Page 81 of Gray Dawn
“You’re right.” I cocked my arm and punched him square in the jaw. “I have other plans.”
Eyes rolling back in his head, the director hit his knees then fell sideways.
I bent to retrieve his cane and broke it over my knee. The sound was positively liberating. It didn’t erase what the directorhad done to me, the wounds he had inflicted on me, but it still felt pretty damn good.
“You okay, Dad?” I searched for any signs of lingering influence. “You had me going there for a minute.”
“Father couldn’t hold me.” He made it sound as if I had suggested the sun orbited the Earth. “When I saw Luca had Father in her thrall, I played along. I wanted to be ready to help however I could.” He smeared Luca’s remains further with his foot. “Without her, we might never uncover all the agents she conscripted or the covens she recruited for her scheme.”
Thanks to Nan’s final act of defiance, we had a place to start. Besides, it wasn’t like folks ended up in Black Hat because they were cute and cuddly. Rebellion wasn’t a shocker when they didn’t want to join up anyway. I had to work on that. The company-loyalty thing. But it was a low priority currently.
“Without her, the movement to expose humans will die. As it always does.” I worked on catching my breath. “The supplies will dry up too.”
A low groan drew my attention to where Blay was turning onto his back, clutching his head in his hands. The angle, or his hair, obscured Colby and set my heart racing.
“Oh no,” I breathed and rushed to his side, skidding to him on my knees. “Colby?”
“Here.” She climbed from under a messy hank of his long hair. “I’m here.”
“How are you feeling?” I sat back on my ankles. “How are youbothfeeling?”
Wobbling as she walked onto his shoulder, she decided, “Weird but okay.”
“Blay not feel so good. Head hurts. Belly hurts too.”
After I helped him sit up, he ducked sideways, startling Colby off him, and dry-heaved until his stomach accepted it was empty.
The Mayhews weren’t as lucky. The remnants of the spell caused them to vomit the rather impressive contents of their stomachs. But they were both upright and coherent. That was progress.
“What did we miss?” Marita wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. “I spent the last however long at a disco and missed all the good parts.”
“A disco?” Derry frowned. “You saw spinning mirror lights? All I got was strobes.”
“Raves suck,” she commiserated. “I’m glad we weren’t at the same party.”
Confused what any of that meant, I let it wash over me as I examined them from where I knelt.
“You’re both okay?” I settled back on my ankles. “You weren’t hurt?”
“We’re fine.” Marita flopped down on her back. “I just need a minute.”
“Me too.” Derry lowered himself beside her. “That was a wild ride.”
Flames erupted on my periphery, and I turned back to find Asa returning my assessing glance.
“You’re handling this much better than them.” I brushed the long hairs from his eyes. “Must be all the portal travel. Your stomach is used to having worlds turned upside down and spun around.”
His soft huff of laughter set off another heave, so I nudged him onto his back to recover his equilibrium.
“Are you sure you want to trade him?” Mom stood over the director. “He causes so much trouble…”
“If I can’t kill him,” Dad countered, his lips pinched, “then neither can you.”
“Mom is a white witch.” I hardly needed to remind them. “She would never…”
An echo of the vengeful spirit she had been before Dad anchored her to him as aloinnirsharpened her features. Okay, so she wasn’t the exact same person she had been. But I still didn’t think she would kill him.
Though, from the look in her eyes, she would happily stand back and watch me do it.