Chapter Fifteen
Ripper scanned the faces of Emberlyn’s relatives. All were furious, but only Mari appeared somewhat defeated by the letter. The other three seemed ready to burn shit down.
The rest of the coven exchanged flustered looks, aside from Tyra, who stared intently at the paper Clarence held as if her glare alone could set it on fire.
Ripper wondered if, for her, this was like being beaten by Emberlyn all over again, because it was perfectly apparent that Tyra had meant to use this legal battle to hurt her.
‘The letter makes no difference to anything!’ Dez asserted, even as he allowed Ames to urge him back into his seat. ‘She still wasn’t of sound mind. Period.’
Ignoring him, Shane rubbed at his nape. ‘Forgive my ignorance here, but what is a curse jar?’
‘Simply speaking,’ Emberlyn began, ‘it’s a glass jar that will contain things such as broken glass and blood; it will be spelled to cause ill-intent to a person, animal, object or place.’
‘I see.’ Shane’s frown deepened. ‘Why would someone wish to curse the land?’
‘There’s no reason anyone in the coven would,’ Tyra clipped. ‘We all supported Reena’s plans to build a new estate. Millicent has to have lied about the curse jars.’
‘I highly doubt it,’ Ripper cut in. ‘Emberlyn found one last week. I was there.’
Ames snorted. ‘She’s the likeliest person to have tried cursing the land in the first place.’
Ripper bristled on behalf of Emberlyn. But she didn’t seem either offended or upset. In fact, she regarded her cousin as if he was simple.
‘If I’d wanted to damage the land, I wouldn’t have used something as small-time as a curse jar,’ said Emberlyn, her tone haughty. ‘Whoever it was, they do shoddy spell work.’
It was bait, he sensed. An effort to make the culprit reveal themselves in some way. But none of the witches in the room currently seemed more agitated than any other.
‘It has to have been somebody outside the coven,’ Tyra insisted. ‘We had big plans for that land.’
‘Either one of you didn’t care too much about that, or they hoped they could push Millicent to sell the acres if it turned barren,’ Emberlyn said to her, earning herself a narrow-eyed look from Tyra.
Unscrewing a cap from a bottle of water, Ames threw Emberlyn a dirty look. ‘I still say it was you.’
She softly flicked her hand, magick dust briefly peppering the air. That easily, the liquid in Ames’s bottle turned black.
As her cousin gawked at it, she smiled wide. ‘You still think I need a curse jar?’
A ball of magick appeared in Ames’s hand and then – fast as a motherfucker – he pitched it at Emberlyn.
Her hand shot up and caught it.
Gasps flew out of the witches, every one of them going motionless.
Ripper glared at Ames, a growl of fury rumbling in his chest. He was about to rise and cross to the little shit, but she planted a staying palm on his thigh.
The coven watched through wide eyes as Emberlyn casually twisted the ball of magick this way and that. Then, holding Ames’s gaze, she snapped her fist closed and crushed the ball to nothing.
Her cousin paled. Gazes zipped away from her. Reena closed her eyes in what seemed to be exasperation.
Ripper didn’t get why they’d reacted that way. Didn’t care to figure it out right then. His focus was on her piece-of-shit cousin.
He growled again, catching Ames’s attention. ‘Unless you want me to slice off your fucking tongue and make you eat it, you won’t dare try to harm her again.’ The threat was low, menacing and laced with protectiveness.
Shane sighed. ‘This is why I don’t like presiding over witchy matters. Someone always ends up tossing magick around.’
Clarence’s lips twitched. ‘Is it much different from how a punch always seems to get thrown during werewolf meetings?’
‘I suppose not,’ mumbled Shane. ‘All right, let’s circle back to why we’re really here. The will.’ He paused. ‘The letter does shine a very bright light on things.’
Tyra’s shoulders went stiff. ‘It doesn’t change the situation,’ she objected. ‘Every sentence in it is as invalid as the will – Millicent was incapable of making sound decisions.’
‘That isn’t the impression I get from that letter,’ said Shane. ‘Her thought processes seem clear. I hear no indication there that she lacked mental capacity. Her relatives inherited exactly what she wanted them to have.’
Ripper sensed some tension slip from Emberlyn’s frame.
Gill’s face went crimson. ‘But the manor—’
‘You believe it should go to you, I know,’ said Shane. ‘But you did have the chance to earn the house’s approval. Your mother ensured you had that chance.’
‘Emberlyn is the last person who should be living in it,’ Dez threw in.
Shane frowned. ‘Why? Because you don’t like it? That’s not reason to remove her from the manor. You talk as if she stole it from under you. As I understand it, she didn’t object to you, Gill, Mari or Ames attempting to enter the house first. She stood back and waited.’
Ward spat a curse. ‘She should have been driven out of this town years ago, should have—’
‘Be very, very careful,’ Ripper warned him, quite frankly fed the fuck up with the coven tossing verbal shit at her.
Ward pressed his lips closed, averting his gaze.
‘We’re not here to discuss Emberlyn,’ began Shane, impatient.
‘She isn’t on trial here. The purpose of this meeting is to establish whether there’s reason for Millicent’s will to be rendered invalid.
The fact that she anticipated this would happen and took measures to prevent Gill’s claim from being successful shows two things.
One, she was very much aware of what she was doing when she wrote her will.
Two, she was equally aware of what the consequences could be. That demonstrates a soundness of mind.’
Gill looked desperately up at Tyra, who gave a helpless shrug.
Mari leaned forward in her seat. ‘We should at least be compensated for how the will breaks the promises that Millicent made to us.’
‘You cannot prove she made those promises,’ Shane pointed out. ‘You have no impartial witnesses.’
Sera lifted a hand. ‘I was there. So was Tyra.’
‘Both of you legally represent the daughter of the woman who wants the manor for herself. You’re also both people who loathe the witch who currently occupies it. That makes you far from impartial.’
Dez’s lips thinned. ‘The land—’
‘I see no reason why it should be taken from Ripper,’ Shane told him. ‘He has more of a rightful claim to it than anyone in this room.’
‘Millicent approved of my mother’s plans for that land,’ Tyra said to Shane, her hands balling up.
‘So you all claim,’ Clarence cut in. ‘But this letter from Millicent contradicts those claims, as does her will. They carry more weight here.’
Shane dipped his chin in agreement. ‘Both those documents are in Millicent’s very own words. In this case, it is her words that matter most.’
‘Carver confirmed that Millicent approved of the plans,’ Sera piped up.
Shane waved that away. ‘He’s no more impartial than any of you.’
Carver’s back straightened. ‘You calling me a liar, Shane?’ he asked, a dangerous note to his tone.
Shane met his gaze evenly, visibly unconcerned.
‘I find it easier to believe that you lied here today than that Millicent praised you in any way.’ He rose to his feet.
‘It’s my opinion that the conditions of the will should remain in place.
That’s all.’ With that, he turned away and swanned off the platform.
As shouting broke out among the coven, Clarence glanced from Emberlyn to Ripper and said, ‘I think that went well.’
‘This is a fucking injustice!’ Gill ranted.
Emberlyn’s lips hitched up. ‘Very, very well.’ She held her hand out to him. ‘Thank you for everything.’
Clarence’s mouth curved as he shook her hand. ‘No thanks necessary.’ He then exchanged nods with Ripper.
Meanwhile, Gill and Dez yelled at Tyra to ‘do something’. Reena and Ward hurried over and insisted they calm down. The rest of the coven left, very subdued and avoiding Emberlyn’s gaze as if their lives depended on it. Carver stalked out, his cheeks flushed, agitation in every step.
‘Shall we go?’ proposed Emberlyn, standing.
Ripper and Clarence followed suit. Without looking at the coven, the three of them made a slow and dignified exit. Outside, they exchanged a few words before Clarence headed off.
Ripper turned to Emberlyn. ‘I’ll walk you to your car.’
She blinked. ‘Why?’
‘Because I want to.’
She gave a shrug and began walking toward her vehicle. ‘Thanks, by the way.’
He felt his brows meet in honest confusion. ‘For what?’
‘It’s hardwired into you to jump to the defense of those under your protection. But when I gestured for you to let me handle the situation with Ames, you didn’t ignore me. That mattered.’
Ripper bit into the inside of his lower lip. ‘Gotta be honest, I can’t promise I’ll always stand down when you ask. It’ll depend on just what kind of threat you’re facing and if that threat heeds your warning. If Ames had struck again in there, I wouldn’t have sat back while he attacked you.’
‘I know. I wouldn’t have expected you to. I just—’
‘Can’t ever look weak around those people,’ he finished as they reached her car.
‘I get it. I’ve seen how they are with you.
They sling mud at you all the time.’ It was starting to really piss him off.
‘They’d pounce on any display of weakness you showed.
’ He edged closer to her. ‘But, Emberlyn, having backup doesn’t detract from your strength, it adds to it.
Let them see that you have a fucking werewolf clan ready to go to bat for you if needed. ’
She watched him for a long moment, her gaze searching his. ‘Two-way street. You and your clan have my magick at your disposal.’
‘Speaking of magick . . . what happened in there? You caught Ames’s magickal blow, and the coven went weird. Why?’ Ripper didn’t know enough about the mechanics of magick to understand.