Argh! When had trusting people become so hard?
Kade grabbed my hand, not lacing his fingers through mine, but holding it like you would a child’s—or a sister’s. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “He’s safe. You’re safe,” he said, his voice barely audible.
Nessa put down the jar and smooshed her hands together. A faint blue light shone between her fingers, quickly growing with intensity until her hands were glowing. Still cupping her hands together, she placed them over Max’s wound, slowly opening her hands until her palms were flat against his chest that was now illuminated with the blue light shining from under his skin.
What the hell?
“She’s healing him,” Kade said as if he could read my mind.
Nessa slowly removed her hands. My jaw slightly dropped when I saw the ignited grassy herbs combusting in the blue light until they completely vanished, taking the blue light with them. Only a soft glow illuminated Max’s skin surrounding what had been an angry wound but was now no more than an ash-smudged circle.
Not missing a beat, Nessa spun around to face me as three men walked into the room. “Now that everyone’s here, we need to discuss the key.”
I was guessing that was the last piece of the puzzle.
Nessa gestured to the three men, starting with the one on the left who had red hair, blue eyes, and looked a little older than Finn. “This is Joel, Parker, and Liam. They are members representing an arm of our coven from the three regions of the Southern Hemisphere.”
Parker looked to be in his early to mid-thirties with blonde hair and brown eyes that held more sorrow in them than any person his age should feel. And Liam appeared to be mid-twenties with dark brown hair and kind hazel eyes, but there was also a darkness behind them. It wasn’t like the darkness I saw when I looked into Orphelia’s eyes. This was different. Like as if he’d also seen things that left a permanent scar on his soul.
“Hi. I’m Kali,” I said, giving them a small wave, immediately feeling like a dork. Of course, they knew who I was. We wouldn’t be there if they didn’t.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Liam said. “We’ve been eagerly waiting for the day of your return.”
Nessa leaned against the bed. “Now that the formalities are out of the way, we need to get down to business. We need to know where your mother hid the key.”
“I’m assuming the key is the item needed to unbound me.”
“That is correct,” Parker said.
“What does it look like?”
“It’s not a literal key. It is a labradorite crystal,” he explained. “Your mother wouldn’t have left it lying around for anyone to take. But she would’ve made sure you’d be able to figure out its location should anything have happened to her.”
Something had happened to her, but I couldn’t think of a single thing that stood out. I slowly shook my head. “I have no idea.”
Joel ran his hand through his red hair. “That’s what your brothers said.”
“You all need to think,” Nessa said. “This is important. Did she leave you anything? Give you anything? Tell you any weird bedtime stories—or stories for that matter?”
The three of us stared at each other, willing one of us to have a light bulb moment but—
My eyes widened as I reached inside my pocket and retrieved the broken necklace and pendant. “Mom told me to wear this at all times.” I held it up in front of me. “Could this be it?”
Nessa took it from me. She studied it and shook her head in disappointment. “This isn’t it. Keep it though, as it offers you protection and reinforces the spell we cast on you.”
My shoulders slumped. I had no freaking idea what this key could be, and by the looks of it, neither did my brothers. “Don’t you guys have a backup plan? You know, a spare in case anything happened to the original?”
She released a harsh breath. “It will take time. And unfortunately, we don’t have much of that to spare. Right now, the best option is to figure out where your mother put your key for safe keeping.”
I tried to rack my brain for any little thing that my mother had mentioned, or held dear to her. But she didn’t have any worldly possessions that seemed any more important than the rest. She always put us above all else. Family was her most prized possession.
“How big is it?”
She held her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “About this big. But she could’ve had it embedded into another object to hide it better.”
“Maybe we should head back to our home to search through her stuff.”
“We’ve already done that.”
I frowned. “That was you guys who destroyed the house? Was all that really necessary?” Upturning every piece of furniture and rifling through all of our personal belongings felt like a kick to the gut.
“We didn’t destroy anything. I’m assuming the demons had the same idea we did and wanted to make sure there was no way you could complete your transition, negating their plans to use you for themselves.”
“That means that for all we know they’ve already found what we need and have destroyed it.”
“That is a possibility,” she admitted. “But your mother wasn’t foolish enough to leave it somewhere that could be easily found.”
I groaned, frustration boiling inside of me. Where was my mother when I needed her the most? I missed her. I needed her—now more than ever.
My eyes stung with tears, and I had to turn away.
Finn put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Mason and I can’t figure it out either.” He tugged me toward him and wrapped his arms around me when my head hit his chest.
I hadn’t been hugged by my brother in the longest of times. Actually, I couldn’t remember the last time he’d comforted me. Maybe dredging up memories of Mom was getting to him as much as it got to me. There was only so long he could hide behind his hard exterior. Plus, there was the big reveal that Finn missed his own mother’s funeral because some group of assholes pretended to be something they weren’t and forebade him to have any contact with his family. It must’ve been eating away at him—even if he didn’t say so.
Finn, Max, and Kade were all… Blood drained from my face when I realized how Max must’ve felt after learning the truth. He lived and protected those who were responsible for the scars he wore on the inside and out.
Kade? I had no idea what his backstory was, but there wasn’t an ounce of selfishness in his body. He would’ve felt just as betrayed as Max and Finn.
All of that newfound knowledge—or realization—made me feel shittier for always having the focus on me.
Pulling back, I looked up into his saddened eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Understanding passed between us, and he gave me a small smile. “You have nothing to be sorry about. We’ve all made mistakes, trusted those we shouldn’t have, and betrayed those who needed us the most. But we will make up for it. We will make her proud.”
I thought about the ghost of a woman I saw both those times. There wasn’t an ounce of pride in her eyes. They were consumed by fear and a longing to reach me, speak to me, tell me something.
A nagging suspicion was slowly eating away at my insides, trying to get my attention, begging me to take note, to understand something that seemed completely implausible.
What I was about to ask was probably going to make them think I was insane or that the Society had given me magical brain damage to ensure I remained under their control. But I had to put a voice to the question tugging at my thoughts. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need to know. Are ghosts real?”
Mason’s gaze shot to mine, stirring an undeniable feeling inside of me that he knew exactly what was on my mind.
“What the hell kind of question is that?” Finn asked, concern for his baby sister swelling in his eyes.
Nessa furrowed her brow, her suspicious gaze pinning mine. “Did you see something?”
I opened my mouth, but no words would come out.
Thinking I’d seen her was completely looney. Ghosts didn’t exist.
“Mom,” Mason said, surprising the hell out of every single person in the room. “I saw her, too.”
22
My whole world seemed to explode in that very instant as Mason’s declaration was on a loop in my mind. He’d seen our mother, too. Which meant I wasn’t insane. And if I wasn’t insane, then what did that mean?
With all air knocked out of me, I stared at Nessa, willing her to say something that would make all of this make sense. Because from where I was standing, I had a very real ghost of a mother haunting both me and my brother.
Snapping my head in Mason’s direction, I said, “When did you see her?”
“I saw her a couple of times during my time with the vampires. I thought I was going insane and projecting Mom there to fill the empty void and torture I experienced at their hands. But then I saw her again when you rescued me and again right before you grabbed the wheel flipping us into that ditch.” He paused, visibly shaken and trying to get his shit together. “I thought I was seeing things. I thought I was going insane. That’s why I didn’t say anything. But then I noticed things. Whenever I mentioned her, you’d get this strange look.”
Finn stayed deadly silent, his face pale like he was about two seconds from passing out.
“Shit,” Nessa said. “We had our suspicions, but most of us thought she’d died by accident.”
“What the hell are you saying?”
She shook her head. “I’m not speculating until I know for sure.”
“You can, and you will,” I snapped.
Nessa backed away to the door. “I don’t want to get your hopes up.”
“You just did,” I said.
“Tell us,” Mason said. “We deserve to know.”
Finn stumbled over to the bed and leaned his palms against the frame. He looked over his shoulder, his gaze pinning Nessa. “Stop.” He twisted around and rested against the bed. “Whatever it is, you need to tell us. It could mean the difference between us finding what we’re looking for and us never knowing. Mason and I want to know, but Kali… She’s like a bulldog, never stopping when it comes to protecting those she loves. If our mother’s death wasn’t natural and there’s something else going on, we need to know.”
Nessa bit her lip, unease settling in her eyes. It was a very unusual concept when it came to Nessa. There didn’t seem to be a thing she was unsure of. Then again, I’d only known her for two seconds.
Eventually she stepped closer to us. “I really shouldn’t be saying this, because if I’m wrong, you’re all going to have your hearts shredded into a million pieces.”
“And if you’re right?” Finn prodded.
“Then we can bring your mother back.”
Time seemed to stop as I replayed her words in my head, praying I’d heard her right. The ache in my heart was crippling. I didn’t want to believe because I’d be destroyed if Nessa was wrong. She couldn’t be wrong. I needed this. We all did.
And if Nessa was right… “Where is she?”
Shaking her head, Nessa let out a harsh breath. “I think she could be in the Shadow Realms.”
“She’s with them?” Finn spat, rage coursing through him, setting that vein on his forehead throbbing.
Max placed his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “We’ll get her back—won’t we?” He looked to Nessa.
Her gaze fell on me. “Only the descendants can cross through the veil.”
If ever anyone was going to give me motivation to find that damn key my mother had hidden, Nessa gave me all I would ever need. The thought of being able to bring our mother back was crippling yet motivating. I would not let her remain a slave to the demons.
I would get her back—if only I could figure out where the hell the key was.
My father jerked awake, rolling over and vomiting all over the floor, a chunky pool spreading across the floor.
My stomach lurched at the sight of his vomit, and I had to get outside before I made a mess myself.
I raced outside, stopping under a nearby tree and placing my hands on my knees, trying to keep myself from being sick. The warm breeze did little for the nausea swirling inside of me. What I needed was an ice-cold gust of wind.
“Who would’ve thought the girl who can gut a vampire can’t handle seeing someone vomit?” Max said from behind me.
My nausea was completely gone the second I laid eyes on him slowly making his way toward me.
I raced over to him, expecting him to collapse on the ground. He didn’t. “You shouldn’t be out here. You should be resting.”
“I got shot, Kali. I hardly think that demands automatic bedrest.”
“Exactly. You were shot. And not by any old bullet. You’re lucky to be alive.”
A smile spread across his face, giving me a rare glimpse into what he’d been like prior to his savage introduction into the vampire world. “You’re forgetting you’re not the only one who can heal at rapid speed.” He gestured to my thigh and back. “Or should we both be in bed, resting?”
I swear my heart stopped. He clearly didn’t mean we should’ve been in the same bed, but my mind so wanted to go there. Hell, my whole body was aching to touch what could never be mine.
Getting my mind out of the gutter, I focused my gaze on the dirt that puffed up from where I tapped the toe of my shoe against the earth. “Hey, I wanted to say I’m sorry about Mason. He can be a real little shit head. Don’t take any notice of anything he says.”
When he didn’t answer, I slowly lifted my gaze to sneak a peek at him and found him grinning. My heart skipped a beat, trying to figure out what was going through his mind. The guy never showed any interest in me other than wanting to gut me in the beginning and, later, making sure I became very accustomed to the hardwood flooring he continued to smack my ass into while training. This… this smile… amongst the darkness that was our lives, was like a flower blooming… Argh. I wanted to slap myself—but my mother would’ve been proud. Her and her—
My eyes widened as Max brushed my hair behind my ear, the tips of his fingers spreading a fire across my skin, igniting a part of my soul that raged for him. But that wasn’t what had stopped my heart.
The smile dropped from Max’s face, and he quickly withdrew his hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”
I shook my head fiercely as I grabbed his hand. “No, no, no. You’ve got it all wrong. This I like. And if it was any other moment, I would be all over you in a heartbeat. Okay, maybe not because I’m not like that.” I totally was. “But it’s just…” I took a deep breath, trying to get my shit together as I looked up into his eyes with hope in mine. “I think I know where my mother hid the key.”
All emotion dropped from his face as he went from nice, caring, human Max to cold, calculated, hunter Max. “Where?”
“Well, you see, my mom always loved to garden. She was forever outside, pottering about. But none of us kids or Dad shared her passion. And I think she was counting on that, because when I was there the other day, all the garden had turned to shit except one spot. I thought maybe a neighbor had watered it, or she’d buried my dead budgie there, inevitably feeding the flowers in her absence. But now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense.”
Still holding my hand, Max took off toward the container we’d just fled. Well, took off may have been an exaggeration. It was more of an elongated hobble that seemed to get quicker with every passing yard. And all I could think about was how, even with his sudden personality change, he still held onto me.
Boy, did I need to get my priorities right.
As we entered the room, all eyes fell on us and the fact that we were still holding hands.
Mason grinned. “Glad to see you two are finally sorting out your shit. Now maybe you can both concentrate on—”
“Shut up, Mason,” I snapped, wiping the smile from his face. “I think I know where the key is.”
Finn, who’d been attending to my father, who was
now slumped up against the wall with a bucket between his legs, snapped his head up toward me. “Where?”
“You know how Mom loved to garden and it all went to shit after she died?” Without waiting for them to respond, I continued, “Well, there was that one bush with white flowers bordering Mrs. Harris’s backyard, and we all thought she must’ve been watering it considering it never died.”
“No. I never thought that,” Mason said. “Actually, I never even noticed.”
“Me neither,” Finn added.
“Whatever. The point is, I don’t think she was watering it. I think Mom buried the key under the bush, knowing it would stand out if anything ever happened to her, because she knew we would never keep caring for the garden.”
Finn stood. “Sounds plausible. What do you think, Nessa?”
“I think we better get ready to move.”
23
When Nessa said “we better get ready to move,” I didn’t think that would involve me feeding off a live vampire. But here I was, in an underground dungeon of sorts with a very live vampire thrashing against the chains binding his wrists and ankles.
“We’ve been keeping him for you,” Nessa said, a wild look in her eyes. “None of that old blood that’s lost some of its potency.”
My mouth salivated as my fangs slid over my bottom lip, a burning hunger raging inside of me. I could almost taste his sweet, evil essence. “He’s the only one you have, right?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” she said. “Which means you should refrain from killing him. It would be advantageous to have a vampire on tap, so don’t do anything stupid.”
I nodded. “Nothing stupid.” I swept my tongue across my fangs as Nessa swung the door open, leaving nothing between me and the monster I wanted to kill.
My nerves were alight, and I tried my best to fight my instincts to tear the monster apart. Nessa was right. I had to remain in control. My mom was counting on me. Hell, everyone was counting on me—including the one who’d stolen my heart along with my mind. And it was that thought I was going to hold onto as I entered the vampire’s cell.
Circle of Embers (Shadow Realms Series Book 2): A vampire hunter novel Page 13