Page 29 of Heart of a Witch
I forced a smile and looked at Alex, whom I hoped would go along with it. Out of the three of us, she was the most vocal about her hatred for Salvian’s religion. “Yes, we certainly are.”
“How wonderful.” She practically sang. “I hope to see you at this week’s sermon. We just heard our beloved priest, Father Shaw, will be attending. You should meet him. He’s the most devoted and pious man you’ll meet.”
Cas lightly touched her arm, and she blushed. “We will be there, Maria.” He took a step back. “My apologies. Mrs. Montague.”
She laughed lightly with a coy smile. “Oh, it’s absolutely fine. I mean, it was a pleasure to meet you, Ambrose.”
He grinned, showing off his pearly whites. “The pleasure, I assure you, was all mine.”
He bid her good-bye, then walked us down the road until we were alone. “That is my ticket into the church.”
Alex grinned. “The pleasure,” she mimicked, “was all mine.”
He gently nudged her. “It’s a full-time job, being this charming.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s discuss the main event, shall we?”
They both looked at me, their eyebrows raised.
Anger bubbled in the pit of my stomach. “She said Damian will be there, so he’s back then—or will be.” I clenched my jaw, wondering if he ever found our extended family and how many more hearts he’d held since we’d been gone.
Alex touched my hand, which had balled into a fist at some point mid-thought. I flexed my fingers and let out a long, shaky exhale. “I met Elijah, the eldest son,” I said. “He invited me to his club.”
He clasped his hands together. “Perfect, and naturally you won’t be attending.”
Good. Cas understood. “I’ll wait for him to find me.“
“It’s the perfect plan. Now, you.” He looked at our sister. “Let us get you your school uniform, then head home for some dinner. We all have a long night tonight.”
“We do?”
“Yes. We must plot our next steps and clean up the house a bit. You’ve both done a terrible job at making it homely. I stopped in to unpack before I came here.”
I crossed my arm, tapping my shoe against the pavement. “Then I suggest you take the role of decorator and housekeeper.”
“It seems I have no choice.”
Alex chimed in. “We can always hire someone.”
“No,” Cas and I said in unison. “We can’t risk anyone finding anything…” He gave her a look. “Or seeing something.”
She nodded slowly. “Right. Sorry, that was stupid.”
He winked. “It’s okay. You’re still young.”
I gave her a look. “It’s nothing compared to the stupidity our brother would do, bringing a plethora of human women back to our house, so don’t feel bad.”
He tsked. “I’m so happy you’re always there to bring me down a notch.”
“Someone has to be.” I looked over my shoulder. “Anyway, I think I might take a look at the shop we’ll be buying again. I want to make sure it’s all safe. Can you take her to get her uniform?”
“Okay, but I’ve already checked it out. It’s perfect.”
“We’ll see.” I left them and trudged back through town. The sun had come out in all its glory, as if it were saying good-bye to fall and welcoming winter with one last show. Soon it would be dark evenings and gray clouds. I neared the apothecary when I saw him again, but he was holding an unconscious boy. I angled my head as he heaved the boy into a waiting carriage. A couple of people were looking too but turned away before Elijah could notice them, but he did see me.
Panic flitted his gaze from me to the boy, and the color drained from his already-pale face. I took the few steps toward him as he waited mid-step into the carriage. If I turned back now, he’d be too embarrassed or worried to search me out again. I couldn’t have this encounter ruin anything between us, especially as it was so new and nothing had truly begun yet. “Mr. Shaw,” I said when I reached him. “Is everything okay?”
He sighed heavily. “Miss Weathermore.”
