Page 113 of Crown of Tides and Fury

They’d come to a stalemate. He no longer asked Annag about Wickham and the Muir witches, and she no longer had to ignore his questions. They simply rubbed along pleasantly for the sake of the child, though they never ignored the fact that she and her granddaughter were his prisoners.

Fallon thought it was a game.

Of course, Griffon knew Wickham’s interest in the girl was tied to his search for the Naming Powers. If Fallon possessed one of them, damned if Griffon could guess which one—though that ear-piercing scream of hers could probably start a war. Otherwise, she showed no signs of supernatural talent.

Regardless, Lennon and the others couldn’t possibly have known Fallon long enough to love her. They couldn’t be entrusted with her.

No. He couldn’t possibly let her go.

* * *

Wickham was right.Rinky and Felicity were ready to hand their powers over to him, even after they’d sobered up. So a ceremony would take place in two days. And with that scheduled, there was no more pretending--my departure just became more eminent. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when Flann showed up in the kitchen doorway when I was helping with a batch of raspberry jam, to ask if I would join Wickham in the war room for a debriefing.

Alwyn spread some mashed berries on a thick slice of warm bread, pushed it into my hand, and shooed me out the door.

“I’m going to have to learn how to cook,” I muttered.

Flann glanced back at me. “My kitchen skills have dulled as well. Sure but none of us will be here forever.”

If there was a message intended by the comment, I didn’t get it.

Wickham, Kitch, and Brian sat along one table facing my usual seat. Brian had paper and pen at the ready. Kitch had his laptop open. Wickham gestured to my chair, and Flann came to sit beside me.

“Since ye’ll be leaving soon,” Wickham said, “I thought it best if we compare notes, to see if ye ken something helpful that we havenae discussed as yet.”

I folded my hands on the table and shrugged. “Nothing much happened while I was…away, but I’m game to try.”

“That’s grand. Let’s begin with the day I…abandoned ye to Griffon.” There was a fresh apology there. “Did ye ken Kitch and I put trackers on ye?”

“When you didn’t come back for me, I realized what you’d done… I was pissed and destroyed them. I wanted you to worry.”

“Fair enough. Did Griffon mention Fallon at all?”

“When I realized his brother was alive, I accused him of handing her over to Orion. He was offended I would even think it. He claimed Orion didn’t know about her.”

“I was hoping that, with enough time, ye see—”

“That I would seduce her location out of him?”

He winced. “That he would realize I wasnae comin’ and thus take ye home with him.”

Brian spoke up. “Yer certain the lassie and her grandmother weren’t locked up nearby?”

“They weren’t. I was completely alone most of the time. Besides, Griffon wouldn’t do that to a child.”

We talked in circles then, until we were sure no detail had been left out. But there was one secret I didn’t intend to take with me. So I girded my loins and did what I had to do. “So, Wickham, where are you storing Soni’s power?”

Brian gasped.

Wickham stared me down, but I couldn’t tell if he was displeased. Finally, he said, “I think Brian is more shocked by the asking than by the question.”

“All right. So we all suspect you’ve been lying to us. Time to come clean.”

Wickham leaned back in his chair, unphased. “I have Soni’s power. It is stored in a safe place.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I didnae wish ye to become complacent. I needed ye all to stay hungry, so ye’d fight for every inch of ground we can win to our side.”

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