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“Will there be any lingering aftereffects?”
“He’ll be as weak as shit for the next few days, but other than that, no.”
“Shame,” I couldn’t help muttering.
“Normally a comment like that would shock me, because hey, loyalty is all when it comes to any royal line, even if they hate each other. Now that I know some of your history, I’m actually more shocked you’re being so polite.”
I grimaced. “As much as I’d love to unleash the inner fury, it won’t do any good. In fact, it would probably only confirm their already low opinion of me.”
“From what I’ve witnessed, it couldn’t actually get much lower, so why bother with restraint?”
“Good point.” And to be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure the restraint would hold all that long if I had to interact with my family too much more.
Hell, even stepping out of the trees and catching my brother’s gaze had my fists clenching. He leaned against the Fairmont’s trunk, his expression as thunderous as his aura. The man was not happy, which not only eased a little of the fury but also had amusement running through me. You had to take your fun where you could, after all.
“I’m told,” he said, his tone cool and distant, “that I owe you my life.”
“And having saved said life, I’d appreciate it if you’d take my warnings a little more seriously in the future.” I stopped myself several feet away and crossed my arms. He’d probably see it as a defensive gesture, but it was more a denial of the need to grab his shirt and violently shake some sense into his arrogant skull. “This isn’t over yet, and he will come for you again.”
“He wouldn’t dare—”
“He’s a dark sorcerer returned to this world in the form of a revenge-seeking wraith. I think it’s pretty safe to say there’s nothing he wouldn’t do or dare to get what he wants.”
Juli studied me for a second, silver eyes gleaming in the hazy light of the approaching dusk. “I will be more careful—”
“You’ll stay home and do what you’re fucking told until Saska’s mob and I can stop this bastard.”
A condescending smile crept across his face, but I held up a finger in warning.
“Before you say anything derogatory, may I remind you that it was me—not you, not Father, not even the high council’s investigators—who found this bastard the first time. I was too late to save Cat, granted, but if you lot had listened to me, she might be alive today. Her death was never my fault. The blame lies with people like you—people who refused to believe that psi powers could do what magic could not.”
He didn’t reply but his face was a picture. My family’s status in Canberra these days was such that they very rarely faced anything in way of criticism—not directly, anyway—so unlike my father, Juli hadn’t cultivated restraint.
That said criticism was coming from the sister he despised made it all the more unpalatable.
“That is the most ridiculous statement I’ve ever heard.”
“Only to someone with their head stuck so far up their own ass that they wouldn’t see the truth even if it could slap them in the face.” I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Saska, how far away is transport?”
“Ten minutes.” Though she was depositing the woman alongside the bound and gagged men, her voice ran with amusement.
“Good. I’ll wait over near the trees. I need fresh air.”
I strode to the trees and didn’t turn around, even though Juli’s gaze burned a figurative hole in my back and his silent demand that I turn and face him filled the air. I continued to ignore him, and instead dragged out my phone and used the time to cruise through social media and calm down.
Saska’s people arrived, and Samuel wasn’t with them, which surprised me given my brother’s standing in Canberra. But maybe he was caught up dealing with my father. He would have been notified the minute the mess at the restaurant went down—news like that didn’t take long to get around a place like Canberra—and my father would have demanded a direct update from the man in charge.
Once our prisoners were handed over and the team updated, Saska led me across to one of the cars while my brother was guided to another. It didn’t take us all that long to get back to Hattie’s, which was a relief because weariness was definitely sweeping in.
“I’ll pick you up at eight fifteen.” Saska halted next to the front steps then handed me a business card with her phone number on it. “Don’t go anywhere without ringing me first.”
I nodded. “Has extra security been placed on my brother?”
“Yes. And he’s been ordered to cancel face-to-face meetings for the next few days.” She studied me for a second. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re as powerful as any person in your family, just in a different way.”
I half smiled. “There is only one power that matters to my family.”
“Then they’re fools. But you already know that.”
