Silence followed by denial, but I saw how they pulled away a little from their high priestess.

Maybe that was enough. Maybe they would start to defy her, start to go their own way. As separate individuals, they weren’t so scary.

I turned to face her. Our eyes met.

“Lust imps,” I said, simply, curling my lips upwards. I’m not sure if it looked more like a smile or a snarl.

“Shame they don’t show up on video.”

“A real shame.” I turned it all the way into a smile. “Youtube would have a field day. Now here’s how this is going to work. I’m not going to kill you – today. The cops would find out. But if you touch Kanesha again, then…”

The fyrhund at my side cut in with a growl, hackles raised. I couldn’t have asked for more.

She looked at the dog, blinked, then really looked at it and turned pale.

“You get my point.”

The fyrhund could find her, we’d proven that. And it seemed he was quite happy to rip her throat out for me. I wondered what I’d done to deserve his loyalty. Or maybe he was just happy to have a throat to rip out.

She swallowed. “I do.”

“Honestly, if I was you, I’d disappear right about now. Break up the coven. Go somewhere not here. West coast, maybe. You’d fit right in in Hollywood,” I added, rather snidely.

“The cops…”

I shrugged. “The cops are your problem. You shouldn’t have set lust imps on a 15-year-old.”

“A 15-year-old you planted on us.”

I shrugged again. “Nope. She was just looking for training. I admit I encouraged her to find some.”

She snarled at me, but another growl from the dog caused her to fall silent.

“We’re done here,” I told Thruor, turning to leave. Pointedly turning my back on them, as if they weren’t any kind of a threat.

I felt like a member of the mafia. I felt as if I had that kind of power, in that moment. Life, death, the law. People under my protection.

I knew it could not last, but for right now it felt good. Just knowing I had a chance to protect my friends was enough.