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Summer is quiet on the other end of the line and I worry I might’ve overplayed my hand. “That’s fine. I have your answer then.”
“What do you mean? What will you do?”
“I’m going to kill your vampire boyfriend. It’s not like you need him. You have three of them.”
“If you’ve hurt Finn, I swear on the graves of my ancestors I will kill you.”
“You’ll have to share that kill, drengr,” Rune’s rumbling voice cuts through my internal freakout. “If anything happens to my brother, I will have my pound of flesh.”
The lethal promise of his words is terrifying and comforting. Rune may be easygoing, but when it comes to protecting the ones he loves, there’s no line he won’t cross.
“Are you truly so threatened by me that you’re willing to kill to get what you want?”
She laughs. “Vampires are already dead. I’d just be putting him back in the ground where he was meant to stay.”
How can she be a Sun Witch and believe that? Then again, I hated vampires until I was forced to get to know them better.
“Think it over, Josephine. Believe it or not, I don’t want to hurt your vampire.”
“Then let him go, Summer. We’ll duke it out at the last trial and you can beat me fair and square.”
“I can’t risk it. See you tomorrow. I look forward to you telling the entire coven you just aren’t high priestess material.”
The line goes dead and the caw of my raven cuts through the night. Phi swoops through the open door and perches on the large hutch in the entrance of the house. What’s wrong?
“Summer has Finn and says she’ll kill him if I don’t pull out of the trial tomorrow.”
Is that the only way witches become high priestesses these days? Whatever happened to honor and earning your place in life?
“Good question.”
“I’ve got a good question,” Rune asks. “Why did our bond bring us here if this isn’t where Finn is being held?”
“I think I can answer that,” Sebastian says.
I turn to where the Bastard King is leaning against the doorway into the front parlor. “This neighborhood is rife with founding witch families going back to the beginning of settlement. The bond brought us close, but I’d bet Summer Saint-Clair has a connection to a home close by.”
I stride outside and grab the rail of the wraparound porch, studying the houses on the street. “You think she’s got him stashed in a house somewhere close by?”
“It makes sense.” Rune stands behind me, resting his chin on the top of my head. “But she’s probably got it heavily warded.”
“Of course,” Sebastian says. “But that’s not going to stop us from looking.”
Rune grips my hips and gives me a gentle turn to face him. “You’re not going to let her bully you into giving up the trial, are you?”
I sigh. “I can’t. Now that Summer has shown her true colors, I can’t leave the Sun Witches in her hands. They’ll be no better off than they were with Adelaide at the helm.”
So what’s the plan? Phi squawks.
“We know he’s close and that Summer must leave him to attend the final trial. We also know the house will be warded against us finding him.”
“Yeah, and?” Rune says.
I meet the expectant faces and pull out my phone. Scrolling through my contacts, I call up the number and hit send. “Callius? It’s Josephine Dumont. I need a favor. You’re the lawyer for the paranormal community, so you’d know if Summer Saint-Claire holds title to any property in the neighborhood of my family home, right?”
“I would, yes, but I could never share that information with you,” Callius says, his tone firm yet apologetic. “Confidentiality is a huge part of my business.”
“I respect that, but this is urgent. Summer kidnapped Fintan. I know he’s close because I can sense him, but I can’t pinpoint the location.”
