Page 27 of The Seer

Creed shot him an amused look, and Fintan flipped him the bird behind her back.

“Okay, so to catch up here, you two spoke about this necklace earlier, and she apparently mentioned Nash Thorne,” Creed said. “You, dour-faced fucker you are, then lost your shit because she dared to voice another man’s name in your presence.” He glanced at Taryn before Fintan could protest. “Youwere electrocuted by the same necklace you were researching, making it seem you didn’t know it held that party trick in its arsenal. Your morning concluded with Fintan falling into a three-hour coma and being tortured by visions and the ancestors. Have I got that right?”

“Pretty much.” She smiled at Brenna when she arrived with the tea trays. “Lemon macarons! My favorite.”

“What did we miss?” Eoin asked, sitting on the sofa across from Fintan and Taryn. “Should Narissa be here for this?”

Creed looked like he’d rather eat nails than include her, but he gave a short nod. His frown followed it up as he glanced at his watch. “Shouldn’t she have been back by now?”

“Back?” Fintan felt a stirring of unease. “Where did she go?”

Brenna’s expression held the same level of worry he had. “To confront Aunt Odessa.”

“Fuck!”

CHAPTER9

Narissa hated her aunt’s home.

The place was filled with the ghosts of her victims, with the primary one being Narissa’s mother, Doreen. There had been many instances she’d wanted to seek her revenge and end Odessa’s life for what she’d done, but it would require her inner Siren to accomplish the task. If she managed so grisly a feat, she risked turning into the one thing she despised—a Succubus.

Like Odessa.

“What are you doing here, you ungrateful bitch?”

Narissa glanced at the top of the stairs where her aunt lurked with one fist clenched on her hip and the other leaning heavily on her cane. The woman appeared more frail than the last time they’d met, but she didn’t have the resources to steal magic like she’d once had. Still, as an enemy, Odessa couldn’t be discounted. Narissa, better than anyone, understood that looks were deceiving.

Shoving away her glumness over Creed, she stepped farther into the foyer.

“Well, ain’t that the well-seasoned cast-iron skillet calling the kettle black, Auntie O?”

“What do youwant?” Odessa’s clipped words were laced with fury.

Narissa smiled at a job well done. Any chance for a dig, she’d take, especially if it meant the older woman might suffer a sudden stroke and end a chronic headache for the rest of the Sullivans.

“I’d hoped you might impart a little knowledge about a particular object.”

A crafty light entered Odessa’s cold eyes. “I give nothing away for free, as you well know.”

“No, ma’am. You’ll provide the information I seek, or it’ll be Damian Dethridge asking the next time.”

The hatred on her aunt’s face turned her dissipated visage downright ugly. “You like to hide behind the shield of his name, don’t you? Foolish child! He’ll turn on you just like he does everyone, eventually.”

“Well, bless your heart. You honestly believe that, don’t you?” Narissa tsked. “Poor dear.”

Odessa slapped the tip of her cane on the floorboards. “Don’t you mock me in my own home, girl. I still hold power here.”

“Power that you stole from others,” Narissa snapped. “Don’t think you’re not on the Authority’s watchlist. Step out of line one more time, and they’ll execute you without remorse.”

Although she paled, Odessa lifted her chin. “I don’t give a fig for the Authority or the sycophants who work for them.”

“Namely me?” Narissa taunted.

“Namely you.”

They’d never gotten on, and their hatred of each other was one of the things that drove her to run away from the mother and sister she’d loved at such a young age. The oppressive atmosphere was impossible to bear.

“The feeling’s mutual, you old sow. But I don’t have time for your games. Fintan is suffering.”

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