Page 22 of Midnight Witch

The detective narrowed his eyes.

Valentina had gone pale. “Oh. I heard rumors.”

She hesitated, her wary gaze on Alicia.

“Yes?” Alicia said politely.

“Hmm.” Valentina’s expression brightened with an unhealthy degree of zeal. “Could I see the scythe?”

CHAPTER11

A dark mantlewas obscuring the horizon to the east by the time they reached the outskirts of Marblehead the next day.

“Looks like we’re in for another storm,” Mae murmured, her gaze on the distant sky.

Nikolai had to agree. The low-pressure system approaching the East Coast had given rise to a headache that made his temples throb.

A light rain started to fall as they exited Route 129 and headed onto Ocean Avenue. The end of the peninsula soon came into view, along with the isthmus connecting the island of Marblehead Neck to the mainland. New England-style properties dotted the rocky shoreline stretching out on either side of them. An imposing, red clock tower with a weathervane dominated the skyline beyond the fishing boats and leisure crafts bobbing in the harbor to the left. To the right, a seawall protected the road they were driving on from the foam-tipped waves racing across the turbulent surface of Massachusetts Bay.

Mae got a text from Abraham just as they reached the island. Her shoulders drooped. “The mayor is demanding the head of whoever was behind the attack at the hotel. Looks like that guy’s not gonna let this go anytime soon.”

“He’s welcome to go to Budapest and have a talk with my father,” Nikolai grunted.

“Your father would eat him for lunch.” She sighed. “Let’s get this over with and go home.”

Nikolai’s chest swelled a little at her words. Home. It was a word he’d never thought he would associate with himself again. Although life under his father’s thumb had been wretched, his mother’s presence had made things bearable and the suite they’d called their home in his castle had been as warm a place as she’d been allowed to make it amidst the austere conditions they’d lived under. All of that had ended the night she died. The rooms that had once been filled with her laughter had become a dismal prison that had trapped his soul in heavy chains he’d believed he would forever be burdened by.

He could never have imagined how much his life would change the night he made the fateful decision to break free from his father and his Dark Council. Despite the fact that he was only Mae’s tenant, her apartment was the first place that had felt like somewhere he could call home again. One he hoped to share with her for a long time, if she chose him as her consort. Vlad’s face flashed before him at that thought.

Of course, there’s still that bastard to contend with.

He took a road that skirted the sea-facing coastline and soon pulled up at the address Bryony had given them.

Mae stared out the window. “You sure this is the place?”

Nikolai double checked the SUV’s GPS and frowned. “Pretty sure.”

He turned the wheel and guided the vehicle onto a road that was nothing more than a muddy track riddled with potholes. A low hill rose in the distance, beyond a depression in the rocky outcrop. On its brow, overlooking the ocean, sat an old, dilapidated church.

Brimstone climbed onto Mae’s lap from the footwell and propped his paws on the dashboard, his ears and nose twitching curiously.

Nikolai glanced warily at the fox. “Is he sensing something?”

“Just the storm.” Mae shivered. “I don’t know about you, but that looks like the perfect setting for a horror movie.”

He had to agree. The darkening sky was doing nothing to add to the ambiance. “I bet Cortes and Vlad would have a field day burying bodies here.”

“Don’t go putting ideas into their heads,” Mae groaned. “I get enough questions about their day jobs as it is from my mom.”

It had been midnight by the time Cortes and Vlad had caught up with them at the hotel last night, their vexation at not having uncovered where Mendes and his coven had vanished to clear. On the plus side, the gag order Jared and Alicia had imposed on the hotel staff who’d been in the ballroom seemed to have been effective. So far, news of what had transpired at the reception had not hit the morning headlines. As for the Dark Council, there had been no unusual movements reported by Nikolai’s contacts when he’d checked in with them last night.

He frowned. Still, something was definitely up. He could feel it in his bones.

A car came into view when they cleared the dip. Nikolai parked behind it, grabbed his jacket from the backseat, and got out with Mae. Alastair settled on his shoulder in a soft rustle of feathers as he pulled up his hood.

Brimstone jumped out and landed in a puddle. Mud splashed his legs. He made an annoyed sound.

“Maybe we should get you a raincoat and boots,” Mae suggested.

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