Evershaw would have been fine never seeing Deirdre’s aunt ever again. He liked her even less when she took him away from spending the morning entertaining Deirdre. His temper boiled a little hotter for every second the woman was late, and he didn’t give a shit when she hurried up to the agreed location in the old cemetery, looking frazzled and almost falling apart.

Her lip still curled when she got close to him; Evershaw’s wolf growled in response. The older woman frowned and drew herself up, trying to smooth her wild hair. “Well. I am glad you’re here.”

“Let’s make this fast,” Evershaw said. He kept his arms folded over his chest, attention on the witch as Todd watched their surroundings. “What do you want?” 

“The magic in this city has been disturbed for the past week,” she said, her hazel eyes going flinty. “Right around the time you and your animals decided to... liaise with my niece. Whatever it is you’re doing, stop. I don’t know why you’ve made deals with the ErlKing, but I’ll not allow your shenanigans to cause irreparable harm to this city or my niece.”

“Your niece is safer with me than she ever was with you and that shitty coven,” Evershaw snapped. “And I’m not doing anything to the magic, lady. That’s all on you and your people.”

“It’s not,” she said. Her lips thinned until they nearly disappeared.

He took a gamble. “Then why did your people hex me?”

Her eyebrows arched and she stared at him like he’d just dropped his jeans and shit in front of her. “I beg your pardon?”

“Someone hexed me,” he said, lowering his voice to a growl and leaning in to dominate the space. “Deirdre herself recognized it. And since there aren’t a lot of witches in this city, that leaves your people. Give me a reason not to hold you responsible for it right now.”

The witch retreated a step, though she wasn’t really looking at him. Her eyebrows drew together and she seemed, for the first time, like a grief-stricken woman instead of an angry harpy. “No one would... No one in my coven would...”

She clutched at her hair, murmuring to herself, and turned away. Evershaw shared a look with Todd. It was a pretty good act if she were faking it, but part of him knew she wasn’t. The witch was genuinely surprised to hear that he’d been cursed or hexed or whatever the fuck it was.

He snapped his fingers to get her attention. “Focus, lady. Who else could have done it?”

His tone definitely got her attention, and she hit him with a wet-hen look that reminded him just a touch of Deirdre. “Young man, do not snap at me as if I were one of your animals. I certainly don’t know who would have cursed you, but if Deirdre was able to contain it, then you are lucky. Very, very lucky.”

“Who else in your coven could have done it?”

“None of them would have,” she said. “Stay away from my coven.”

“Look, lady,” Evershaw said. He grabbed a fistful of the woman’s shirt, yanking her up on her tiptoes. “Deirdre is going to get hurt if I get hurt. The old man tied us together with some kind of spell, so if I die, she dies. Tell whoever the fuck in your coven did this that they’re only hurting her. If they want to take a shot at me, great—go ahead. But come at me and not her. Make sure they know.”

“It wasn’t anyone from—”

“I don’t give a shit,” Evershaw said. “Tell them. If they try to kill me, she’ll be hurt. I’m guessing there aren’t enough of you witches out there to justify getting rid of her just because they don’t like me. I still don’t know what the fuck I did to piss you people off, and I still don’t care. Figure your shit out.”

Her nails dug into his wrist where he held her shirt. “Try your friend the ErlKing.” 

He released her with enough force she almost fell; he would have felt just a little, tiny bit bad for throwing an old woman on the ground, but not enough to help her up. The witch staggered and regained her balance, shooting a deadly look at him. Todd cleared his throat and muttered, “Maybe not the best way to avoid getting hexed again, man.”

The witch straightened the front of her shirt and took a deep breath before looking at him again. “I do not know who cursed you; on my sister’s soul I swear it to you. I will warn the rest of the coven that anyone who might have had a hand in something like that would only be hurting Deirdre. This is the last time I want to see you.” 

“Ditto,” Evershaw said. He and Todd remained where they were as the old woman walked away, disappearing a lot faster than a normal person would have. Evershaw ground his teeth until his jaw ached. “Do you believe her?”

“I believe she doesn’t know who hexed you the first or second time, but I also believe she’ll probably be the one who does it the third time.”

Evershaw growled and headed back toward the SUV. What a fucking waste. At least an hour, closer to two, away from Deirdre for nothing. For absolutely nothing. “Let’s go.”

Todd shook his head and followed in silence, though Evershaw was reasonably sure he could hear his second-in-command rolling his eyes.