by Tara Brown
I turn and look up at the ceiling, enjoying the warmth of another person for a change.
“You think Hanna is ever going to love me again?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I think when they all wake up from the Lillith haze, they’ll all be really embarrassed. Especially Aleks. He’s so honorable and kind. He’s going to be crushed he was doing the ‘free love and let’s share bitches’ thing.”
Sam snorts. “He has been acting insane. It’s so out of character for him. I think Ben is going to be the only one who won’t care. Lucas is going to want to die. Ari will cope, she always does. But Lucas is going to want to kill everyone who touched her. He’s a savage.”
“Yup, pretty much.”
“I’m so glad I never laid a finger on her.” He looks down at me. “You didn't do anything regrettably awful, did you?”
“I did. I killed people for no reason. The call of Lillith for me was all about freeing people and sending them to God. I never had sex with anyone though.”
He winces. “I had sex with everything I saw and killed a ton of people.” He stops and frowns. “But I still don't feel bad for it. It’s so weird.”
“Which kid do you think is Lillith’s?”
“I don't know.” He shakes his head. “I guess I always wondered about all of them. We are such an oddity and there is no way of knowing because the moms always die, the dads always split, and the traits aren’t recognizable until the kids are older.” He scowls. “I suppose the fact that they’ve shown their powers so early is odd too. It’s usually later.”
“Like Ari.”
He nods.
Lorelei opens the door, glancing in. “I think I know where she’s running that spell from.”
“When is this not going to be my life?” I sigh.
She folds her thin arms across her massive chest. “Y’all get up. I don't even want to discuss when this shit ain’t gonna be your life. You wanna talk about hard done by? I’ve just stopped repeating the same decades, over and over like that weird movie about the groundhog. Now get up!” She slams the door shut.
Sam nods toward the door. “That's my regret. I wish I’d had a go at her when my morals were corrupted.”
I roll my eyes. “Boys are gross.”
“She’s hot and if she keeps Marcus in line, I hate to see what kind of disturbing kink we are talking about.”
“Extra gross.” I slip from his embrace and drag on some pants and a tank top. I don't do the whole shy thing anymore. I don't care that he saw me in my underwear and bra. I almost miss the girl I used to be. Shy wasn't ever a bad thing.
He’s up and dragging on a sweater when I turn around. He gives me a crooked grin. “You got a nice ass, Aimes.”
“Dude.” I moan and grab my boots, winking to the kitchen. Shane hands me a piece of toast, as if on cue. Holding it in my teeth, I drag my boot on. Blake strolls in holding his cell phone out with a worried look.
“What?”
“It’s dead. There’s no more cell service. I tried calling on the house phone and it’s gone too.”
The day is not starting out awesome. I groan and drag my other boot on. “I hope my parents are okay.”
“They’re fine. I was just there.”
I cock an eyebrow at Blake. “How’s Alise?”
He shrugs. “Sexy and horrid. You know, the same.”
I shake my head as Shane swats him. “You know the rules on humans.”
Blake grins, blushing and looking down. “We were just talking.”
Shane rolls his eyes. “Yeah, she’s always real talkative.”
Lorelei stomps into the kitchen, like she’s Lorri and nods at me. I lift my head from my grumbling mood and lukewarm toast. She touches me, putting a vision in my mind. A place to wink to.
I hold a hand out and we flash from the kitchen to a rainforest. Lorelei narrows her gaze, looking around us. I know she’s using her ‘spidey senses’ to track, but it looks more like she’s plotting something really evil. She gives me a look. “It’s a remote place in the Incan mountains. Someone else has used it as a place to mark themselves. A witch. Lillith is using that imprint to work her spell.”
She might as well be speaking Greek. Actually, I might do okay with Greek. This—not so much. She sees the blank stare coming off of us and moans. “The mark or imprint is like a stain. A witch can pick up the magic left behind by the witch who left her imprint here.” She shakes her head and stalks into the woods muttering, “It’s not important.”
She takes us to a tree, stopping and looking up at it. “Wow. Whatever this tree is, it’s powerful. It’s really powerful.” She turns and nods. “Can y’all feel it?”
I feel nothing, and when I glance about the group of us, no one looks like they get what she’s feeling. She runs her hands in the air like a mime, a sexy mime. Marcus cocks an eyebrow. “Lorelei, love. There’s nothing there.”
“There is. It’s an ancient tree. It’s something special to the fae. She’s using her magic to taint the tree and steal from the fae.”
“Can you stop it?”
She nods. “It’s going to work. I need a blood sacrifice and Grandmamma Holt.”
I wince but Marcus grabs my hand. “To the bayou, driver.” I roll my eyes and wink us both there. She’s standing at the entrance to her cottage, already holding a hand out. Her grandson, Ramón, grins at me. “She don’t leave the bayou so often, cher. She ain’t gonna like dis none.”
Marcus offers her his hand. “I will protect you with my life.”
She takes his hand, shocking Marcus and me. “I trust ya. Ya got bad juju but ya love with more heart den most peoples wit a heart.”
I have to assume it’s a compliment. Marcus looks like a proud peacock. Momma Holt gives me a devilish glare. “Ya sin eater, I no trust ya.”
Smug isn’t even the right word for Marcus. I grab their hands and wink us back to the rain forest.
Momma Holt gasps as we land. She runs her hands through the air like a mime too. Marcus guides her like she’s the queen, milking her approval of him for all it’s worth. I could kick him but she already thinks I’m the devil.
Shane gives me a look as I walk to them, observing as Momma Holt and Lorelei go silent. They wave hands and call winds and drip their blood all around the tree. Finally Lorelei looks at me. “Y’all know an innocent we could carve up for the blood sacrifice?”
I press my lips together, desperately trying to think of someone. My mind draws a total blank but Marcus grins. He walks to me, taking my hand again. “Aimee, do you recall that lovely friend of Ben and Lucas’ who always wears the stunningly short shorts?”
I nod. “Janine. She’s a ho. She isn’t innocent. At all.”
He licks his lips. “She isn’t the one I’m thinking of. Her sister has vowed celibacy.”
Lorelei tilts her head. “Marcus, sex-free doesn't make her innocent.”
He nods. “I’m aware of that, love. But I have had her blood and she is pure. Very pure.”
“She’s fae. She’s a werewolf.”
He nods again. “That doesn't work?”
Momma Holt scoffs at him, making me smile for a change. “No fae to offer dey blood to da tree. Need human blood.”
I wince, thinking about it but it makes perfect sense. I give Marcus a hopeful face. “You want to come with me?”
He takes my hand roughly, muttering about how he had been certain it was a good idea. I roll my eyes and wink us to the one place I can think of. The church back home. Marcus walks in acting like he’s burning up. He sounds more like the wicked witch than a vampire though, and his theatrics are a little over the top.
He laughs and nudges me. “Pull that stick from your arse, Aimee. Laugh a little. It was funny.”
Ignoring him, I walk to the small room at the back where I know the church workers are. The door to the room is open just a sliver, revealing the lady I have in mind. I have known her my entire life. She’s sweet and kind and caring. I hate myself, but I o
pen the door and nod at Marcus. “Convince my friend here that she wants to save the rest of us.”
Marcus walks past me, smiling at the elderly woman. Instantly she’s dazzled, like all women. Marcus is perfection wrapped around a cynical and shitty interior. He takes her hand, kissing it and taking a small taste of her. He wrinkles his nose. “She has a porn addiction and she beats her kids.”
“Damn. If she’s a sinner, we are screwed.”
Something else dawns on me. Something I recall from a very long time ago. I take his hand and wink. We are standing in the emergency ward of the hospital—the children’s hospital that I visited Giselle in. We get in and I press the same button I pressed when she had been in the hospital.
“This place is a wreck.”
I nod. “It’s been damaged in the war.”
He shrugs. “Won’t be much left soon.”
The thought is defeating. When we get to the floor I turn to the right and walk the way I had, turning into the first room I see with a patient. A nurse frowns at us, mostly Marcus. But he has her subdued and nodding along with his evil plan within moments. “Ask her if this is the sickest patient here.”
He asks and she shakes her head, fully in a trance, staring at him. She leads us from the room, taking us three doors down to a sick kid who is breathing with a machine and unconscious.
The nurse turns and leaves, closing the door.
Marcus shakes his head disapprovingly. “I never imagined you were this shameless.”
I don't look at him when I answer. My eyes do not leave the small, yellowish face of the gaunt child. “You haven’t been sick like this before. You haven’t been on your deathbed, begging for an angel to come and end your misery.” I look around at the room and nod. “This place is falling apart from the damage the city has suffered. The nurses will soon stop coming to work, when the power is out. This child could starve to death after days of being alone if that happens. Trust me, Marcus, this is the kinder fate.”
He lifts the small girl up, holding her tighter than I imagined he might. I wink us back, earning instant looks of disgust and disapproval. Apart from Giselle. She smiles at me, knowing full well I have made the right choice. She comes to us, holding her hands out. “Let me take her.”
Marcus places her in Giselle’s thin arms, delicately. Giselle turns, pressing the small girl into her chest, and walks to Lorelei. Lorelei draws a line on the girl’s battered wrist, taking blood. When she has enough she nods. Ever so softly, Giselle places a sweet kiss on the girl, releasing her to Heaven.
A tear runs down her beautiful cheek as she lowers the girl to the grass.
Everything feels different instantly. Lorelei nods her head at us. “Go to Shane’s, we will get back on our own.”
I don't know what that means. They can’t wink.
But we listen because she knows best. She is technically our fearless leader, since Lorri died.
We wink as a group back to Shane’s and wait.
Chapter Nine
Disaster and dishonor
I am asleep at the table when I feel the air change. I lift my head to see Lorelei step out of the air. She literally appears out of nowhere.
“What was that?”
She shrugs. “A trick I learned once from Whit and his evil family. Best way to travel when you’re a witch.”
“Neato. How did it go?”
She nods. “Grandmamma Holt is still there, and she’s taking down the last of it. She sent me to get the angels from the black water before we completely destroy the spell.” She holds a hand out. I take it and wink us to the bayou. She hurries to the water, calling the winds and weather again. She says her mumbo jumbo and instantly they start to rise to the surface of the dark and murky waters, like a horror movie. I shudder, imagining being in there.
They float to the beach, each one. Ari opens her eyes first, looking around before sitting up. She coughs as black water slips down her lips and chin like a slug. I gag.
Even Lorelei makes a face. Aleks comes next. His beautiful blue eyes meet mine but he doesn't move. He pauses, I imagine taking it all in. He’s going to be reeling from the horrors of his acts.
Lucas and Ben open their eyes together. They flinch and shudder exactly the same. It’s weird.
And finally Hanna makes her way back to us, opening her eyes and sitting up immediately. She looks scared or lost, maybe worried. Her cheeks flush when she looks at Aleks. I can’t even imagine how horrid they feel.
But they do the thing I can’t imagine. They crawl to each other. She sobs into his chest as he wraps himself around her.
Ari and Lucas kiss and hug. Ben gives me a slight wave. He looks mostly confused but completely calm.
Ari gives me a look before completely breaking down. She climbs from the muck and runs to me. She smells like stinky old swamp but her thin arms around me feel amazing. I forgot how much I’ve missed her.
It hits me then, all my memories are back. All of them. There is one that strikes me as odd.
Months, maybe even years ago, Aleks and I broke up. We properly broke up. I haven’t recalled the moment until now. His eyes meet mine and the subtle smile that crests his lips makes me remember the pain in his eyes when we did. We were on the hillside, overlooking the Naerofjord where his family is buried. He asked me if I loved him. He must have been having a moment of clarity but I was not. I shook my head and told him I loved Dorian. He didn't understand. He was crushed, but only for a moment. He found a butterfly and told me some weird legend about them in Norway.
We never spoke of it again. Seeing him wrapped around Hanna makes me wonder if we will ever have to talk about it.
I don't know how to tell Sam that Hanna and Aleks are in love, obviously real love. I don't know how to break his heart that way.
Ari sobs into my shoulder, shaking us both. Her words are mumbled and blended. Lucas scratches his head, giving me a weird look. “Hey, Aimes.”
I nod. “Hey.”
Ben comes and joins the embrace. “Aimes, you smell so pretty.”
It brings a laugh, an awkward one, from my lips. “You guys stink like swamp.”
Lorelei thanks her ancients and looks back at me. “The spell is lifted. Y’all should be tickety boo.”
Ben chuckles into the embrace of Ari and me. Lucas joins in, still shuddering.
We are a mess of mud and stink when we wink back to Shane’s. Everyone looks sickened and awkward.
I don't see Sam, even though he’s the first face I look for. Shane and Blake give me expectant faces. I lift my thumb discreetly.
Aleks and Hanna kiss, mud and all. I want to gag and maybe murder her. It’s wrong to wish her harm for falling in love when she already was in love, considering my track record. But Sam is like my soul mate. After Dorian.
I wink to Lydia’s to find him sitting on the bench again. He doesn't look at me when he speaks. “She’s awake, isn’t she?”
“Yup.”
“And still in love with Aleks?”
I don't answer. I don't need to. He can feel it. My chest feels like a truck just parked on it when I sit next to him. I don't have a single thing to say, so I don't. We sit and stare at the water, wishing our house was still here and our family wasn't so broken and pained.
Finally he turns and faces me, revealing a terrible look in his eyes. “I hate her. I can’t help it. I hate her and I want to fight it but I can’t. I love her so much it’s killing me.”
This is killing me. I squeeze his hand but he’s frozen in his bitter rage. He doesn't move. He doesn't speak again.
Finally, I wink us to my bedroom. He sits on the bed, staring out the window. It’s my bedroom from when I was a kid. He looks around the room, scowling. “Why are we here?”
“So you can rest without worry about seeing them.”
He nods, sighing and lying back. I can see the exhaustion on him. I tuck him in and lock the door. I wink back to Shane’s to get a shower and get the stink off of me. Ari is in my room.
She swallows hard. “Lucas is so mad at me.”
I shake my head. “He can’t be. You were under a spell.”
“I know, but he’s still angry. He won’t talk to me. I remember everything and I feel sick, but it’s not me. I would never do those things. I would never act like that. I don't know why he’s so mad.”
I have never seen the simpering side of Ari. She is always so strong. She is never that girl who has drama with her man.
I rip my clothes off and jump into the shower, shouting at her from under the hot water. “He’s going to have to get past it. Everyone is. It’s horrid but it’s the way it is. At least you aren’t Sam. Hanna is in love with Aleks and out of love with him.”
I see Ari sit on the toilet. She’s already clean. “Hanna and Aleks was so expected though.”
“What? No way. Hanna and Sam was expected.”
“No.” She pauses. “I think when the magic of all our shit started wearing off, we had to be attracted to personalities. Sam and Hanna don't match. She’s kind of dumb like Aleks.”
It makes me snort. “They aren’t dumb.”
“No, they are. They both are like, ‘Ugh, me Hanna and me Aleks.’ You know? They suit the hard Viking and badass curse-girl thing. She’s a monster and he’s a Viking, and together they can bend metal.”
I laugh harder. “You’re kind of evil.”
“No, I’m not. I’m right. Sam is more like you and me. He’s real. He needs someone real too.”
“Well, don't worry, Lucas is like that too.”
She sounds defeated. “We’ll see.”
It makes me sad but also makes me want to smack Lucas. I shampoo again, even though I never even went into the swamp. “Do you still get the urges to push?”
“I haven’t until today. Now I sort of do.”
I glance at her silhouette and wince. “We thought if we made you push, made Lucas and Ben change, and made Hanna become a monster, we might be able to save you.”
“Is that how you saved us?”
I shake my head, rinsing the conditioner. “No. We used some witchy crap. Apparently, we broke the spell on the fallen and other angels.”