“Fair as you are, you clearly have no powers beyond audacity,” he said, trying to anger her so she would prove otherwise.
“You said you would answer my question.”
“I answered when I told you it is my right. My people have the highest honor of preparing and guarding the dead. I suspect you know little of your father’s people; he undoubtedly only told of the laws and lore.” He didn’t have to guess her father was Fae. Only the males were allowed to go out and create children; the females had to stay and protect the lineage.
“He told us of the laws that would concern us, and some of the lore, but it still doesn’t answer the question of why you think you can murder whomever you please.”
“Murder? Ihonorthe dead.”
“YoumurderedHaley and Carey.”
“Haw ha!” he called out into the darkness, his head tipped up and back like a raven. The cawing sounded closer, yet still far away.
Eilonwy hoped he didn’t have any siblings nearby.
Dante left his spot by the stairs, stepping slowly closer while he undid the thick belt around his coat. He was shirtless underneath, and his pants rode low. It was erotic in a way that made her want to slap him with a knife for his disrespect.
The cawing grew louder. “Hush, my darlings,” he said, and the cawing stopped.
“He isn’t alone,” Taran whispered, ever so softly, and she realized the cawing was coming from Dante.
He stood ten feet away from her. She needed him to come into the circle she’d made on the floor.
“I will never be alone. I choose the company I keep, and keepthem I do. Some I keep better than the others. I made a gorgeous reliquary out of my beloved Haley so she could live forever as a persona,” he boasted.
“What is a persona?”
“It is a poor witch who does not know the highest calling of becoming a persona.”
“Or you aren’t smart enough to explain it to me.”
“You are amusing, I might not consume you. I will, however, take your brother.”
“I doubt that, but please continue,” she countered so he would answer the question.
“Fine, I will explain. A persona is the existence of the soul beyond life, retaining all of their accumulated knowledge so they might pass it along to the next generation. I have the honor of making reliquaries so I can house the greatest minds after death as personas, and they have the honor of teaching what they know.”
“Haley is a ghost, and she says you wanted her to do your bidding.”
“Haley is a bright little liar who asked me to make her a persona. Her regret is not my problem.”
“You miserableson of a bastard!” Haley shouted from the radio. A broom sailed down the stairs and slammed into the side of Dante’s head.
“Cursed wench!” he called out as he fell to one knee.
“Liar, liar, liar!”Haley screamed, no longer needing to be inside the radio to have a voice through the static.
The cawing rose up. Eilonwy quickly whispered to Taran, “Don’t touch him. The sound is coming from his coat.”
The broom came down on Dante’s head again and again while Haley screamed and cursed and called him names. Her cold mistencircled him until he couldn’t see. He stumbled up, opening his coat, his nose bleeding from where she had smacked his face with the broom handle.
Eilonwy took a step back, taking Taran with her.
“HAW HA!” Dante bellowed, and pulled his coat open, his head thrown so far back his spine curved backward as his chest jutted forward. Ravens flew out of his coat and around the room, dispersing the mist, and the broom fell to the floor.
Haley swore at him and retreated.
The large ravens flapped to a rest on every table and counter. There were at least ten, possibly more. One flew up the stairs after Haley.
