“Her walking in this world defies the laws of nature,” Ben said. To his credit, there was compassion in his voice. “I know how difficult this must be for you, and I am impressed with your restraint.”
“Why does everyone think I’m an indiscriminate killer?” I grumbled.
Ben laughed. “No one does, but we all know you have the capability to be one. Evie had the capacity as well and look how much restraint she showed to us all.”
“Yeah, she did a huge favor to all of you assholes.”
Ben snorted. “That she did.”
We chatted for a little while longer. When I was about to hang up, Ben said one more thing.
“I have not been a Lord for long, and I believe this gives me a better perspective on the Lords. Ethan has been the head for many years now, and I know it makes him a little prickly.”
I smiled to myself. Ethan was more than prickly. He was grumpy as a bear sometimes.
“I’ve seen in him a great capacity for love, more than any of us have shown. I hope you can come back from this together, Moira. Please reach out if you need assistance. I will do my best to help.”
“Thanks, Ben.”
I disconnected and shut the patio door. One more cup of coffee and I could start trying to untangle the web my mother had entangled us in.
Chapter
Eighteen
Sarah’s bone rested in a small plastic baggie in my jacket pocket. If I hadn’t had creepier things in my pockets, I might have been bothered.
My bag was full of travel potions and snacks, and I had several pages of my notebook jotted with ideas on where I thought my mother could be.
She wanted me to come to her, so I should be able to find her.
I sat on the rooftop across from Mom’s destroyed shop. The explosion was pretty impressive, along with the magic used to keep the blast contained to only her store. Once darkness fell, maybe half an hour away, I planned to go through all the rubble to see if there was anything left behind that might help me.
People gave the place a wide berth, as if they could sense something wasn’t quite right with it. I could feel the darkness all the way on the rooftop. The spell Mom had infected Marie with was one I’d never seen before. Most silence spells only prevented someone from speaking. Mom’s was meant to silence someone and anyone in their vicinity for good.
Except we’d caught it and sent it back. We’d disrupted her financials, but I had no doubt Mom had other lines of money.Paranormals as old as we were kept money squirreled away everywhere.
I pulled a protein granola bar from my bag and unwrapped it. I’d tried a new recipe this morning—a honey vanilla flavor with peanut butter made with a grass-fed protein. Powders were hit or miss for me, but I needed the fuel. Even if it tasted bad, it would still give me the energy I needed in case I needed to pull on my magic tonight.
The first bite went down okay. The texture was a little weird and I didn’t add enough peanut butter, but it was edible and that was all that mattered.
“Hey,” a voice said beside me.
I jerked, the protein bar flying through the air.
Ari snatched the bar before it sailed off the roof and took a bite.
She chewed a bit and grunted. “Decent. First try?”
“Yup.”
“Less protein powder and more peanut butter and honey next time.”
I dug in my purse and handed her one.
“You waiting for the sun to go down?”
“Yup.” I took another bite and chewed.
