Page 48 of Premonition of Peace

“Even if we were willing to, how would we do that without putting anyone else at risk?” Piper sighed, running a hand through her hair, her voice tinged with weariness. “The moment she got a whiff of danger, she’d just jump into the body of someone else we care about. Possibly even one of the kids.”

We were all in agreement as we sat in the quiet for several moments, the wheels turning in our brains. We needed a way tojust get rid of her altogether. If there’s a soul tie between two people, the only way to do that without getting rid of the tie, would be to get rid of the soul.

The Nats in the loci were just as silent until The Warden piped up.“Maybe we don’t need the shears?”

“Explain,” Ann said, pinching the bridge of her nose, not looking up from her file.

“If there’s a soul tie, but we can’t cut it, the only other option would be getting rid of the soul.”The Warden tapped the table, getting everyone’s attention. “Don’t you see? We have to get rid of the other soul.”

“Never gonna happen,”Bad Nat chimed in, picking at her nails with a dagger.

“Wait,”Ann mumbled, then pulled out a memory and slapped it on the table. I understood what they were saying.

“Ronan,” I said, breaking the silence and looking at him as the tiniest spark of hope warmed my chest. “Can’t you just consume Morgan Le Fay’s soul?”

Piper looked at me triumphantly before looking back at Ronan. “Would that stop her?”

He hesitated, then gave us a single nod. “Yes, technically.”

“Why technically? You’re the Harvester,” I said, waving my hand at him. “You eat souls.”

“Happy to,” he said on a sigh before adding, “Just one problem. I do that, and your friend’s body dies. There’s no coming back.”

“Dammit,” I whispered under my breath, deflating again.

“Told you,”Bad Nat muttered, and I wanted to slap her.

Piper groaned. “Scratch that off the list.”

Pressing my thumbs into my temples, I closed my eyes. “This list sucks.”

“We really need those fucking shears,” Piper said, dropping down on the coach next to me. “There’s really just no other way.”

“Mama?” Orson called out, coming down the stairs.

“I’ll be back,” she said, patting my leg as she got up and left the room.

Ronan looked at me with an intensity that told me whatever he was thinking was not something I wanted to hear. “Spit it out,” I said, shifting my gaze to the hallway and then back to him. “She’s out of earshot. Say what you need to say.”

“I’d already considered that solution,” he began, his voice firm and resolute.

“Why didn’t you just say that earlier?”

He took a moment, his eyes narrowing just a fraction. “Because Piper doesn’t need to hear the rest of it.” Realization dawned on me, and I had no doubt it passed over my features. For a brief second, Ronan almost looked sympathetic when he saw that I understood. “If this comes down to protecting the kids, protecting Piper . . . I won’t hesitate to take her soul. It doesn’t matter whose body she is using as a vessel. Even if that vessel is you.”

“Good,” I whispered, giving him a resolute nod. “I expect nothing less.”

“Say nothing to her,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “We both know she will do everything in her power to stop me. She’ll believe there’s another way.”

“We both know there isn’t.”

No one needed to know. Not Piper, not August, and definitely not Lucifer.

This was my contingency.

A last resort to protect the people I loved the most, no matter the cost.

seventeen

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