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“Why?” There was no mistaking the note of mistrust in Tari’s voice.
Arabella wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. “Because they’re innocents.”
“Since when did you care about anyone but yourself?” I blurted.
She flinched as if she’d been struck, a solitary tear slipping down her grimy cheek. “Since they were all I had left to live for.”
Had the shell around Arabella’s blackened heart finally cracked? I seriously doubted it. She probably only helped the children to save herself. “Where is your traitorous uncle?” I demanded. “Or should I say, your lover?”
Her cheeks turned a deep crimson. “The forest ate him.”
Bitter laughter escaped my throat. “Can’t say he didn’t deserve it.”
Enough, Tari admonished through thought. We’re wasting time.
I arched back when she gave me a dark look. Was she actually defending Arabella?
Tari knelt before the girls, taking their hands. “How did you escape?”
“She knocked the bad demons against the wall.” Aurora pointed at Arabella.
Shiri crossed her arms, glaring down at Arabella. “Did you kill them?”
Arabella shook her head. “Probably not, but I slowed them down.”
Tari stood, holding tightly to the girls’ hands. “Then let’s finish them.”
“No!” Ash bellowed as he jutted a foot forward. He grasped Tari’s shoulder, looking down at her, his glowing wolf eyes narrowed to slits.
The children appeared unafraid as they blinked up at their terrifying father.
“You need to regain your strength,” Ash continued, “and we must get the children to safety.”
“He’s right,” I said, refusing to back down when our mate glared at us. The dark circles under her eyes were getting deeper. She’d used too much magic, and I didn’t want to risk her health by forcing her to use more.
She released the children, clutching her chest as if I’d thrust a blade through her heart. “So that demon can teleport our children again?”
Shiri picked up the children, balancing one on each hip. Ember rested her head on her aunt’s chest while sucking on a thumb.
I crossed over to Tari, taking her in my arms. “We’ll figure something out.” It felt like I held a statue, for she refused to relax.
Ember lifted her head and pulled her thumb from her mouth. “My friends said the demons can’t take us if we wear Tau stones.”
I stared at the child as if seeing her for the first time. These little witches truly were precocious. I was proud to call them my nieces, and I thanked the elements for them. Any other children wouldn’t have survived captivity in a demon’s den.
Tari gasped. “Do you have any Tau stones?” she asked Shiri.
Shiri motioned toward her pocket. “I only have one.”
Ash curled his clawed hands, his wolfish features hardening. “We’ll get another.”
Tari threw up her hands. “So how am I supposed to choose which child to protect?”
“Aurora has a stone in her already,” Ember said. “The bad demons made her swallow one.”
We looked at Aurora, who visibly swallowed then turned into Shiri, burying her face against her neck.
“It’s okay, baby.” Shiri rubbed Aurora’s back. “We’ll get it out of you.”
