Page 43 of Lunar Desires
After clearing his throat, he carried on. “We look forward to working with you in defeating the apocalypse, whenever the truethreat reveals itself. And we hope you will be better than those before you.” A pause to let his words sink in.
Whatever.
“We understand you wield great power, but you are only three men. And you will be stopped if you go the way of your wretched uncle.”
“Not going to happen,” Isaac interjected.
Stefan pinned him with his creepy eyes. “I hope so.”
I licked my lips, staying quiet, hoping for a wrap-up on this so I could get back to Drake, who Stefan hadn’t mentioned yet.
“As with all things,” the inquisitor said, “we must see how this plays out.” His eyes landed on me again. “Don’t worry, Riley. Nothing will happen to the scrying witch.”
What the hell? Did he have a mind-reading spell in his bangle?
His lips spread into a wry smile. “We know you two are involved. He is a useful ally for you have around.”
“I—”
“Of course, should we require his services, we will make use of him.”
Scrying witches came along once in a blue moon. Actually, less frequently than that.
“And I’m sure we will at some point,” he added.
His sinister tone got my skin crawling and my anger flaring.
God, I’d love to send that smile into the wall…
Crap! No more dark thoughts in case he could read my mind.
Stefan looked at each of us in turn. “We will help you with your search for Preston, as well as with defeating your uncle, the Kingwoods, and finding answers to this stranger mystery with Riley’s father.” He removed his glasses again. “Fascinating cases.”
Yeah. So fascinating. Maybe he should try being on the frontline, facing them down.
Dad…
My dad…
Stefan put his glasses back on and snapped his fingers. One of the witchcops left the room, returning a minute later with a blue box. She placed it on the table and returned to her post.
Stefan opened the lid, removing two witch bangles—the witchcop variety. “These are for you. A gift to aid your destiny.” He slid the surgical steel objects to me and my brother. “Please remove your current bangles and replace them immediately.”
“How do they do that?” Erin asked.
Witch bangles were permanently affixed to witches by law. Any attempt to remove them came with a prison sentence with hard labor. A ten-year stretch. And we didn’t exactly have a key to unlock them.
Stefan slid a small silver key to me. “There is a slot for the key on the back your bangle.”
I turned my wrist, spotting the slot immediately. I’d never looked before because I’d had no reason to.
“Go on,” the inquisitor pressed. “Take it off. You have permission.”
I slid the key in. It turned on its own, a join forming in the bangle. With a click, it fell loose, hitting the table with a thud.
“Crap. Sorry.”
A strange sensation went through me, a sudden lightness coupled with a sense of loss.
