by Chloe Adler
I whirl around to face my man. “What is she saying?”
Rhys takes a step back as if I’m a tornado and he’s blocking my path. He doesn’t meet my eyes.
The female ghoul chuckles, the sound disgusting and wet. “Nice job, boy, getting her here.” She turns to me, wearing an ugly grimace and shaking her head. “Clueless thing.”
I look between them and shake my head. Rhys would never do that to me. Never. “Rhys?”
“I can’t . . . fight it.” He clenches and unclenches his fists at his side.
Caspian thrusts me back and lunges for his brother, taking hold of his shoulders and shaking him. “No fucking way, man. You betrayed us? Her?”
In one fluid motion only someone part vampire could pull off, Rhys shakes free of his brother, rushes the female cop, yanks her keys off her belt and opens the cell.
“Rhys, no!” I scream but it’s too late. The ghouls rush forward. Ayden and the other male ghoul fly across the room and slam into the guards in a blink, faster than they can squeeze the triggers on their tranq guns. The group goes down in a heap. Ayden lands on top and cranks one of the guard’s arms behind his back. A sickening pop reverberates throughout the cell, and the man rolls away, clutching his arm and screaming. The other ghoul stomps on one guard’s arm, crushing it, then descends on the third guard.
Meanwhile Caspian flails against the female ghoul, holding her head as she tries to bite him.
“Grab the girl,” Ayden screams and Rhys reaches for me but he his hands are repelled, shooting back as though we’re opposite poles of a gigantic magnet. So this is why he hasn’t made physical contact with me all day. He couldn’t. Aurelia’s ward spell works. That’s all I need to know.
As the mayhem continues, the ghouls disarming Marquez and the remaining officers with laughable ease, I retreat to a quiet place in my mind.
I don’t have my herbs, candles or concoctions. There’s no grimoire here to read from. Sadie, Chrys, and Aurelia aren’t here to hold my hand.
It’s just me.
But I’m not a child, or a freak, or a cowering empath on her own. I am the daughter of one of the most powerful witches to ever walk this earth. I am a beloved sister to two more. I am a lover and yes, even a fighter, in my own way. I was able to hold my bedroom door closed against Aurelia. This should be a piece of cake.
I start reciting the spell, quietly, just above a whisper, while focusing all my thoughts and all my energy on the intended results. A calmness descends over me and I’m able to tune out all the violence. It’s as though I’m somewhere else, in a bubble floating above it all. My eyes are closed and there’s no sound other than my words.
“I, Iphigenia Diantha Holt, sixthborn to Aurelia Constanza Holt, partum a quo custodia ambiente statione.”
I lift my hands, open wide above my head. “Diane, Hecate, Selene, Kerunnos, Pan. Voco super omnes Deos Deasque, partum a clypeus circa hoc loco, servis libertatem.”
I hold my hands higher, arms outstretched. Warm energy radiates through my body, pulsing and thrumming. My body spasms and I let it. “Quisque defendat daemoibus. Et ne quis intrabit. None shall pass, none shall enter.”
My arms shake above my head as I scream as loudly as I can, “Et abierunt. All be gone, all be gone, all be gone.”
I collapse on the floor, no longer able to hold my body up. My limbs are like concrete and I can’t even lift my head. I have barely enough strength to say, “So mote it be,” before I lose consciousness.
Rhys
I sag to the floor like a puppet whose strings have been cut. In my head, the incessant whisper grows into a scream until it, too, stops like it’s been stopped at the source.
Silence. Blessed silence. How long has it been since my thoughts were my own?
As the . . . thing separating me from my body thins and burns away like fog in sunlight, I open eyes I didn’t know I’d shut.
Whatever spell she cast released me, us. Everyone. The two men and women who were ghouls are on the floor. The men cradle their heads in their hands and the woman is slumped against the bars of the cell.
Iphi lies in a pool of blood.
“Someone help Iphi!” I scream and lurch toward her.
Caspian bats me aside and I crash into the wall. He goes to her, scooping up her lifeless body and rocking her in his arms. Blood trickles from her nose, her ears, the corners of her eyes, like vampire tears.
He spins toward me, Iphi’s limp body swaying in his arms. “What have you done to her?”
I hold my hands up. “I didn’t do anything. I’m so sorry. It wasn’t me. I mean, it was, but I didn’t do anything. I swear.” I’m babbling, I know it, but the way Caspian’s arms tighten around Iphi, he’s not listening anyway.
One of the few officers left on her feet limps to the wall and hits a panic button. More uniforms rush in seconds later, and in a flurry of shouts and moans, the three ghouls are shoved back into their cells, cuffed. They go willingly, not that the cops give them any choice. As civilians frozen in the chaos, we’re left alone in favor of helping the injured guards.
“What about Rhys?” Caspian says. “You need to lock him up too, Marquez.”
The uniform who walked us in here looks at me and shake her head. “He’s not a threat.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Caspian shoulders his way through the mob toward the door. “Whatever, I’m taking Iphigenia to the hospital.”
Nobody stops him. Before exiting, he turns back to me. “You stay the hell away from her. From us.”
But the words don’t register. He’s got Iphi, and staying behind just isn’t an option. My feet carry me out of lockup, trailing behind Caspian, just as Iphi comes to.
“Rhys?” she calls.
He stops, looking down at her. “Iphigenia.” He covers her face with kisses. “I thought you were dying. Come on, let’s get you to the hospital.”
“No.” She wipes at her nose with the back of her hand. “I’m fine. Just tired, so tired. Where’s Rhys?”
I’m right here. But I just watch, behind Cas, not wanting to piss my brother off anymore, but not willing to leave my girl either.
“Fuck him,” he snarls. “He tried to hurt you.”
She reaches her hand up and cups his cheek. “You know that wasn’t him. He wouldn’t have—”
Thank god, she understands. “I’m here.” I rush around Cas to her side.
Caspian looks between Iphi’s face and mine, but to his credit, he holds his tongue.
“Rhys,” her voice is soft, “come here.”
I obey and step closer.
“Touch me.”
I do as she says, pushing strands of wet hair out of her face.
“Kiss me.”
I bend and touch my lips to hers while she still rests in Caspian’s arms. Her lips taste of salt and the iron tang of her blood. I growl and pull back.
She smiles, the outside corners of her eyes wet with tears. “Welcome back,” she says. “Now both of you . . . take me home.”
We exchange looks.
“To your mother’s?” Caspian asks.
“To the Grove.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rhys
The whole family gathers in Dominic’s house thirty minutes later—after she cleaned up at the Palace first, me watching her and Cas watching me the whole time.
Now the six of us, me, Nolan, Dom, Cas, Thorn and Iphi, are all piled on Dom’s two small couches and two chairs.
Dom sits on his hands, tapping a foot. “You did what?” He clenches his jaw, grinding down so hard I flinch.
Iphi is on the couch next to him and she’s as pale as the curtains fluttering over the kitchen window. Nolan is on the chair across from them, Thorn is perched on the other chair, and Caspian and I occupy the other couch.
“It was my idea.” Iphi holds her head up. “And it was a good one.”
“She broke the hold that monster had on all of us.” I rake my hands through my hair.
> Before Dominic can respond, Iphi beats him to it. “What I want to know,” she looks pointedly at me, “is why you weren’t completely possessed like the others. You seemed to have free will. You seemed like . . . you.”
I raise my hands and then let them fall. “I don’t know exactly. It was like there were moments when I was completely coherent and in charge of my own faculties and then there were moments I can’t remember at all. I remember some of the last few days, but less and less the farther back I go.” Even trying to pierce the foggy veil over some memories sends a stab of agony through my skull. “But even the parts I do remember, it was like I was muted. Cut off from my own limbs. Sometimes I was so far gone the whole world was muted, and the only thing I could hear was his whisper.”
“Like your body was being inhabited by something else,” Nolan says.
I nod at my brother. “Yes, exactly, except sometimes I was more in control than others, especially near Iphi. Sometimes I was gone entirely. As if whoever was controlling me kept tuning in and out of my head. And sometimes the volume was up so high, it obliterated everything else.”
It’s Nolan’s turn to nod. “He did that with me when he first got into my head, almost like he was learning how to be a puppet master. I don’t remember much from my time with him either.”
“He obviously got the hang of it if the other ghouls are any indication,” Dominic says.
I shake my head. “The ghouls can be controlled by the demon but mainly they’re extensions of the vampire who creates them.”
“Like in those old Dracula movies?” A blond curl works loose until it drops into her eyes.
Dominic shoves his hands under his legs as if squelching the urge to brush it back, and I do not blame him. “So why does this demon use minions anyway? Why doesn’t he do his own dirty work?”
“I think . . . he’s mostly stuck in his own world.” I glance at Iphi.
She purses her lips. “But he reached out of it to grab me.”
“Yeah.” I look down at my hands. “We were his anchors. Somehow he’s able to cross dimensions and seed a Signum and some humans with his essence, which allows him the ability to spend a limited amount of time here, but . . .”
“But? Dude!” Caspian says.
Nolan shifts uncomfortably and Thorn hisses.
“I don’t know everything, guys. I don’t remember.” I look at Nolan for help. Surely he can make them understand. He’s had his head back for far longer than I have at this point.
He clears his throat, shrugging. “I figured he didn’t want to be here because he could get caught or killed. If he stays in his world, he remains safe. Untouchable.”
Iphi nods and reaches out for Dominic’s hand. He pulls one hand from under his thigh and puts his palm on hers. Their fingers intertwine, threading through one by one. Her face flushes with color, her cheeks turning pink all the way to her hairline.
“Also . . .” I force myself to look away from their hands. “I think it takes a lot of energy for him to cross over, and he’s using a fair amount of that energy to hold his anchors.”
“Do you think his ties are severed now that Iphi cast that spell?” Caspian asks.
“I wish it were that easy,” Nolan says.
“He’s probably regrouping,” I add. Nolan nods.
Thorn hops up on the couch next to Iphi. She lifts her other hand, still wrapped up in Dom’s, and Thorn jumps into her lap. She pets his head and puts her other hand down in Dom’s lap.
I do remember our time in the diner. The fog was there, but it was thinning, like Iphi’s mere presence could burn some of it away. It was more or less me, agreeing to our new arrangement. I think. So on the one hand I know this is what Iphi wants, and after everything she’s done for me, I aim to give her everything in return. Watching her touch Dom, being happy for them, it’s the least I can do for her. But there’s something niggling at me and I’m not quite sure what it is.
Caspian’s watching them too, wearing a lazy half smile. I guess nothing’s niggling at him.
“There’s one more thing,” I say and their heads swing back to me. “The demon was pawing through my thoughts, my memories, looking for anything about your mother.”
“My mother?” Iphi says and I nod.
“But I didn’t tell him anything,” I rub my hands together, “because I don’t really know anything. Otherwise he probably would have been able to force it out of me.”
“How would he know my mother?” She chews on her lip. “And how did he do that to you anyway? If he’s not even our plane, I mean.”
“Telepathy,” Nolan says.
I shudder. “He whispers inside our heads when he’s controlling us.”
“It’s a horrible feeling.” Nolan clutches the front of his seat cushion.
“Like icepicks in your brain.” And my brother had to deal with that kind of pain and intrusion for so much longer than I did. I’ve failed him. Again.
“All of this . . .” Nolan’s voice has gone up an octave. “It’s my fault.” He puts his hand to his throat.
“Sweetie,” Iphi’s voice is soft, “no one blames you for any of it.”
“If anything, it’s our fault,” I say. “We were supposed to protect you.”
Nolan looks at me. His gaze is firm, his jaw set. “I’m twenty-one, I’m not your responsibility. I’ve made my choices.”
I shake my head. “You’ll always be my baby brother.”
Nolan leaps to his feet, the space between us crackling with tension. “I’m not a baby. I’ve been on my own for seven years!”
Iphi pulls her grip from Dom’s, lifts Thorn off her lap, and steps toward him, her hand held out. “Nolan, I don’t know what happened when you were kids but I do know that we love you. All of us. We’re your family.” Iphi waves an arm around the room. “That’s what Rhys meant. Family looks out for each other.”
I wince and shake my head.
Caspian lets out a long stream of air from between his pursed lips.
“I’m so sorry,” I hold up my hands, “I don’t know what to say. We never got a chance to talk about this.”
“Talk about what?” Iphi asks.
But Nolan ignores her. “We never got a chance? How about none of you ever cared enough to come find me.”
“We did find you, Nolan. We tried several times to get you to come home with us,” Dominic says. “I don’t even know if you remember, you were so strung out.”
Nolan blinks rapidly. “Whatever. It doesn’t even matter anymore.”
“Your brothers care about you and want you to be a part of their pack.” She looks around, making eye contact with each of us, including Thorn. “Am I wrong?”
We shake our heads at once. Thorn lets out a squawk, flies off the couch and lands on Nolan’s shoulder. He nuzzles his cousin’s temple. A single tear winds its way down Nolan’s scarred face.
“Really?” he asks.
“Of course,” Caspian says. “We love you man. You’re one of us.”
“Even after everything I’ve done?”
Thorn snorts smoke, reminding us all of his egregious error. Iphi cocks her head, eyes on Thorn.
“We’ve all done things we regret,” I jump in. “All of us”—I pointedly avoid looking at Thorn—“have made horrible mistakes.”
“And we stick together, no matter what,” adds Caspian.
“No matter what,” Dominic and I echo.
“Can you give us another chance?” Dominic asks.
Iphi puts her hand on Nolan’s shoulder, the one Thorn’s not occupying.
“We’d like to make it up to you,” I say. Of course, it was his choice to leave and he wouldn’t let us back in, but I don’t dare ruin the moment.
“We won’t ever leave you to fend for yourself again.” Dominic stands, crossing to Nolan and hugs him, tightly, Iphi stepping out of the way for a moment. Then she steps back in and hugs both of them together. Thorn squawks and jumps on Nolan’s head.
We lau
gh and Caspian gets up too. “We’re here for you, man.” He throws himself on the hug pile.
“Always,” I add and follow suit.
The five of us stand together for several seconds, hugging my brother, our brother, letting him know that we have his back by our unified presence.
As we step back, Nolan’s head bounces twice and he closes his eyes, wavering on his feet. I put my hand out to steady him.
“Thank you . . . for letting me back in, after all of these years. After everything I’ve done.”
Thorn jumps back onto his shoulder.
I honestly don’t think we would have been able to move past all of this if it weren’t for Iphigenia and her forgiving nature. The woman has taught us all so much. How important family is, those born into it and those chosen to be a part of it. How important forgiveness is and how important unconditional love is. Iphi loves and accepts me for who I am. Time to return the favor.
“Hey, fam.” I move toward the door, steering Nolan with me. “Let’s leave Iphigenia and Dom so they can talk for a bit. Come to my house and I’ll make you all lunch.”
Dominic
Huh?
Iphi gives Rhys a sidelong look, then a knowing smile.
Double huh?
Caspian offers a hand to Nolan and he takes it. Thorn remains firmly attached to his shoulder.
The group leaves without another word.
Iphi sits back on the couch, patting the space next to her.
“What was that about?”
“Come here and I’ll tell ya.”
I sit next to her, my body tight with tension.
“Turn around and face your back to me.”
I have no clue what’s going on but I trust the woman implicitly, and so I do what she asks.
Her hands grip my shoulders, rubbing out the tension. She leans forward and her breath is hot against my ear. “Is this pressure okay or do you want it harder?”
I bite down on my lip, hard. Is she coming on to me? Can’t be. She’s just being nice.