Slowly, I blinked against the harsh light filtering through my window. I looked around the room, wondering if her ghost had lingered to torture me in the waking world as well.
But nothing came. Calia was gone once again, and I did not know how I would survive with her memory haunting me.
I could not go backto sleep after my encounter with Calia. The experience was jarring; I almost could not tell if it was real or a dream. But the sensation of her body against mine was committed to memory; every single dip and curve, the minute scars along the back of her thighs, consumed me.
I sat in the worn armchair in the corner of my room, watching the shadows stretch with the sun. The events of last night played in my mind, and I was unable to glean joy even at the memory of the man’s screams.
He had been a fool to lie to me, but even more for taking Leonora’s contract. I was to be captured alive, no matter the cost. But it was not out of love. No, I knew her better than that. She only loved herself, craving an unobtainable amount of power that was not hers to hold.
I was not even surprised. My mother would do anything, say anything, to get what she wanted, but Calia was dead. With her, she took the cure to our curse.
It was over, was it not?
It needed a bonded pair, Darrow and D’Arcy, to mix our blood in the golden chalice and have it blessed by a descendant of the sorceress who had placed the duty on our heads.
That bonded pair was broken. I was only half of a whole. Her blood, which had rended my soul, was gone—beneath a headstone on a hill.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, groaning at the madness we were entangled in. There were so many questions, many of which I knew we would never have answers to.
A single knock sounded, my only warning, before Jasper walked through my door. He rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh, picking up a decanter and pouring himself three fingers of bourbon. With two quick gulps, he finished, pouring another before collapsing against the wall.
“Good morning?” I questioned, quirking a brow.
He grumbled, bringing the crystal glass to his lips. “You know what I hate?” he asked, continuing before I could test whether it was a rhetorical question or literal. “Women.”
I could not stop my chuckle. “No, you do not. You may wish you did, but we know your feelings are far from hate.”
“Why do they have to get together and gang up on me? They’re like, I don’t know, stronger in a group setting. It’s unnerving, honestly.”
“Ah,” I said, shaking my head. “This could not possibly have anything to do with the fact that my sister and Sloane met last night, could it?”
After we had left the chamber, we all agreed it would be best if Sloane stayed at the mansion until we brought my mother to justice. It was not a ludicrous idea to assume my mother knew the outcome of her little mission by now. Not to mention that somehow they had known about our meeting. Now, Sloane too would not be safe alone, and I could not guarantee her protection if she returned to the covens.
More than that, she said that we had proved ourselves to her, and she would gladly offer her assistance. Well,gladlywould be exaggerating.
Seeing as the witch had no clothes, we asked Rowena if she had anything Sloane could wear for the time being. Unsurprisingly, Rowena refused to help until we told her whathad happened. We had, after all, showed up at her door covered in blood.
Black, it seems, did nothing to hide the stains of brain splatter. Who knew?
It had not taken the two women long to bond, ultimately kicking Jasper and me out after we had told Rowena what had happened at the church.
“I tried to bring them breakfast this morning. When I knocked, Sloane answered and grabbed the tray from my hands before kicking the door shut. Then, I heard their laughter on the other side!” he huffed, downing the rest of his glass. “This is why you don’t do nice things, Jasper,”he muttered.
I outright laughed, a small tear escaping the corner of my eye. “Please. That has never stopped you before. Besides, it will be good for Rowena to have company while we are occupied today. She will be safe with Sloane.”
Jasper nodded, looking down at his feet. Something else was bothering him, but I could not put my finger on it, nor did we have time to dissect his trauma over female bonding.
The women in question walked through my door, grinning at each other like old friends. Rowena laughed, and it was a proper, belly-deep laugh—one I had not heard in a long time.
“… and that’s when I told him if he valued his balls, he’d take his hands off my arm and back away slowly,” Sloane said, a mischievous glint in her eye.
“Oh gods,” Rowena responded, clapping a hand over her mouth and laughing. “That is amazing.”
“It’s all a matter of threatening what they treasure most, and there isn’t a man alive who wouldn’t back away at the threat of castration.” Sloane glanced at Jasper and smiled. “Isn’t that right, Jasper?”
My friend covered his crotch in his response. Even I shifted slightly at the thought.
“See what I mean?” she said with a snicker.
