features, but then he laughed, hard and short. “You think it’s me? You actually think I’ve gone rogue?”
“You’re here,” Rune pointed out, tightening his grip on the hilt of his knife. “Elena Vargas was killed with magic and you just said yourself you’ve never been fond of humans.”
“True.” Finn tucked his own knife back into its scabbard as a show of good faith, then raised both arms out to his sides. He was opening himself up to an attack, offering no resistance, and Rune didn’t know what to make of that, either.
“I don’t much like humans. Hate cats, too, but I haven’t wiped out that species yet.”
Rune rubbed his jaw and looked into his old friend’s gray eyes. Like his own, that gray swirled with power and magic and energy. “What the hell am I supposed to think, Finn? You just show up out of nowhere. Hell, for all I know, you’ve been following Teresa and me around since the beginning.”
The slightest flinch showed on Finn’s face again and then was gone. When he spoke, his voice was hard and flat. “I didn’t call because I figured it’d be easier just to lock in on your trace energy pattern and follow you once I got here. Knew you were in this part of Mexico headed south because Torin told me. I didn’t follow you. I didn’t kill that woman.”
Rune shook his head. He wanted to believe. But the image of Elena’s burned body rose up in his mind. “Where were you a couple weeks ago, Finn?”
“You’re serious.”
“Deadly.”
A second ticked past, then another. He still held his arms out at his side, in an open show of trust. He blew out a breath, gritted his teeth and said, “Two weeks ago, I was trying to keep my witch’s sweet ass out of a sling when she and her friends decided to stage a breakout at an internment camp.”
Stunned, Rune just looked at him. “She did what?”
“Yeah.” Finn bristled in memory and shook his head as if even he was still having a hard time believing it. “If I hadn’t been there to take out two guards who were coming up behind her, the Awakening would have been over.”
The thought of that was a sobering one. After centuries, to be so close to fruition and lose it because a witch was needlessly killed … “What the hell is she doing?”
At the implied disapproval, Finn gave Rune a hard glare. “She’s trying to save people, you asshole. That so hard to understand? She might not know she’s a witch yet, but she feels for the women caught up in this business. And she’s trying to help.”
Hearing the harsh ring of protectiveness in Finn’s tone did more to convince Rune that he was innocent than anything else could have. No rogue would give a shit about his witch, because he’d be in this for whatever he could get. He wouldn’t be standing here unarmed and open to attack, either. He’d have tried to take Rune out first thing.
Relief poured through him as he acknowledged that his brother was still just that. But on its heels came impatience. “You let her go? Didn’t try to stop her? Damn, my man. You were taking a chance.”
“Rules of the game, brother,” Finn muttered. “You know that. We can’t approach until their powers quicken in times of danger. And she didn’t use magic on that raid. Just stupid human emotions.”
Rune snorted. “Yeah, never liked that rule myself. Hell, I got shot to shit with white-gold bullets when I swooped in to save my witch as her power erupted.”
“That rule blows, all right.” Finn looked around. “Anyway, my witch is laying low for a while. Think she got scared. So I figured it would be safe enough for me to come out here and track whoever killed your woman’s friend. That is,” he added, “if you’re done suspecting me.”
Rune slid his knife back into its scabbard and nodded. “Yeah, I’m done. And I’m actually glad to see you. There’s something going on here, Finn. More than we know. If it’s not one of us gone rogue, then there’s a new player in the game. Demon. Sorcerer. Some damn thing. And it’s deadly.”
Finn gave him a cold, confident smile. “Wouldn’t be any challenge in it otherwise, now would there?” Folding his arms over his chest, he said quietly, “Tell me everything you know.”
Chapter 44
Deidre Sterling turned the stereo down with a click of the remote, then reached for her glass