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CIARA WAS WAITING FOR the hours to pass. She had nothing to do until it was time to go to the Rosslers’.
Henry was at work. He was going to go to his parents’ house straight from there.
It meant Ciara had to wait alone. She tried to watch a television show to pass the time, but it ended up being more boring than just doing nothing. She longed for action. Even the mere thought of fighting the witch hunters made blood rush in her veins.
Her luck seemed to change when heavy banging at the door interrupted her. She clenched her hand into fist, wondering who it could be. Witch hunters? The idea excited her.
She reached for the doorknob, ready to strike. Pushing it open, she revealed a man. But he wasn’t a witch hunter.
“Doherty.”
“No time to talk. Grab your jacket and wand. We need to go. There’s been an attack.” His voice came out in a blur, so Ciara knew to be fast.
She grabbed her jacket from the sofa. Her wand was in her jacket pocket, specially designed for a wand to fit in. She was ready within seconds. “Let’s go.”
With a flick of Doherty’s wand, he and Ciara disappeared from the living room. He teleported them to a street Ciara didn’t recognise. They stood in front of an old yellow house.
The street was empty. Quiet. Even though there was a house nearby, there were no lights and no movement.
They walked to the porch and to the sloppily painted door. Based on the name tag on the door, the house belonged to someone named Tubbs. Ciara didn’t remember ever hearing that name.
Doherty was the one to knock—first twice and then three times. Meanwhile, he gripped his wand in his other hand.
Ciara’s hand went to her wand, but she kept it in the pocket. Not that she actually needed the wand with her gift of wandless magic, but sometimes it drained less of her energy to use a wand on missions.
The silence was intense. Ciara could hear her own breathing, and it made her muscles tense. It was like waiting for someone to come and kill them.
She didn’t know if that was the case. Doherty hadn’t bothered to explain. She didn’t know what they were doing there.
But she remained calm. She had been under a lot more pressure at work. It was nothing new for her.
And she trusted Doherty. He also trusted her. They were a great team. After all, he had taught her everything in the beginning when she had become a hit witch. From techniques to strategies, he had been the one to teach her all of it.
Like he had taught Theo, too.
The sound of footsteps broke the silence, making both Ciara and Doherty hold on to their wands tighter.
The steps weren’t hurried, nor were they slow. But they were approaching the door without hesitation. Each step was louder than the previous one.
Ciara was about to pull out her wand when the door opened, revealing a shaking woman. All colour had drained from her face, making her look like a ghost. The sorrowful look in her eyes aged her by years.
Doherty’s shoulders relaxed, and he sighed in relief. “Imogen.”
Imogen Tubbs, Ciara noted.
“Gregory, he’s dead!” The woman’s voice came out as a bloodcurdling scream. Her knees gave out, but Doherty caught her, not letting her fall onto the porch.
That was when Ciara saw red staining Doherty’s clothing. Imogen’s shirt was wet and sticky with blood. There was a deep wound running across her stomach.
Ciara grabbed a scarf from around her neck. She tied it around the poor woman’s torso to put pressure on the wound, her hands working fast. She had done it many times before.
“Go get Iris,” Doherty blurted. “It’s an emergency.”
Ciara didn’t have time to speak before Doherty teleported away with Imogen. She shut the front door and left the scene, using magic to go to Iris’s and Liam’s flat.
She appeared in front of the building and ran inside. Running up the stairs, she hurried to the right flat door. She didn’t bother with knocking. Using a spell, she unlocked the door and walked in.
Doherty had asked for Iris, so he wasn’t going to take Imogen to the hospital. It had to mean he didn’t want the attack to be handled by the useless officials. He wanted the group to take care of it.
The engaged couple was having dinner when Ciara walked in. When they heard her, they both stood up and turned to see what was happening.
Liam’s eyes widened, spotting the blood covering Ciara’s hands, arms, and clothing. “Are you injured?”
Ciara brushed off the question and turned to face Iris. “You need to come right now. It’s an emergency.”
Iris didn’t question it. She grabbed her wand. Without saying a word to Liam, she and Ciara teleported to the Rosslers’ house.
They rushed inside.
“What’s going on?” Iris asked Ray who was standing near the front door.
“In the bedroom,” Ray instructed.
Iris nodded and rushed to the bedroom. Ciara followed her but stopped at the doorway.
Mary was already treating Imogen, but she had her hands full. Doherty was standing near the bed, trying to calm Imogen down. Imogen still seemed to be conscious, if barely so.
“What’s going on?”
Hearing Liam’s voice, Ciara shut the bedroom door to give the healers some privacy as they were trying to save the injured woman. She joined Liam and Ray in the kitchen.
“Imogen Tubbs is being treated. They nearly killed her. Ciara and Doherty made it just in time,” Ray said to his son.
Ciara furrowed her eyebrows. “Someone died.”
Ray turned to look at Ciara with a grim look and nodded.
“A member?”
“Yes, he was,” Ray confirmed.
“We need to search the house. There could still be witch hunters,” Ciara said. “Besides, we can’t leave anyone’s body in there to rot.”
“Doherty will come up with something,” Ray said.
“Well, he’s busy now,” Ciara said.
“Imogen will probably pass out soon. From medicine or blood loss,” Ray said.
“Oh.” Ciara wasn’t a medical expert, even though she knew the basics. Ray, however, had learned something, being the husband of a healer.
Liam looked at Ciara. Disturbed by the sight of the blood, he walked over to her. Grabbing his wand, he cleaned the blood off.
“Thanks.” Ciara had hardly acknowledged the blood that had been covering her hands, arms, and clothes, but she was glad to be rid of it.
“What were you and Doherty doing?” The look of concern remained on Liam’s face, and worry filled his voice.
“He appeared out of nowhere and told me to grab my wand. We went to the house and found Imogen Tubbs injured. He brought her here, and I came to your flat. The rest you know. It happened just as fast as it sounds like it did.”
Liam opened his mouth, but then the three of them heard the bedroom door open. They turned to see Doherty walk into the kitchen.
“We need Iris here now, so she won’t be part of the back-up team,” Doherty said. “It looks bad for Imogen.”
“Is she dying?” Ray asked.
“She has a slim chance of surviving,” Doherty said grimly.
“Why not take her to the hospital?” Liam asked.
“Mary says it would make no difference, and I trust she knows what she’s doing. And this way we can work without having to worry about getting caught.”
Liam nodded, trusting her mother knew the best.
“So, what about the house?” Ciara asked, jumping straight into action. “We need to search it.”
“I’m taking you off the back-up team,” Doherty said, pointing at Ciara. “I need you to search the house.”
“Alright.”
“She can’t go alone,” Liam blurted. “It’s way too dangerous. There could still be witch hunters there.”
Doherty looked at Ciara and Liam in turn. He shrugged. “Go with her then.”
Liam nodded. “I will.”
“I don’t want you to just run in,” Doherty said to both Ciara and Liam. “It’s likely there’s still a witch hunter in there. Could be more than one. I need you to monitor the house until you know it’s safe to go in.”
Ciara nodded. “We’ll send a signal once we’ve made sure the house is secure.”
“Good. Also, send an alert if you run into trouble,” Doherty said. “The next house on the street is empty right now. You should be safe watching from there.”
Ciara nodded and turned to face Liam. “You ready?”
***
CIARA USED A SPELL to teleport her and Liam to the house Doherty had mentioned.
Without wasting a second, she walked in and went to the window that offered the best view to the Tubbs’s house. She saw both the front and the back door from her spot.
“Straight to work, I see,” Liam said, heading to the kitchen. He grabbed two stools for him and Ciara and set them down by the window. Then he sat on the other one.
Ciara hesitated at first but eventually sat down. “I’m not used to wasting time, I suppose.” She kept her eyes on the house the whole time in case there was something to see.
“I can tell.” Liam’s primary focus was on the house they were watching, but he couldn’t help but sneak glances at Ciara.
She looked determined. He doubted he had ever seen her look as driven by anything. It was probably how she was at work.
“I can also tell you’re quite determined.” He felt stupid for saying it out loud, but by then it was too late.
“I want to get rid of the witch hunters.” Ciara still wouldn’t even glance at Liam. “They’ve caused enough trouble.”
Liam bit his lip, falling deep into his own thoughts. He should have focused on their mission, but all he could think about was Ciara.
He wondered how Theo had died. No one had ever told him. Yet it seemed like Ciara held a grudge against the witch hunters. The fight against those terrorists seemed personal for her.
“They killed him, didn’t they?”
“What are you talking about?” Ciara furrowed her eyebrows, but her gaze was still fixed on the house.
“They killed Theo.”
Ciara inhaled sharply. “Yes, they did.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.”
Ciara’s eyes softened, and sadness glazed over them. No matter how focused she was, the look in her eyes turned distant.
“I saw it happen.” Ciara’s eyes widened, as if admitting it out loud surprised her.
“I wish you hadn’t.”
“Me too.”
“Are you okay?” Liam’s attention was no longer on the house. Instead, it was on the young shaking woman sitting beside him.
He worried about her. He knew how hard it was for her to talk about her feelings. She held most of it in, not letting anyone know how she felt.
“I’ve come to terms with it,” Ciara said. “It’s been over seven months.”
“But you’re still mourning his death.”
“I suppose.” Her lips pursed together, but she didn’t even glance at Liam. She was watching the house keenly, not letting her focus falter.
The two of them were silent for minutes. They watched the house, even though they couldn’t see anything there.
“Talking with his mother helped,” Ciara confessed.
“That’s good,” Liam said, glancing at Ciara. “How is she?”
“She’s doing well.” Ciara sighed. “Considering she lost her only son. She’s slowly moving on with her life.”
“You are, too.”
“I wasn’t for a while, though.”
“There’s no right way to grieve,” Liam said.
Ciara smiled faintly, but her eyes remained on the house. “I see you still have the right words for every situation.”
Liam couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “You always said that.”
“Only when it was true,” Ciara said. “Which was often.”
The faint smile was still present on her face. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but her frown had eased. The look in her eyes was no longer distant, and the sadness in them was fading.
“Were you and Theo engaged?” Liam couldn’t help himself. He had to know, and he wanted the answer to come from Ciara.
“Yes,” Ciara said, nodding. “But he died soon after.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“That’s horrible.”
Ciara nodded.
“So, did your feelings for him start at the tournament?”
Liam wasn’t sure if he should have asked, but he couldn’t help himself. They hadn’t had time to catch up. Now that they were stuck in a house, Liam thought it was a great chance for him to talk with her.
“What?” Ciara said, both surprised and amused by the question. She turned to look at Liam briefly before turning her gaze back to the house. “Of course not. I started dating you right after the tournament, remember?”
“I remember. And even back then you were close with him.”
Ciara smiled. “Not like that. He was a friend back then. He was just a friend for a long time, even in Canada.”
Liam raised his eyebrow, even though Ciara wasn’t looking at him. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yes. We met again in July once I had moved to Canada, but we didn’t start going out until the following March. He even helped me get over you.”
“That couldn’t have taken long. You were the one to break up with me,” Liam said bluntly, a hint of hurt shining through his voice.
“You were the one who wanted out of the relationship,” Ciara said defensively.
Liam turned his gaze on to Ciara. “What are you talking about?”
“I know you liked Iris before we even broke up.”
Liam’s eyes widened. She wasn’t supposed to know that. Henry had promised Liam he wouldn’t mention it to Ciara.
“Did Henry say—”
“No.” Ciara shook her head. “I accidentally saw a letter you had written him and I read it.”
Liam opened his mouth but struggled to find any words. “You’ve known all this time?”
Ciara nodded. “That’s why I broke up with you.”
Hearing that left Liam gaping. “For real?”
Ciara nodded but kept her eyes on the house. “Yes, for real.” She smiled a little. “Clearly it was the right decision. You and Iris seem happy together.”
Liam was baffled. Ciara had known the whole time. Despite his greatest efforts, he had hurt her feelings. He had tried to keep the information from her, so her feelings wouldn’t be hurt. He had already felt bad, but knowing the truth, he felt worse.
Liam had always thought that the long distance between him and Ciara had ended their relationship. He had been wrong. It had been him.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Ciara said. “Because I’m not upset. I was sad at first, but that was years ago. I was holding you back, and it would have been wrong of me to continue that.”
“It wasn’t your fault. There was nothing wrong with you.”
Ciara nodded. “We just weren’t meant to be,” she said, clearly finishing the conversation.