Page 28

Chapter 28

‘Just tell me,’ I demanded tightly. My phone chose to ring at that moment. For once, I swiped to deny the call and send it back to the Coven reception so it could be re-routed for someone else to deal with. I put the phone on do-not-disturb mode.

Bastion sat on the other side of me and took my hand. ‘John Melton.’

My vision tunnelled and I bent forward so that my head was on my knees. Bastion placed his hand on the back of my neck. ‘Push against my hand,’ he instructed quietly, ‘and breathe.’

Easier said than done. My father, the man I thought had abandoned me as a child, had built himself a new name and a new face and ensconced himself in my Coven. He had never left me .

I felt utterly conflicted. John…? Spice Shoppe John? My mind couldn’t comprehend it. But now that I knew, I wondered if I could see the traces of Shaun in him: the red hair, certainly and the shape of his eyes. I thought about his voice, the voice I’d known as Shaun’s and now knew as John’s. John was urbane and civilised, like Miss Doolittle to Shaun’s Eliza. Shaun had transformed himself in more ways than his appearance; even the timbre of his voice was different.

Goddess protect me, I felt such a fool.

I realised I was shaking. My father had been running the evil Coven from my Coven. He had made a mockery out of me. Perhaps it was because he had wanted to see me grow up or, more cynically, because he needed to stay close to the harkan. I didn’t know what to believe.

John – Shaun – had been furious when I was attacked by a fire elemental, though he’d seemed wholly uninterested in Oscar’s injuries. It must have been difficult for him to see me day in, day out with Oscar, the man who had raised me and taken his own place in Mum’s heart. No wonder he hadn’t been crying a river for Oscar’s wounds.

I wondered if Jeb had known. The evil Coven’s organisation was cell-like and most evil witches didn’t know many of the others. Had Jeb been ignorant of the true identity of John Melton?

And John – Shaun – knew my love of potions. Mum had introduced me to the Other realm when I was six years old and from that moment I had been obsessed with them. The DeLea potion bible had been the source of my bedtime stories more times than I could count. John had taken over running the Spice Shoppe no doubt as a way to get a hold of dark potion ingredients without raising eyebrows – and perhaps to have all those many, many run-ins with me.

John was always in the shop when I went there. Was he there to keep tabs on my movements? I felt sick as I wondered if Old Man Jones had died naturally or been helped on his way.

Through all the overwhelming turmoil, one thing anchored me: Bastion. He was sending me waves of love, cocooning me. I closed my eyes and breathed through it all.

The prophecy!

I was supposed to face Shaun to bring an end to his rule of the evil Coven, but I couldn’t for the life of me imagine hurting my father. That thought had been easier when I’d believed he’d deserted me without a backwards glance, but knowing he’d been part of my Coven for years changed that.

‘I don’t want to hurt him,’ I said finally. I opened my eyes and looked at Oscar and Bastion. ‘We’ll hand him over to the Connection.’

Oscar’s jaw worked. ‘He’s done very bad things, Amber.’

Benjamin huffed quietly. ‘I’ll say.’

‘I know.’ I held a hand up to forestall Oscar as he opened his mouth to argue with me. ‘I’m not an idiot. You don’t get to be the leader of a deadly organisation without getting your hands – and your soul – dirty. But he’s still my father and I can’t get past that. I want you two to know that I want him to get out of this alive – in a cell, but alive. Can we please aim for that?’

Bastion nodded. ‘As long as it doesn’t directly interfere with protecting you or risk someone else’s life, I’ll agree to it.’

I blew out a harsh breath. ‘Thank you.’ I turned to Oscar. ‘And you?’

He nodded tightly but didn’t give me his word out loud. I didn’t ask again; I was probably already pressing my luck.

‘What do we do now?’ Benji asked. I met his eyes and he held out his arms to me. I went into them for the hug. I let his cold arms settle around me and it helped cool the tempest within me.

‘We confront him,’ I mumbled into Benji’s shoulder. ‘And we capture him.’