Page 102 of Fae Devoted
“Ifthere was a buyer,” Samuel said, irises tinted yellow.
“You think the Fae is behind the missing Glaofin?” Alexander joined the queen in squashing the short row of urns then tossing them into the cold incinerator.
“Why would a Sídhe Lord want Ferwyn ash?” Lady Rose turned her back on the now-empty shelves, her pupils blood red. “A pureblood does not need tattoos to control a cast, nor an enhancement to make a spell stronger.”
“But my kind do,” Ethan spat. The wards the battle witch had disabled proved that Anwyll talents could be bought as easily as a human’s.
“The ink is a bribe,” Tucker growled. The Fae’s knowledge of ancient incantations and symbols, both strictly regulated by the Anwyll Guild, would be a temptation many status-seeking witches would find hard to resist. Add in the final component of Ferwyn ink, and betrayal was inevitable.
“But most witches aren’t capable of wielding that kind of power.” Alexander started on the furnace’s doors next, ripping one and then the other from the brick-lined chamber.
“The spells used to protect the facility were exclusive to Guild-trained warriors.” Ethan’s hands were fisted, his scent ripe with anger. The traitor spit on everything the Guild believed in by working for an institution that actively harmed their species and the magical community every battle witch swore an oath to protect. “I’ll head to Arkansas tonight.”
“You will do no such thing.” The queen’s tone didn’t leave room for argument. Ethan tried anyway.
“The Overseer needs to be informed—”
“Another day will not matter.”
“He’s the only one in the Guild I can trust now.” Ethan sounded as heartsore as he did physically weary.
“Beta Tucker, I am sure you would like to return to Joan. Please take Ethan with you and make sure he sees the healer.”The compassion in Rose’s green eyes softened the order, but nonetheless, itwasan order.
“I need to tell the Overseer about Charlie and the fire.” Ethan braced his shoulders against the wall, his thigh muscles visibly shaking. The battle witch was spent, his body shutting down.
“What about the witchling?” Tucker asked. No one disputed the queen’s decision to allow Jeremiah to take the females to safety after it was revealed his brother could sense Fae magic. Not even Anand.
“The wind blew her hair.” Ethan’s lids fluttered closed. The black smudge on his cheek matched the dark circles beneath his eyes.
Tucker was surprised the male was still standing. The amount of energy required to conjure and cast witchfire on the scale needed to collapse the burning barn and smother the flames was massive. Ethan’s mentor, Liaison Carter Jenkins, produced a smaller stream of the blue fire during the fight with Daimhín in Mississippi and was physically depleted for days afterward. So if Ethan’s magical strength matched his indomitable will, the student had surpassed the teacher.
“Charlotte cast an elemental spell and lost control.” The queen frowned. “At least, I assumed she did.”
They all had. It wasn’t a stretch to believe if Charlie could conjure witchfire, wild magic or not, she could do more. Like throwing Hannah to safety with a powerful blast of concentrated air. The spell was similar to the one engraved on Lydia’s knuckles and reserved for trained battle witches and Anwyll in prominent positions.
“No…when she walked outside the barn…how did the wind…” He slid down the rough bricks, his legs finally giving way. “No…bubble.”
The room went quiet as Ethan’s meaning registered.
If Charlie didn’t raise a protective shield…then why didn’t she burn?
Epilogue
“Jacob, I’m fine,”Johnnie said for what seemed like the hundredth time since landing in Memphis with Samuel and Lady Rose on the private jet an hour ago. Ethan had left King Alexander’s residence the afternoon of the rescue mission. A full day before the rest of the ESC team. Sixteen hours into Johnnie’s twenty-four-hour healing sleep and mere minutes before Jacob received a text from Jeremiah via an unknown, untraceable number. He said Charlie and Hannah were somewhere safe—and not much else.
“I’ll call Regan.” Jacob pulled the Guard issued SUV in front of his newly renovated home; his truck was stuck in Michigan. Alexander promised to have the vehicle repaired and delivered to the island by the end of the week.
“I don’t need another healer.” She laid her fingers on Jacob’s forearm, stopping him from reaching for his cellphone. “The king’s physician wouldn’t have cleared me to leave if any poison was left in my system.”
“You should still rest.” Jacob caught her hand, flipping it over and placing a kiss on her palm then another on the inside of her unblemished wrist. “And eat.”
“I’m tired of resting, and we ate on the plane.” Her pulse jumped at the featherlight brush of his lips on her skin. “Besides, you promised I could see the house tonight.”
“Yeah,” Jacob’s voice lowered along with his gaze, his focus on their newly linked hands. “Did you want to visit your parents first?”
“But we’re already here.” Johnnie frowned. She had waited what seemed like forever to see the interior of his new place, why was he still stalling? “We made plans to have dinner with them tomorrow, remember?”
Dorothy and Ellis Long knew little more today regarding their daughter’s impromptu trip than when she left the island with Jacob to help him witha personal family issue. Any explanations—beyond the bare minimum—would only place them in danger; the threat of the Fae was far from over. Johnnie counted on the joyful surprise of learning Jacob was her truemate to trump her parents’ natural curiosity. At least for a while.
