Sadly, Vincentia had learned nothing from either the murders she’d witnessed or from seeing just how dangerous a Claw could be. Not even losing her left hand and two fingers from her right had in any way changed her stance.

And now she and her mother would pay what for a pixie was the ultimate price.

Neither Lugh nor I said anything as we drove toward Galway. When we reached the driveway that led into our aunt’s place, Lugh slowed the car and glanced at me. “You ready for this?”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I wish we weren’t the ones who had to deliver this ruling.”

“We are her closest kin. By pixie law, it can’t be done by anyone else.”

I knew that. It didn’t mean I had to like it. I motioned him on.

Lugh lifted his foot from the brake and continued down the beautiful forest that was about to become my aunt’s prison.

The curtains twitched as we pulled up, but there was no other sign of movement. Not even from Peregrine’s window. Lugh reached into the back seat of the car, picked up the sheathed knife that lay there, and then climbed out and followed me to the door.

He knocked three times and then said, “Riayn Aodhán, you have been judged by the great council and your actions found to be wanting.”

Footsteps echoed, then the door was flung open and she stood there, her green eyes sparking with fury and heat creeping through her cheeks. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”

“The actions of your daughter have not only endangered the lives of kin, but also that of humanity itself.” Lugh’s voice was flat, showing none of the anger I knew bubbled underneath. “Under the rule of the council, and by the power of the great goddess Gaia, you are hereby excommunicated for a period of ten years. No longer will the earth or the trees respond to you, and you will be bound to this small parcel of land that you call home.”

He unsheathed the knife and thrust the red blade hilt deep into the doorstep. The house shuddered and seemed to close in on itself. Its song remained, but it was one my aunt would no longer hear.

“You can’t do this,” she whispered, her eyes wide and frightened. “It’s not fair. I didn’t do—”

“Anything,” I snapped, anger momentarily getting the better of me. “You didn’t fucking do anything, even after I warned you. You could have stopped her, but you didn’t. So her crimes become yours.”

Lugh cast me a warning look. I clenched my fists and held back the torrent of words that burned at the back of my throat. Or maybe they were tears of frustration and hurt. She was my aunt. It shouldn’t have ended like this.

“When Vincentia recovers from her injuries, she will be transferred here and share the sentence.” Lugh paused and then added softly, “It is better than spending ten years inside the walls of a stone prison, and that was the only other option on the table.”