Joshua snickered, his gaze straight on mine. “How long have they been ignoring you, Ms. Harvey?”
“About a half hour. After our desserts were served,” I answered honestly and shrugged my shoulders. “I left them to it. They obviously needed to talk about the seer.”
The real growl emanating from Wolfe’s throat shouldn’t have been happening inside the fancy—and busy—establishment we were in if he didn’t want anyone to know about his species.
I kicked his leg again. “You’re getting a little loud, Wolfe. There are a lot of people in here.”
His growl stopped.
Poppy didn’t seem to care that we were in public. A dagger had appeared in her hand, and she was now flipping it repeatedly into the air, his death a contemplation in her mind, showing blatantly through her eyes. There might be many different ways she wanted to slice him up judging by her heartless smile.
Wolfe peered around at the innocent people near us, but his question was wholly directed to the intruder. “What the hell are you doing, Joshua?”
“Noelle told you of my plan to meet with Poppy and her, so I had to alter it. That little design of yours that everyone cooked up today to trap me would have been a nuisance,” Joshua explained.
I had no idea there was a plan, but it didn’t surprise me in the least they’d had one prepared.
He spread his arms wide. “So here I am, on neutral ground, and taking the favor Noelle owed me.”
Poppy kept flipping that knife of hers. “I’m tired of your games. Say what you want to say and leave.”
I sat back and grabbed my beer. I downed the rest of it, needing a break from all this craziness. I wondered if I could slip out the back.
“Cassander’s soul still resides within his body,” Joshua stated bluntly. “He hasn’t left it yet. He’s still holding on.”
The knife stopped flipping, held tight in her tiny fist. “What of it?”
“I think you should consider canceling that funeral planned in two days. You won’t need it if you choose wisely.” Joshua’s grin was a perverted form of happiness, derived from the agony of his enemies. “Are you interested in hearing more?”
That explained my funeral question.
Of course, Poppy was interested in hearing more.
She stalled, though, her red brows falling low over her eyes. “Everything you say is only half-truths. You can’t be trusted.”
Joshua’s sigh was stupid long. “On this one, I can be trusted. It is also beneficial for you to hear me out, but I won’t continue unless you want me to.”
Wolfe’s gaze snapped to the redhead. “He is a demented and dark soul who only thinks about himself. You know this. He can’t even help it anymore.”
“I know, Wolfe.” Poppy cracked her neck to the left. Then cracked her neck on the right side. Why she was stalling boggled my mind. I knew what she was going to say. Still, she made us sit in silence while she gathered her thoughts.
Her voice was quiet as she stated, “Tell me more.”
“Fuck,” Wolfe muttered softly.
“The aberration in front of me brought up a very fine point,” Joshua muttered, disgusted he agreed with the wolf-man. “I have already turned dark, so it won’t hurt me to do what I am offering you.”
The twisted seer pulled two vials out of his pocket and set them down on the table before him. He pointed at the first one, the liquid clear inside. “This is a magical spell. All you have to do is put a drop of your blood into the mix and pour it over Cassander’s wound, and he will return to life, just as he was before.” Joshua pointed to the second vial, the liquid a murky gray. “This is the same magical spell, but mixed with the aberration, Godric King’s, ashes. All you must do is pour it on the ground. Godric will return to life, just as he was before.”
Poppy sat forward and placed her elbows on the table, forgetting who the seer was, her head far too close to his body, as she stared down at the vials. “That’s all I have to do, and they’ll come back to life?”
Joshua chuckled a high pitched sound that hurt my still injured ears. “You don’t get both vials, Ms. Carvene. You have to choose. Which one should come back to life?”
Poppy’s nostrils flared, horror entering her eyes.
Wolfe started growling again.
I absently nudged his foot with mine, shutting him up, but I was still floundering in shock and awe and disgust. I sputtered, “You’re going to make her choose? Just give her both of the vials!”
