Page 65 of When Storms Ruin

Who were they talking about?

“Do you forget that he was right hand to The DarkKing, Osiris?” Nik asked, his eyes narrowing.

“My father?” My voice sounded small between them as Nik’s gaze cut to mine.

“Yes, your father. He might have been slaughtered by Donika, but he was no saint himself. He, too, had a vendetta against Stormshades.” Nik ran a hand through his hair as he paled.

“If you can think of a better option, Kolya, I’m all ears.”

“Does anyone want to fill us in?” Tess asked, crossing her arms over her chest and facing Puck. “What are you two talking about?”

“Alastir.” Puck’s tone was clipped as his gaze traveled from Nik to Tess.

“The owner of the charm shop?” I asked, my head throbbing.

“Yes. There is a reason we didn’t let you meet him that day. I don’t think I trust him with the knowledge that you are a Stormshade, and that we are running from Donika.”

“But hehatesDonika,” Puck pointed out. “We have been trying to get him to join the forces of the resistance foryears. Maybe this is our chance.”

“And if he turns her in?” Nik asked, his jaw set. “Leads Donika straight to us?”

“She is hisdaughter, Nik. I think it’s a chance we have to take. Unless you want to go to bed up there and wake up in the Stormvault.” Puck gestured towards the townhouse behind us. “Or lead Donika and Corian directly to our numbers inthe safe house, thus extinguishing any chance we have of winning this war.”

“You know I don’t want either of those things,” Nik ground out.

“Well, if you know of another place for us to stay tonight, I’m all ears. I, for one, do not plan to find out if Donika knows ouractuallocation or only ourdreamlocation. Alastir is a risk worth taking, if you ask me.”

“He has a point about Osiris. If he was so loyal to him, there’s no way he would lay a hand on his only daughter,” I replied, giving Nik a reassuring half-smile.

Or at least, I didn’t think so.

Nik glanced between all of us, weighing our options before he finally spoke. “Just for tonight.”

“Obviously,” Puck huffed as he turned on his heel and started down the cobblestone street in the other direction. “The old man probably has at least one hundred cats. And you know how I feel about cats.”

“Hey, I love cats,” I replied, following behind with a frown.

“It’s nothing personal, love. They scare me, that’s all.”

“Are you scared of Saanvi, then?” My brow raised at Puck in the darkness.

“Quite,” he admitted with a lopsided grin.

That had us laughing, at least. We headed down the main street towards Alastir’s charm shop, and luckily the gas lanterns were lit in this part of Dragon’s Hollow. The streets narrowed as we rose over the crest of the hill leading towards the shop, and we all stopped out front. The door was shuttered for the night, a ‘closed’ sign prominently hanging inthe window. From what I could tell, there were no lights on inside.

Nik raised his hand to knock, but the door swung open before his fist connected with the wood of the door.

“Alastir,” Nik’s voice was relieved, as if he half expected him not to be here. Or to answer.

“Kolya. I should have expected it would be the two of you troublemakers waking me in the middle of the night.” His eyes traveled over our group and stopped when they landed on me.

Alastir was older, likely in his late seventies, with a scruff of grey hair on his face and a permanent slouch. He held a cane in his hand that didn’t do a very good job of keeping him upright. This was thepowerfulwitch they were speaking of? He appeared awfully…frail.

His brows lowered as if he could guess my thoughts, and his gaze snapped back to Nik. “You dare bring her here?”

I swallowed hard, stuffing my hands into my pockets. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come here after all.

“We have nowhere else to go,” Nik explained quietly. “You know who she is?”

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