Page 97 of Under a Wicked Moon
“We already asked her. Tried nicely, if you remember, and then we did not-nice. She had no clue, since she used an ancient scroll the monarch gave to her and then burned it after its use.”
“Pretty sure she knows. I think the last time we asked her she wasn’t ready to help us. We have to ask her again,” Shane said. “It’ll have to be me who does it. There’s history between us that you guys don’t know about.”
“What kind of history?” Roman straightened.
“The kind that happened while I was fake dead. And that’s all I’m saying.”
Flynn chuckled. “You sneaky dog. Did you seduce the enemy?”
Shane’s face turned six shades of scarlet. “I didn’t know who she was.”
Ky laughed.
He stared down at Vivi, trying to figure out how he was supposed to resolve the well of feelings he had for her. Did he need to shove them in a box and make them friends only? Or could they be like Roman? He knew how to revive her, if triggered by the humans, but only if he was there. What if he couldn’t be there and it happened again? The safest thing wouldbe to let her go and ask her not to go on any more missions like this.
…
For two weeks, they’d monitored the monarch from afar to learn his routine and analyze how to get him in private without activating alarms.
With a shave and new haircut Ky might look back to himself, but he felt like a shadow moving through the days.
Shane disappeared to somewhere south. He had no luck locating the witch who cast the spell—or at least that’s what he reported. Ky suspected Shane didn’t want to find her.
They were in the beach town of Cagliari, Italy. Their location was unknown to their handler or the monarch. They hadn’t checked in with Gerard, nor did the curse push them to do so, as if it, too, knew Gerard had become the enemy. Vivi was here, but he’d avoided her since their arrival. Hadn’t even run into her.
Avoidance wasn’t helping “resolve” them.
He didn’t know how to even approach her. He’d screwed it up so royally before that whenever he saw Nova, even she glared daggers.
He had just finished putting on his shoes when Roman, who rarely came to this place, since he spent all his time with the sisters miles across town, stopped in front of him. Ky looked up.
“Yes?”
“We need to talk?”
“About?”
“I need you to listen.”
He leaned back in the kitchen chair waiting for Roman to impart some new doozy about the monarch or Gerard.
Roman said, “I’m sorry.”
Okay, wasn’t expecting an apology.
“Sorry for what?” he asked.
“For being wrong about you and Vivi.”
The hairs on the back of his neck spiked, and his gut cramped. “I don’t want to talk about this. I’m finally in a better place.”
“That’s a lie. I heard what Michael said. You have to resolve this one way or another.”
“Do you see me running out to buy a witch’s spell to help me cope?” The instant flush on Roman’s face pleased him. “Do you see me drunk or high? I’m straight. I’m focused.”
“Sure, you’re better at handling this than I was, but you’re not…you. I need you grounded to take the next step in stopping the people running these facilities and tracking down the brainwashed magicals to reset them. And ending our curse.”
“Why? I can still function and do my part fine.”
