“Just a feeling I have.”
“What did they do, exactly, that was so awful?” Caleb asked. “In the parking lot, I mean. I think we have an okay picture of what happened upstairs.”
“Nothing, really,” said Agatha. “At least, they didn’t hurt anyone. But it felt so…”
Lance sighed and squeezed her more tightly. “Yeah. It sure did.”
Wendy smiled at him. “So I guess you’re believers now.”
“I guess so,” Lance agreed. “Maybe you’d better tell us what to expect.”
“Nothing,” I assured him. “They can’t harm the hotel now. Things will go on like normal.”
“As normal as Bristol gets, anyway,” Caleb added.
I leaned forward and squeezed Lance’s arm. “I promise you, things will be fine when your kids come. This is a sanctuary now. It’s the safest place you’ll ever find.”
“But you might expect a few more Blackwood guests, down the line,” said Cooper.
He gave Lance and Agatha the basics on what he was guarding from the Wicks, and why. He said it was only fair, if the sapwood seeds were going to be under the protection of the Mount Phearson, for the Boyles to know what they were getting into.
They took it better than I expected, actually. I guessed they really had become believers.
But we all agreed that the present company was as far as the story would go. There was no need to be open about our plans to house the seeds, even if they were guarded by magic—and a bit of my soul.
I didn’t seem to miss that bit. I wasn’t in any pain anymore. And I didn’t feel as though I’d lost anything. In fact, my spirit felt bigger than ever. Maybe making the sacrifice for a good cause, to protect people, had actually expanded my soul, somehow.
Or maybe it was just because I was in such a good mood all the time. No matter how many vitality vampires and witches want you dead, good sex will do that.
Later that night, I came into the living room after changing, to find Cooper hunched over my laptop. I pushed my way onto his lap, facing him so I could kiss his forehead.
“You’re blocking my view,” he said with a smile. “Although there’s an argument to be made that you’re improving it.”
“You can’t possibly get things done any slower with me in your way. I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to make decisions with less speed than you Blackwoods do.”
He put his arms around me and kissed my neck. “You’re right. Except the decision’s made.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.”
“Well, the fact that you’re trying to avoid the subject by putting your hands up my shirt suggests it’s not good news.”
“I’d put my hands up your shirt either way.”
But I leaned back and shooed his hands away. “Cooper, tell me.”
He sighed. “It’s not good news.”
“They don’t want the seeds here.”
“They don’t even want the West Seed here.”
I stilled, my stomach turning in dread. “They ordered you to leave?”
And if they did, would he obey that order?
I knew Cooper believed in this plan. If the seeds—the three that were still under Blackwood control, anyway—were safe in the vault, the Blackwoods would finally be free to stop running, come together, and take the battle to the Wicks. It was what Cooper had always wanted.
But he also believed in his duty. If they told him he couldn’t stay…
“They ordered me to come in immediately,” Cooper said. “So they can relieve me of my burden and assign another carrier to the West Seed.”
I stared at him. “They what?”
It was the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge for a soldier. He’d dedicated his life to this mission, risked everything for it every single day, and they’d just called him a failure.
“That is completely unfair!” I said. “You’ve kept it safe. You’ve done so much more than that.”
He shrugged, his expression flat and guarded. “They don’t see it that way.”
“So that’s it, then,” I said. “We don’t have much choice, do we?”
“No. I don’t see any other option.”
I nodded, and braced myself for his inevitable departure.
But Cooper pulled me closer and kissed me soundly, before he said, “I’m not going in. I’m not bringing them the West Seed. And I’ll get the other seeds too, if I can.”
I blinked at him. “You’re… what?”
And then he gave me that Cooper Blackwood smile.
“As of this moment, I’ve gone rogue.”
Thank you for reading Grim Haven. I hope you enjoyed it!
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If you’d like to know more about Lydia and her friends, you can find her story in The Adventures of Lydia Trinket, starting with Ghost in the Canteen.
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Grim Haven (Devilborn Book 1) Page 22