“Yes, but he’ll just have to get over it.” His face dropped to the ground, hands folding into his pockets.
I took a tentative step toward him. “Now that Hazel has been found…does that mean the case is closed?”
“No.”
I released a sigh, cutting it off midway when I realized how it sounded.
“Sorry,” I winced. Of course I wanted Hazel’s case solved. I wanted answers for all the disappearances. I wanted to know why Hazel’s case had been different and if we were still in any sort of danger.
“Don’t be.” He leaned closer, his whisper caressing my ear. “We still have to go through everything we found at the crime scene. Acacia was keeping quite a lot of research hidden away. Some of it was encrypted, though. Some even locked up with complex wards. They are all being sent back to headquarters. We’ll have to see if it is enough to give us details on the other disappearances and if there are any bodies at her place or buried within the pines.”
“Wouldn’t it be hard to search for them?”
“Hard but not impossible. I’m sure we’d piss the community off around the full moon.” He shifted, taking his hand out of his pocket and letting it fall at his side between us. “Anything we do won’t be until after the next one. These things usually take a while.”
“Would it be bad if I said I didn’t mind that?” I reached for his hand instinctively, wanting to hold it. To feel his calloused palm in mine and be assured everything would be okay. For some reason, those words from Saros seemed like they would hold a different weight.
He lifted his hand a bit closer but was careful not to touch me. Somehow, I still felt the distance lessen between us. “Not unless it’s bad if I say I don’t mind either.”
The sound of a throat clearing had us spinning to find the man in the gray suit scanning over us with a frown. Seeing him up close, I noticed he had orange eyes with peeks of blue bursting from his irises. “Sorry to interrupt, but we need to finish up our report, Miss Brooks.”
“Of course,” I said, finding it interesting that the witch didn’t introduce himself but addressed me by name.
“Thanks again for finding her and bringing her home,” I said to Saros, taking a more appropriate step back.
His hands retreated to his pockets. “It was nothing.”
“No.” I shook my head, tucking a few strands of hair behind my ear. “It waseverything.”
Silence hung in the air, thick with whateverthiswas. All I wanted to do was throw my arms around him. Thank him. But there was the issue of how he felt about touching me and what that would bring with his gifts. Not to mention the grumpy-looking boss ushering him into my sister’s hospital room.
“We’ll make sure to finish up with her shortly, Miss Brooks. Then your sister should be able to go home,” the man in the gray suit called out from the door before shutting it swiftly behind him.
My eyes darted up to the sky outside the window. The acolytes had heard my plea, and the Moon Goddess had answered it. Hope brewed in my chest, my heart feeling lighter than it had in weeks.
My sister was safe, and soon I’d get to take herhome.
Chapter26
Oakley
The next week flew by in a blur, the days and nights blending into each other between taking care of Aspen and hovering over Hazel. The coven came together, scheduling food deliveries from Hedley Haycox every other day, along with a grocery drop. Knowing they had come together to help us only solidified my desire to stay.
To build a life for us here.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” Hazel said with an exasperated exhale. “Like I said the lastten timesyou’ve asked me in the four hours I’ve been awake.”
“Sorry.” I winced. While I didn’t want to pry—I wanted her to come to me in her own time—I knew she wasn’t fine. How could she be? She was kidnapped and held in a tiny room hidden behind Acacia’s bookcase for weeks.
“Invite your boyfriends, Agent Carver and Holt, over. There are a few things I’ve remembered that should be added to my statement.”
“Th-they’re not…” I stammered, unable to finish my sentence, realizing she also knew their real last names. Their real identities. We both would need to keep that secret together. I swept Aspen up to my shoulder, patting his back until he let out a burp, then dropped his chubby cheek back to my shoulder.
“Maybe not yet,” she groaned in annoyance, the corner of her lip quirking a bit.
“Wait.” I stilled, letting the silence take a beat as I thought about her words. “Did youseesomething?”
