I stepped into the Yard, exhaling a stale breath I hadn't known I'd been holding, feeling the cool of the evening settle around me. I'd done what I could to get through to Mom and though she'd left me high and dry, I felt better for having at least tried.Now I could act and not have to second-guess myself. Because the threat was real, even in Mom's eyes. Abandoning Trill and Owen to the Brotherhood was totally out of the question. And as I reached for the veil, my demon stretching her power to tear open the outer membrane, I had an epiphany.How many times had I acted on my own in times of trouble, times when Mom was aware of my actions, but unable to do anything herself? And in at least a few of those instances, I knew my actions were exactly what she needed from me. Was that my mother's modus operandi? Turning me into her hands when she herself was trapped without a way to resolve the issue because of her position?Not that I minded even if I should have. I'd found I was more o
Charlotte was waiting for me at the top of the stairs when I emerged from the basement. She touched me with trembling fingers, face pale in the low light of the tiny bulb over the oven, eyes frantic. But she calmed the moment our skin made contact, her hand clenching around mine almost painfully before she settled, taking a step back."Here's the keys." She handed them to me, no longer trembling, as though it was no big deal.I really loved her sometimes.Together we rode the veil to the library. This time as I entered the slice between planes, I purposely felt for the difference. Yes, it was Charlotte and the power connection she had to me muting the pull of Demonicon. Completely one-sided, formed when she bonded herself to me out of some misplaced sense of honor, it anchored me to her and, thus, to my home plane. My demon didn't complain either, and I considered the possibility Charlotte's connection to me was more than just a bond. Something much more.I really had to stop worry
The Morgan mansion towered over us in the darkness, empty and lifeless. It was clear from the dirt on the windows, normally polished and cared for, as well as the untidiness of the typically flawless grounds, no one lived here for quite some time. Not since Alison died, I was guessing. With Angela living in New York with her husband, Roger, the big house sat alone and tragic, the bones of a broken family left to rot.Alison was never far from my thoughts, and I tried many times to track her. But despite my efforts, I was never able to find her, not since she sampled blood for the first time, her echo enhanced by the power of the vampire essence inside me, thanks to Ameline's meddling. I could only imagine Alison found the taste to her liking. And since she no longer pursued me for the power I had inside me, it was clear she didn't think she needed it-or me-anymore.Talk about give me nightmares. Even the vampires didn't know what drinking blood would do to a ghost, especially one fed
He crouched in the back of the small closet, amber eyes alight with fire, body hunched and scrawny. His thin hands made grabbing motions before him as he smiled at me, white teeth flashing. The man who had led the Chosen, the powerful sorcerer who had tried to kill me twice and almost succeeded, was as wasted and pathetic as his followers."Demetrius." The last time I'd seen him, he'd fled with Batsheva. "Where's your mistress?" If that old (b)witch was in on this, I'd be more than happy to make sure she ended up minus a head.He shuddered violently, tears welling in his eyes though his grin, now manic, never faded. "She's gone, gone, gone, gone." He shook like a dog coming out of water, falling to his backside and kicking his feet against the floor, dirty flip-flop sandals flying free. I winced, seeing him crack and break, knew, though he had been mad before, he was now truly insane. His previous madness at least lived behind a veneer of absolute civility, an almost cheerful crazy t
I didn't wait for an answer before firing off another. "Where's Sassafras?" I was already turning, heading for the exit."He went looking for her." Liam moved as if to join me, hesitated."You have to stay," I said. "Galleytrot, watch over them, would you?" I gave Demetrius a gentle push. "Stay here." I met the big dog's eyes. "Keep an eye on him. Don't let him out of your sight."He growled. "Not even for a moment."Charlotte beside me, I barged through the wards and leaped into the veil, a heartbeat of fear all it took to exit the slice between planes, landing in the driveway outside the mansion.Neither of us missed a beat, running for the front door. I opened it with magic, not bothering to knock, freezing as I passed the threshold to the sight of Sebastian standing over Trill, three vampires keeping her contained as he confronted her.His blue eyes met mine as he looked up, lips a grim slash. "We've uncovered an intruder," he said at his most polished. "I assume she's one of
-the battleground. I rise above it, Trill at my side, Iepa hovering before us, infinitely sad.I know you doubt, the maji says, and I can hardly blame you. But please believe, no matter the mistakes my people have made in the past, this one we wish to unmake.A line of demons fall, the ground crumbling beneath them, swallowing them as they scream in agony. Witches shift to save them, earth magic joining with Sidhe.Your father is correct, Iepa says. Not all of us have the best of intentions. Like all races. The formation of the demon planes, the division of their race, was never meant to go on for so long. An experiment? Yes. We've tried for time unknowing to perfect our creations.Witches die under a cloud of poisoned smoke, choking, lifeless even as the Sidhe retreat from the advancing sorcerers. We're losing, badly.This can't happen. The very earth protests, heaving and bucking beneath the feet of the enemy, but for those who fall, ten more take their place.Are there sorcere
-someone was screaming, a name I thought, but it took me a moment to break free of the hold Iepa's vision had over me. As I spun, Trill beside me, half-falling from the stone slab, her arms outstretched toward the exit and the stairs, my body compressed and shifted, power crushing me.Instinct took over, shields snapping into place, reinforced even as I finally realized, in the split second I needed to adjust, it was Trill's high-pitched cry I heard."OWEN!"The chamber was crowded, or felt that way. Hadn't we been alone only a moment before? No longer, not with Liam and Galleytrot staring in horror, Meira holding Sassafras, grim, tears on her cheeks though she stood her ground. Even Sebastian hovered near, his vampire body glowing white.None of it mattered. None of them. Not while the young sorcerer stood at the entry with his eyes pitch black, mouth gaping, a hole of nothing while his power pulled me toward him.Even through my shields, past layers of demon and Sidhe magic, blo
Belaisle smiled at me, hands folded neatly before him, impeccable suit perfectly tailored to his short, slim frame. He looked more like a smarmy executive out to rip people off than the dangerous leader of the Brotherhood. But it was the empty feeling of him, the way his cold amber eyes showed only a shark's interest in prey that gave me the willies."I thought I told you," Sebastian said, deep voice pushing power ahead of it, "you aren't welcome in my house."Belaisle shrugged a little, stroked the shining black goatee on his chin as though he hadn't just been told to remove his nasty ass from the vampire's turf."I'll leave," he said, "when my property is handed over."My eyes flickered to the horizon and the dying night. We were running out of time. Soon the vampires would be helpless, unable to fight, leaving Belaisle and his Brotherhood to do what they wanted.Over my dead body.Gram, I sent. I need the coven here, now, at the mansion. Tell them to be ready to fight.A ment