the hell did this cat come from?”
“I think I conjured it.” Tierra held her hand out for the cat.
“Don't touch it,” Aerin said.
“It scared—well, maybe not scared Killian—Death—but he reacted negatively to the cat.” The feline in question jumped into Tierra's arms and climbed up to her shoulders where it lay like a stole, purring like a well-tuned machine.
“Huh,” Claire said. “Would you look at that?”
“I say we get our asses inside and start another caldron of that shit.” Aerin looked around the back yard as if another Horseman might appear at any second. “The sooner the better.”
Plus, they needed to find out why her powers reduced when she left the earth. Death knew, which meant the other Horsemen would soon know too. That was a handicap they needed to prevent from happening again.
48
“What did you find out?” Julian glanced up from his book-covered desk when Bane entered the library. “What in damnation happened to you?” He stood, his chair scraping back from the large walnut desk.
“You were not supposed to engage them.”
“I didn't.” Well, not them. He couldn't stop thinking about her.
Julian cursed. “She's bewitched you, hasn't she?”
Bane glanced around, glad to find the room empty besides the two of them.
“Drustan and Nicholas are still out. It's just us, brother. So tell me what happened? You know you can confide in me.”
Bane strode to the bar and grabbed the Patrón. They'd have to get more if he kept drinking it like a babe with a bottle.
Julian hissed when he saw Bane's back.
He hadn't looked at it yet, but the wounds hurt like a son of a bitch. He'd dived into the salt water of the Sound to try and neutralize the burning. It had helped, after a fashion. At the first contact of seawater, he'd felt like he'd poured acid on a festering wound.
“What did they do to you?”
“They're witches. They've been brewing.”
“Not—”
“Worse. Tierra has talent for concocting nasty potions. I don't even think she knows what she's doing or how talented she is. If we don't find a weakness soon and strike, their defenses will be too strong.”
“What the fuck happened to you?” Dru said entering the library, Nick following closely behind him.
“Let me guess,” Nick said. “Your dick got in the way.”
“Doesn't it always?” Dru muttered.
“The witches are getting stronger,” Bane admitted, but he didn't share that Tierra was weakened when separated from the earth. It was on the tip of his tongue to impart the information, but he couldn't seem to form the words. He swallowed more Patrón. “They've fortified the perimeter of the house. We won't be able to cross.”
“Not even in winged form?” Julian asked.
Bane shook his head.
“There's a cat.”
“Ah, shit I hate cats,” Nick said.
“Yeah, well this one is a guardian. An old guardian.”
Nick cursed again. “Moira with her fire-breathing pig, now there's a cat. Any of the rest of them have a familiar?” He looked at Julian and Dru.
“I didn't see one around Aerin, but that doesn't mean she doesn’t have one,” Julian said. “You?”
“No.” Dru's mouth tightened.
“Well, that's good,” Nick said. “They each get their familiars, and their defenses will increase.”
“Did you two find out anything?” Bane changed the subject. He took another swallow and welcomed the numbing effects of the tequila as his skin began the painful process of knitting back together. He'd been burned down through the layers of the dermis to the muscle. In a normal man, it would have been crippling and would leave a scar he'd wear to the end of his days. Guess there was something to be thankful for that he wasn't a normal man. It would still take him days to regenerate. Maybe a week for a full recovery.
“They've learned to scry.” Silence followed his words.
“They'd need something of ours in order to find us,” Julian said.
“I don't think so. They found me, and they didn't have anything of mine.”
“Don't tell me all they have to do is envision one of us?” Dru asked.
“I'm not sure.”
“Well, I couldn't find anything about Moira,” Nick said. “Woman doesn't even have a birth certificate.”
“Claire has a fire-trail of dead bodies, if you will,” Dru said. “So far, I've turned up three who mysteriously died in her presence. But no charges were ever filed.”
They looked at Julian. “I'm having issues locating anything about Aerin other than her considerable business holdings.”
“What kind of issues?” Bane asked.
“I think—” Julian looked at Bane “—perhaps, we should focus on a different sister than the ones we've been studying. I found that