“No,” I snapped, the cogs turning in my mind. “No, we aren’t. At least, we don’t have to be.”
“How so?”
I sat up straighter, glad for the rush of sugar in my bloodstream. “Because I’m going to stop them, if the attack is real that is. Arwyn said that the assault is a way to out the witches to the world. So the best thing for witches is to actually stay as far away from anything relating to tomorrow’s assault. As long as you aren’t there to stop it, the blame can’t be pinned on you, right?”
I could see it on Romy’s face that she didn’t like my idea. “What if that’s actually what Arwyn wants? He needs… well, he needs you, right?”
Her eyes flickered down to my chest, but I knew the gesture was meant for the shard of Bahmet inside of me.
“Arwyn clearly has access to me,” I said. “If he was going to hurt me, he would’ve done it. All this time I’ve been looking for a person who can snap his fingers and drag me to him.”
Saying it aloud only made me fixate further on his reasonings to teleport me to him.
“I get what you’re saying. However, I can’t shake that we are seeing this through the wrong lens. What if Arwyn… theHunters, have bigger plans for you?” Romy said, sitting forwards quickly. “Hector, you can’t go and stop this alone. I don’t like this at all, and you shouldn’t either. The best thing to do is we all stay away from whatever is happening tomorrow…”
“And let innocent people die?” I asked the obvious question.
Romy opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, but no sound came out. I wasn’t the pinnacle of good morals when it came to taking people’s lives. Romy was. She was innocent to the heart, not a bad bone in her body. And yet, we had both changed since the Witch Trials.
“Then we do something today.” Romy stood up abruptly. “Stop the prime minister from needing to attend the event or something. There are a million ways we… and I mean we, can stop this.”
“Sounds simple, do you have a direct line for him?” I asked.
Her eyes narrowed on me. “Not helping, H.”
I gave her an ‘I’m sorry again’ pout, before moving on. “I think the only way we can stop tomorrow is finding the root of this disease and pulling it out. Father Tomin is the enemy.” It was on the tip of my tongue to add Arwyn’s name, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. “So, we continue our effort of finding him. If we can locate him again before tomorrow, then we can stop whatever he has planned. That’sifwhat Arwyn said can be trusted.”
“We’ve already tried everything in the book,” Romy added. “Scrying, locator spells and anything even remotely helpful in Eleanor’s grimoire. Nothing has worked. It took Arwyn coming for you to even get close enough to do something. I appreciate your optimism, but I hardly think we will have more success by tomorrow.”
“This time is different,” I said, flexing my fingers on my lap.
“How so?” Romy asked, checking her phone which had just pinged with a message in her pocket. I could see she wasmomentarily distracted by whatever was on her screen; a frown furrowed her brow, the lines deep and worn. “For fuck sake.”
“What’s pissed you off?” I asked, leaning in, all thoughts of Arwyn’s blood and skin beneath my nails fading to the back of my mind.
Romy flashed the screen around, showing me a text that waited. “A summons. I’m late for the morning meetings, and the Coven have just sent me a message to let me know they’re coming to get me.” She paced the room, a shaken bottle of unspent nerves. “I need to go before they get here and find you sitting on my sofa.”
“Go on then,” I said. “See if the Coven have any involvement in tomorrow’s parade. Any information could help us. If there is nothing, you have authority to give the Coven something else to focus on. Hell, lock them all up in the White Tower and make sure they can’t leave. Anything to make sure the witches are nowhere near the prime minister tomorrow, okay?”
Romy was nodding, but I could tell the words were going in one ear and out the other. She rushed out of the room, gathering bags and her belongings before running towards the door. “I’ll text you before I come home. If anyone knocks?—”
“I ignore it,” I repeated the same thing I always replied when Romy was leaving me alone. “I’ve got it, I’ll be fine… just go.”
Romy paused at the door, hesitating as she turned back on me. “What if he… steals you away again?”
Her genuine worry for me worked into my bones and settled there. “Arwyn won’t do it again. Trust me.”
“You sound sure about that,” Romy said, eyes boring into me.
“I am,” I replied, never surer about something. “He’s scared of me.”
“Arwyn is many things, but I don’t think he is frightened of you. No offence,” Romy replied. I didn’t blame her, because shewas right. “Just do everything you can to stay out of anymore trouble, okay?”
It wasn’t Arwyn who had recoiled from me, but the presence inside of him. When I attacked Arwyn, he let me, hardly putting up a fight. If anything he wanted me to hurt him, to gift out a punishment he clearly felt was justified. But it was Bahmet who cringed from me, whose lingering darkness drew back like oil and water. I couldn’t explain why yet, but I clung to the knowledge. So, for peace and the need for Romy to leave before the Coven came barging through our door, I agreed.
“I’m not leaving until I hear you promise me,” Romy added.
“I’ll do my very best,” I lied.
