Abruptly, Sarah clapped both hands over her mouth and bent at the waist. The sound of her guffaw echoed over the yard.

Chapter Nineteen

Molly and Josiah’s agreement didn’t last eighteen weeks.

Every evening at eight, his phone lit up with her message. Safe.

And he texted in reply, Safe.

His enjoyment of his days had narrowed down to that single word.

The next Saturday, he called another coven meeting at the safe house in Birmingham. After ditching his Audi and taking evasive maneuvers, he picked up the Camry from the new neighborhood where Anson had parked it. This time Steven attended the coven meeting in person. After they cast their circle, Josiah looked around.

Anson wore his usual mild expression. Maria stood with her arms crossed, looking ready to do battle. Richard kept his gaze fixed on the floor while he sucked at his teeth and looked like he was swallowing back a whole hell of a lot. Steven glanced around the group too, thin face friendly behind heavy-framed glasses.

He didn’t strictly need the glasses, Josiah knew. Steven wore them to keep people at a distance.

Of them all, Henry was the only one who appeared preoccupied. He stood reading through some papers with a frown.

“When you’re ready,” Josiah said to him.

Henry replied, “I’ve been ready for days.” When he looked up from his papers, his icy gaze speared Josiah.

That confirmed what he had already expected, and he nodded. “I see that Anson has given you all advance warning of what this meeting might entail.”

Richard’s face flooded with furious disgust. “So Molly Sullivan is pregnant… Really?” He barked out an angry laugh. “We’ve had our differences, but I didn’t expect you to be so goddamn typical.”

“I’m not so goddamn typical.” He kept his voice calm. “She’s that goddamn extraordinary.”

“If this devolves into a shouting match, I’m going to step out.” Henry sounded bored. He was already looking over his papers again.

“No shouting match on my end,” Josiah said. He stared at Richard, who flipped him off.

“I only want to know one thing,” Maria burst out. “How can you live with yourself if you walk away from us now? That’s like pulling out of everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve.”

He reached for patience. They deserved their chance to vent and react. “I’m not walking away now. Molly and I came to an agreement. I hate it, but she won’t budge. We’ve got eighteen weeks to try to find and take down that bastard. Whether we’ve achieved mission completion in that time frame or not, she’s coming back to Atlanta to talk to the police and claim her property.”

Everybody reacted.

Henry’s eyes narrowed. “Interesting.”