them. They don’t want to stop the children’s magic but to steal it for themselves. To transfer it, to make themselves stronger.’
Bastion looked grim. ‘We know the identity of two of the kidnappers and I’ve narrowed down the griffin suspect down to two suspects.’
I cleared my throat awkwardly. ‘Actually, Krieg knew the name of the griffin involved. Did you hear any of our conversation?' If he had, that would save me an awkward chat.
Bastion shook his head fractionally.
Damn. I decided to tell him the truth quickly, like ripping off a plaster. ‘I’m sorry Bastion, this is a bit awkward – it’s Ghost – Charlize.’
Bastion’s expression stayed deliberately blank. I reminded myself never to play poker with him. He showed not an iota of shock.
I sighed. ‘You knew that Ghost was Charlize this whole time, didn’t you?’
‘Obviously,’ he drawled.
