Page 72 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

Corey squeezed my hand, muttering, “Sorry.”

I withheld a sigh. I’d hoped my secrets would come out, so I didn’t need to bear them. I just hadn’t considered what happened with Corey to be one of them, and I hadn’t expected the coven would make such nefarious connections between that healing, how I’d gained the relics, and how Caves ended. “It’s fine.”

Here I’d been celebrating the coven uniting after last night.

I left the circle, spotting a grim-faced Sven near the doorway. Uh-oh.

Ruby caught my arm. “Did I make that worse just now? I was trying to help. It’s unfair of Fertim to label you a cheater for using your magic.”

She was speaking more as a Vero team member than an advisor.

I answered with care. “Fertim took a big hit when the game ended. Caves finished, and they’ll always wonder if they might have claimed victory. Vero, on the other hand, can be almost certain they would have won. Considering the game was three centuries old, the ending was sudden and anticlimactic, and has left many without resolution. As well as upheaving the routine they’ve always known. I can understand how Fertim may grip onto my quipu magic to strengthen their argument that they might have won Caves.”

She regarded me. “I didn’t look at it that way.”

“There’s no harm done,” I reassured her. “And it turns out that your idea to study the demon’s magic was a great one. Thank you. Rooke is fine-tuning an antidote as we speak.”

Ruby smiled. “Happy to help, High Esteemed.”

“I know you are.” Odd to think that Ruby and I were a similar age. I felt disconnected from her worries and ambitions—ancient in a way.

I couldn’t avoid Sven. “Good afternoon.”

“No it’s not,” he snapped.

Eek. “Stub your toe?”

He glared. “I was drawn from the depths of sleep by what you created here. How did you make matters worse than yesterday? It’s like you want the coven to collapse.”

Whoa. I tilted my chin. “I understand you’re working around the clock to help matters, Sven. I get that you’re exhausted, and I’m grateful for all you’re doing. I’m also doing the best that I can. Coven members will think and make connections however they wish. I have no control over others, nor do I want control over others.”

“It shows,” he replied.

I pressed my lips together. “You’re out of line.”

With that said, I walked away. Sven was beyond exhausted. In that state, our conversation wasn’t going anywhere, even if I was super pissed. Doubly so because a show of support would’ve been nice after Josie’s public interrogation.

I wouldn’t tell Rooke this time, but if it happened again, the gloves were coming off.

Barrow the Postman hurried toward me.

I accepted the thick, sealed document from him. “This is?”

“Judging by the thickness, I’d say a contract,” he said, then stage whispered, “From the other supernaturals.”

“They moved fast.” Finally, some good news. “You got the warning off to them about the open gates?”

“I did. No reply yet.”

We could banish letters to the other supernaturals, but they had to reply by normal means. “We need a faster way to talk.”

“With the other covens, we use portals. But that requires magus magic on both ends.”

How to get around that? Portals wouldn’t work. Could we rig an alarm charm somehow?

I rolled my eyes. Of course. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it handled. I just remembered that phones exist.”

“Phones?”

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