“Yes, it does,” she said as the explosions went off.
He jerked, startled. “What is that building?”
She told him, and then the conclusions the magical world had already come to. It was all over the message boards on the magical dark web.
“I don’t understand,” he whispered, needing to watch it again. He stopped on the image of the person, just like she had. “No one has come forward to claim this?”
“Someone definitely has.”
She clicked into one of the forums. The Elliot Graves account.
The message had been typed for them. Posted on their behalf fromtheiraccount.
I do love watching the world burn. This time, I had to set the fire myself. Sorry for your loss, Momar. Maybe beef up that security a little more, hmm?
“Did you do this?” Sebastian asked her.
“Of course I didn’t do this!” She clicked into the account setup and saw that a few details had been changed. Under account holder, now it said, “Mommy Monster.”
Nessa’s eyes flicked over to the encrypted phone. She snatched it up and turned it on. She didn’t care if they found her and Sabby’s location. It was time to move, anyway.
“Who has the knowhow to hack into our account?” Sebastian asked, taking over the mouse and going back to all their posts. Only one was from someone else. The rest were untouched.
“Any decent hacker can get into an account on this platform. I’ve hacked into many.”
Jessie’s team had that hacker in O’Briens. He was plenty good enough to do this. She had no idea who had been playing Elliot Graves in that video, but it wouldn’t be challenging. Neither would hiring people to set off those blasts, assuming they had the money.
Ivy House definitely had the money.
A new message waited on the phone.
Ye think ye’re a monster, do ya? Ye ain’t got nothing on me, girl. Thanks for the help thus far. I’ll take things from here.
“Niamh,” she murmured.
She stared at the message dumbly before holding the phone out for Sebastian to take. Next, she stared at the frozen image on the computer. Her mind churned. Niamh obviously knew about the deaths Sebastian and Nessa had framed them for. On behalf of Ivy House, was she taking revenge?
“She doesn’t seem mad.” Sebastian put the phone on the desk. “Is she getting even?”
“I don’t know,” Nessa said, drumming her fingers on the desk. “That act pushed our strategies into an entirely new direction, though. Remember when we were hashing out the plans for the visiting gargoyles, and she showed us that she’s really good at connecting dots?”
“Yes. And good at knowing how to push buttons. Remember that torture session with the mage that one time? When the mage went half mad?”
“She has something up her sleeve.” Nessa chewed her lip. “Why is she being so flashy about it? We’re not flashy people. We don’t blow up buildings like that. We don’t show ourselves. Hitting Momar like that…” She leaned back. “I have to think about this. He’ll want to retaliate.”
“But…so?” Sebastian leaned against the desk. “He already wants us taken in. Or dead. This isn’t going to put any more urgency on the situation. And after this action, the wholemagical world will know we stand against him. That we’re openly defying him.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “That might’ve been a good move, actually. Bold, but…good.”
She continued to chew her lip. She wasn’t so sure. She had to think about the implications, how it would alter her current plans.
“Why would Niamh retaliate?” she muttered, her gut tightening. “Maybe she didn’t sound mad, but you know her. She’s not one to take out her anger on someone. She just slowly makes your life a living hell instead. Do you think maybe Jessie is pissed and Niamh is handling it?”
Ye ain’t got nothing on me, girl.
“Do you think they’re turning on us because they think we turned on them?” Nessa asked in a small voice.
“I don’t think Jessie is capable of turning on someone. She’d want to save us, not hurt us.”
“Jessie will protect her people at all costs. We’re no longer her people. If she thinks we’re against them now…”
