Page 39 of Midnight Witch

Cortes raised an eyebrow. “Someone punched her?”

“One of the widows,” Nikolai muttered.

Mae pursed her lips and eyed their host accusingly.

“Oh, come now,” Mrs. Son-Ha chortled. “Allow an old woman her fun once in a while.” She stopped laughing and sighed. “It’s a shame my foolish son didn’t inherit his father’s charisma. Ryu would have made a lovely daughter-in-law.”

Mae made a face at that.

“She tried to hook Ryu up with her son?!” Violet hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

“Yeah.” Mae studied Mrs. Son-Ha warily. “Have you always known? That I’m a witch?”

Mrs. Son-Ha waved a hand vaguely. “Not until your awakening unleashed that awful magic storm. That sure was a humdinger. All my spirits fled the city that day.”

They all looked at Nikolai.

He frowned. “It couldn’t be helped, alright?”

It wasn’t until they’d finished breakfast that they finally got down to business.

“So, what’s our game plan?” Vlad asked briskly.

Mae sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t even know where to begin, to be honest.”

Mrs. Son-Ha got up and started stacking the dishes. “I’ll start on these while you guys chat. I don’t think I’m going to be of any help to this conversation.”

“Thank you,” Mae murmured gratefully.

Violet rose. “I’ll give you a hand.”

She helped their host clear the table.

“Sergio Mendes’s behavior and that of his coven at the reception still warrants investigation,” Cortes said pensively. “He may know something about this mirage magic.”

“I agree, although I still don’t see the connection. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced they were acting out of fear.” Mae lowered her brows. “And I still don’t get why the Dark Council instigated those two hellbeast attacks.”

Mrs. Son-Ha turned on the small TV set on the counter and flicked through to a local news channel. The newscaster’s voice and the running taps droned softly in the background. Violet returned to the table.

“Nothing stands out to you about those attacks?” the witch said. “Like, not even the smallest clue as to what they might have been after?”

“Not really,” Mae confessed. “It all seemed pretty random.”

Nikolai clenched his jaw. “The Dark Council doesn’t do anything without a motive. Violet is right. We must be missing something.”

A wave of disquiet thrummed across Mae’s bond with Brimstone. She looked around. Crimson trembled around the fox where he sat up dead straight next to Tarang.

Her mouth went dry at the dread in his eyes. “Brim?”

Your blood. Both of you were injured in those two fights, my witch.Demonic energy pulsed around him as he growled.The sorcerer during the attack under our apartment and you at the reception. The wounds you incurred were minor, but you both bled!

Mae’s eyes rounded in horror. She knew instinctively that the fox was right.

Nikolai’s nervous gaze swung between her and Brimstone. “What is it?”

The dots finally connected. Just like the time in Philadelphia when Barquiel and Farago had needed her blood to complete their evil experiment, the Dark Council had used her and Nikolai’s blood for their current schemes.

“Our blood,” she mumbled hoarsely. She stared at Nikolai. “You got scratched during the attack at the cinema. And Mendes’s harpy eagle grazed my arm before she vanished.” Mae swallowed. “I think they needed our blood to complete this mirage spell!”

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