Chapter 604: Accusations
I was royally screwed. But I couldn't bring myself to argue, to say anything, standing there with Mia's hate battering at my shields, her weak power not even a threat, though her plan was.
Just my freaking luck.
"I saw it clinging to you!" Mia battered at Quaid with both hands, fury almost enough, despite her weakened state, to break free of her brother's hold. "I know you influenced it, told it what to do. You're working with him, aren't you?" She wailed, a piercing sound before she jerked her body so taut Quaid almost lost control. "He's your pawn. I knew it. I knew it!"
If only she knew how much I wished she was still in control of her family's magic.
"As the Dumont leader," Andre interrupted my grim plan to find a hole to hide in, "I resent such an implication." He turned his nose up at me. "As if anyone from our family would be in thrall to a mere Hayle witch." He sniffed, seriously offended. "Unthinkable."
I'd give him unthinkable. Two minutes alone with him and he'd never think coherently again.
But Andre wasn't done. From the nasty look on his face, it was his turn to pile some kindling on my funeral pyre. "Now that I, the true heir, am in control of our coven, it is my responsibility to bring those who have wronged my coven to justice." Yup, here it came. Arrogant ass. After I saved his family's magic, he was going to stab me in the back while crushing what remained of Mia's spirit.
Classic Dumont tactics. And naturally Pender stood close enough to hear him say it. Charlotte's low, threatening growl told me she'd recovered enough to think she was ready for a fight while Gram's fury vibrated in my head. I faced off with Andre, jaw set, ready for the worst.
Caught the glimmer of regret in his eyes, the clench of his own teeth as he bowed his head to me.
"As Dumont leader," he said as though it pained him, "I find no grievance."
Um, what?
Holy.
Did Andre actually have a conscience?
Amazing.
"The Dumont coven is grateful to the Hayle leader," he said, still with that pained look on his angular face, "for her assistance in returning our family's power to its rightful place at last."
Gram spluttered incoherently in my head as I fought to process what just happened. My stunned silence was broken by Mia's inhuman shriek. She launching herself bodily at him, finding a new target this time, sliding from Quaid's grip at last. I stepped back, keeping my distance, despite my first instinct to make a grab for her.
No way was I getting involved in this, not after my close call, with the Enforcer leader watching all of it. But the spectacle was horrible, heartbreaking to watch as she pummeled Andre's wide chest with her fists, her feeble magic pulling at the core of the Dumont family now firmly in place with her uncle.
He laughed at her. Shoved her so hard she fell to the pebbled asphalt. Quaid's glare of rage did nothing to soften Andre's contempt.
The new leader of the Dumont family bent over weeping Mia. "And now," he said with an edge in the sweet tone of his voice, "it's time to declare you allegiance to your leader." So much terrible joy, too much.
Just too much.
She stared up at him, mute, shattered as he held out his hand, palm up, a ball of lavender magic floating over his skin. Mia flinched from it, shaking her head as he bent low, lips almost next to her ear.
"You'll take it," he said, "and you'll like it."
Filthy, disgusting, core-rotten-
Mia was stronger than I thought, even now. I figured she'd cave. She needed a coven to protect her. That was our way. Without family magic to sustain and shield her, as weak as her own magic was, she wouldn't survive. The terrible loneliness after being part of something so huge would finish her off.
Still. I saw her face firm, her eyes flash fire just before she slapped his hand away.
"Never!" She spit at him much like she'd spit at me, fighting off Quaid as he tried to pull her to her feet. She staggered upright, almost drunk with her rage and loss. "Thief, give back what you stole from me and I'll let you live."
Andre shrugged, turned his back on her. "If you refuse to swear your oath, you are no longer welcome in my family." Better bet he stressed that "my" to the hilt. Just to rub it in a little more.
I really hated his guts, no matter what he did to save mine.
His icy eyes flickered over me, the old Dumont swagger back with a vengeance. "I'll be seeing you, Sydlynn Hayle," he said before looking down his nose at Pender. "I require an escort home so I might reconnect my family power with the rest of my coven." Like Pender and his Enforcers were a taxi service.
Well, they brought him here. So I had to admit it wasn't all that arrogant to need a ride back.
Still.
My stomach did a slow flip over as Pender himself gripped Andre's arm. The Dumont leader's smile never left him as he saluted me before they vanished in an outflux of air and a flash of blue magic.
Mia gaped at the spot where Andre had been, hands rising as though to grasp at his after image. I knew it was none of my business, knew she hated me now, needed someone to blame and I was a convenient target, but I still felt terrible for her.
And was horribly worried we'd made a massive mistake giving Andre control of the Dumont coven.
Not my problem, my new mantra.
Considering the Dumont family track record when it came to my coven, I just hoped "not my problem" was true.
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