The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 170

Sixty-Three: Tobias

Tobias's P.O.V.

“Do we have anything on these locations being tied to a spell caster?" Joselin asked with exhaustion thick in her voice as she leaned her head back in her chair. “If Cora's family took part in killing off all the male witches to keep control of the council, maybe there was something at each location that was tied to one of those spell casters?”

"We don't have anything on spell casters, to begin with. Cora took that book; her family probably took and destroyed everything else over the years." Charlie sighed, having joined us with Damien and Killian after getting Killian's work done for the day. "Plus, that would be a lot of spell casters if one was killed at each location."

“Well, her family and the original female council wiped out an entire gender of witches. I imagine there would have been a lot of them.’ Joselin responded half-heartedly. She sounded exhausted. "I wonder how many she has killed over the years without anyone knowing.’

The sun had set long ago, and I was beginning to feel anxious.

If my suspicions about Joselin were correct, she needed all the rest she could get. It was bad enough that she had to deal with the stress of this situation. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair with a groan of annoyance.

My fingers tapped against the table loudly, and I could see Cyrus growing more frustrated and angry by the sound.

I tapped a little louder, almost wanting to egg him on. He was struggling but had also snapped at my mate too many times tonight.

I was itching to knock him out.

It would shut him up and make it so Joselin could get some rest without the guilt of leaving him alone to search for answers. Because of the guilt of what happened with his blood, she had already allowed him to get away with things she would normally have thrown someone through a wall for.

My gaze shot to Joselin as she slid her chair back and stood, giving up on finding comfort. A smile stretched over my face when she walked over and sat on my lap, leaning back against my chest and resting her head on my shoulder.

That's right, sweetheart. I'm here.

My hands instantly went to her stomach, holding her to me. When she was ready, she would tell me. Until then, I would continue to show her how much I loved and supported her. But that also meant that I would take care of her, even when she didn't think it was okay to put herself first.

My eyes met Natalie's from across the table, and she was smiling softly at my hands on Joselin's stomach. When she looked up and met my gaze, I shook my head discreetly, hoping she would understand that Joselin hadn't said anything to me.

"We would have heard something about it over the years. How rare can it be for male witches to be born? It's not like you can kill off all the men and just pray for the women to stop birthing boys. There would have been at least hundreds, if not thousands, of reports each year of children being killed or kidnapped." Charlie chewed on her lip. It was her tell that she was stressed.

Joselin lifted her head off my shoulder but kept her back against my chest. "Unless it is rare. Think about it. I was born to human parents, and I'm pretty sure I only came out like this because I was born outside, under the supermoon. What if spell casters are similar? Maybe these are all locations where spell casters had been birthed. I don't know what she would get from those places, but maybe that is what they all have in common. Cyrus, when and where were you born?"

The man shrugged, and I fought the urge to strangle him. It had been our only real lead, and he was not contributing. He barely took his eyes off the map, looking from one red pin to the next as if he were expecting them to move and spell something out like an Ouija board.

"Don't know. I was left at my grandma's doorstep as a baby. I just know the month and year. Not the day.’ He flicked his finger against one of the unmoving pins before sitting back in his chair with a paper in his hands.

Joselin yawned, lifting her hands from overtop mine to cover her mouth before melting back into me.

"Cora has stopped, and we need to get some rest if we are going to think straight," Natalie said, standing from her chair.

Cyrus gaped at her, his breathing coming out faster and more panicked. I knew he didn't want to be alone and didn't want to give Cora more time to execute whatever plan she was working on. Blanche sat in the seat next to him, finally tired enough to shut up, but she reached over and grabbed his hand. His eyes dropped down to her touch, looking shocked by the gesture, but he flipped his hand over and gripped hers tightly.

"We should take shifts." Joselin offered, and I immediately knew she would suggest taking the first shift since she had felt guilty about sleeping last night. I slipped my hand to her hip, pinching her gently when she opened her mouth to speak again. Her jaw snapped shut.

I would take the first shift for her if that meant that she could get some sleep.

"I can stay," Aisha said, never taking her eyes away from the laptop in front of her as she continued to read about the history of the locations on her list. The room went silent, and she looked up with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not a bitch all the time, and I've had more coffee than I should have."

Joselin's stomach sucked in sharply under my hands as she let a silent scoff.