Page 54 of Claim the Twilight
“It’s fine,” Padma said. “Harald and I have a deal. He’s going to help us, but first I need to get my power back.” She looked to Lorenzo. “Apparently, I was a witch once, or am. Whatever.Anyway, I need to get to the Isle and speak to the Lantana coven.”
Lorenzo’s brows shot up. “You were a Lantana?”
“She was,” Harald said, his voice like honey. “The most powerful one of all.”
“You know about the Lantana coven?” Padma asked Lorenzo.
“Enough to know that they have the highest rate of subduing the surge. The Lantana bloodline are the most powerful hedge witches in existence. They practice herbalism and nature magic and can even commune with the spiritual realm. The witches who have bound themselves to the coven all practice the same, and from what I’ve learned of the coven history, the most renowned witch to be born into the coven was Moringa Lantana.”
Padma winced. “Yeah, that was me.”
Lorenzo’s eyes lit up. “No one knows what happened to Moringa. She simply…vanished and was eventually presumed dead.”
“Well, the dead part is true, or I wouldn’t have been reborn, but I need to know what happened to me back then. And what I did with my power.”
“And how is Harald connected to you?” Ezekiel asked. “How can he help us?”
“Moringa cursed me and stole the core of my power,” Harald said. “But I’m a magnanimous being and have agreed to help you stop Loviator once Padma restores me.”
Was she seriously going to trust him? “Padma, you cursed him for a reason, right? You must have. And now you want to trust that he’ll help us once you make him all-powerful again?”
“He could run as soon as you’re outside the wards,” Hemlock pointed out. “Go wreak havoc in the big wide world.”
He sounded almost wistful. I shot him a probing glance, which he ignored.
“I won’t run,” Harald said.
“Well, excuse us if we don’t take your word for it,” Ordell said.
Harald looked to Padma and arched a brow.
“He won’t run,” she said.
“And you know that how?” Ezekiel asked.
“Because he gave me his word that he’d help us.”
“And that’s enough for you?”
“There are beings whose word is their bond,” Lorenzo said. “If Padma was indeed Moringa, and if she did strip Harald of his power, she can do so again once she herself is restored.” He smiled thinly at Harald. “And you know that, don’t you?”
“Like I said, I have every intention of aiding you.” Harald’s eyes hardened. “In fact, I will take pleasure in it.”
The Tepes brothers exchanged glances, but I looked to Padma. “Are you sure about this?”
She nodded. “I am.”
That was good enough for me. “Lorenzo, can you get her onto the Isle?”
“I’ll make some calls.”
“Well…” Holly picked up her bag of tricks. “Looks like we won’t be needing my trapping spell after all.”
Lorenzo madea couple of calls while we waited by the vehicles. There was no cell reception out of New Town any longer, but he had a special device. One that bypassed the wards to connect with the mageri towers outside Dracul. He paced back and forth, mobile phone to his ear, a frown on his face, speaking low and urgently. If I’d still been human, I probably wouldn’t have beenable to catch his words, but my vampire senses picked him up enough to know that he was arguing with whoever was on the other end of the call and dropping some serious curse words.
I bit back a smile. I loved it when he cursed. Especially when he said the wordfuck. It sounded deliciously filthy falling from his cultured lips.
My skin prickled with the sense that someone was watching me. I turned my head and locked gazes with Harald. He seemed unfazed to be caught staring; in fact, he held my gaze for several beats, his brow furrowing.
