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“More powerful than yours, which I suspect is your real problem with Wynter,” Cain finished.
Esther’s mouth snapped shut. For a moment. “I implore you to reconsider—”
“No imploring,” said Azazel. “This is tedious enough as it is.”
Oh, Wynter couldn’t have agreed more.
When the Priestess again went to protest, Cain clipped, “No, we are done. You will leave, or you will die. The choice is yours.”
Esther clenched her fists. “She will ruin your town. She—”
“Leave, or die,” Cain ordered.
Wynter crossed her metaphorical fingers that the bitch would be dumb enough to push him. But, her cheeks flushing, Esther pivoted on her heel and stalked away with her coven members in tow.No such luck.
The crowd who’d gathered smirked and poked at the witches, spouting taunting comments like, “That’s it, run along.”
Cain glanced from her to Azazel and then tipped his chin toward the manor. In silence, they headed inside.
Back in the foyer, Azazel turned to her. “Your old coven is a joke.”
“You won’t get an argument from me,” said Wynter.
Looking deep into those quicksilver eyes, Cain tilted his head as he asked, “Was what Esther claimed about the teenagers true?”
Not even a flicker of emotion crossed Wynter’s face. “That they accidentally took my life? No. That I took theirs? Yes. I did mention that they were executed.”
“You didn’t say that you were the one who performed the executions,” Cain pointed out. It made him wonder what else she’d left out of her story.
“People always give me weird looks when they learn what happened to the boys,” said Wynter. “And hey, I get it. But I don’t like it. Surely there’s stuff that you two haven’t publicly shared because you know others will react in a way you won’t like.”
Unease tingled its way down Cain’s spine. “What makes you think that?”
“You and the Aeons are all super secretive,” she reminded him. “You let people draw their own conclusions, and you don’t bother to confirm or deny any theories. It stands to reason that you simply feel some things are better left unsaid. And no, I’m not asking for clarification on that.” She paused. “I would, however, like to know if you have any idea of who the Aeons might send next.”
What she wanted was to change the subject, Cain thought. And he had to admit she was smooth at easing a conversation away from one topic and onto another. He wouldn’t call her on it now, though. Not when he sensed that the scene outside hadn’t been quite as easy for her as she’d like him to believe.
“I doubt they’ll insist your old coven returns,” he said. “But someone will come. Keepers, perhaps. The Aeons will only come if it’s a last resort.”
Wynter poked the inside of her cheek with her tongue. “Is there an Aeon who you’d hesitate to hurt? That might be who they’ll send.”
Cain exchanged a look with Azazel. “There’s one, but they wouldn’t send her.”
“Why not?” asked Wynter.
“Because they prefer to keep she and I apart,” replied Cain. “And they would expect me to keep her here, which wouldn’t suit them.”
Wynter’s brow puckered for thebriefestmoment. “An ex of yours?”
“My mother.”
Wynter slanted her head. “But she sided against you in the war, right?”
“It wasn’t quite as simple as that.”
She parted her lips as if to question him further, but whatever she saw on his face made her instead choose to hold back her words.
Azazel turned to Cain, claimed he had somewhere to be, and then excused himself.
