“So the world is coming to an end,” Jeff started.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe. But it might.” Jeff stared into her eyes, his fingers gently caressing her flushed cheeks. “I want us to spend every moment we can together.”
“Because the world might end?”
“Because I love you,” Jeff answered.
A fresh burst of tears, this time happy ones, flooded her eyes. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed kisses to his neck. “I love you!”
There was a loud thump nearby.
Jeff and Samantha separated immediately, both tensing.
Beatrice stared at them from the center of the bed, then began to clean one paw.
They both burst into laughter.
Cassandra watched her girlfriend worriedly all the way to Jeff’s house. Aimee kept silent throughout the trip, but Cassandra could tell she was very upset. As soon as Jeff unlocked the front door of the Victorian house and let the group in, the witch immediately headed toward the pantry where the magic supplies were stored. Cassandra followed.
“Aimee?”
“The ward failed,” Aimee muttered. Grabbing her long hair, she twisted into a bun on top of her head, then placed her hands on her hips while glaring at the jars and bags lining the shelves.
Leaning against the doorjamb, Cassandra tried to formulate a good reply to Aimee’s comment, but couldn’t come up with anything that didn’t sound trite. The ward had failed. Epically. Aimee wasn’t used to failure, so Cassandra knew she was smarting. After a few tense beats ticked by, she decided to opt for another approach.
“Amaliya landed on the ward and it held her out. I wonder what that means?”
The witch sighed and picked up a jar to study the contents. “It means I should have taken into account that necromancy is dark magic.”
“Huh?” Cassandra gave her girlfriend a startled look. “What?”
Aimee sniffed the contents of the jar, looked satisfied, and set it in a wicker basket at her feet. “Cass, we’re dealing with vampires, necromancers, and a phasmagus. All creatures of the darkness.”
“Like me,” Cassandra said, lowering her eyes.
“No, no. Dhamphirs are different. You’re more in the gray area of magic.”
“I sense the splitting of hairs here.” Cassandra frowned.
“Cass, you’re half human. The vampire side of your nature is muted by that fact. We’ve discussed this before.” Aimee touched her arm lightly.
“Yeah, I know, but it’s still really unnerving to see dear old dad vamp out and...” Cassandra had thought that her daddy issues were put behind her, but she realized that maybe she had been wrong. She was seeing a lot of herself in Cian and it made her uneasy.
“Yeah, but he’s a very old vampire. In that regard you two are very different.” Aimee tilted her head, drawing close enough that her warm breath was on Cassandra’s cheek. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course!”
“Then trust me when I tell you that you’re a fabulous shade of gray.”
Cassandra laughed. “Okay. Fine!”
After pressing a kiss to Cassandra’s cheek, Aimee resumed searching for ingredients. “Now, to answer your question about Amaliya...I think she passed through the ward the first time because she hadn’t activated her necromancy yet. She spills blood to make it work, so once she was wounded and bleeding, her magic kicked in...”
“And the ward attempted to kick her out.”
“Exactly. Death and blood magic are very dark magicks. The only thing darker is demonic magic, which the black witches use.”
Cassandra let out a puff of air. “Yoiks.”
“I don’t think Amaliya and Samantha are evil, but the magicks they wield can easily cross that line. I’ll have to adjust the ward.” Aimee selected another jar and placed it in the basket.
“How did Amaliya punch through the ward?”
“Honestly, I think she confused it. When I cast the spell, I infused it with the names of our cabal to allow everyone safe passage. The ward recognized her, but was also repulsing her because it read her as a threat.” Aimee lifted a shoulder. “I should have thought of that. From now on everything I do will have to take this into account.”
“It makes it harder for you to do your spells, doesn’t it? The fact that we have them on our side?” Cassandra fiddled nervously with a nail stuck in the wall used to hang up cotton bags.
“Yes, but I’ll deal.” Aimee flashed her stunning, confident smile. “Because I’m a badass true witch.”
“Damn, I love you.” Cassandra couldn’t help but return Aimee’s smile.
“I know. Shows how smart you are.”
“I may be leery about all this other shit going on in our lives, but you’re the one thing in my life that I never doubt.”
“Aw, babe.” Aimee came instantly into her arms and snuggled against her.
Holding her girlfriend close, Cassandra breathed in her sweet scent. It always grounded her when she was feeling agitated. She often wondered if it was the herbs Aimee worked with or the actual fragrance of her magic that always made her smell so delicious.
“Cass, we’re going to be okay. I promise.”
“You had some sort of vision?”
Aimee wagged her head. “No, no. I don’t have those.”
“Right. The vampires killed all the oracles.” Cassandra rolled her eyes. The vampires had done a lot to make sure the cards were always stacked in their favor.
“Remember that evil tends to get cocky. I was around Frank long enough to see that myself.”
Cassandra snarled at the mention of Frank.
Picking up the wicker basket, Aimee motioned for Cassandra to let her out of the pantry. “You’re cute when you’re growly.”
“Then I’m going to be uber-cute when I pull The Summoner’s head off.”
“That’s my girl!”
Aimee carried the basket to the kitchen and Cassandra followed.
Chapter 12
Cian stood on the back porch of the Victorian house and surveyed his surroundings with a critical eye. Fireflies darted through the variety of trees that stood sentry around the house obscuring the view. There was a wrought iron fence at street level and a second fence enclosed the rear yard above the greenbelt. The entire lawn sloped downward on all sides.
“It’ll be easy to see an attack from up here,” Baptiste said, joining him.
“Especially from the higher floors,” Cian agreed.
“We could maybe put some spells that work like flash bombs along that fence line. If the enemy breaches the ward, we can at least disorient them as they come over that second fence
“A very solid idea. Which branch of the military were you in?” Cian asked, watching the other man scrutinizing their surroundings.
“Air Force. But I left after one tour. It was increasingly difficult to hide what I am.” Baptiste rested his hands on the rail. A platinum skull ring with ruby eyes glittered on one finger. Cian recognized it as one Prosper had worn.
“Your kind of magus is very rare. Does it run in the family?”
Baptiste nodded. “Those of us with maroon eyes usually have the gift.”
“Rachoń?”
“The Summoner killed her and changed her before she manifested any abilities. Maybe the powers would have been latent in her. It’s hard to say. The eyes are a good indicator, but the abilities don’t always develop. My great grandfather told me stories about our family in Africa being able to hold off enemy tribes with the power of earth, fire, and air. Sadly, the generation that was conquered and sold into slavery couldn’t wield the power.” Baptiste shrugged. “So here we are...strange how fate works. We lost our tribal homeland, but now control Louisiana.”