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I found myself scrunching into a smaller shape even though it was hard for me to move. Wow. This was hitting close to home.
“Well, you’re learning now,” I said while wondering if I owed Katie an apology for how I might have misinterpreted her reasons for training. “And you’ll learn again tomorrow, once Ashael drops off more blood.”
Denise rose. “Speaking of that, I’ll go summon him so he knows where we are. I’ll do it outside so you have some privacy while you record your message for Bones.”
She left, taking a bottle and a glass with her. I waited until I couldn’t hear her anymore, and then I placed my cell in front of me and hit record.
Or I tried to. It took two attempts before I pressed the right button. I didn’t have long before I froze up like a mythical gargoyle turning to stone in the sunlight.
“Hey, Bones,” I said when it was finally recording. Then, I forced a smile. “If you’re watching this, things didn’t go as planned, but I want you to know that I love you. So, so much. That’s why I couldn’t tell you what happened until now…”
Fifteen minutes later, Denise returned. I was still recording, but I’d stopped speaking. I couldn’t talk anymore. I couldn’t even move to shut off the phone. At least I’d said what needed to be said, even if it felt woefully inadequate. The truth was, I’d never be ready to say goodbye to Bones, even if I had over a thousand years with him. And Katie…How did you begin to say goodbye to your child?
Denise shut off the recording. Then, she swung my legs up over the side of the couch until I was lying on it instead of sitting. Finally, she tucked a blanket over me.
“Ashael didn’t answer, but I’m sure he’ll be here soon. In the meantime, try to sleep. There’s nothing else to do anyway.”
There wasn’t at the moment, but I doubted I’d sleep. I had too much on my mind.
We just have to kill one vampire, and this will be over,I reminded myself. Just one. Easy-peasy.
Except this vampire was also a powerful witch, so it wouldn’t be easy. She also probably wouldn’t be alone, so we’d have more than her to contend with. Plus, we had no guarantee that killing her would nullify our spells. Ashael had said that it should. What he didn’t say—what he couldn’t say—was that it would. Sometimes, killing the spellcaster didn’t end a spell. Only the spell’s completion did, and our spells would only be complete when we were sacrificed to the sea goddess.
“You know what I’m going to do, once this is over and we’ve won?” Denise said in an admirably confident tone. “I’m going to start the adoption process.”
If I had any movement, my eyes would have widened. Denise must have sensed my surprise because she let out a soft laugh.
“I know, I didn’t tell you that Spade and I have been talking about adopting. It was too serious to discuss over the phone, and I was still undecided. Sure, I could technically have a baby since I still get my period, but Spade’s sperm has been dead for centuries, and I didn’t want to go the in vitro route. I’m demon-branded. What if the kid came out with demon-y powers? Or I miscarried because I accidentally shapeshifted in my sleep? I did that once, you know. I blame you because I was thinking about you when I went to sleep. Then, a few hours later, Spade woke up to a friggin’ cat in his bed.”
I couldn’t laugh out loud, but on the inside, I was wheezing with humor. Poor Spade, and poor Denise! Aside from the obvious issue of suddenly waking up as another species, Denise was also allergic to cats.
“So, no pregnancy for me,” she went on. “But I always did want to be a mom, so why not adopt?”
Why not, indeed? She’d make a wonderful mother, and Spade would be a great dad, though he’d probably spoil his kid rotten.
I’m so happy for you, Denise,and we will win tomorrow, I wanted to say. We have so much to live for. No murdering, sea-hag-worshipping bitch is going to take that away from us.
Shadows suddenly leapt from the corners before stretching into the familiar form of a tall, startlingly handsome man. Ashael wasn’t wearing a suit this time. He was in a fluffy white robe and nothing else, as a breeze revealed when it lifted a corner of his short robe.
“Sorry for the delay,” he said. “I didn’t expect your summons so soon.”
“Sorry if we caught you, ah, entertaining,” Denise replied. That’s when I noticed the lipstick marks on his neck. Guess he wasn’t in a robe because we’d disturbed him from his bath.
He waived. “They’ll wait.”
They. So, not just one. No wonder he’d taken more than half an hour to respond.
“I brought you more blood,” he said, pulling two bags out and handing them to Denise. “Give one to her before training tomorrow, and the other when you leave to meet the witches, but you’ll need to hide the second one until then.”
As if I would risk our lives by stealing it early! Then again, no sense trusting the willpower of someone trashed. After all, I’d licked a knife coated in his blood mere hours ago.
“I’ve also found some of the witches,” Ashael said, snapping my attention back to him. “They appear to be prepping for a special ritual. There are several covens in one place, yet thus far, I haven’t seen the one you described as Morgana.”
Bad news on top of more bad news. Our luck this trip wouldn’t have it any other way. We couldn’t attack until we knew Morgana was there. She was the spellcaster, so she was the one we had to kill.
“But don’t worry,” Ashael went on. “If Morgana is as high-ranking among the coven as you suspect, she wouldn’t be involved in the preparations. Royalty never sullies itself with menial labor. She’d wait until the end to appear.”
Plausible. Morgana hadn’t been at the sea cave, either. Guess some events really were too lowbrow for her. At least this ritual sounded important, if it had multiple covens. She should show up for the end of that.
“Remember, once you attack, any new spells the witches hurl at you shouldn’t fully stick while the power in your brands is increased, Denise,” Ashael continued. “They also should mostly bounce off Cat because she’ll be so newly filled with my blood. The witches won’t expect that, so be sure to use it to your advantage.”
“Oh, we will,” Denise said, and took the new blood bags with a glint in her eyes that I hadn’t seen from her before. Sure, I’d seen that same look from many dangerous opponents in the past, and it had doubtlessly been in my own eyes several times, too. It was the look of anticipated violence.
“So, where do we crash this ritual?”
Ashael smiled. “Check your phone. I sent you a pin.”
