13. Oh, Brother
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Oh, Brother
Something cold slid through our bond. It wasn’t fear, but something more like the echo of cracking ice or the rattle of a door you’d nailed shut. It was so horrible my antennae stood straight up. They twitched, tasting the air, and what they found tasted more toxic than the plants around us.
Lucia went still. She watched a sleek—and very expensive—black car glide up the gravel drive. Her face was stoic, but the bond didn’t lie, and underneath that practiced silence, she was building a wall, one that had been constructed many times before.
“Lucia?” I walked up behind her as the car doors opened with clunks that sounded like money. A redheaded woman and a blonde man stepped out.
If there was one thing I knew about blonde men, it was that they were all evil.
This man certainly looked the part. A sharp black suit without a thread out of place, his hair styled to show off a handsome face. He didn’t help his elderly mother out of the car, just looked up at the house, his face twisting like he’d smelled something unpleasant.
“My mother,” she said. “And my brother.”
The bond flooded with anxiety, and I couldn’t stop myself from placing my dirty hands on her shoulders. The anxiety lessened, and it pleased me that just my touch could affect her like that now.
But I could do more than that.
“I could tell them to leave. Or I could fly up onto the roof and lurk. I got really good at that in my teens.”
There it was. The corner of her mouth ticked up, and a pulse like laughter passed through the bond. Then it faded again.
“They won’t leave until they get what they came for.”
“What’s that?”
She didn’t answer but the dread pooling in her chest said she had guesses, and none of them were good.
“Hawk.” Her voice was small. “Don’t let me talk.”
“Lucia…”
“I mean it. Nothing good will come of it.”
Her brother turned in a circle until his eyes found Lucia and me halfway to the greenhouse. His frown deepened, but he stalked toward us.
“Sister, it’s been so long.” His voice dripped with poisoned honey—all false sweetness with a deadly edge hidden inside.
Lucia did not return his greeting, just jutted her chin out and flipped him off.
He scoffed. “As pleasant as always.” His gaze drifted over to me. It was just as assessing as hers had been when we’d first met, but his wasn’t laced with curiosity. Instead, I felt myself being dissected to see if my parts held any worth.
I was found wanting.
“And you found yourself a pretty little toy, didn’t you?”
Red-hot anger flared through the bond, and Lucia tried to step forward, but I held on to her shoulders.
“I’ve got this,” I whispered in her ear. “You can trust me.”
I stepped around her and held out my soil-and-grease caked hand to the stranger.
“The name’s Hawk. Can’t say it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He looked down at my hand, and his sneer grew even deeper, if that was possible.
“If you aren’t careful, your face will stay that way.”
He blinked, then schooled his features. “Cute. I assume if you’ve stuck around you can understand her, then? Interesting.” He glanced back at his sister. “Although I’m still surprised he stuck around. You were unpleasant even before—”
He cut himself off as their mother stepped up beside him, now accompanied by a short, suited man I hadn’t noticed get out of the car. He held a leather folio against his chest, his gaze flicking nervously between Lucia and her brother.
A fancy corporate lawyer, by the look of him.
“I’m Derek W. Biltmore of Biltmore they couldn’t survive without it once the illness set in.
But Atropa charged exorbitant amounts for it.
Or at least they had.
Huge protests had erupted in the supernatural community, calling for the release of more recipes.
That was until the whistleblower had “mysteriously” disappeared.
Looks like I’d found her.
And who had cursed her.
My brilliant, brave witch.
She’d had it all. She’d been heir to the fortune of one of the oldest and richest corporations in the supernatural world. And she’d risked it all—lost it all—to try to do what was right.
A person like that was rarer than any ancient magical bond. No wonder she could shine so bright. She had courage which had overcome the greatest curse of all—money.
How would I be worthy of her if I didn’t do the same? Plus, my great-grandpappy didn’t fight at Blair Mountain for me to give into a couple of fancy suits.