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“What the hell, Pearl?”
“I came to visit him,” she said defensively. “A friendly gesture. I found this mess. I also found him, severely aggressive. I had to tell someone.”
“He didn’t do it,” Maddox snapped. Emerald stepped forward.
“That will be determined,” she said, eyeing him warily. But her voice was no-nonsense. “But for now, he can’t be here. The warlock patrol is coming. They are an unforgiving group when it comes to situations like these. One look at him, and they won’t even try to listen. And of course, they will find out the kid’s connection to you and my sister.”
He had heard of the warlock patrol but hadn’t had the bad luck of encountering them, not when he avoided trouble like the plague. He knew they were right, but the look Emerald was giving him didn’t sit well with him. Pearl kept looking apologetic while Sapphire was the hardest to read, her expression unfathomable.
“Are you going to hurt him?” he finally asked.
There was a long, heavy pause. Then Sapphire shook her head.
“No. Not unless he is proven guilty.”
It removed a bit of the trepidation, understanding they had that sentiment because of what had happened to their brother. Yet he knew he couldn’t relax completely and knew there was nothing he could do, not when Moon was stuck between two complicated scenarios.
“Moon…”
“I will be all right. Let them find out the truth and how it doesn’t involve me. I woke up to this.”
The shake in the boy’s voice broke his heart, but Maddox gulped it down and tried to look strong for him. He gave a nod of encouragement. Moon nodded back, golden eyes fighting off panic.
“Where are you taking him?”
“A different forest, one close to our home. It’s well-protected.” Sapphire exhaled deeply. “We need to do something first—to prove our family’s innocence, hopefully. Everything will fall into place after that.”
“Don’t worry too much,” Pearl assured. “Just help us find out who did this.”
Emerald remained silent. Maddox watched as the three carried Moon off with their magical net, surprisingly gentle so as not to hurt. He kept watching until the four were out of sight, then turned back to look at the mess left behind.
Then Maddox was backtracking his steps to investigate the scene of the murders.
Chapter 12
Ruby marched toward her family’s cottage with murder in her mind, but not the kind of murder that involved death and blood. Maybe destruction was boiling inside her, but she kept a tight lid over it and tried not to punch the first face she saw. Coincidentally, Emerald was that first face as they bumped into each other in the backyard, where the blonde was painting something. The serene, unbothered sight triggered something inside Ruby, pushing her to get in Emerald’s face. The blonde raised a brow, mouth already turning down in disapproval.
“You are late. You are—”
Ruby dialed down her magic but slapped hard, sending her sister stumbling back several steps. Emerald recoiled as blood trickled down her nostrils, then charged forward and tried to slap Ruby back. She avoided the first attempt and was thrown back at the next one, feeling the slice on her cheeks and watching the drop of blood with her palm.
“What the hell, Ruby?” Emerald hissed.
“You know why, Em,” she hissed back.
“What—”
“The net was your idea—the magical net, which zaps the energy from the person it wraps around until they are rendered helpless. You scared the shit out of a boy who has already been rejected so many times in his life, all because your high and mighty self refuses to see that he is the sweetest personeveron this island.”
Green eyes glazed with stupefaction, then turned uncertain.
“You scared him,” Ruby repeated, shaking in her effort to get her point across. “You traumatized him. You treated him like garbage just like everybody else treats us—all because you care too much about what those assholes think.”
“That’s uncalled for. And that’s unfair. Ruby, you shouldn’t have brought him here in the first place. And you shouldn’t have hidden him here.”
“Bullshit. Hiding him was the right decision, because look at what you did the moment you found out. And don’t get me started on his right to be here—”
“That’s another thing, you shouldn’t have—”
