Light wakes me. Trill's glasses catch a little of it, reflecting over her brown eyes as she says my name, but I don't hear her speak until long after her lips have stopped moving. Makes me giggle, her soundtrack is off.Giggling hurts.An old woman joins her, hair tight in a red kerchief though sprigs of steel gray peek out along the edges. She has a very large mole on the end of her chin and I can't stop staring at it.More giggling. More pain.Trill's lips move. Time passes. I hear her words: "Is she going to be okay, Nona?" Fear in her voice. Yes, in her face too, as she pulls away her glasses, her brown eyes clear to me.Another face, this one with vibrant blue eyes, makes me smile. I open my mouth to say "Owen."And pass out.***My body rocks back and forth, something soft under me, daylight streaming in a window over my head. Hand-made quilt, the smell of the outdoors and cooking. The rumble of an engine, wheels over pavement.Darkness.***"-brought her as fast as we
I didn't have to tell them where I was going, what I was doing. The crowd at the door already knew. Backed off and let me enter, hands touching me, Mom hugging me swiftly, Meira, Liam. Uncle Frank almost crushed me he held me so tight, but I didn't mind."We should have stayed, fought harder." His words were muffled in my hair."You had no choice." I kissed his cheek and smiled. I could smile now that I'd decided what to do. "But I do."Sunny next, trembling, teary, but full of love. "I'll never forgive myself," she whispered."Silly," I said. "I feel the same way about me. For putting all of you in that position. I should have just cut and run instead of trying to play their game."Sebastian. He engulfed me in his arms, though his body was rigid. "I failed you."Damn them, all of them, with their guilt. Though I understood it, of course I did. But I needed them to suck it up if I was going to go back and do what I had to."Enough," I said, with enough force behind it they all s
I thought I was ready for anything. Sebastian and Sunny quickly filled me in as I arrived in the kitchen, that a battle had been fought and was now at a standoff at Batsheva's castle. Pannera had her surrounded, while Enforcers, at least according to Mom's intel, kept the war zone contained. It was clear Pannera wasn't about to allow Batsheva to keep the essence, though I was a little confused. Now that she had my vampire, why wasn't Batsheva able to defeat Pannera?There could only be one answer. And it gave me more hope than I probably should have had.We traveled together, a string of witches, vampires, a demon cat and one werewolf girl as I tore the veil open and pulled them through with me. The rubbery membrane welcomed me home, but the extra draw of it was lost thanks to all of the people I had with me. I'd never attempted to transport so many before, but no way was I waiting around because someone couldn't find a ride.All or nothing.The veil slit open, emptying us out into
I slammed up a ring of demon shielding around the pair of us to keep her from attacking my family and dove right at her.Yeah, I was ready. She wasn't exactly hard to read.Instead of attacking her directly, I let my vampire do it. Called to her as I had before, this time ready to grab onto her as she emerged.Batsheva fell as I dodged, landing on all fours, turning to roar, glowing with the magic of the clan. But she doubled over when she tried to rise, my vampire pulling free again, leaning toward me as I reached with the spirit magic of the Hayle family and connected with her.Only for a moment before Batsheva stuffed her down again. But enough I knew this was going to work.Over and over Batsheva struck at me, while over and over I called out the essence to come back to me. Panting and sobbing her rage, the Queen finally collapsed to the ground, writhing as the clan power fought against the essence of the vampires for control. I let the shielding drop and turned to Demetrius w
Funny to find myself in my old quarters again, sitting on a chair, looking out the window, waiting for the party to start. Only this time I was the one calling the shots.I just wished I could promise everyone a happy ending.A short detour on my way to my room, while Piotr was ordered to call on all of the clan leaders to come to be adopted by their new Queen, had me standing in front of the portrait I'd seen earlier. The one that broke my heart. Charlotte hovered behind me, face expressionless as I stared up at the face I knew so well, wishing there was another way to end this conflict once and for all.But there wasn't. And sacrifices had to be made. Though I really hoped I wasn't ruining something truly amazing because I had to have support against the Brotherhood.Responsibility sucked sometimes.The family waited for me in my old room after I turned down Batsheva's Queenly quarters with disgust. No way was I letting her smarm rub off even an iota more than it already had. Ma
Sunny didn't hesitate, crossing the carpet to ascend to my side while I kept an eye on Pannera. But the opposing Queen didn't argue so even she must have known this was the only way to end the conflict.Sunny ignored my outstretched hand and the power there, instead staring into my eyes for a long moment.A little warning might have been nice. She softened the chastisement with a mental caress. How long have you known?That you're a Wilhelm? I shrugged. You transfer very well to paint.The damned portrait. Her blue eyes sparkled. Yvette insisted.You're her sister? Daughter?No, just a descendant. Sunny hugged me to her, lips pressed to my cheek. We have more in common than you think, Syd. You're not the only one who's run from who she's meant to be.Is this okay? I held out the crystal again. You went to all that trouble of cleaning your blood of the Wilhelm family. Do you need to do it again to take over?No, she sent. Just the power. No amount of orders from Pannera can come
My first impulse, once I strode triumphant from the throne room, was to dash for the nearest exit, run for home, lock myself in my room and scrub the last several days from my memory forever.Elliot didn't give me the chance, waiting for me right at the exit. He was lucky he was an Enforcer or I would have done him some damage."A moment yet," he said. "My leader would like a word?"Oh, so now she wanted to talk to me, did she? I stomped my way to my old quarters, remembering I had something to retrieve anyway, so it was a good thing after all. No way was I leaving the magic blocking powder for some conniving vampire to find when I had my own plans for it.Just wait until I saw Ameline again. One deep breath and it would all be over.I brought Mom and Gram with me anyway, just in case. No way was Margaret putting me in magical irons and dragging me off to trial. Not without a fight.But this Margaret, the one who stopped pacing as we entered, she was far different from the woman
I shuffled nervously at the bottom of the stairs, pulling at the spaghetti strap on my right shoulder as it slipped down over my bare arm. The flowers clutched in my hands looked pretty on the surface, but the bundled stems had long begun to brown from the fidgeting and sweat of my anxious hands.Meira looked over her shoulder and winked at me, her matching dress perfect on her figure. My sister had a figure. Growing up way too fast for my liking."Stop," she whispered. "You'll wrinkle."Sunny had to pick pink silk, didn't she? Bad enough it skimmed my body so close wearing underwear was a questionable activity, the sticky bra thingies she forced me to slap on driving me nuts. The shoes were another story altogether, so high they rivaled anything Pagomaris, my demon grandmother's aide, forced me to wear on Demonicon. Sure, they made my butt look good, but the balls of my feet were killing me.And pink? Pink?Oh. My. Swearword.Don't get me wrong, I was honored she and Uncle Frank