Page 130 of Crave Me

I’d never met a witch with those sorts of abilities before. I would almost label her as a necromancer rather than a witch, but I wasn’t sure if she could control the dead or not.

“What about those working with Klas?” Slater asked quietly. “Are there others?”

“Nyx handled the small following he’d obtained. None of them were mercenaries. They were desk job types, kind of like Paxton.” Kaspian’s teeth ground over the name, his irritation palpable. “So Niamh will be focusing on those with similar trades first.”

“I don’t understand why they would protest the territory shift—they could have remained in their profession and stayed in their homes, just under Death and Diamond’s rule instead of Gold and Garnet’s,” Nyx murmured.

“It’s the wealth and glory aspects of Gold and Garnet that they craved,” Nolan told her. “While many of us are mercenaries who earn our glory through honor, our House also values wealth. And many of those tradesmen own profitable business ventures.”

“Business ventures they don’t want to move,” I realized. “But they don’t want to lose their House name either.”

Nolan dipped his chin. “Exactly.”

“Maybe I should pair you up with Niamh for this investigation,” Kaspian said.

“You want to put me on interview duty?” the archangel drawled, his multicolored eyes flashing. “Are you sure about that?”

Kaspian smiled. “Sounds like a challenge.”

Nolan folded his arms. “A challenge I likely wouldn’t enjoy. Maybe give it to Slater instead. He likes tracking things. I’m sure he’s good at paperwork as a result.”

The raven shifter’s eyes flashed, but he didn’t issue a retort in the way he usually would. Instead, he remained thoughtful, causing my lips to curl down.

“What is it?” I asked him.

His slate-gray eyes met mine, the perpetual shadow of dark hair along his jaw thick again from a lack of shaving. “I’m thinking about the bar in Ireland, and the witch he hired to bespell it.”

“He didn’t know the witch’s name,” Kaspian added, clarifying Slater’s comment. “It was a witch for hire. Which he apparently has a penchant for doing because he also hired a witch to create that potion that removed Fallon’s free will.”

“Yes, it’s common. Similar to Kieran hiring Trixie,” Slater murmured.

“Have you spoken to her?” I asked him. “About the bar?”

“I haven’t yet, but I know it wasn’t her. The magic doesn’t match. However, whoever it was… is someone I need to find.”

I hadn’t suspected the attack was Trixie’s doing, just thought she might have been able to provide some helpful insight.

But I didn’t comment on that.

Because the urgency in his tone at the end of his statement had me focusing on his comment about needing to find the witch responsible. “Why?”

His lips twisted as he considered how to reply. “Because I think I’ve been cursed.”

Kaspian and I shared a look, but his lack of a reaction told me Slater had already shared this information with him.Because Slater already sees Kaspian as his new king.

My heart stuttered a little at the thought, but it almost immediately warmed again in its wake. Becausethiswas what I wanted for my House—for them to not only accept Kaspian but also embrace him.

And seeing the structure play out in the room told me how far everyone had come in welcoming this fate.

“Cursed in what way?” Nyx asked, her palm still on my thigh.

He ran his fingers through his short black hair and blew out a breath. “Three of my feathers have turned white. And I haven’t been feeling… right.” He seemed perplexed by the comment, like he couldn’t fully describewhyhe didn’t feel right. He just knew that something was wrong.

“Is that what the witch meant about your darkness?” Nyx inquired. “The one from Dublin? The one who said you needed Triarchy-like power to cure you?”

Slater blinked at Nyx, his lips curling down. “I forgot about that. Her concerns had seemed so trivial at the time, but I completely disregarded her comments.” His focus went to me and then to Kaspian. “Does either of you know what she meant by Triarchy-like power?”

I shook my head. “No, but I’m not familiar with the beings of Spirit and Sapphire.” Which tended to recruit a lot of witches.