Given

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Given Page 4

by Lauren Barnholdt


  “Is this war really going to happen?” I ask. “Is it unavoidable?”

  He averts his gaze from mine, then leans back against the counter. “I don’t know the answer to that.” He shakes his head. “I can’t see the future. My job is to try to keep the peace and create balance. If I succeed, then everything continues. If I fail, the whole world could be destroyed.”

  “I can help you stop the war,” I say.

  “How?” He looks at me, suspicion in his eyes.

  “I want to broker a peace treaty,” I say. “That’s why I came here today.”

  He smiles ruefully. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because,” he says, “Reed and Derek have no interest in peace.”

  I consider this for a moment. I’m not sure why he just mentioned Derek’s name with Reed’s. But I don’t want Brody to know that, so I just say, “What would I need to do to convince them?”

  “You’d need to give them both what they want,” Brody says, “which is absolute power. And you can’t give them that.”

  “I think I might be able to handle Reed,” I tell him. “But can you help me with Derek?”

  He sighs. “It’s not my place.”

  I still don’t even know why Derek is so important, but how hard can it be?

  “You can try, can’t you?” I ask Brody. “Besides, Derek can’t be so hard to please. The guy is a complete imbecile.”

  Brody snorts. “He’s the head of one of the most powerful clans in the world and you think he’s an imbecile? Typical, Cam.”

  I try not to let the shock of what Brody’s just told me show on my face. Instead I just nod and smile, taking a second to gather my thoughts. This whole entire time I didn’t even see it. Derek was manipulating everything from the sidelines. He’s the head of the other group of witches—Derek is in charge of Raine, The Triad, all of them.

  Although I don’t know why I’m so shocked – as crazy as the whole thing sounds, it’s no crazier than Becca having been raised from the dead or me being related to some guy named Leonid.

  I take a deep breath, knowing what I need to do. I turn to Brody. “I need to meet with Derek today,” I say. “Right now. Will you help me?”

  LOOK FOR THE WITCHES OF SANTA ANNA,

  BOOK TWENTY, COMING SOON…

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

 

 

 


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