Page 69 of Midnight Witch

Sable looked around and crooned softly at the sight of Mendes.

“Sable,” the High Priest mumbled tearily.

He lifted a trembling arm. The bird hopped onto his wrist. Her eyes shrank to happy slits as he gently stroked her head, the hare hopping excitedly at his feet.

Nikolai turned to Mae. “I figured out the spell Vedran and Oscar put inside her.”

Mae startled. “You did?”

He scowled. “It’s calledSubjugate.”

CHAPTER28

“The Harvest Moon?”Mrs. Son-Ha made a face. “You mean Mabon?” She waved a celery stick at them. “You people believe in that stuff?”

Violet gave the old woman a leaden look as she made them coffee. “You’re asking that question after everything you’ve seen?”

Mrs. Son-Ha popped the celery stick in her juicer along with several other vegetables. “There are a lot of quacks out there. It’s best not to believe everything you hear.”

She pressed the button on the machine.

Cortes watched the green liquid sloshing around the inside of the juicer. “I hope that’s not our breakfast.”

“You and me both,” Jared murmured.

Since they couldn’t trust what the New York coven would do to the Immortal, they’d asked Mrs. Son-Ha if he could spend the night at her place.

Mrs. Son-Ha rolled her eyes and indicated her oven. “I madeHoeddeokfor you guys.”

Jared brightened.

“It’s a pancake with cinnamon, honey, and peanuts,” Mae explained at Cortes’s blank look. “You’ll like it.”

Jared turned to Vlad. “How about you get one of your lackeys to bring us some pastries fromVetriano?”

Vlad’s expression grew cool. “First of all, my men aren’t lackeys. Secondly, I hate to break it to you, but it looks like the Illusion Sorcery wipedVetriano’sreputation clean. I already checked. It looks like they closed months ago.”

“No way!” Jared gasped. He lowered his brows. “Those Dark Council bastards.”

“Vlad gets breakfast pastries fromVetriano?” Mrs. Son-Ha asked Nikolai while the Immortal said a few more choice curse words.

“He’s one of their top clients,” the sorcerer grunted.

Sable crooned softly where she perched on the windowsill with Popo and Alastair. The parrot and the crow were trying to cheer her up.

To Mae’s relief, the brightness of Sable’s core had intensified since their return to Glendale. She suspected Anya’s bond with her familiar had been re-established. Which meant the witch knew the bird was no longer under the control ofSubjugate.

Mae had asked Mendes if they could keep Sable with them before they’d left East Brunswick. She was convinced the familiar would be crucial to Anya’s fight with the black magic still subduing her. Mendes had reluctantly agreed before setting off with his coven to another secret location. Since there was a chance the powerful magic signature Mae and Nikolai had left at the estate would attract the attention of the New York coven, they’d decided it would be best if they left East Brunswick.

Alicia appeared halfway through breakfast. “Bryony and Abraham are scouring the city looking for you guys.” She frowned at Jared. “You’ve made their list of suspects. There’s a warrant out for you.”

Jared swallowed a mouthful ofHoeddeok. “Shit.”

Cortes’s phone pinged. He stiffened when he looked at the display. “I have to make a call.”

He rose and disappeared, Dexter yipping around his feet.

Popo eyed the peanuts on Cortes’s plate.

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