Spring Rain (The Witchling #4)(34)

“Where’s Morgan?” Decker asked.

“No clue. She just disappeared again.” Noah lowered the glass. “Probably a good thing. Dawn found my keycard and will probably blow up the hotel.”

Suppressing his irritation, Decker sat down across from him. “Start talking.”

Noah eyed him. None of the Dark witchlings trusted him any more than the Light ones did. Rumored to be off his rocker, Decker’s acts of violence fed the general perception he was crazy.

“You aren’t on my hit list, Noah,” Decker said darkly amused.

Noah ran his fingers through his hair. “I did something stupid.”

“No shit.”

“I confronted Dawn again.”

“And?”

“She’s obsessed with Morgan and Beck and …” The sorrow on Noah’s face bothered Decker. “That’s not my sister. I don’t know what happened, but Dawn isn’t like that.”

“She is now. The Dark won’t let her go.”

“She didn’t kill me. I keep telling myself that has to mean something.”

“It means you got lucky.”

Noah said nothing.

“Look, I know what you’re going through. If anything happened to Beck … just thinking about it makes me want to kill someone,” Decker said. “But I also know what’s possessed her. You’ve heard the stories about Bartholomew.”

Noah nodded, going pale.

“There’s no walking away from him. I barely did it as the Master of Dark. Do you think a normal witchling has a chance in hell?”

“No.”

“A part of Dawn may be holding out, protecting you, but it won’t last. At some point, Bartholomew is going to swallow her whole, and she’ll kill you.”

“But not yet. She’s still hanging on.”

Decker paused. He didn’t want to give Noah false hope about the fate of his sister, but he also didn’t want to crush someone who was struggling for his own redemption. “For now,” he allowed. “But I think our window with her is pretty much gone after this.”

“Yeah.” Noah’s voice was hoarse. “I got the sense this was the last time I’d see her.”

“Did you learn anything about her plans? Where she’s staying?”

Noah nodded and slid a hotel access key card for a major casino across the table to Decker. “Suite twenty five ten. She had maybe five others with her. She’s just … obsessed with Morgan. Like, obsessed beyond reason.”

“More so than Beck?”

“Maybe this much more, but yeah.” He held his thumb and forefinger half an inch apart.

Bartholomew needs the soul stone before he can destroy Beck. Decker wasn’t certain if the events had to be in order – soul stone first then confront Beck – but it was beginning to appear that way.

“I thought it was the stone,” Noah added. “But I think it’s her, too.”

Decker met his gaze. “Why do you think that?”

“I don’t know really. They didn’t say anything particular. Just a feeling. The way she was talking about Morgan … Bartholomew was mad because Dawn wouldn’t just kill Morgan, because Morgan might be able to stop him or some shit.”

“That’s new.”

“Yeah, well, I failed to protect her, too.”

“Morgan’s a survivor. Beck’s not going to let anything happen to her.”

“I want to help. Somehow.”

“I think this is beyond you. Go home, Noah. Wait for us to sort this out,” Decker advised. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

“I don’t need money,” Noah said, bristling.

“Yeah, well, I happen to know your family’s funds are frozen. Take it. Go back to Priest Lake. If there’s anything you can do, we’ll let you know.” The last sentence was more out of diplomacy than anything else. Decker rose and took the key card then tossed the money he had to Noah.

Noah took it wordlessly.

Sensing the Dark witchling was done, Decker left him and emerged from the diner into the parking lot.

His shadows swept him away to the sidewalk outside the casino where Dawn was staying. Decker entered and made his way across the loud, bright floor of slot machines to the elevators. Moments later, he entered the room where Dawn had been.

The Dark witchling was gone. Closing the door behind him, he listened, his shadows racing out across the room to see if anyone else was present.

The large suite was empty. Traces of Dark magick remained, and he flipped on the lights to search for anything that might tell him where she went or what she was planning.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it free. Find Noah? Beck had texted.

Yeah. Safe. Decker moved through the trashed suite as he typed an answer. He pushed open the bedroom. The Dark was strongest here, and he guessed this was where Dawn had been.

A hotel-branded notepad lay overturned on the ground near the bed. He leaned over and swept it up.

Equinox. Morgan. The words were repeated over fifty times, obsessively written by Dawn in pen.

Decker wasn’t certain how else they were supposed to prepare for something bad going down on the equinox. Unless Beck suddenly learned some tricks, he was going to have to start regular patrols around the school to find any other hidden pockets of Dark magick Dawn was stashing for an attack on the Light.