“Yes.” I hesitated again. “I’m afraid Marlinda is not the lone casualty. Aled and James have also been killed.”
“That is dire news indeed.”
Meaning, I suspected, that the method Maelle would use to kill Molly just tripled when it came to the agony factor. “I gave the list Roger sent me to Aiden. I believe he is arranging protection.”
“Will it be enough?”
“Yes, because the RWA witch will place protections
around them.”
“Will? So it has not happened as yet?”
“He hasn’t had the chance. It’s been a rather difficult night for us all.”
She studied me for too many uncomfortable seconds. While I knew she couldn’t read minds, I nevertheless had the vague feeling she was pulling forth secrets and memories, and examining their content.
“Is the ranger aware of how you got that list?”
“No.”
“Good.” She took another drink. “Until the ranger and the RWA representative are able to protect my feeders, are there any common precautions I can advise them to use? And are you able to go to them now and arrange something more appropriate?”
Saying no was not an option, her expression—or lack thereof—suggested.
I gave her the same advice I’d given Lance’s parents, and then said, “It’s not strong magic, by any means, but it’s better than nothing until we can get there.”
“Indeed. I’ll get Roger to contact them immediately.”
“Good.” I downed the rest of my drink and stepped forward to place the empty glass on the table. As I did, awareness surged.
The dark witch was here.
The soul eater was with him.
And the church bell was tolling.
“Holy fuck,” Belle whispered. “He’s strong.”
Stronger than me. Possibly even stronger than the two of us combined. Can you immobilize him telepathically?
She hesitated. No. There’s magical interference of some kind.
“Who is strong?” Maelle said, voice curt.
“Jack. He’s here, and so is the soul eater.”
“Which makes no sense,” Belle said. “Not when the whole point of the attacks up until this point has been to erase the competition for Maelle’s attention.”
“Maybe he’s decided to erase a different type of competition—us. After all, we’re the reason his sister is now sitting behind bars.”
“The why behind his presence here is not important right now,” Maelle commented. “What do we need to do?”
I swung off my backpack and hurriedly zipped it open. “How sensitive are you to holy water?”
A cool smile touched her lips. “Are you intending to throw it at me?”
“No, of course not. But we need to set a trap for the soul eater, and to do that, we’ll need to confine it within a protective circle—”