The witch immediately went unconscious. Ari slowly ran her hand over the witch’s body. When she rose, her face was unusually grim.
“She’s under a spell. As soon as someone, us in this case, started asking questions, the spell triggered. Your friend here is a walking bomb.”
Evie grimaced and took a step back. “No way to disarm her?”
Ari shook her head. “Only if your mother decided to disable the spell. It’s tied into her blood. Must have been a large payoff for Marie to agree to allow such a thing.”
“Mother Dearest has a way of convincing people to do what she wants,” I said, unable to help the sour note in my voice.
Evie glanced at me. “Where do you have Ari taking her?”
I grinned. “Wait and see.”
Ari scratched her nose. “She’s close to blowing, though I’ve put her in stasis for a bit. You sure you want to do this? It could escalate things.”
The sooner I could get rid of my mother, the better. “Escalation is exactly what I want. Let’s draw the snake out of her warm burrow and see how she fights in close quarters when she’s lost the advantage.”
Ari nodded. “Very well. I’ll be back in a few.” She touched Marie’s prone body, and they both disappeared.
“I hate your mother,” Evie muttered. “Why can’t she be cool and make magical vodka like mine, so she and my mom can be friends?”
“If only the world worked so well,” I mused.
Ari was back in less than a minute, covered in soot and grinning from ear to ear. “I got everyone out and ensured the explosion was limited to only your mother’s shop. There should be no damage to the other structures, and no other injuries.”
“And Marie?” Evie asked.
Ari shook her head. “Your mother’s spell did a thorough job. Marie is a pile of inert ash.”
“Good,” Evie growled.
When someone dying horribly because they tried to kill you made your BFF happy, you knew you had a keeper on your hands.
Chapter
Six
ETHAN
Ifelt the shimmer of magic in the air a few seconds before Cernunnos popped into existence.
Knew the bastard couldn’t stay away. For some reason, he wanted this, and I wanted to figure out why. He should have no idea Moira told me about his plan, and I didn’t plan to tell him I knew. Let’s see how he played this.
“Lord,” Cernunnos said.
“God,” I responded.
I was sitting on the back patio, watching the deer decide whether they wanted to risk my wrath to munch on the flowers I’d planted earlier in the season. They were just backing up when the god arrived. Once they spotted him, I watched their confidence boost just enough to step forward once more.
I let out a low warning growl.
They bounded away in a few quick leaps.
Cernunnos made a tsking noise. “A few pretty flowers are worth disrupting the cycle of life, Lord?”
“They’re my pretty flowers. Plenty more to go around off my main property.”
I held a beer in my hand. Guess I could have offered him one, but I didn’t feel like it.
