Max grinned. “Thought so.”
“What else do we need?” Nessa held her hand out for the book, which Max happily handed over to her. Then, he tapped his thigh, gesturing me to come over to him.
I sauntered over, eased myself onto his lap, and leaned back against his chest.
He slung his arm over my shoulder, resting his hand on my stomach as we listened to Nessa tell us the rest of the details of the exorcism. What we needed was intel, and we were beyond grateful we had Lana on our side to tell us where this demonic huntress would be. Then we’d trap her and perform the spell.
Now all we needed to do was get in contact with Lana, which meant I had to speak with Ash. I pulled out my phone and sent her a message. Miss you. Need to talk.
I’d barely put my phone on my lap when it started ringing. “It’s Ash,” I told the crew before answering her call. “Hey, Ash.”
“Is everything okay?” she asked, her tone laced with concern.
“Yep. Everything’s good, but we need to meet up. We need you to do us another favor—but only if you want. No pressure.”
“Jesus, girl,” she said. “I’ve never had a problem telling you no in the past, so don’t think anything has changed. I’m good. Stop overthinking things and making an issue where there’s none.”
“Fine,” I conceded, still hating that I was dragging her into something so dangerous. “Do you think you can leave school for a bit?”
“It’s half-past three.”
“Whoops,” I said. “Can we meet you somewhere?”
“I’m just about to go into my appointment at the hospital. I should be finished in about thirty minutes.”
My blood ran cold, fearing that something had happened to her. “What appointment?”
“About my arm. They’re doing an X-ray to see if the cast can come off soon.”
“Seriously?” I asked, hoping she’d soon be rid of the reminder of what I’d foolishly done to her.
“Yep. Fingers crossed,” she said. “Anyway, can you meet me there?”
“Of course. See you in thirty minutes.” I disconnected the call. “Don’t suppose any of you came across a spell for a portal?” When no one answered, I said, “Of course not. That would be too easy.”
25
Thirty minutes later, we pulled up to the hospital where Ashley was sitting on a bench seat a few yards from the front entrance, waiting for us. She picked up her bag and jogged over to the van, cast still on.
Kade opened the side door, letting her in, then closed it behind her as Liam pulled away from the curb.
She leaned down and gave me a hug before taking a seat next to me. We gave her a rundown of what the plan was and what we needed Lana to help us with. Ash stared at me with her mouth ajar. “That is seriously fucked up. How the hell are you going to pull this off? I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to find another descendant?”
“I wish,” I said. “But we have no other leads on any more descendants. So, we’re stuck with this option. And I think she’s an air elemental ’cause she was able to hold me in midair, rendering me powerless against her. But I guess it could be demon abilities. We won’t really know until we get our hands on her.”
She leaned back in her seat and shook her head. “I’ll get in touch with Lana and see what we can do.”
“We?”
Ash glared at me. “Yes, we. I told you before, and I’ll tell you again. You and I are in this together. We’re family. I’m not going to walk away from this, and you can’t push me away either. Deal with it.”
“Fine,” I conceded again. “Where should we drop you off?”
“Can’t we maybe go out for dinner or something? I’ve barely seen you since Mason was taken.”
I looked up to Nessa, wondering if it would be too risky to spend time with my BF.
Nessa sat there for a few moments before she said, “Contact Lana, and see when you can meet with her. If there’s enough time, you can come back with us.” She quickly added, “As long as your parents won’t be looking for you.”
“They won’t be a problem,” Ash said with the biggest smile on her face. “Dad’s got this work thing, and Mom’s gone with him. They won’t be home until later tonight.”
Nessa nodded. “Contact Lana, and we’ll see.”
Ash reached into her bag, brought out two phones, and put one of them back. “Lana gave me an untraceable phone to keep in contact with her,” she explained, answering the question all of us were wondering.
She dialed Lana’s number then put the phone to her ear. A few seconds later, Lana answered. “Hey,” Ash said. “Can we meet? They need your help again.”
She looked up at Nessa. “Is seven okay for you?”
Nessa nodded.
“I’ll meet you at Joe’s Pizza. I’ll be waiting inside in the back booth. Make sure you’re not followed.” Lana disconnected the call.
“I’m guessing you all heard that.”
“Not Mason, Liam, or me,” Nessa said. Apparently it was just us hunters that had enhanced hearing.
Ash nodded. “She’ll meet me at seven at Joe’s Pizza.”
I grinned. “Which gives us just over two hours until you have to be there.”
Nessa stood and stepped closer to Ashley. “I’ll need to make sure there are no trackers on you. Stand up and slowly turn around.”
Doing as requested, Ash stood and held her arms out to the sides, turning slowly until she’d completed a three-sixty. “Am I clean?”
Nessa nodded. “Now for your bag.” She held out her hand.
Ash picked up her bag and handed it to Nessa. “Go for it.”
Nessa emptied the contents onto the floor of the van and ran her hands over the items.
I leaned forward. “What exactly are you doing?”
She pulled me down onto the floor with her and moved my hands over the contents of the bag. “What you’re looking for is any absence or uptick of energy. If you feel nothing out of the ordinary, we should be safe.”
Running my hands over Ash’s stuff, I tried to feel for something, but I couldn’t feel a thing—except a kink in my legs. “I don’t feel anything.”
“Neither do I, which means Ashley is safe to come home with us for a while.”
Hearing her say those words made me want to jump up and do a happy dance. I was beyond excited to be able to spend some time with my best friend without having to worry about her being hurt or someone spying on us.
Plus, I had the whole “Ashley wouldn’t be able to see the village” thing to look forward to. I couldn’t wait to see her face when the magic was revealed—or lifted to be more precise.
“So, how’s your dad?” Ash asked as we neared the village.
“Fine I hear,” I answered, telling her in no uncertain terms that the relationship between my father and me hadn’t improved. It would take one hell of a miracle on my father’s behalf for me to trust him again.
“He’s getting better,” Finn said, jumping in. “He’s trying at least.”
I rolled my eyes and was glad the van had pulled up to a stop so I didn’t have to listen to anything more about my father.
Mason opened the door and stepped outside. I quickly followed so I could see the look on Ashley’s face. And it was worth it.
Her face scrunched up in confusion as she looked around at what appeared to her as a landscape of endless trees. “You’re not going to sacrifice me or anything, are you?”
I laughed as the others piled out of the van. “Just wait and see.”
“Take her hand and come with me,” Nessa said. “I didn’t bring any of the mixture with me. I wasn’t expecting guests.”
Ashley frowned as I took her by the arm, leading her as we followed Nessa. “You know, I can see the trees. I’m not blind.”
“Oh, but you are,” I said, loving how confused she was.
Nessa hurried ahead, disappearing from Ash’s sight, then came out of the potion supply container, reappearing with a glass jar in
her hand. “Now, this isn’t going to hurt. You have nothing to worry about.”
Utterly confused, Ash looked to me for confirmation.
“You really have nothing to worry about,” I said, grinning at her like a freak.
26
Nessa dipped her finger into the mixture then swiped it across Ashley’s forehead in the same upside-down moon shape she’d drawn on me with a line down the length of her forehead, stopping just above the bridge of her nose.
“What’s supposed to—?” Ashley’s eyes practically popped out of their sockets when the liquid began to move, making its way into her eyes.
“It’s okay,” I reassured her, and to my surprise she calmed down, trusting everything was truly going to be okay.
A moment later, her eyes cleared and her mouth fell open as she stared in amazement at the world before her. “What. The. Hell?”
I laughed. “I know, right? I had the exact same reaction.”
“Every human does,” Nessa said. “Enjoy your time together, and don’t go wandering off.” She headed back into the container.
“Where the hell are we?” Ash asked, eyes still wide.
“I don’t really know, but this is our new home for the time being.” I hooked my arm with hers. “I’ll show you around.”
I gave her a brief tour, stopping inside my room so she could go to the bathroom and dump her bag. Then we continued through the village. I briefly pointed out the area where we were keeping the vampires on tap for me.
“You have your own cellar,” she said. “Show me them.”
I frowned. “You want to see the vampires? Really?”
She nodded. “I’ve always been curious, and if you have them caged, I won’t have anything to worry about.”
Conceding, I took her down the stairs and presented to her my living, breathing blood bags.
Her face paled, turning white as a ghost, and she gripped my hand so tightly I thought she was going to cut off the circulation to my fingers. “They can’t hurt you.”
The vampires shrieked, smelling human blood for the first time in days.
She gulped—hard, her gaze never leaving the monsters. “You feed on them—and they don’t kill you?”
“They know they’re no match for me,” I said, my mouth salivating the more crazed they became. “You should probably head upstairs and wait for me while I um… Just wait upstairs.”
Ashley stood there in silence, and I wondered if she’d heard me until she gave me the slightest of nods. “Show me.”
“Excuse me?”
She whipped her gaze up to mine. “I want to see you treat them the way they treat humans. I want to see you drain the life out of them.”
I chuckled, unsure where this need of hers was coming from. “I can’t kill these. They serve a purpose for me.”
“Then drain them within an inch of their lives.”
“Wow. Um… Maybe not that far.” I headed toward the cage of the vampire who was next up for a feed and paused by the door. “Are you sure about this? Because there’s no unseeing what I’m about to do.”
“Do it.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. Being down with these vampires made it virtually impossible to control my desires. I opened the door to the cage and watched with morbid curiosity as he looked between me and Ashley, probably wondering if he could somehow get past me to kill my best friend.
That was never going to happen, and in the end, he knew it.
The vampire hissed at me, and I did what I always did. I smacked him down to the ground then picked him up, his head flopping to the side as I positioned him perfectly for my feed.
My fangs elongated as I lowered my mouth to his skin and sunk my teeth into his evil flesh. A moan escaped my mouth as I feasted on his tainted soul. Acutely aware of Ashley staring at me, I pulled back and dropped the vampire onto the ground, discarding his body the way they did to humans. As if humans were nothing more than rubbish they were disposing of, not giving a single thought to the life they had taken.
Only I hadn’t taken his life. I was saving it until something better came along.
I ran my tongue over my lips, lapping up the last of the tainted blood, and walked out of the cell, making sure to lock the door behind me.
“That was freaking amazing,” Ashley said. “And creepy. And totally gross. But oh, so freaking awesome.”
I ushered Ash to the stairs then followed her closely as she made her way to the top.
“How often do you need to feed?” she asked as we stepped outside.
“Once or twice a day,” I replied. “I mean, it’s not as if I need to feed. I won’t die without their blood. At least, I don’t think I will. It’s more that I have this insatiable hunger for them—especially when they’re in close proximity…” My voice trailed off as my gaze locked onto Max, who was once again shirtless, giving my little bro some training in the art of learning how to get your ass kicked.
My heart fluttered as I was reminded of how lucky I was to have such an amazing man in my life.
Ash knocked her shoulder against mine. “So, how did you land a guy like that?”
“Believe it or not, he wanted to kill me when we first met—literally.”
She frowned. “What the hell for? I know you can sometimes grate people the wrong way, but to want to kill you?”
“He thought I was a newly turning vampire because he saw me feed. It took him a while, but he was the first to work out who I was. And he saved my ass, so he’s kind of made up for it.”
“I’m sure he makes up for it every chance he can get.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
I laughed, loving having my best friend with me again. I knew it wasn’t going to be for long, so I was going to enjoy our time together while I could. We talked about boys, what was going on at school, the rumors of me turning into a vampire, and the part about me seeing my Mom when I crossed over to the Shadow Realms.
“So that was who you saw on the road that night,” she said, everything finally clicking into place. “There was no damn black cat, and your boyfriend’s not a superstitious fool after all.”
“Nope. He just likes to take the wrap for me whenever he can.”
“What about Mason?” She cocked her head in his direction. “How’s he coping with everything that happened to him and everything since?”
“As always, in true Mason style. Nothing seems to affect him. He just blends in perfectly. And he even thinks the scars he got from the vamps are going to be a cool chick magnet.”
Ash barked out a laugh. “That’d be right.” She looked around the village. “But I don’t see many chicks his age around here.”
“I don’t think he’s noticed. He’s been too busy with his bromance with Max and Kade.”
She linked her arm with mine and started walking toward Mason and Max. “So, Kade’s kinda cute. What’s his story?”
“Yeah, he’s cute. And really nice. But he’s got a past that still haunts him.”
“Like what?”
“He lost his sister to a vampire attack, and he was too young and scared to try to help her.”
“He watched her die?”
I nodded.
Her breath hitched, and she bit down on her lip. Ash was the most caring person, and I knew she was putting herself in his shoes, imagining what it would be like to watch a vampire kill me, being too afraid to try to stop it, and then the guilt that would follow.
Every single person here had a story, one they were trying to escape, and wanted to find their vengeance.
“Kali?” Nessa called out to me from behind.
Unhooking my arm from Ashley’s, I whipped my head around to face Nessa. “What is it?”
She waited until she was in front of us until she spoke again. “I’ve spoken to the other members, and we’ve decided it would be in our best interest if we get the other elements here so that when we get our air, we’ll be able to act fast because the Society will notice her missing and will do everything
within their power to stop their downfall.”
I nodded, excited and nervous that everything was moving so quickly. “When will they be here?”
“They’ll start arriving within a few hours. The first should be here after we get back from dropping Ashley off to meet Lana.”
“Holy shit. That’s quick.”
“Things will start moving fast, so you better get used to it.” She smiled and walked away.
“That’s good news, right?” Ash asked.
“It is.”
She frowned. “Curious. If you’re the descendant, why are they making all the decisions?”
The corner of my lips tipped up, knowing that in the past I would’ve hated being told what to do. “Because I’m still clueless to this world she’s lived in for so long. Did I tell you she knew my Mom?”
Ash shook her head. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “They were friends, and she helped to bind my magic that had presented too early.”
“Why would that matter?”
“Because I would’ve been a target for the Society. They would’ve tried to get their hands on me—or kill me while they still could. Plus, a baby having that much power can’t be good. I mean, do you remember the stupid shit we did when we were younger.”
“I remember the stupid shit we did this year.”
I laughed. “I like to think I’ve grown a bit since then.”
We continued over to Max and Mason and sat on a fallen log to watch them train. Or, more accurately, watch Mason get his ass kicked. But in true Mason style, he got up after every fall, improving faster than I had when Lana was training me. It wouldn’t be long until Mason was ready to become a hunter.
“You should’ve seen how bad I was during training,” I said.
“Really?” She shrugged. “Must’ve been the binding spell they put on you.”
“That’s it,” I said with a laugh. “I knew you’re my best friend for a reason.”
She flipped her hair to the side. “Yep. To inflate your ego whenever the chance arises and justify any negative decisions or actions you may or may not have committed.”
Kade came up behind us and sat down next to me. “Did Nessa tell you that the others are on their way?”
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