Geomancist (Seven Forbidden Arts 5)

Balling his hands at his sides, Sean said in a heated tone, “You know I won’t forgive you for what happened to Asia. What makes you think I’ll for one moment consider working for you?” His voice raised in volume as his anger escalated. “You went looking for her across the globe and lured her here with false pretenses. You uprooted her and destroyed her life. You cheated her and blackmailed me. You put her through hell, and for what? You don’t even have Godfrey.”

“Godfrey is a hydromancist and a geomancist short.” He checked his smart watch. “And he’s minus the support of a drug operation as we speak.”

That had to mean Clelia and Joss had succeeded in their mission.

“Don’t forget,” Cain said with a smile, “if it weren’t for me, you would never have met her.”

Sean could only glare at him.

“Give it a few days,” Cain said. “I don’t need an answer straight away.”

Sean walked to the door. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see Asia’s family.”

“Sean?” Cain took the envelope from the table and handed it to him. “You forgot this.”

He crumpled the paper in his hand. “You have no idea the hell she went through on that island.”

“Oh, I have an inkling. I do regret that it wasn’t easy for her, and I won’t justify my actions. All I can say is that I’m doing what needs to be done for the sake of mankind.”

“She suffered.” He shuddered at the memories. “She almost fucking died.”

“You have to focus on the positive, Sean. She got the job done.”

“Godfrey got away,” he stressed again.

“So he did, but this time, we almost had him. Every time, it’s getting harder for him to slip through our fingers. He’s not as elusive as he used to be. Every time we strike, every time we take out one of the illegal operations of his sponsors, he’s weakened. It diminishes his financial means and power. It forces him to crawl out of the hole in which he’s hiding and to take bigger risks. If we give him enough rope…” He raised a brow, letting Sean connect the dots.

From a logical point of view, Cain was right, but the emotional side of him couldn’t listen to reason. Not yet. Maybe never. Not when he’d found and almost lost the only woman he’d ever cared about. Asia had to pull through. Her reaction this morning gnawed at his gut. What if Eve was nothing but a quack?

Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he said, “You said Eve operated on Godfrey’s daughter.”

“She saved Lily’s life after an attack.”

“You were there,” Sean concluded. “Why?”

Cain shrugged. “To save Lily, of course.”

“Right, and where is she?”

“Lily? Unfortunately, Eve had to issue a death certificate.”

The girl was alive, but Sean understood from the cryptic answers that the subject wasn’t open for discussion.

“Asia’s family is in the library,” Cain said.

Sean left without another glance at Cain, still clutching the crumpled envelope in his fist. He dropped it in his pocket to deal with later. For now, he had more important issues on hand.

He located Lann’s infamous library on the ground floor. Except for Matthew and an elderly lady, the big hall was empty. A scent of ink and paper hung in the air. Matthew sat at a desk, reading something on a laptop, and the woman across from him was paging through a book.

Matthew jumped to his feet when Sean closed the door. “I didn’t think you’d make it off the island.”

Sean even managed a tight smile as he walked over. “So much for your faith in me.”

“Cain told us what happened.”

The limited version of it, Sean was sure.

Matthew motioned at the gray-haired woman. “This is my grandmother.”

She shook Sean’s hand. “Please, call me Emily.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to Asia.” Anger distorted Matthew’s face. “I wish I’d killed Juan myself.”

“Matt!” Emily exclaimed. “No more talk of killing.”

Sean squeezed Matthew’s shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. Juan deceived you.”

“If anything had happened to Asia…” Matthew looked away.

“Focus on the positive,” Sean said, quoting Cain, even if he shared Matthew’s sentiment. “She’s safe here. You all are.”

“Cain reckons we can go home in a week’s time,” Emily said. “What a wonderful man he is.”

Sean couldn’t agree with her, but it was better to save her from the truth.

“Home may not be Cartagena,” Matthew said, “at least not for me.”

Sean’s heart clenched. “Do you think Asia will want to go back to Copenhagen?”

“I don’t know what my sister wants, but I do know what I want.” He glanced at his grandmother. “I want to make ice cream.”

Sean cocked an eyebrow. “Ice cream?”

“The sorbet and make-believe shit they fabricate on this continent just doesn’t do it for me.”

“Matt!” Emily said again.

“What?” He shrugged. “It’s true.”

She pointed a finger at him. “Your language.”

Matthew grinned. “I want to become the best ice cream maker in the history of Denmark. I want to start my own brand.”