Page 84 of Which Witch Is Wicked?
"She's damn right," Aerin said.
"Tommy is..." Claire paused. "He's my lost love, my first love. I killed him, remember? Burned him up from the inside with my Fire, and by some blessing, I get a second chance to right that wrong. Has Tommy hurt either of you?" She pointed to Tierra and Moira, obviously secure with what Aerin thought of him. "Has he made any attempts to make you feel uncomfortable? He's been the perfect houseguest and is completely devoted to me.He loves me." There was heartache behind her words, and Aerin reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder.
With her empathic abilities, she would pick up Claire's emotions stronger than Tierra and Moira, but there was no doubt to how much pain Claire was still in because of Dru's betrayal.
But what if Tommy was the danger that Killian had warned her of? He'd been conjured with a spell that hadn't set right with Tierra. She felt darkness around him, much like the zombies they'd been fighting, but different. How could she explain and get Claire to listen without taking offense?
Hurt and grief sliced through Tierra, and she blinked back tears.
She was losing her sisters. She felt it. A rift had appeared at some point, and it was widening.
8
Araven flew off the branch and headed deep into the woods toward the cabin that was more of a mountain retreat than a simple log structure. Bane had seen Tierra safely to the edge of the wards. Not that she needed him. Riding astride the stag, she'd been about as safe as she could be.
Landing, he morphed into a man and strode purposely into the house and found Nick in the kitchen.
"Nice to see you finally showed," Nick greeted, pouring coffee. "Tell me, brother, have you been sleeping in the devil's bed or a witch's?" Nick lifted the cup and calmly sipped, his actions belying the anger of his next words. "My money's on the witch. I can see from your face where you've dipped your wick. If you were fucking Lucy, the rest of us might get a break from her attentions."
"Where are Julian and Dru?"
"I don't know. It's like no one around here gives a flying fuck for the mission. Everyone is off either doing the devil's bidding or spying on a witch—obviously forgetting that we're supposed to be killing one."
"That just got a lot harder to do."
"Well, shit." Nick set the mug down on the granite counter with a smack. "What now?"
"Tierra has the King of the Druid's crown and staff, at least part of the staff. A quarter of it."
"Fuck. Wands? Do theyallhave their wands?"
"I have no idea."
"Familiars and now wands. If they figure out how to use them, we might as well call it. Game over."
Bane chose not to tell Nick about Tierra and the appearance of the white stag. But he couldn’t keep quiet about the crown and staff. They'd all know soon enough even if Bane didn't inform them.
"Can we retrieve the crown?" Nick asked.
"No. She's already claimed it." He covered the pride he felt for the woman carrying his child, by grabbing a mug and filling it with coffee from the carafe.
"They have no idea, do they?"
"Not a one. Which will be our saving grace if we can keep them in the dark."
Nick suddenly went on alert. "Cover your balls. Hell's about to break loose."
"Hello, boys!" Lucy called from the front door, entering the kitchen a few seconds later. Dressed conservatively in a pink suit and ivory pumps and pearls, Lucifer looked more like a devoted wife of the fifties instead of the ruler of the Underworld. "I hope you don't mind that I let myself in. I thought it would be good if we chatted."
Bane knew why she was here. Knew she'd show soon after Tierra had left the protection of the Standing Stones and the world embraced the return of the Druid's crown and staff.
"Have a seat and I'll pour you some coffee," Nick offered.
"Thank you, Nicholas." She pulled out a chair and sat. "I'll take it strong and black. I've been choking down tea at the coven. Witches and their herbs, it's enough to make one want to slit her throat." She waited until she had her coffee and Nick and Bane had joined her at the table to start with why she'd come. "I haven't heard from you two recently and need an update. Dru's cavorting with the coven, and setting up that frontline nicely, and Julian's busy heading up an outbreak of smallpox in Africa. That continent is ripe for epidemics."
"Smallpox was eradicated," Bane said. If smallpox was set upon the earth again after decades of no one being vaccinated, it would decimate the population. He'd have to call up more reapers to transport the dead. The disease had nearly wiped out the Native Americans back in the 1600s when it had been introduced from the Puritans. So much for a New World.
"Do you think I would let mankind completely destroy one of my pet projects?" Lucy scoffed. "Maybe you need a refresher course of who exactly I am and the power I wield. You and I haven't combined talents since the days we inspired the Deuteronomy chapter in the bible and that piteous list of sexual immorality." More like horrified him.
