Chapter 144
Kiana
Clam
“I cannot make myself any clearer. I never saw Claudine,” the Crone said stubbornly. “My name has been hidden away for many years. There was a time, when I was much younger, that I did travel and offer my gift of sight to those who needed it, but by the time Claudine came in search of me, I
was part of the Darkwyn Coven.”
“Not just part of it,” I guessed. “You’d started it. There aren’t any other covens who take titles
instead of names. You went into hiding, and this was the best way for you to do it.”
Her eyes narrowed as she glared at me. We’d brought the Crone, Evalina, to us rather than risk having the conversation in front of Irene.
“What are you implying?”
“That knew about the cult!” I exploded. “That you’re parsing out information when we’re
CO
bout the cult,” Evalina said calmly. “I did not know its name or where they were. Only
were rumored to be.”
were you running,” Troy asked, putting a hand on my knee. I was about to erupt from my seat and scream at her. “Why did you start the Darkwyn Coven?”
Evalina’s eyes flickered over me for a moment. “Most seers cannot see for themselves. That is true for me as well. As powerful as I am, I could never get a glimpse of my own future, and in my younger days, I did try. Often. It never produced results and sent me to bed, drained, for days. Eventually, I gave up, but one day, I connected with another seer, and through her, I saw my death. Not just how I would die, but all the threads that led to and spread out from my death. I saw how the path I traveled was already leading to it, and so I did what anyone would do. I tried to get off the path. I sequestered me away and surrounded myself with protective magic.”
It sounded
ould run from their death. “Did it change anything?” I asked quietly.”
sonal question and none of your business,” Evalina said frostily. “But you are right that death led me to hone my abilities and see as much as I could about the darkness. Your birth made everything so much clearer, but there were still so many pieces missing.”
“Claudine wanted the heart of her daughter. Are there spells that require that?” Troy asked in
distaste.
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Chapter 144
“Absolutely. The heart of someone you love. The heart of someone who shares your blood. A heart that you once shared. The kind of magic that Claudine is dabbling in requires sacrifice. I doubt that is the only distasteful ingredient. I fear bringing her daughters here is a mistake. While she’s had time to come up with an alternative, if it’s specific to a spawn, you’ll be handing her what she
wants.”
Something was still bothering me. “Would the spell care if it’s a daughter or a son?”
The witch’s eyes widened. “No. No spell cares about gender. Only blood. Her son was her back-up
plan.”
“She let Finn live.” I swiveled my head toward Troy, fear in my heart. “But she let him go. If he was her back-up plan, why would she let him go into rogue territory where anything could happen?”
Troy shook his head. “Maybe finding you was more important. Or maybe she knew that the healer had let her daughters live.”
“Maybe,” I muttered. Something was still nagging at me, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
“You cannot just a send a group of wolves to destroy the cult,” Evalina said briskly. “You need to send someone to infiltrate them and discover what they know. Lunessa will go with them.” There were only three wolves that I knew that Troy trusted enough to do that. Jenson wasn’t going to leave Irene, and Saul and Amelia were both working on their own projects to help.
When his gaze met mine, my heart sank. “You’re going to go, aren’t you?”
“There is no one else available that’s close to the situation,” he said in a low voice.
“Then clue someone else in!” Jumping up from my seat, I started to pace. “It’s just a little intelligence run! You’ve got a whole guard trained to do that!”
“Not when it comes to intelligence on you, Kiana. I have to do this myself. You’re too important.”
A knot formed in my chest, and I started having trouble breathing. “Your pack is under attack from rogues, and Claudine could strike at any minute. You are leaving them all vulnerable!”
“I’m leaving them with Jenson and with you.”
At that, I recoiled. “Me? What the hell are you talking about?”
A small smile tugged at his lips. “You, Kiana. You’re my mate. There is no one higher in the hierarchy than you when I’m gone. Jenson will guide you, but you will be the alpha, and I have every faith that you’ll protect this pack. I also have every faith that this pack will protect you. This is the safest place for you. Claudine can’t get you here.”
“Claudine? Claudine! Claudine is not my concern,” I said in disbelief. “I can only name a handful of
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Chapter 144
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wolves in your pack who would follow me, and Troy, I’m not certain if you are aware, but there are hundreds of wolves here! They’ll be a Goddamn civil war before you return!”
To my disbelief, he just took my hands and pulled me for a hug. I tensed as he kissed the top of my head. “You are not taking this seriously, Troy.” I mumbled in his chest.
“And you don’t believe in yourself. This pack is yours, Kiana. They have accepted you as my mate, which means they will accept you as their alpha. I know you have a hard time putting the past behind you, but you need to believe in yourself. Believe in your wolf. If I recall, you have no problems taking charge when it came to rescuing me. Being in charge comes naturally to you, now that there’s nothing standing in your way.”
His speech was good and all, but he was forgetting one very big thing. “What if the cult knows who
you are? What if they recognize you?”
He might not get out alive.
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