“Mhm. I had no intention of letting him give up his career, and I was looking into ways to make it work with his need to sleep during the day, when Dead Air’s music called to me.”
“Dead Air called to you?” Chance asked. My bestie was the best. I needed an answer to that question, too.
“He did. That’s how I found him before, as well.”
“But, uh, how?” I asked since she’d cleared up exactly nothing with her answer.
She pushed her hair back from her head and…her ears grew to narrow points.
Rosie giggled like a schoolgirl and clapped her hands together. “Why, you’re a fae. I haven’t seen one of your kind in years and years.”
Booker turned to me and King and mouthed, “Fae are real?”
King exhaled heavily, his breath tickling my ear. “So now we know that mages are real and so are fae, apparently. This just keeps getting wilder.”
“Yes, well, back to the matter at hand. I suspected that Ego hadn’t lost his witchy abilities, which is amazing. Plus, he has an anchor. I think we can use those somehow,” Lysandro said.
“Yes, Vampire, you can,” a lyrical voice said that didn’t belong to anyone in this room. It resonated at a frequency that I had to assume was a goddess, which meant Carli was being used as a mouthpiece again.
Lysandro gaped down at Carli where she’d now sat up straight between her wife’s legs.
“Oh, Hecate, thank you for honoring us with your presence again,” Rosie said.
Chance looked at me and mouthed, “Again?” and I shrugged. I hadn’t heard about her visiting before either.
“You have much to learn, young vampire.”
Lysandro flushed.
“But you’re making your god proud with how you’ve stepped up for the fledgling.”
Lysandro opened and closed his mouth twice, like he wanted to speak but just couldn’t get the words out.
“You must all fight this battle together. The fledgling is meant to be here, and so is the bridge.”
Lysandro cleared his throat, then managed to choke out, “The bridge?”
“Yes. Like so many assembled here, the anchor is not just one thing but two. He will help bridge the gaps between magical communities, but he can also bridge realms. Since so much has been lost to the passage of time, hear me, Lorewarden. The one who came before you was failed, and didn’t get the training he deserved.”
King froze at being addressed by the goddess.
“Together, you and your mentor will find those things which are remembered no more in The Vault, but you must look where nothing exists. But this time, our kind have decided to intervene and set you on the path.
“A vampire-witch combination is powerful. With an anchor by his side, more powerful than the fledgling’s sire. With the young anchor being a bridge, he can root dimensions where they need to be. Bring the Master here where he can be appropriately dealt with. Together, you all have the power.
“And, Lysandro?”
“Yes, Goddess Hecate?”
“The time for hiding is over, so sayeth your god,” she finished solemnly.
Carli shook, then fell back into her wife’s waiting arms. Harry disappeared, then rushed in with a cup of water. He knelt down next to the wives and pushed it into Cassi’s hand to give to her wife.
The rest of us sat in shock, letting the words of the goddess roll around in our brains, searching for answers. Lysandro’s pale countenance had gone almost translucent, and I worried he would fall, but Benji was already up and moving, guiding him to the chair he’d been in.
After several minutes of silence, Rosie cackled. “Guess we have our work cut out because that didn’t make a lick of sense.”
King’s arms tightened around me, and he whispered, “Don’t mind Gran. We’ll figure this out,” then he kissed the shell of my ear.
