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Was some super scary demon after me? Yes.
Was the supernatural world coming apart? Also, yes.
Had Eli told me I was going to have to sacrifice something in order to get his help to stop the apocalypse? Again, yes.
But at least I had friends to help figure out how to fix this whole shitshow that my life had turned into.
Christ. Who was I kidding? This was a freaking disaster.
Go back to the part about the friends. I liked that part, Dastien said.
And with that I started laughing. Even my mind wasn’t my own anymore, but I didn’t really mind that part.
Would seeing my abs again help? He grinned, and his dimples deepened.
And then he winked.
It was too much. I laughed harder. You know, it might. Let’s see them.
Oh, I’m not actually undressing here. I was just curious.
Is everyone a tease today?
Nah. Just me and Claudia.
As the laughter faded, I was left feeling a little lighter. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but laughing through the crazy was as good a plan as any.
Eight
Claudia waited while I ate my mountain of food. She insisted that I eat first, and then talk, but the suspense was killing me. Instead, Chris and Adrian peppered her with questions about the pack in Peru while I shoveled everything in as fast as I could. Raphael stayed quiet through the whole barrage, instead he tapped his fingers on the table as he stared into space.
He seem off to you? I asked Dastien.
I don’t know him well enough, but he seems really uncomfortable.
Hmm. I settled in to hear about the pack in Peru. Everyone was curious about them, and Claudia seemed okay to share. Even if Lucas shot her a couple of looks. From what I could tell, he liked to keep an air of mystery around his pack, which I got. Privacy was a thing.
When I couldn’t eat another bite and there was no chance of the wolf breaking free, I put my tray on the table behind ours
. I couldn’t sit here and have an important conversation with half-eaten plates of food in front of me. “So, what’s going on?”
Claudia cleared her throat before starting. “After our talk, I did some research and tried out a few spells. It took me all afternoon to find the right one, but once I did…let’s just say that it had some unintended results.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean?”
“I called a minion of a demon named Astaroth into my circle.”
“You did what?” Fur rippled along my skin, and I fought to calm it down. “Why would you do that? Why would you mess with—”
“I didn’t mean to, but it came. And I think the reason it showed up has to do with what happened with Muraco.”
At least we were on the same page. “Astaroth killed Muraco.” She looked around the room, but besides a few Cazadores on the other side of the room, it was empty. There was no reason for her to stay quiet.
“What’s really going on?” I asked.
Claudia glanced at Raphael and they shared a look. The twins were usually on the same page, finishing each other’s sentences, but not today. Claudia had a pained look on her face, and Raphael seemed to be getting angrier by the second. For the first time, I really took in Raphael. His hair was a little grown out and standing on end, and dark circles hung under his eyes. He looked terrible.
After a moment, she shook her head and focused back on me. “I had to be sure that I was right. So, after we talked, I did some digging. Muraco was drained of power, just like you were. I know I said it felt familiar but I wasn’t sure what that could mean…” She sighed. “It was just too familiar to the spell that drained you of your magic. Same set up. Same demon. Deadlier spell, though. Which was good that Luciana didn’t use that spell on you, but why the change? Why now? I had too many questions, so—”
