Page 68 of Wicked Curses
“I can make it so an alarm sounds, but it would alert the whole town.”
“Any other options? I don’t want anyone else knowing about this.”
Sahira believed her when she said she didn’t know about the trapdoor; she’d been shocked to see it and wanted to cover it up. Besides, Belda had no reason to lie about this. She was determined to keep this town as peaceful and fair as possible and had done an amazing job.
“No, but I can make it so an alarm goes off in this room. I can keep it quiet enough that no one will hear it below; if it goes off, I can tell you about it, and if I move out, you can come up and check it daily.”
“You’re going to stay in this room?” Orin asked.
“The devil you know,” Sahira said. “All the rooms could have something like this.”
“That’s doubtful,” Belda said. “There’s not much empty space in this pub.”
“Did you think there was any before this?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Now that I know it’s there, I can set a proper protection spell and an alarm on the outer door. I’d feel safer here than anywhere else.”
“Understandable.”
“There will be those who won’t believe the story about Radagast breaking in to attack me,” Sahira said. “Mainly the other witches and warlocks.”
“At least now they’ll have arealreason to dislike or distrust you.”
And I have one more reason to getoutof this town.
CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN
Orin stoodbehind Sahira as she sat in watchful silence while the witches and warlocks stormed the pub to demand answers about Radagast. Belda wanted her to stay in her room until it blew over a little, but Sahira refused to retreat.
Instead, she sat with her hands in her lap, her shoulders back, and her chin held high. The marks on her neck were on full display, and her face was blank as the witches and warlocks accused her of murdering Radagast.
After half an hour, Zeth slipped inside the pub and strode over to join her at the table. Orin almost told him to get out, but he bit the words back. Sahira needed all the support she could get right now.
The witches and warlocks had to see Sahira had more than him, Belda, and the pack on her side. Over time, some vampires, drawn by the commotion and the rumors running through town, braved the sun with blankets over their heads as they bounded into the pub.
Many shook the blankets off without harm, and a couple came in with their fingers or feet smoking. Others soon smothered their tiny fires.
At first, they hung off to the side, listening as the witches and warlocks demanded justice while gathering the details. Eventually, a few of them broke away to stand behind Sahira.
The witch Elsa also ducked into the building. She glanced around before giving a small wave to Sahira and vanishing out the door again.
After an hour of listening to the witches and warlocks whine like spoiled children denied a toy, Orin had enough. “I’m the one who cut out his heart, so I’m the one who killed him. If you’d like to resolve this issue, I’ll gladly meet any of you in the pit.”
Not surprisingly, no one took him up on his offer.
When they demanded to know if Belda would do something about his breaking the rules and killing outside of the pit, Belda told them, “Radagast broke intomypub and intoherroom, where he attacked her.He’sthe one who broke the rules by not taking it to the pit. Justice has been served.”
“Justice would have been served ifshehad been the one to kill him. Instead—” Carmella smiled smugly at him before shifting her attention back to Belda. “—Orindid it. He wasn’t the one under attack.”
“He had every right to defend a member of his family; you all would have done the same,” Belda said.
“They’re not family,” a witch grumbled.
“Not by blood, but the marriage of our family members will unite us as such,” Orin said. “And I protect mine.”
The witches and warlocks crowding the pub weren’t thrilled to hear this. If they decided to go against the rules and come after him, he’d have a problem defending himself against that amount of power, but he wouldn’t be alone.
