Page 37 of The Wolfing Hour

His mother, obviously. It had been a rhetorical question, though Margaux was right.

I kind of wanted to hate Niamh for doing that to child Ronan, but there was no denying she’d saved Gladys’s life today. If Ronan hadn’t been able to remove most of the silver, she would’ve died. Even breaking all speed limits in town, the witches would never have made it in time.

“Well, he’snotdoing that to our kids,” I said.

“Your kids?” Margaux chuckled. “It’s that serious, is it?”

“Yes.” At least, I wanted it to be. First, I’d have to ascertain whether Ronan was cool with procreating with an earth witch demon woman.

“A friendly warning: My contacts tell me Alpha Pallás is furious about the damage to the exterior of his building.”

“He should be grateful I didn’t murder him outright,” I muttered.

“Interesting that not a single person was injured inside the building or out. What spell did you use?”

“You’d have to ask Cecil. He’s into maximum damage with controlled casualties—if you don’t count singed eyebrows.” I pulled my feet up a step and wrapped my arms around my knees. “I’m the one who lost control.”

“You said you allowed your dark side to take over?” she asked, her tone encouraging me to elaborate.

“Yeah.” That was one way to put it.

She stared at me, seemingly,annoyingly, waiting for me to speak.

I felt like a can of soda that had been shaken too hard. One wrong word piercing my thin exterior, and I’d explode.

Margaux was the exact wrong person to talk to right now. She and I had a history of misunderstanding each other, and I still hadn’t entirely forgiven her for not being there for my mom when she’d needed it most. Hadn’t forgiven myself, either, so the witch was in good company, all things considered.

When I said nothing, she smiled and nodded knowingly. Gods, the woman was infuriating. “We all lose control now and then. You got it back in time. Calling in the coven was the right move.”

“Are you still one? Last I heard, you’d disbanded, so to speak.”

Half the old coven had been murdered a month ago—some would say deservedly after what they’d done to Ronan, Margaux, and Bronwyn. I was one of the “some.”

“We’re trying. Bronwyn is still recovering, and Billy doesn’t have much power, which is why I sent him away when everything went down last month.”

“Surprised he let you.”

“I lied. Told him we needed a witch on the outside in case things got bad.” She smiled tiredly at me. “I knew you’d protect him if I couldn’t.”

“You have a lot of confidence in me.”

“Deserved confidence. You’re a powerful witch.”

I rested my chin on my knees. “Is this you asking me to join the new and improved La Paloma coven?”

“No,” she said, with an air of wistfulness. “This is me asking to join the Lennox coven.”

“What the hell?” I bolted upright, faced her. “What are you talking about?”

“When you’re ready to lead, I’d like to follow you.”

If she’d punched me in the face, I’d have been less shocked. “I can’t lead a coven.”

“No, probably not right now. You have too much else going on. But someday soon.” She stood, took a few steps toward the front door. “I’m going to check on Gladys one last time then head home. Once Ronan helps her shift, she won’t need me anymore.”

“Margaux, we should discuss this.”

“Not right now. I’m exhausted, you’re overwhelmed, and I’m afraid we’ve only just begun the fight.”