“He was as of last night.”
A tide of relief swept me. It didn’t really mean anything, because it really wouldn’
t take that long for him to jump on a plane and get to the reservation. But, at least for the time being, we only had one autocratic asshole to deal with.
“Sophie agrees that our best shot of bringing both him and your father to court to face questioning, and hopefully disciplinary action, is to employ the services of a reader and auditor immediately. As such, they’ll be down within the next thirty-six hours.”
I blinked. “That’s fast.”
“We need to be fast.” His voice was grim. “If either man gets word of the Society’s uptake of your cause, it could escalate things badly.”
I wasn’t entirely sure how things could get much worse than what was already coming, but I wasn’t about to put that out there, just in case fate was listening and decided to take up the challenge.
“Thanks, Ira. I really do appreciate your help.”
“Least I can do for my favorite witch—aside from Eli, of course.” The amusement in his tone faded as he added, “In the meantime, use that anti-tracking charm we created for you.”
“Will it work against someone like Clayton?”
“Until he gets close enough to sense the magic or he realizes the reason he can’t track you means there’s a spell at work, yes.”
“Hopefully neither will happen anytime soon. We need the breathing space.”
“Chin up, lass. You’re not alone in this fight. We’re all behind you, no matter what happens.”
Tears touched my eyes and I blinked them away. “I know.”
“Good. Then stop fretting; you’ll only make yourself ill.”
I smiled. “You’re sounding more and more like my grandfather every day.”
“This would be the dead grandfather?”
“Well, yes, but you know what I mean.”
He chuckled. “I do. Talk soon.”
I hung up and accepted the mug of coffee Belle shoved into my hands. “Just got a call from Monty—he’s off to meet some friend of his who’s an expert in the occult. Apparently he’s only in Victoria for the day.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Why did he ring you rather than me? And how did he get your phone number?”
“I gave it to him last night—I figured it’d be a good safety precaution if you suddenly went missing.”
“If I suddenly went missing, you could contact him telepathically.”
“Only if he was in range.”
Amusement twitched my lips. “Meaning you’ve willingly given him the means of contacting you anytime he desires. Are you ill?”
“He’s received the usual warnings and has promised not to abuse the situation.”
“Of course he has.”
She gave me the look—the one that said “shut up now or pay the price.”
My smile widened, but I resisted the urge to tease her further. “Have you got any plans for this evening?”
“No—why?”