>>The morgue. In Munford.
>The dobhar-chú killed her?
>>Hard to tell. The damage was extensive.
>Did she have a partner?
>>She did, but he’s MIA.
>Crap.
Black Hat would send a team to investigate Agent Barker, and her missing partner.
They would come to Samford. Eventually. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
The next text I sent went unanswered, and I smacked my palm on the steering wheel before getting out.
To avoid receiving an earful later, I shot Clay a brief summation of Delma’s activities before I forgot.
Worried for Aedan, I skipped the house and headed toward the creek to warn him. I found him in worse shape than when he first arrived, floating in the water on his back, and still in possession of the pups.
“Colby let me back inside the wards,” he mumbled through a swollen jaw. “She only wanted to help.”
Of course my brave girl would risk my wrath to help a new friend.
“Your sister came to my shop today.” I sat on the bank, in the damp. “Asking around about you.”
Things hadn’t gone to plan, that much was obvious, but I gave him space to tell me in his own words.
“I thought I could trust him.” Aedan shut his eyes. “He sold me out for a cut of my inheritance.”
I ached for him, but I had bigger concerns. Selfish though it might be, Colby was always my top priority.
“Where did he go?” I hadn’t killed anyone as a preventative measure in a long time. I was surprised at the twinge of remorse lodged in my chest. “Will he be back?”
“He went over there.” Aedan pointed a webbed hand toward a pile of dirt. “He saw Colby.” His arm fell back in the water with a splash. “I couldn’t risk him telling my sister. She would sell Colby out to spite me.”
The loyalty he offered Colby, that he offered me, with that gesture couldn’t be bought. It was born of desperation and defiance, and a will to live that sprung from the desire to thrive despite his world attempting to stamp him out of existence like a weed.
“I appreciate you protecting her.”
The night sky continued to hold his attention. “Do you want me to leave the pups with you?”
“What do you mean leave?” I nudged him with the toe of my shoe. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“I thought…with my sister…” He splashed as he jerked upright. “You’re going to let me stay?”
My transformation to white witch must be complete. I was a total marshmallow these days.
A slightly murderous marshmallow, but still much fluffier than I ever had been in my life.
“I don’t go back on my word.” A grim purpose suffused me. “How do you feel about blood oaths?”
Maybe the key was to start small. Not claim a whole town, but a single person.
Or perhaps I was paving my way to Hael with good intentions.
* * *