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I waved to him and hurried down to meet him. “Hey,” I said, stepping into the arms he opened and hugging him back. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I just heard from my ‘friends’ who went to scope out the Cliff property,” Damon murmured by my ear. “Are we okay to talk?”
None of the staff was around right now, but I was trying to limit how much they saw me being affectionate with the guys. I tugged him into the sitting room and closed the door. “What did you find out?” I asked eagerly.
His grimace dulled my excitement. “There are a ton of guards patrolling the property, plus a squad staked out around the gate. My contact said something along the lines of, ‘They’d have to have the queen’s jewels stashed in there for us to risk that attempt.’”
“Oh.” I tried not to let my disappointment show, but I must have visibly deflated, because Damon caught my hand again.
“We’ll find a way to get those Assembly pricks out there without the Frankfords stopping us,” he said. “You might even manage to convince me not all of the Assembly people are pricks. I’ve got all the details on the patrols for us to go over. The guys from the gang—they wouldn’t have counted on having magic on their side.”
No. There was that. But as he pulled a sheaf of paper out of his pocket to go over those details, my heart had already sunk.
What good did it do us to know how to reach the right Assembly members if we couldn’t show them what we needed to?
Chapter Twenty
Jin
“Well,” I said, toeing a charred chunk of plaster that had fallen from the even more charred gallery ceiling—or what was left of its ceiling. There didn’t seem to be a whole lot else I could say.
Seth’s mouth twisted as he rotated on his feet, taking in the whole space. The foundation of the building was still standing, but that was about it. The fire had gutted the rest, from the roof to the once-gleaming hardwood floor that was now a scorched mess of cinders. It’d eaten away at the white walls and the paintings that’d been hung on them, exposing the brick exterior from the inside out. All that was left of the second floor were some blackened stumps of joists protruding from the edges of the space like jagged fingernails.
The smell of burnt wood and plaster hung heavy in the air. I rubbed my nose. With each breath, the stink coated my throat too.
“Yeah,” Seth said, coming to a stop facing me again. “I don’t think there’s much we can preserve here. We’ll need to strip it completely and rebuild from scratch.”
I nodded. I’d figured as much after seeing the reports, but I’d wanted to get an educated second opinion. Even if hearing that opinion made me feel a little sick.
It was hard not to picture the gallery the way it had been the last time I’d set foot in it—hard not to remember the works I’d been proud of creating or acquiring that were now simply gone. Their absence resonated through me twice as strong as before, standing here where they’d used to be. My whole chest ached with it.
“You lost a lot,” Seth said quietly.
“Things,” I said with a dismissive gesture that wasn’t really honest. “At least no one was hurt.”
I should have known he wouldn’t buy that. We all knew each other too well at this point, and Seth had never been one to shy away from tough conversations.
“I’m pretty sure your art was more than just ‘things’ to you,” he said with a hint of dryness. “You don’t have to pretend it doesn’t matter, Jin. I can’t say I know exactly how you feel, but I know how awful it is, looking at the way those people have destroyed things or nearly managed to and not knowing how to properly fight back.”
A lump rose in my throat. My voice was a little hoarse when I answered. “It sucks. That about sums it up, right? But… we knew we were messing with something dangerous from the moment we got involved with Rose again. We knew there could be trouble. I can’t imagine going back and making some other decision about whether to be with her. I lost a bunch of artwork—I can make more. If we let that faction get away with what they’re doing, they’ll keep ruining who knows how many lives.”
“We’re doing something good,” Seth agreed. “It’d just be easier if we knew we’d all come out of it okay. All of us, including Rose.” He paused. “I don’t want to think what she might have done if they’d actually managed to kill my dad. She was so angry even after what did happen…”
I hadn’t been there when Rose had tortured her former teacher for answers, but I’d heard enough of the other guys’ talk about it to know it’d been brutal to watch. I loved Rose when she was fierce and filled with power, but it’d pained me a little just seeing the rage tear through her when she’d heard the news before they’d headed out.
“She’s sorting herself out,” I said. And we’d keep bracing ourselves for the next potential attack we couldn’t really predict. So far no other witches had come into town, but that didn’t mean the Frankfords weren’t making new plans. My lips curved into a slanted smile. “I guess if I really want to be safe, I’ll have to have the new studio and gallery built on Rose’s property.”
I meant it as a joke, but Seth’s expression turned thoughtful. “She’d let you, you know. We could clear a spot—even add a new gate and a road in.”
I laughed. “Like that wouldn’t get tongues wagging ten times as fast. No, I think I’ll stick to creating rather than displaying until this is all over.” I’d ended up taking over one of the brighter rooms in the manor for my work, since I’d ended up doing an awful lot of art incorporating Rose’s magical glyphs. The temporary apartment I’d found over one of the shops in town was a good enough sleeping spot for now, for the nights I didn’t spend with her.
Seth gave me a knowing look. “Have people gotten on your case?”
Had they gotten on his? I shrugged. “Nothing major. A few odd looks here and there, but I’m pretty used to those already.” I didn’t want to talk about the one person who’d really spoken up, whose comments had niggled at me. The other guys didn’t need to know that my mom had decided Rose was ruining my life. I’d ratherIdidn’t know it.
“Well, when you’re ready to start planning, just give me a shout,” Seth said. We headed out onto the street together. “For a project that big, you’ll need to bring an architect on, but I can help you find a good team.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
