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I doubt you being out there will matter in the long run, Belle said. This bastard has had years to plot his revenge, and I’m betting he’s got every little detail planned out.
Probably, but I’ve nothing to lose by trying.
Nothing except my life, of course, and if the images he’d left were indeed a hunting order, then I really didn’t have to worry about him turning on me until my father was dead.
Your father is not going to react well to any attempt to protect him or curtail his movements.
No. Mainly because he was extremely confident in the superiority of his own magic—with good reason, of course, as he was one of the strongest witches in Canberra. I didn’t know Julius all that well, but from our brief interaction at the café not so long ago, he was very much my father’s son when it came to self-belief.
Even if he didn’t quite have the same power levels and skill.
More people arrived. Samuel ordered the lake and the bank on the other side searched, then motioned a tall, thickset woman with dark skin and crimson red hair forward. After introducing us, he said, “Saska will escort you both home.”
“There’s no—”
“Oh, there’s every need.” His tone was dry. “The council would have my head if something happened to their star witness before the trial could reach its end.”
I snorted. “Like anything I say will make a difference to their decision anyway.”
“The mere fact your father has been hauled before the court at all has generated great consternation amongst the royal lines and great delight among the lesser lines,” Saska said, her voice deep and almost masculine. “In many ways, the trial has already achieved its main aim.”
“I still want the bastard to pay some sort of penance.”
“The council might yet surprise you,” Samuel said.
“That’s extremely unlikely, and we all know it.” I motioned toward the path. “Shall we go?”
Saska nodded and spun around, moving at a good clip down the path. By the time we came out from under the long row of trees, the rain had eased, though the night remained bitterly cold. Saska didn’t say anything, but her gaze and her magic constantly scanned the night. Which was reassuring, even though I was pretty sure she wouldn’t find anything. The threat had long since passed.
It took fifteen minutes of brisk walking to arrive back at the subdivision. The end house had been cordoned off, all the internal lights were ablaze, and multiple people walked in and out. Up ahead on the road, the yellow lights of a tow truck washed across the darkness as a man wearing a reflective vest loaded Belle’s car onto the back of the vehicle’s tray.
I glanced at Saska. “I take it you’re driving us home?”
She nodded. “All part of the service. Besides, you can’t drive a car that has a missing door. The cops would pull you over in an instant.”
They could certainly try, Belle said. But they’d suddenly find themselves turned in the opposite direction. I am not in the mood to deal with any more officialdom at the moment.
A mood I could utterly understand. All I wanted to do right now was get to Hattie’s, drop into bed, and sleep so deeply not even dreams could find me. But that was unlikely to happen—Ashworth and Eli had to be updated, and I also desperately needed a hot chocolate with a good handful of marshmallows. My energy levels needed the sugar hit.
We were ushered into the back of Saska’s SUV and quickly driven over to Hattie’s place. Belle telepathically contacted Eli once we were close enough, so by the time we walked into the kitchen, our hot chocolates were ready and waiting.
It was after two by the time Ashworth and Eli were updated and plans made. I was so damn tired when I crawled into bed that sleep hit almost instantly.
But it didn’t stop the dreams.
They were filled with images of bloody death that would not stop until the wraith was truly dead.
Or I was.
At breakfast the next morning, Eli slid a pair of gloves across to me and said, “Wear these in the testing room.”
“Why?”
“Because they’ll help contain the wild magic.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? How?”
I mean, they looked like regular woolen gloves, even if they felt a little heavier than usual.
