“You’re saying it’s possible that Lupien is starting fires to draw out whoever the firestarter is whose power he wants to steal?”
“Something like that.”
“Then my mission has changed. You’re no longer asking me to find out who is destroying the village. You’re asking me to catch a firestarter. Are you’re asking me to go on a witch hunt for Lupien or for his victim?”
Cain smiled. “Both.”
“If Clelia leads us to Erwan, will you let her go?”
“The girl is a pawn,” Cain said, his voice carrying a warning.
“I get that you want Lupien destroyed. Once you get your dormant pyromancist, are you planning on saving or eliminating him?”
“Our enemy is growing stronger by the day. He’s recruiting. I can’t allow him to take more power.”
“You’re asking me to kill a possibly innocent dormant firestarter.”
“We have to eliminate him before Lupien gets his hands on him. It seems the only one who holds the answers is Erwan. We need to get the old man no matter how you have to use the girl. She’s the strongest weapon we’ve got.”
Joss lifted his barriers, trying to shield his emotions. He’d been right to hide Clelia. He wasn’t wrong about Cain’s intentions. The commander would be unscrupulous in using her as bait. A duty to protect the shy girl from his childhood, a girl he’d unwittingly made his, made him say, “She’s innocent.”
“Life is not always fair, Joss. Remember your training when emotions cloud your heart.”
Joss clenched his jaw. He wouldn’t put her at risk. The strange thought came to his mind from nowhere, the words a whisper in his heart, too late to filter it from Cain. Comprehension widened his commander’s eyes.
Joss was in a hell of a predicament, torn between an unethical protectiveness for the witch and loyalty toward the organization to which he’d pledged his life. He could only hate both Clelia and himself for the conflict tearing him apart, but that didn’t change what he’d done. He may have showered her blood away, but it didn’t mean his hands were clean. He stared at Cain as his confusion grew.
“She’s an innocent,” Joss repeated, the statement more of a plea.
“Bring her in, Joss.”
“Let me bring in Erwan d’Ambois my way,” Joss said. “I’ve never asked for anything. I’ve given you my soul and my life to use for your cause without asking questions. Just let me do this.”
Cain wrapped his fist around the head of his cane, which was a diamond the size of a golf ball. “You’re like a brother to me. Don’t screw this up.”
Joss knew what Cain was saying. He had a special affection for Joss, stronger than what he felt for any of the others. Joss’s capacity to lead had won him the position in his team, but an unspoken bond had secured a connection between Cain and him. However Cain was dedicated to the greater good of their mission, and he wouldn’t hesitate, not blink an eye, if he had to eliminate Joss.
Joss tensed further. “I’ll do what’s right.”
Cain smiled. “That’s a word that doesn’t exist in your vocabulary.”
“It’s just found its way in.” Strangely.
Joss left the yacht with Cain’s grant of another couple of days to secure Erwan. After that, he had to hand Clelia over and let Cain do it his way. If Cain had to tie her to a tree in the middle of the woods to bring out the wolves, he would. Joss had to find the old man before that happened. It was only a matter of time before they’d sniff him out. He just prayed he’d be the one to do it. If Erwan got hurt, Clelia would never forgive him, and for some reason that bothered him. He’d already done her enough harm. He didn’t want to pile up the sins. Besides, Clelia had no one else. He couldn’t be the reason she was left alone in the world.
Chapter 11
The closer Joss got to the house of his childhood, the faster he drove. It was dark. He’d stayed away too long, not that it could’ve been helped. He surveyed the surroundings with a practiced eye to ensure he wasn’t being followed. His scalp pricked with unease. Clelia was safe—the remote device he carried in his pocket would’ve alarmed him if any of the sensors he’d placed on the windows and doors had been disturbed—but for some reason he was eager to get back to her.
He parked the van in the garage that stood away from the house, grabbed his parcels, and closed the roller door so the vehicle wasn’t visible from the road. On the dark steps of the porch, he paused. The old memories assaulted him anew, squeezing his ribcage like the ivy tentacles that strangled the walls. It was the one safe place no one would dare to come. Except…
Damn him. He never considered the one thing that wouldn’t be repulsed by this place. Evil. The thought was frightening. Only evil would search out this birth ground of the devil, and he had an angel tied up inside as bait.
His plan wasn’t genius, but it was the only one he had. Between evil and good, he didn’t know which one would come for her first, his own or Lupien’s people, but he had no doubt someone would come. It was inevitable. He knew it with a certainty he’d never felt. He hadn’t admitted it to Cain, but in his gut he felt the truth of the words his boss had uttered. It had started. It was a pebble in the pond, and the ripples had to follow.
He grimaced at the thoughts that rooted in his mind, as if a magic seed had been sown many years ago to sprout after years of watering had matured it for this moment. He tasted the memory of Clelia’s blood on his palate as he unlocked and secured the door behind him before taking the stairs two by two.
He stopped in the doorframe of his old bedroom. He’d
