Page 93 of Cold Sacrifice

The fire raced up the demon blade and over my arm, and it didn’t hurt me. On the contrary, it felt like warm water carefully heating and healing and licking all the pain away.

I was crying, and my tears were like tiny drops of molten liquid, like the fire sliding through me was leaking from my eyes. It was a cleansing, healing fire, and it felt amazing.

When I pulled my blade and my arm out of the fire, the blade was clean and shiny and my arm was healed. Completely. There was no lingering pain, no bleeding, and no leftover magic. I believed that finally, the last of Axton and Kaloni’s magic was gone forever.

Richard appeared at my elbow. “The necromancer is gone for good,” he murmured. “It’s over. And I have just leveled up because of my fight and my victory.”

“Leveled up,” I said. “What does that mean for you?”

He grinned. “That is the question, isn’t it?”

And then he disappeared.

“Kaity,” my mother said, angry and sad but happy that I hadn’t burned myself to death, “loving you is a traumatizing thing.”

I leaned down to hug her. “I’m sorry, Mom. Maybe that’s the last time.”

“Oh, I highly, highly doubt that,” she said.

They gathered around me then, all of them, and the very air was lighter with Jolene gone. “Let’s go inside and call Ben,” Jared said, sliding his arm around me. “Nearly everyone here has some injuries.”

“Even me,” Joe said, shaking his head in disgust. “What good is it to be a vampire if I’m constantly getting my ass whipped?”

And we went inside, talking, laughing, and joking like nothing at all had happened. Just another battle and another night and another enemy vanquished.

That was our life.

No one asked me why I could stick my arm into a fire without burning. That, too, was something we were all accustomed to. I gained power, lost power, changed power…it was not something that shocked any of us anymore.

Bastien was waiting at the door. He gripped my shoulders and kissed my forehead. Farrow was beside him, holding her stuffed dog. There was relief in his eyes, but no surprise. He had faith in me, just like Jared did. “Kait,” he said. “Thank you.” He turned to leave but then turned back. “My people will repair your kitchen. It will be ready before dawn.”

Lucy clasped her hands to her chest. “Oh, that would be wonderful! I can’t cook a meal in that mess.”

Trinity had gone to retrieve Clementina. I wanted to ask her why she’d sent away the one thing that could help her if she was hit with magic, but I didn’t. If Ash had been my familiar, I’d have sent him away, too.

Only Rick was quiet, and when I went to him to find out if he was okay, he took my hands in his. “I’m going home, Kait. I’m fine,” he said, before I could ask him to wait for the doctor. “I’ll be fine.” But there was something in his eyes I couldn’t read. And I was worried that he wasn’t even close to okay.

But Rick was a grown man, and if he needed to leave Silverwood, I wouldn’t try to stop him.

I fell asleep on the couch on Jared’s lap, his arms around me, because my mind needed a reset. Jared slept as well, and when I was roused by the low hum of Dr. Hayes’s voice, I was comforted by the steady beat of my alpha’s heart beneath my ear.

The next time I awakened, it was well past dawn. Jared and I went to my bed and slept for another four hours. I was sure he had things to do and places he needed to be, but he wouldn’t leave me. Not yet.

Saul called, likely because the council had heard about the necromancer’s ending and wanted to meet with me.

Wes Korda called, likely because he needed to do a final reading.

I let both calls go to voicemail and put my phone on DND.

I would get to Wes, and I would return Saul’s call. Judy Race was waiting for help with the ghost she believed had killed her wife. I had a fake medium on Clairmont Street to visit. I needed to talk with Lucy about her Huntersburg sheriff dreams. None of it was forgotten, but for a few hours, I was taking a fucking break.

There was nothing I wanted to do more than snuggle against my alpha’s warmth and sleep until I was ready to face my demon.

Soon.

Soon, I would face it, because I could no longer deny it.

I was wolf, shapeshifter…