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Sultan snorts. “Play innocent all you want, but I’ve seen the prophecy. And so did your mother. It’s why she left Nightfall and whored herself out to any supernatural who would stick his dick in her skank witch pussy. She was determined to birth six sisters bound only by mother’s blood, and she did it, the power-hungry wretch.” His beady eyes narrow. “So, when the Shadowbanes come for you and yours, blame the rotten hole you came from for the violence you’ll endure on the way out. With great lust for power, comes great pain and suffering, ladies. And that pain has you firmly in its sights.”
“All I know is that you were clearly drunk when you watched Spider-Man,” Blaire says with remarkable calm. She takes my hand as she glances at Darcy. “Meet you at your place in fifteen or twenty? Whenever you’re done?”
He nods grimly. “Yes. And fetch Colin, Edmond, and Baron to join us, please. We’ll need to move quickly to secure the other accused.”
“Already on my list,” Blaire says, blowing him a kiss. “Don’t do anything to that John Wayne Gacy wannabe, child-murdering piece of shit that I wouldn’t do, okay?”
Darcy’s eyes glitter with dark promises I hope he intends to keep, but he doesn’t say a word as Blaire and I leave the interrogation room.
Out in the hall, I pull my hand from hers, pressing both fists to my stomach as I lean against the wall. “Sorry, I need a second. That made me physically fucking ill.”
“Same,” Blaire says, sagging against the rough wallpaper beside me.
“What prophecy was he talking about?”
“I don’t know. I’ll look into it later, but it’s probably nonsense, like all the other garbage Shadowbane cult members believe is real.” She swipes a shaking hand down her face. “Fuck, Annie’s going to be devastated. She loves Sophie. Hell, I love Sophie. She’s done nothing but help us and support us since we moved to town. I can’t believe she’s part of this.”
“But she was alone with Amy the night she was taken by the demons last winter,” I say, the realization making the agony cutting through my mid-section even worse. “What if she gave Amy to them, Blaire? What if I almost lost my daughter because I was stupid enough to trust a woman I’d never met with my baby?”
“Don’t you dare blame yourself,” Blaire says. “If that’s what happened—and we don’t know that for sure yet—then it was our fault. Mine and Annie’s. We trusted her first and you’re our little sister, you were raised to trust what we trust.” She rests a hand on my back. “So go easy on yourself, okay?”
I pull away from her, standing to pace farther down the hall. “No.” I shake my head as I prop my hands on my hips. “I’m not a kid anymore, Blaire. I should have vetted the woman myself.” I turn back to her. “I want her in an interrogation room now. As soon as we can bring her in.” I wince as another pain shoots through my stomach to stab into my gut. “I want to question her with the potion, find out what she did, find out…”
I break off with a cry, clutching my mid-section as I fall to the floor.
Blaire’s by my side in seconds. “What’s wrong? Casey? Are you hurt?”
But all I can do is groan and curl into a tighter ball as what feels like a hundred rats wearing razor blades for shoes rampage through my internal organs.
I’m dimly aware of Blaire calling for Darcy and running back down the hall, but the pain is too intense to focus on anything else for more than a second or two. And then it’s so intense, my brain makes the executive decision to shut down conscious operations.
I sink into the dark, my last thought a prayer to the goddess to let me live to protect my daughter.
I swear to her that I’ll do a better job, that I won’t let down my guard again.
And then I’m gone, lost to something deeper than any sleep I’ve ever known.
Chapter Fifteen
CASEY
Icome to in the infirmary with Dr. Balmoral hovering over me with a concerned expression. I’m dimly aware of him informing me that I need to take the potion work slow while I’m learning to control my power and a prick in my arm, he says is an IV of essential vitamins and minerals that should have me feeling better soon.
By the time Edmond arrives an hour later—after helping Darcy and his brothers take the other traitors into custody—I’m strong enough to walk the half mile through the maze of hallways to his apartment.
As we leave the infirmary arm in arm, I expect him to chastise me for putting myself at risk—and keeping my new power a secret—but all he says is, “You saved a lot of lives tonight.”
“I hope so,” I say. “But I still feel like shit. I can’t believe Sophie turned on us. Is she locked up, too?”
“No, she wasn’t at her house when Baron arrived,” he says. “He said it looked like she’d packed for a long trip and the water had been shutoff. She may have suspected the noose was tightening and made a run for it, but we have guards patrolling downtown. If she shows her face in Nightfall, we’ll know about it.”
I sigh, leaning heavily on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he says. “So, moving up the wedding shouldn’t be a problem.”
I blink. “What?”
“Demons are involved in this, Casey, and if I hadn’t stopped Sultan that night at the bar, they would have you in their custody,” he says. “And according to demon law, I would have no right to reclaim you. Not if I’m not legally your husband. So, we’ll be married tomorrow night.”
