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“Nor is she yours, young Fintan,” I remind him. “Not yet. Besides, from what I’ve heard, Josephine may never have been yours to claim.”
Rune just shrugs when Finn gives him a look. “What? You didn’t tell me it was supposed to be a secret.”
“Is that why you’re both in my room so ungodly early?”
Beyond the window behind Fintan, the sky is a swirl of oranges and reds, too bright even with the tinted glass. I still had another two hours of blissful nothingness before I had to wake for the day and don’t appreciate the early start.
“We sure as shit didn’t come for a breakfast date, Bas,” Rune says, coming into the room and taking up stance with Fintan along the window.
“We need to talk about what happened at the Dumont house last night,” Finn starts once his muscle is there to back him up.
They make a good team, Rune and Fintan. The brawn and the brain. It’s why the three of us make such a fierce united front… most of the time. The two of them have never dared to team up on me like this before.
“I assume we’re moving past me collaring Josephine and discussing something else now?”
“Aye, we are.” Fintan has perfected the tone of an eye roll in his voice, and he uses it now, growing just as tired of my attitude as I am of his. “Specifically, the Moon Witches storming the Dumont castle.”
“What about it?”
“How about the fact that they were there at all? Since when do Moon Witches concern themselves with vampire business?”
Rune chuffs. “My guess is since the moonstone amulet came into play.”
“So, which is it?” I ask, gaze flicking from Rune to Fintan. “Are they after Josephine or the amulet?”
They really should have gotten on the same page before waking me so early.
Rune shrugs. “I think the Moon Witches were working for the werewolves.”
Finn tilts his head back, raising a copper brow at his sire. “Ye really believe that a man as prideful as Egan would send witches in to do the job for him?”
Rune and I ran along the entire boundary of the river until the sky lightened. We didn’t detect a single werewolf the entire time. They were either hiding out, waiting for us to retreat to the hotel, or they were never here.
“No,” I answer. “That would be too much like admitting he is incapable of doing it himself. Egan would lose face within his pack.”
“Which means the Moon Witches acted on their own.”
“Which means,” I say, wishing more and more each passing second that I was still in my coffin and not being tormented with this conversation, “that Josephine is turning out to be a lot more trouble than she’s worth.”
“No,” Fintan interjects before I’ve finished speaking. “It means there is something we’re missing—some piece of the puzzle we don’t know yet. What could the Moon Witches possibly want with Josephine if not the exact thing Egan is looking for? And we still don’t know why either of them wants it.
“Because it’s powerful,” Rune says, as if we’re ignoring the obvious. “Egan is all about power, and the amount of magic imbued in the amulet would be enough to power the entire city for a day, maybe two.”
Fintan doesn’t look convinced, and neither am I. The moonstone amulet is powerful, yes, but Egan is plotting something—we just don’t know what yet.
“Then it’s a good thing there is someone nearby who can answer these burning questions.” I change my clothes, run a brush through my hair, and am ready in a matter of seconds, yet when I return to my previous spot, the look passing between Rune and Fintan is as if a whole conversation has taken place between the two of them.
“We’ll go with you,” Rune says. “We can make sure the witch stays in line.”
“This affects all of us, after all,” Fintan agrees with a nod.
Ah. That’s why they’re here—to ensure I don’t lose my mind and go overboard with the Moon Witch. Rune and Fintan knew I would visit the dungeon today and wanted to ensure they intercepted me before that happened.
Harming a wolf’s Moon Witch may be off limits, but that didn’t stop the werewolves from going after Josephine. The way I see it, it’s only fair that one of Egan’s Moon Witches receives the same treatment he bestowed on my Sun Witch.
An eye for an eye. A witch for a witch.
Even without the threat of another war hanging over my head, I know how to control myself. Neither Rune nor Fintan seem to think so. The two of them have been keeping a closer watch on me these days, like they’re worried one day I’ll bend so far I snap. They think they are being sneaky about it.
