Page 93 of Malcolm

“The only thing they left me was my soul,” Eliza said as she closed her eyes. “At least I’m alive. That’s all I have left to be proud of.” When she reopened her eyes, their purple color sharpened on Lanias. “So, again. How much do you know about them?”

Lanias bit her lip before she looked at her with determination. “They will be coming after you if you’re what you say you are.”

“Yes, one of the wolf clans harbored one of their allies. That’s how I got wounded.”

Eliza placed a hand on her stomach.

“They’ve already made it clear they will be back. And to answer the question of the missing youth, they are the ones who took them. I recognized the Magic from the campsite where the teens were last seen.”

Malcolm frowned. “It all connects then; the enemy is the same in both cases.”

“Then we will have to fight them,” Tiller said simply, taking his cell phone out. “The council doesn’t need to know what we’re doing either. I suspect someone far more powerful is pulling the strings behind those puppets. We don’t want to get caught unawares by them.”

“Who are you calling?” Malcolm asked, still clearly suspicious of Tiller.

“Our friends,” Tiller said with condescension. “You’re not the only dog I own. Raijin, do you remember him, or did you forget that we’ve been expanding my collection of blood drinkers and killers?”

“You want to fight without the council’s knowledge.” Lanias crossed her arms. “How naughty of you, fox.” She lifted her right arm and rolled her beringed fingers; they flashed silver twice.

They all tensed as four women appeared. Elizabeth recognized two of them immediately; her eyes widened in surprise.

“Fucking hell, Lanias,” Oye shouted.

In her hands was a spatula, and she was sporting an apron, but that was it.

Tiller and Malcolm quickly averted their eyes as Oye narrowed her quicksilver eyes on Lanias. “I’ve told you about this random summoning shit.”

“Well,” Lanias said, giving her body a long look. “In my defense, you two fuck way too much for a newly engaged couple.”

Oye sneered, tossing her spatula up as her body was enveloped in a bright light of the same color as her eyes. When the light abated, she stood in a silvery short dress. Her hair wasn’t down her back and disheveled but wrapped into a large bun atop her head.

“Oye has a point,” Sabina added as she glared at her sister. One of her hands was pressed to the side of her rounded belly. “I had just asked Raijin to pour some chocolate on the kettle popcorn he’d made. I am not happy about missing out on that.” She looked away from her sister, her eyes meeting Eliza’s.

“Eliza?” she said, her gaze holding surprise. She sent Lanias a grateful look. “You found her.”

Lanias shook her head and pointed at Malcolm, who refused to glance their way since Oye had arrived nude. “He found her. Then he ran with her.”

Sabina made her way to Eliza’s bedside; she reached out only to pause with her hand in the air. “Are you—” She paused at the sight of the hand with a thick scar around it, before she met Eliza’s gaze. “You’re not.”

It had been a long time since Eliza had seen her friend. The two of them were the only witches who joked about the Beings of Veil City, who were ignorant of the human world. Of all the people Eliza had called friends, Sabina had been the most comforting.

“I wasn’t,” she answered, reaching out to catch her friend’s hand mid-air. “But now I am.”

Sabina nodded, and she glanced at Malcolm. “Is he the reason?”

Eliza gave a short nod as she smiled, holding back tears. “Yes.”

“I’m glad,” Sabina said, her eyes red from withholding her tears. “I wish I had been there for you. I’m sorry I wasn’t.”

“Then how would you be the size of a melon?” Eliza joked.

The two of them laughed.

“So, you’ve summoned us. For what?”

This question was asked by one of the two witches who’d been watching the touching scene with twisted lips.

“Lydia, you’re so impatient,” Lanias complained, facing the young woman. “Can’t you be like Coral, she’s so calm.”

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