Page 68 of Cocktails & Cauldrons

“Aye.”

“Would ya be tellin’ me how long you’ve known him? And how does he know who I am?”

“A few years now. And he’s a warlock, so I’ve never thought to hide who I am from him.” Ronan’s stillness disturbed Eoin. “Would you be knowin’ him, too, then?”

“I believe I do.” Rising to his feet, Ronan scanned the room from top to bottom and corner to corner. “Where are we to meet him?”

“The street in front of the pub.”

“Be a good lad and call him back. I’ve got another place in mind. Oh, and change the meeting to five minutes from now. I don’t want him to have any time to change up his tactics should he be plannin’ anything.”

Keeping eye contact with Ronan, Eoin called Reggie and gave him the new location. “We’ll be there in five minutes, Reg.” After he hung up, he said, “It’s done.”

“I’m going, too.”

They all turned to see Brenna standing in the doorway, rubbing sleep from her luminous eyes. As the others stared at her, likely unable to process the transformation from the shy, unassuming creature they’d met to the bold goddess she currently was, Eoin began to object.

She waved him off. “I’m not helpless anymore, Eoin. And I can be neutral in all this. You’re liable to have hurt feelings if Reggie isn’t who you believe he is, and it’s clear Ronan thinks your friend is up to no good.”

“Brenna, love…”

“I suppose I should’ve said, I’m not powerless anymore,” she said with a self-deprecating smile. “I assume Eoin’s told the rest of you about our little adventure today. If so, you know what I can do.”

“I vote she goes,” Bridget said with a toast of her mug.

“I second it.” Piper grinned and gave Brenna two thumbs-up.

“And as I’m the only female left to vote, I’ll be addin’ mine to the mix with a hearty cheer for girl power,” Roisin added with a laugh.

“Feck,” Eoin muttered. Clearly, he was outvoted, and his brothers had no intention of weighing in. He looked at the O’Connor men who, for once, were content to hold their ofttimes waggin’ tongues. “Nowyou intend to hold yourwhisht?”

The two cousins shared a laughing glance.

“Feck off, the lot of ya!” Eoin snarled.

Brenna clapped her hands together. “Awesome. Let’s go!”

“Reg.Can’t say it’s good to see ya again.” Ronan faced Reggie like he expected an attack.

Eoin looked between the two men, searching for what, he couldn’t exactly say. The animosity was all on Ronan’s side, but Reggie remained eerily calm, as if he was awaiting sentencing for past crimes.

A sense of wrongness unfurled in Eoin’s chest. “I think I’m going to need a little history here, to be sure.”

“Ronan is my cousin,” Reggie said, and the complete lack of emotion in his voice after droppingthatlittle bomb was discomfiting.

Brenna sucked in a breath. “Cousins?”

With a nod of his head, Reggie confirmed the truth.

White-hot rage boiled in Eoin’s veins. Never had he felt more betrayed. His best friend, the man he looked up to and sought advice from, had fooled him from the start. Humiliation for his gullibility made Eoin’s ears hot to the touch, and he tried to rub away the sensation as he frantically sought an explanation for such devious behavior. He could only come up with one.

“You’re an O’Connor, and you lied to me about it, Reg? You did it to spy on me for your uncle?”

He wanted to beg Reggie to tell him it wasn’t so, but the real regret in his faux friend’s eyes stabbed him in the heart. Eoin swallowed hard and, oddly, fought the urge to mourn. Although perhaps it wasn’t so odd to feel grief at the instant of a friendship’s death.

Prepared for anything, Ronan scanned the tree line behind the park, where he’d insisted on meeting. Neutral ground, but they weren’t without protection. The new Guardian job he’dacquired came with perks, and the ability to cast a circle without candles, salt, and other hoopla was one. Inside the ring, Ronan, Eoin, and Brenna were untouchable.

“That’s how it started, scamp. But along the way, I found I like you. Not that it made a difference in the end. I still answer to Loman.” He met Ronan’s hard stare. “We all do in some form or another. And like you, we all gave a cheer when we thought his reign of terror ended. Unfortunately, we found out differently. Your father showed up on my doorstep quite recently, demanding help.”

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