Page 29 of Owen

I left her, making certain the door was locked—Hecate would want to know, as would that meddling Iris—before walking down the hall toward where I knew I’d find my group waiting.

Pierce and the others had the decency to stay away from me, to go about their business while I sorted out my own. We were of the same clan and were united by blood, always, but a thousand years of living apart had placed an invisible wall between us. Clan business was one thing, but this was personal.

They were back in my bedchamber—rather, that which had been earmarked for my use. Just where I had left them, except Isla and Leslie had joined them. I sensed confusion, concern and even hostility when I entered the room.

I did not need to guess who the hostility came from. Iris shot daggers at me with her eyes. I asked myself, as I had so many times, why there was such a chip on her shoulder. Why was she angry all the time? What had happened to her to twist her so?

“Well?” Hecate asked. “Did you get the answers you were looking for? Is she well?”

“She is very well,” I nodded.

Isla giggled. “I would wager.”

She and Leslie snickered behind their hands.

“I’m glad this is bringing you so much enjoyment,” I snarled. “This is a very serious situation, and you stand there and giggle like children. Would either of you ever grow up?”

“This must be serious.” Leslie was no longer laughing. “I apologize. You look a bit disheveled, is all.”

“That is no one’s business but my own,” I reminded her, looking at all of them to extend the reminder their way as well. “I would appreciate you leaving my business to me.”

“Enough of this. We’re wasting time.” Dallas stood, shrugging. “Well? Is she prepared?”

“To have her memory wiped clean?”

He blinked. “That was the pretense of your visiting her room, was it not? That you might prepare her for what is to come? Does she understand what needs to happen?”

Hecate placed a hand on his arm. “Dallas. How could she possibly understand? Even I would never ask for understanding. She’s likely frightened out of her wits.”

“She isn’t frightened—at least, not any longer.” I glanced at the girls, warning them without saying a word against making any snide remarks. They remained silent.

“Well. That’s good to hear.”

I stepped in front of the door to block Hecate from leaving. “Because you’re not going to touch her memory. None of you will.”

She fell back a step. Though rather than react in shock or anger, she merely lifted her brows. Pondering the reason behind this, perhaps, or seeing this as a challenge and accepting it. “Oh? I’m not?”

“What are you on about?” Iris demanded. “You can’t seriously think we’d let her go after this.”

“Owen, ‘tis for the best,” Isla whispered.

“It would be a matter of granting her peace,” Leslie agreed. “She wouldn’t have to carry the burden of knowing about this place, knowing she could never breathe a word of it to anyone. It’s a heavy burden, to be sure. Wouldn’t you rather free her of it?”

“And let’s not forget the diadem,” Iris added, her eyes narrowing.

“What has that got to do with anything?”

“Her ancestors were witch hunters. Imagine how many of our kind they put to death.” Her lip curled in a snarl. “They were responsible for more pain and bloodshed than any of us can imagine. They saw to it that our coven was wiped off the map on this side of the world. They are part of the reason why we went into hiding in Scotland. We have always lived in fear of their kind.”

“She isn’t one of them,” I argued. “And do not think for a moment that we haven’t lived in fear of discovery all these many centuries, Iris. Your lot aren’t the only ones who have suffered. Yet, regardless, none of that suffering was at her hands. It came at the hands of those long dead. She cannot help that any more than any of you can help who you are. She has no control over what her ancestors did. A thousand years ago, I might add.”

“Not so much for us,” Dallas reminded me. “As long as we’ve been alive.”

“Why do you insist upon playing devil’s advocate right now?” I glared at him, challenging him to argue.

He lowered his gaze until he was looking at the floor. I’d hit a nerve.

“A millennium is a very long time,” Isla said, siding with me. “Maybe generations have passed between then and now for humans such as herself. She has nothing to do with what those evil men did.”

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