“It’s my top priority now that you’re out of the woods. But…” She looked at Jaci across the kitchen, her face tight with worry. “We need to figure out that binding spell. We’ve managed to hold off the worst of her attacks, but she’s getting stronger. Today proved as much. We almost lost…” She trailed off and lowered her eyes.
Jaci nodded, grateful Isabelle hadn’t said Gabriel’s name out loud.
Remembering that desperate look in his eyes, the pain in his voice, the sight of Colin’s fist wrapped around Gabriel’s heart…
No. If she thought about it for too long, she’d break. And right now, she couldn’t afford to break. Not with so many lives on the line. So much at stake.
“We don’t even know where Viansa’s physical body is,” Gabriel said. “And with Duchanes gone, we’ve lost our main ingredient for that binding spell.”
“We’ll find something else,” Isabelle said sternly. “We don’t have a choice.”
“Colin,” Aiden said, “any ideas from a medical perspective? Can we remove justpartof a cursed vampire’s heart without killing him outright?”
“You volunteering, Aiden?” Gabriel laughed. “Might as well remove part of your brain while he’s got you under the knife. Clearly, you’re not using it—won’t even miss it, I’m betting.”
“No one is going under the knife,” Colin said. “It’s too risky, even for a vampire. Our hearts function like human hearts. You can’t just take a little off the top without risking a serious injury—one that could prove fatal, even to a vampire.”
“What if we sire a new vampire?” Gabriel asked. “Expressly for this purpose.”
“You’re not serious,” Dorian said.
“Why the hell not?” Gabriel shrugged. “We carry the curse, right? Pass it on to any vampire we sire. So let’s just find some degenerate human who deserves to—”
“No,” Dorian said. “Turning humans into test subjects without their consent? Then we’re no better than the filthy demons who trick them into selling their souls for—” Dorian cut off abruptly, then glanced over at Jaci, offering an awkward smile. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“Hey, I almost killed you, remember?” Jaci leaned back against the sink and laughed. “The way I see it, you’ve earned at least a dozen more insults before we’re even.”
Dorian nodded, his smile relaxing into something a little less strained. “Noted.”
“Dorian’s right, guys,” Charley said. “We can’t just make a new vampire, and obviously none of us is volunteering for surgery. Face it—Operation Heart Donor is dead. We need a plan B.”
“PlanD,” Gabriel said. “Degenerate. You’re all dismissing the idea far too quickly.”
“Easy there, killer.” Aiden picked up a rogue blueberry and chucked it at Gabriel’s head. “Isn’t there a family of deer out back you can slaughter to relieve your murderous urges?”
“Don’t you have a teenager to impress?” Gabriel chucked the blueberry right back. “Go make her a mixtape or something.”
“Mixtape?” Aiden cracked up. “What century do you think this is, Grandpa?”
Colin’s phone buzzed, and he excused himself to take the call in the dining room, the rest of them trading barbs and laughing at Gabriel and Aiden’s antics while Jaci chewed on her thumbnail, mind racing for that elusive plan B.
A blood curse bound in darkness.
Fight like with like.
No heart, no spell.
Viansa’s magic.
Hell’s magic.
Like with like.
Viansa.
Jacinda.
Hell…
