Broken Bonds (Lizzie Grace 3)

Ashworth snorted. “I’m betting you didn’t get that nonsense from a book.”

“Well, no—”

“Dark witches are no better served by night than the rest of us,” he continued. “They simply use the moon’s power, the same as we do.”

And the moon was once again moving to full, and that meant her power—and his access to it—was rising. I tried to ignore the trepidation that rose with that thought and said, “Eli, do you want me to come pick you up?”

“Sure.” He gave me their new address then said, “It’ll take me twenty minutes to get everything ready.”

“I’ll meet you out the front, then.” I hung up and then silently said, Belle, were you listening in?

No, I was too busy dancing. What’s up?

Nothing. I’m just letting you know that I found a possible means of tracking down the dark witch, and I’m about to accompany Eli back to Abby Jones’s place so we can see if it’ll work.

Who the hell is Eli?

Ashworth’s partner and a recently retired RWA witch. Ashworth’s taken a shitload of painkillers and isn’t up to it.

You want me there with you?

No. I just didn’t want you to be concerned if you came home and I’m not here. Especially given you wouldn’t be getting any contentment signals suggesting I was with Aiden.

Her mental chuckle rolled down the line. Already knew that wasn’t going to happen. The frustrated vibes, they are strong in you.

With good reason.

Indeed. She paused. Shout if you need anything

I’m with Eli so I should be all right.

Let’s hope they’re not famous last words.

Amen to that.

I headed down to the reading room, threw on every charm and ward against darker magics that we currently had, and then stocked the backpack. Eli would undoubtedly bring everything he’d need for whatever spell he created to follow the dark witch’s energy, but I wasn’t about to follow him into that house without some means of creating my own spells should it be necessary.

Once I’d grabbed my purse and the car keys, I headed out the back and jumped into the wagon. It didn’t take long to drive across to the other side of Castle Rock; Eli walked down the front steps just as I pulled up. He was a tall, well-built, and very handsome man who looked to be in his late sixties. His thick salt-and-pepper hair was neatly cut and his eyes were bright blue.

He opened the door and leaned down. “Lizzie, I take it?”

“There’s no other red-haired, green-eyed witch in this reservation,” I replied cheerfully, and held out my hand once he’d climbed in. “Pleased to meet you, Eli. How’s Ashworth?”

“Sleeping the sleep of the drugged to the eyeballs.”

“I’m sorry to drag you away—”

“Forget about it.” His smile flashed. “Ira would have had my nuts if I’d let you do this alone. He rather likes you, I’m afraid.”

I grinned. “And that’s a bad thing because?”

“Because he has this habit of getting involved in the lives of those he truly likes—and there’s not many of them, let me tell you.”

I raised an eyebrow as I pulled back onto the road and drove toward Argyle. “How involved are we talking about?”

“As in, he’s very free with advice and likes to keep in regular contact.”

I chuckled softly. “That I can handle. I used to get the same thing from my granddad when he was alive—and Ashworth very much reminds me of him.”