Page 38 of Lunar Desires
As if he’d stink. His perfume smelled divine, like money and class.
“I’ve been so worried,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “I thought…” He broke the hug, stepping back. “They know about us.”
I sat down, my stomach flipping. “Crap. They took my blood.”
Isaac folded his arms. “Took mine too.” Hints of anger glimmered in his eyes. “They’re grilling Erin again. Haven’t spoken to me yet, seeing as they want us together.” Unfolding his arms, he sighed. “And this happened.” He held up his hands, showing me the blue symbols on his hands in the shape of suns, glittering like my crescent moons.
“Wow…” I held up mine.
He leaned forward to look. “The witchcops seem to think you killed a load of shades. True death. Turned them to ash.”
I explained what’d happened.
“Whoa.” He folded his arms again. “I can do it, too?”
“Didn’t you feel anything?”
“Other than itching and pain? Nope. Maybe it was a collective upgrade.” He smiled. “Good to know we can blast those fuckers to hell.” The smile dropped. “A shame these lot have shit on our parade, though.” He sighed again. “We’re fucked.”
I gnawed on my bottom lip. “Don’t say that.”
He sat next to me, gazing up at the ceiling. “They came to the mansion about half an hour after April and Alice left to pick you up. Insisted on coming inside because they had reason to suspect sacred witches were there.” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how they figured us out. Anyway, Erin agreed, and this fucker called Stefan came waltzing in like he owned the place, loaded with questions.”
“Stefan? As in Stefan Rushden?”
“That’s him. He wants to talk to us together.”
With Isaac not being a native of Coldharbour, Stefan Rushden wouldn’t necessarily be on his radar.
As Coven Inquisitor for my hometown, he was responsible for getting to the truth, the head of all High Coveninvestigations. A formidable figure with a dark reputation for using severe torture, hellbent on eradicating shadow magic.
Damn. Did we have to speak with him? And why was he here? Because this was Coldharbour-related?
“After your soul bond plucked you out of the car,” my brother added, “he ordered us into vans and brought us here. Think you scuppered his plans.” He chortled as if it were a win.
“Oh.”
Isaac wrung his hands together. “This is bad. Inquisitors are never fun to be around.”
“Stefan being one of the worst,” I said.
“Lovely.”
“It’ll be okay,” I answered, trying for a positive spin but not really believing my own words.
Hecate only knew what was in store for us.
“Erin said it would be better to cooperate,” Isaac said. “Because of Stefan’s truth magic.”
High Coven inquisitors had an extra spell in their bangles. A version of a truth potion specially designed for them to find any lies. Erin was right to want us to cooperate. Stefan would see right through any fibbing.
Damn.
“If they wanted to hurt us, they wouldn’t have let me use my power on Drake,” Isaac added. “That counts for something, I suppose.” He snorted. “You should’ve seen Stefan’s face as he watched me do my thing. I swear I saw drool.”
I laughed as my brows pinched. “What happened to the cloaking potion?”
He swept his arm at the room. “Something inside this tower bypasses it.”
