Chapter 14 │ Cold Truths

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The scent of tobacco and fluctuating, intense emotions filled the crisp air

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The scent of tobacco and fluctuating, intense emotions filled the crisp air. A breeze rustled the trees and the untamed grass. They would have been more comfortable indoors. The evening was bitterly cold. But the boy and Rainer were acting their strange selves.

Kiernan would rather deafen himself than risk hearing their reunion. He had offered to have the critical meeting outside.

He wasn't disputed.

He once had meetings in boardrooms with chandeliers and glossy wood furniture. Now, he stood near the patio's edge, trying to resist swatting at the irritating bugs flying above his head. He felt comforted. Despite his strange circumstances, he was surrounded by men with no hidden motives. Their only goal was to defeat a common enemy. He was used to dealing with false truths and schemes meticulously planned to provide a political advantage.

He felt foolishly wistful in this home. He hadn't been on the property for many years. He remembered the fog-covered trees, the pine furniture, and the dark wood exterior. He'd been annoyed when Gianna had chosen a house that dented his bank account. But he couldn't protest because he'd told her to pick a remote one, and he'd buy it for her. They'd kept the purchase secret from everyone except Alexander and Gianna's people.

Back then, he hadn't planned to leave the coven. But he hadn't wanted to involve Gianna in his sordid affairs, even though she could handle herself well. In that, he failed marvelously.

Milton propped his hip against the garden table's wooden edging. He asked, "How hard would it be to kill Gabriel without this mess?"

Alexander sat in the chair at the head of the table. "Hard..." He was anxious, and Kiernan couldn't help but share the bleeding of emotion through their bond. "There's no getting into Fawnhill unless Gabriel allows it. I was head of security. Believe me when I say those walls are impenetrable."

"How'd you get out, then?" Lucas blew wisps of smoke to dance in the wind. He sat on the second-to-last step leading up to the high deck. His shoulder was leaning against the paint-chipped railing.

Shafts of moonlight danced across the yard. Lucas's brown eyes were bright with hints of wild magic. They shouldn't be. Wards surrounded the property to keep magic at bay. But Kiernan sensed the subtle sparks. Lucas had been like that since Milton had said Rainer had gone to speak to the boy.

The mage's intense jealousy was obvious, worrying, and utterly foolish.

Kiernan couldn't look at Lucas without feeling a hastened heartbeat from his connection with the boy. Reid cared deeply for the mage. But the boy was out of control, vacillating between intense desire and boyish affection.

Alexander replied, "Gianna had a way in. Had. We won't be able to do it again. I used my key cards, and they'll be changed by now. The only reason we weren't caught was that Gabriel's been busy. He was in trouble with the councillor, which took most of his attention. Political bullshit. By now, the council has probably called a meeting with the covens."

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