Page 54 of Cocktails & Cauldrons

“I have to stop her. Permanently.”

Gran’s face scrunched up in consternation.“Let the Aether do it. You stay as far away from her as you can, Brenna Marie.”

“He can’t be the one to clean up my messes, Gran. If I’m the more powerful of the two of us, Odessa and me, then I should be the one to end her reign of terror and death.” Firm resolve hardened Brenna’s heart. “It’s time she paid for what she’s done.”

“Brenna—”

The click of the doorknob disengaging heralded a newcomer. Brenna felt the youthful wash of magic as the door cracked open, and she knew who was on the other side. “Hello, Sabrina.”

The little girl grinned as she poked her head around the door and pressed a finger to her lips. She crept inside, acknowledged Gran by the window with a smile, then said, “Papa will be mad if—oh, hi, Papa!”

The door was pushed back the rest of the way, and Damian stood with a forbidding expression and arms crossed over his chest. “Go ahead and finish your sentence, my love. Papa will be mad if what?”

Hands tucked firmly behind her back, Sabrina conjured a bowl and spoon. The metal clanked against the porcelain rim as she lifted it and showed him. “Papa will be mad if we eat ice cream in his office.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Sabrina Dethridge.”

The warning tone made Brenna’s stomach flip. How the little girl’s unrepentant grin remained under the censure of her father’s stare was a mystery.

Gran crossed the room and stood behind Sabrina, a bittersweet smile on her face.“She’s a pistol, Damian,”she said softly.“And exactly what you deserve.”

One dark brow shot up, and his lips twisted in wry humor. “A double-edged sword.”

Gran laughed, and the sound was girly and sweet. Brenna caught a glimpse of the feelings they’d once shared.

“I have to go. Take care of my Brenna, Damian. She’s a good girl, like your Sabrina.”

Dark eyes burning with deep emotion, most of it sad, he nodded and watched until Gran faded away.

“Tell Brenna what you intended to tell her, Beastie, then she and I need to get to work.”

“I didn’t want her to be sad, Papa,” Sabrina said in a solemn little voice, and for once, the mischievous sparkle was gone. “I really was bringing her ice cream, like I brought her tea and tissues.”

Brenna’s heart swelled at the girl’s thoughtfulness. No one other than Eoin had cared about Brenna’s comfort in a very long time. “I’m okay, Sabrina. Really.” She hoped she was reassuring everyone, herself included.

“But ice cream makes everyone happy.”

Brenna lifted a hand to stroke Sabrina’s hair, but from the corner of her eye, she saw Damian step forward. His instinctive response to protect his daughter from her stung, but Brenna understood the reason for his reaction. She dropped her arm and managed a sweet smile. “I’m sure it does, Sabrina. And thanks for thinking of me, but your dad is right, and we have a few more things to discuss.”

“Okay, but don’t give away your power, Miss Brenna. You’ll need it.”

“Can you tell me why?” Great balls of fire, she wanted some direction. If she stayed on this freaking seesaw of indecision a moment longer, she’d lose her marbles and likely throw up from the nerves eating at her stomach.

Sabrina’s wise eyes, so eerily similar to her father’s, were older than a child’s should be. “Papa tells me not to give away the plot. He said if everyone knew what was coming, there would be no wonderful surprises in life.”

Brenna stopped short of snorting as she cast Damian an exasperated look. “He did, did he?”

Humor lit his face, but he remained quiet.

“So no hints allowed?”

“For once, my daughter has felt the need to keep her visions to herself. It’s a miracle in and of itself.” He took the bowl from Sabrina’s hands and created a hot fudge sundae with all thetrimmings, then handed it back to her. “Your kindness has made me proud, my love. Thank you.”

“The necklace is the only way forward, Papa,” Sabrina said absently as she shoved a heaping serving of goodness into her mouth. She paused at the door and swallowed, a heavy frown pulling at her brows. “Uncle Alex’s brother will want to steal it when he finds out about it, but don’t let him get it, Miss Brenna.”

With that, Sabrina shrugged and skipped out the door as if she didn’t have another care in the world. And perhaps she didn’t. As a child of the mighty Aether, she was loved and protected in a way Brenna never had been.

“We’re not indestructible, Brenna,” he said quietly, almost apologetically. “I live in fear every day that someone might get to her and steal what she has.”

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