Broken Bonds (Lizzie Grace 3)

I climbed into the truck and buckled up as Ashworth reversed out. “I gather the circle is now secure?”

“Yeah. I warded against both human and animal interference, so it should be safe until a higher-up arrives.” He glanced at me. “Which should be tomorrow afternoon. I’m picking them up at Melbourne airport.”

My stomach began churning again even though the likelihood of it being someone we knew was pretty low. Lots of witches lived and worked in Canberra, and surely fate wouldn’t be cruel enough to toss someone who actually knew Belle and me our way.

The way our luck is running of late, Belle said, it’ll probably be your goddamn brother.

Don’t even think that! Besides, can you imagine Julius daring to step beyond the sanitized halls of the High Witch Council?

Not without a truckload of smelling salts and hand sanitizer, Belle commented. A man’s man Juli is not.

Which was something of a huge understatement. But he was a powerful witch—maybe not as strong as Cat, the sister I’d failed to save, but still way up there on the power scale. In my parents’ eyes—especially with Cat gone—he could do little wrong.

There is a little bit of me that hopes Ashworth is right, that the two of us combined are as goddamn powerful as he thinks, and that we could make your parents, our former teachers, and everyone else who ever put shit on us eat their words.

There was definitely a part of me that wanted the very same thing. I might now be an adult, but that long-rejected child remained deep inside, still hungry for the approval of her parents.

Them finding out would only worsen our problems, Belle. After all, it wasn’t just because I’d been underpowered that we’d run, but rather what they were forcing on me.

Her sigh was wistful. I know, but it’s still a nice dream to have.

Could you imagine Juli’s face if we fronted up as equals?

It would be the sulk of the century, Belle said. Maybe even the millennium.

The understatement of the decade. I glanced at Ashworth. “Did they give you a name?”

“No,” Ashworth said, “as they weren’t entirely sure who the Heretic Investigations Center had free. They’ll send me a text later.”

I nodded. “Then let’s hope he or she will be able to track down the bastard who shot our witch before they release whatever spell he was creating for them.”

“That’s presuming our dead man is responsible the spell in the clearing,” Ashworth said. “The fact is, he may not be. And we may not be able to find anything until the shooter does unleash the spell.”

“I hope like hell you’re wrong.”

He snorted. “So do I.”

We continued on in silence. Ashworth dropped me off at the café and I quickly went inside. Dust danced through the late-afternoon sunshine streaming through the side windows, but nothing else moved. Belle had already left for Melbourne, and the builders had obviously packed up for the evening. I ducked under the plastic and headed upstairs to shower. We might have retreated to a hotel room to sleep, but most of our clothes and personal items remained here. The explosion had taken out both the roof near the top of the stairs and the nearby kitchenette, but the bathroom, our two bedrooms, and the compact living area had all escaped major damage. The fire that had followed the explosion had been contained—and then extinguished—by spells from both Belle and Ashworth, so while we’d had to wash every item of clothing and linen we owned, we’d avoided major water and smoke damage to the rest of the building and its contents. We did have insurance, of course, but there were many things—like the books Belle had inherited from her now dead grandmother—that simply couldn’t have been replaced.

I had a long hot shower that did little to ease the accumulation of aches, then smeared antiseptic over the deeper wounds. My headache had lessened though the bump was still sore, and I didn’t appear to have any of the other signs of concussion. Which hopefully meant it wasn’t going to be a problem.

I shoved on a pair of shorts, a tank top, and my runners, and then clattered downstairs to do the prep work for the next day. It was around eight by the time I finished, and my stomach rumbled a noisy reminder that I hadn’t yet fed it. As I grabbed a frying pan to cook up a steak, my phone rang.

Aiden.

A grin split my lips. I hit the answer button and then said, “So, what’s the verdict?”

“I’ve got the all clear to resume all normal activities.”

“An event I’ve been looking forward to.”

“You’re not the only one.” The low, hungry note in his warm tone had anticipation skittering down my spine. “Would you like to go out for dinner?”

“Love to. I was just about to start cooking myself something, so you’ve timed your call perfectly.” I hesitated. “Has Tala contacted you?”

“Yeah. I was talking to Ashworth before I called you. He said a more knowledgeable witch from Canberra would arrive tomorrow.”

“The magic evoked in that clearing was very powerful, Aiden, and Ashworth didn’t feel it until we were close. We do need someone stronger.”