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“Have you heard from any of your brothers?” Arald asked Katana.
She shook her head. “Not a peep. I think after they heard they weren’t being charged with being guilty by association, they’ve kept their heads down.”
Arald let out a low whistle. “But still. You’d think at least one of them would have something to say.”
“Maybe in time,” Katana said. “It’s only been a week. Everything is still very raw.”
Now back at her family home, with her father kept prisoner downstairs, Katana had welcomed Arald and Lenore to stay in the house, and of course Jacques.
Erica had decided that maybe working for the Amethyst Coven with all the politics involved wasn’t the best move for her. She was now studying to be a primary school teacher. Still in need of money in the meantime, Katana had given her a job as a cook and a maid at her home.
“Please don’t think I’m trying to de-mean you, Erica,” Katana said, when she offered her the job. “But I know you won’t accept money just for the sake of it and I need help keeping this giant house clean and tidy.”
Erica had thrown her arms around her best friend and laughed. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
Now, as Katana, Lenore, and Arald sat around the round mahogany table in Malaceia’s old office, Erica burst through the door carrying a tray of freshly cooked chocolate chip cookies.
“Erica,” Arald said, shaking his head with a laugh. “You’re going to make us really fat if you carry on with this.”
“Would you like me to stop baking these daily for you?”
“No, thank you,” Katana said, giving her friend a smile. “I’m used to my eleven o’clock treat now.”
Erica grinned, slid the baking tray across the table and skipped back out to the kitchen.
“Right,” Lenore said, tapping on her iPad. “Back to business. With your brothers off the grid for hunting, Katana, that means we’re six hunters down. That’s quite a lot. We’ve already seen fifty new cases this week thanks to the elixir.”
Katana nodded her head and grinned. “It’s fine. I got this. It’s time for me to pave the way for the women.”
Arald frowned. “What do you mean? Where are these women coming from?”
“Well, it turns out that all three of my female cousins were paid off to disappear from the family line. I’ve tracked them down and they’re interested in training up.”
“What cousins?” Arald said. “There was only me and your father, and your aunt Marion. She left no children.”
“Oh, she did. Dad had them all adopted out to witch families.”
“You’re joking? I’ve got more nieces out there?”
Katana grinned. “Yes indeed.”
Lenore smiled and reached across to Katana, taking her hands. “If there’s one thing your wolf was wrong about, it’s that you would end up alone.”
Katana nodded and smiled. “I’ve never felt more part of a family than what I do now.”
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