“Don’t let her harm herself,” Bracken added.“Black wicches can use their own pain to power spells as well.”
“I didn’t know that,” I told him.
He nodded.“By nature, black wicches are sociopathic.They’ll always put their own comfort ahead of others.In fact?—”
“You don’t need me for this, and I have work to do,” Osso growled before he disconnected.
I pocketed the phone.“At least him being rude feels more normal that his recent politeness.”
Bracken pulled onto the road, heading back to the restaurant.“It’s probably because you’re pregnant.Shifters areveryprotective of mothers.”
“Declan said the same thing.”
We had barely turned onto the restaurant drive when a police car flew past us in the opposite direction.
“Looks like they got the message,” Bracken said.
The man was still at the gate, waiting for us, holding it open.
I rolled down my window and said, “Thank you.”’
He nodded, his eyes and thumb still on his screen.
When we got past the trees, we saw everyone was still standing in the parking lot.“Shoot,” I groused.“I was really hoping they’d be leaving by now.”
Bracken shook his head, pulling into the spot Catherine had been in.“After we relocated a car?Remember how we felt when it appeared?That’s how they felt when it disappeared.”
Mom yanked open my door and tried to grab my gloved hand, but I quickly fisted it, hiding the bare, burned palm.“You did it!”she shouted.“That was incredible.”
When Bracken and I stepped out, the group applauded, all but Miranda and another woman.I clocked them both, but as neither was currently trying to curse me, I let it go.
“A cop car passed us as we were turning in, so they have her now,” I told everyone.“We should probably start taking off.It’s time to leave the scene of the not-a-crime.The scene of the civic-duty-to-put-a-murderer-in-jail.”
Mom raised her eyebrows at me.“That runs trippingly off the tongue, darling.”
“Right?”
“Wait a minute,” the woman beside Miranda called.“What did you do to our phones?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bracken’s fingers twirl at his side.“Phones?We didn’t do anything.I mean, I kept your buddy there from narc-ing on me, but we didn’t touch anyone else’s.”
A woman took her phone out and announced, “It’s working now.”The others pulled out phones to check if theirs, too, were working.Most cast sly looks in Bracken’s direction.They knew he was the one who’d instituted radio silence, and they seemed to understand why.
Lydia and Mom were talking as people went to their cars and started to pull out and leave.Most smiled or waved at us as they passed, which I took as a good sign.
“Speaking of phones…” I pulled mine out and called Declan.
“I was getting worried,” he grumbled.“Are you okay?”
“You bet.And honestly,” I whispered loudly, “Faith did a horrible job of reminding me to call you.In fact, she told me not to bother.She said you weren’t the boss of me and that we’d be home soon enough anyway.”
“Hey,” Faith squawked.“Lies, all lies.”
Declan laughed.“As long as you’re all okay, I can wait to hear the details when you get home.”
“Sounds good.We’ll see you in about two hours, unless we stop for food.Which we might.I’m starving.”I looked at Faith and Bracken.“Are you guys hungry?”
Faith nodded.“I was so nervous this morning, I couldn’t eat.”
