Havermouth, Present TimeMeguitte was unable to concentrate. The image of Bianca’s corpse back in the torture chair haunted her. She had been responsible for many, many deaths, from her escape with Thaelen from Beaupraxia’s cells to the flaming sparrow attack on the Concordian strongholds, through to those she had been forced to kill through the years in self-defence because some men would inevitably try to take that which should only ever be given. In the battle for Havermouth, she had killed again, using magical means, and in her recent investigations, she had again used magic to kill the werewolves involved.She was no stranger to killing. She had never been bothered like this before. This death was different.Bianca had turned against them, she told herself. Bianca had led the coup that had injured Harry and had all but killed Jules. Bianca had been the enemy. She had also been an ally and Aislen’s friend.She’d had no choice, she told herself. As Bianca had healed, she had recove
Trayrock, Present timeCameron met Rhett at the bottom of the staircase and handed him the man that he carried. “My dad is here,” he told his mate in stunned surprise.“Yeah,” Rhett’s expression was strained, his eyes wild and his hair in disarray. “I saw Harry.” He turned and bolted down the hallway with his burden, just as Harry blurred back into sight on a return trip, tossing back their long blond hair.“Cameron,” Harry put their hand on his shoulder. “It is good to see you.” They continued up the stairs, intercepting Jules on the way down and taking his burden from him before racing past Cameron again.“Cam,” Jules called down the staircase. “Quick now, let’s get these people out of here.”“Yeah,” Cameron pulled himself together and started to turn, when a noise down the hallway caught his attention. “Fuck,” he met Jules’ eyes. “They’re coming in through the main doors. You keep evacuating them this way, I’ll take care of them.”“You can’t do it alone,” Jules protested and ran do
Havermouth, Present Time“Shit,” Dan tugged Sigrid back behind him as a glass bottle was hurled out of Leighton’s torture chamber accompanied by a scream of outrage. The bottle smashed against the wall, and a thick black liquid slid down to bubble ominously in a puddle on the floor.“You were going to LOCK ME UP AGAIN!”It was Mercy screaming, Sigrid realized. “It’s alright,” she told her mates who had taken up a defensive stance around her. “I think Mercy just discovered Leighton’s plans for her if he’d followed through on following Jules Edison to Trayrock.”“This is precisely why, Mercy,” Leighton’s voice was patiently patronizing. “You are behaving entirely irrationally. This was a practical solution to an urgently required absence. You would have been perfectly safe and had a food supply sufficient for the duration of your mother and my absence.”Sigrid gestured for silence when Dan moved slightly, wanting to finish the errand now that the danger was passed, however, she wanted t
Trayrock, Present Time“Fuck,” Heath said immediately upon closing the door.“Should we be abandoning those patients?” Aislen was distracted by the drama unfolding in the car park as people’s attention moved from the collapsing building to the injured patients. “I feel like we should be helping those people.”“I think we are best to leave those people to be cared for by the medical staff,” Talen said grimly as he reversed the car out of the car park and made his way toward the main road. “It is too risky for us to stay here, Morgana. And Heath is right, we have other problems at the moment.”“We do?” Aislen leaned forward between the two chairs, bracing her elbows on the back. “Like what?”“Jules Edison and Harry are here,” Talen said quietly. “And Cameron just got into the car with them.”“Oh,” Aislen hesitated, and watching her face in the rearview Heath saw the moment it registered. “Oh. Oh shit.”“It is my fault,” Talen was grim. “Sigrid told me that they were on their way to Tray
Trayrock, Present TimeThere were pink patches on Cameron’s cheeks, and the muscle in the corner of his jaw stood out and twisted as if he were chewing back on his anger. If that had left Rhett in any doubt as to how Cameron felt about the secrets his mates had been keeping from him, the way he held his mouth, and his cold, narrowed eyes, confirmed it. He even smelled angry, Rhett thought ruefully. It was a hot, sharp, metallic scent that sat uneasily in Rhett’s stomach and made him want to cling to Cameron, to dig his fingers into Cameron’s hair, and hold on until Cameron chilled out again.Cameron did not so much as look at him as Harry parked the car and they got out. Jules slid Rhett a grimace and mouthed: “Sorry.” Rhett managed a small, sad smile. Jules had nothing to apologise for. Rhett, Heath, Talen and Aislen had made their bed, and now they had to lie in it. Had they made the right choice? Rhett had thought so at the time. But in making that choice they had prioritized the w
Havermouth, Present Time“I am not going to wander around Havermouth and hope the witches just appear,” Sigrid decided and dialled Stella’s number on the phone. It rang for an overly long time, and Sigrid just managed to prevent herself from tapping her toes impatiently as she waited.“Hello?” Asked a voice that did not belong to Stella.“It is Sigrid,” Sigrid snapped. “Where is Stella?”“She is busy with the wards,” the witch on the other end sounded taken aback. “I’ll let her know that you called.”“Even better, tell me where you are!” Sigrid demanded. “In Havermouth, Stella said, but there has been no sighting of you.”“Oh… I don’t think that I’m allowed to say,” the woman was hesitant. In the background, there were many voices and movements, as if a great number of people were very busy.“Stella said to use the shelving to hang the tarpaulins for privacy,” someone said nearby.“There isn’t much left of use here,” someone else complained. “They have raided this store thoroughly.”“
Havermouth, Present TimeLeighton entered the laboratory as Connery reached the final stage of preparing the hallucinogenic. “What are we making?” The warlock asked, intrigued, as he joined them at the workbench.“Sigrid requires a hallucinogenic,” Meguitte explained warily. She had always liked Leighton and appreciated his experience and insight into magic and potions. But Connery’s suspicions had her questioning everything she had thought she had known about the man and the mental image of Bianca’s body being harvested for spell components simply would not leave her thoughts.“All organic, of course, as we’re pretty certain that Sigrid is with child, and whilst vampires have a constitutional advantage due to their liquid diet, it is never a bad thing to be safe rather than sorry,” Connery continued without looking up from his brew. “And, from the looks on her Triquetra’s face when she announced her intentions, we would be sorry indeed if anything befell either Sigrid or the baby. Lu
Havermouth, Present Time“Fucking hell,” Dan whistled under his breath as he pulled the door shut to the laboratory. “Just when I think I’ve seen it all.” He shook his head ruefully amused by the three eccentric magic users who had smothered their giggles and settled peacefully on the floor.“Hallucinogenics have been used throughout history by sages, mages, and those who seek to foresee the future,” Sigrid replied primly. She was not surprised by the giggles, nor their quick transition from laughter into the stillness of meditation She had attended and participated in many witch circles with Meguitte in the past, which usually began the same way – though with less clothing.“They looked like they were having fun,” Dan smirked. “We could use some fun.”“Not this sort of fun,” Greg replied crisply dismissing the suggestion.“Spoilsport.” But there were no hard feelings behind the words.“You probably cannot consume this anyway,” Sigrid passed Greg two of the jars and opened the third.