Callie and I trade looks, shrug, and follow the adults, while Donovan sneaks out the other direction, taking the back way up to my suite.
When we reach the front door, Callie gives me a kiss on the cheek. “We’ve got this, Casanova. Soon you’ll be good as new.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” I whisper with a crooked smile, starting to feel real hope that maybe I can be saved.
After final farewells, my parents and I stand at the entrance of the house watching Callie and Mildred make their way to Mildred’s black Mercedes when a white Miata comes blasting up our driveway. It swerves to a stop, and an irate Neva Reyes, Gina’s mother, jumps out of the car.
Dressed in a wrinkled blue pantsuit, with her long black hair a disheveled mess around her shoulders, she stomps toward Callie, fury written into every movement. “You did this!” she screams, her voice echoing around the circular driveway. “My daughter won’t wake up, and I know you were the one who did it. You little bitch—”
“I’d watch your words very carefully,” Mildred interrupts, her voice a low, deadly tone.
“Watch my words?” she screeches indignantly, her hands fisted at her sides. “Your niece has had it out for my daughter since she got here. You insisted she be a part ofyourcoven despite living inmyterritory, so I demand you fix this and hold her accountable! Now I know why the Council deemed it fit to bind her magic.”
Callie’s eyes narrow, and a sudden wind starts to shake the trees. Before she can start to defend herself, Mildred walks over with that terrifying calm and stands between her and Neva, holding a hand out in a silent gesture, asking Callie to let her handle it.
“Are you aware that coven leaders are held responsible for the actions of the witches under their care?” Mildred asks, her face carefully blank.
“Of c-course,” Neva blusters, her lips pressed tightly together while she crosses her arms under her breasts. “And I’m willing to overlook that as long asshefixes her mess, andyoupunish her appropriately. If you don’t, I will take this to the Council. Your name won’t protect either of you from their justice.”
“It’s amusing that you bring up the Council when you know my reasons for coming here,” Mildred replies, only a hint of her anger showing in the concise way she speaks.
“Are you threatening me?” Neva exclaims, real fear working its way into her dark brown eyes.
“I don’t need to,” Mildred answers, and then pulls out her cell phone. As she plays her copy of the recording, we watch all the blood drain from Neva’s face. Once Gina’s crimes have been accounted in her own voice, Mildred speaks with all the authority of a witch who leads thousands. “Neva Reyes, due to your gross negligence and a member of your coven breaking trust with the resident vampires, I hereby strip you of your position as leader of the Twin Cedar Pass Coven. Turn over your arcane focus.”
“Breaking trust?” I murmur, confused about what she means.
“Vampires do not answer to witches,” my father explains. His voice is hard while his hand is gentle as he places it on my shoulder.
My mother mirrors the gesture on my other shoulder. “To use their magic to harm one of us is tantamount to an act of war. The treaty between the Council and the vampire queen is a tenuous arrangement at the best of times.”
“I’m sure the queen wouldn’t object to my request that both the mother’s and child’s lives be forfeited for what they have done to our son,” my father comments absently, terrifying in his banality. “She’s always had a soft spot for the men in my family.”
“As delightful as that sounds, there are worse things than death,” my mother muses, her voice twisting into a cold croon. “We will demand all of them.”
He gazes over at her and smiles lovingly. “I look forward to what you come up with.”
Shocked by the way my parents discuss murder and torture like people debate whether it’s going to rain, it dawns on me that Callie might be right. Maybe everything that I’ve been rejecting of myself is in the nature of being a vampire, and I’ve never known because my parents have never needed to show this side of themselves.
“Oh, that’s creative,” my mother comments with delight as we watch Neva gasp for air, trapped in a shimmering box of conjured magic.
“You will surrender the focus,” Mildred intones, “or I will remove it from your suffocated corpse.”
“I thought the necklace protected her from magical attacks,” Callie questions, her face displaying a similar expression as mine—impressed, curious, and a little frightened of the lethality of the adults in our lives.
Mildred steps to the side so that Callie can get a better look at the magic being performed. Apparently always ready to make any situation a teaching moment, she explains, “You are correct, but you see, the spell wasn’t castonher. I’ve created a sealed container of air and firearoundher, and I’m allowing the fire to burn up the oxygen within. This is the flaw of putting generations of witches’ magic into anobjectfor protection. It’s all too easy to get creative and make its defenses inert.”
“So essentially, offense is the best defense?” Callie questions in a bemused fashion. We trade glances, her eyes widening in a clear ‘what the hell is happening right now?’expression.
Neva drops to her knees and finally removes her necklace. A simple pendant of black onyx hanging from a gold chain is placed on the ground, and the shimmering walls of magic disappear. While Neva sucks in fresh, cool air, Mildred bends at the knees and smoothly retrieves the necklace. She puts it on with a hint of distaste as she examines the stone briefly.
“I hereby seize control of the Twin Cedar Pass Coven in both power and responsibility,” Mildred announces, staring down her nose at the heaving form on the ground. “My first order as leader is to confine you to your home where you and your daughter will awaitmyjustice.”
Epilogue
Connor
Sighing, I stretch my legs out, my heels hitting the edge of the dais the alpha’s throne sits upon. Though the dark-stained wood chair is beautifully crafted—its back, arms, and legs carved into thick forests with howling wolves woven into the design—I despise it. I have too many dark memories of the alpha ruling with a violent fist from this spot. Unfortunately, it’s also an heirloom dating back to the first alpha of this pack, so it would essentially be the equivalent of spitting on our history if I got rid of it.
