Page 58 of Investigation of a Quest

“To bind me to her, she needs a powerful sacrifice,” Eamon explained. “It’s why Alcina chose Isobel for me to attack. It’s also why I didn’t kill her. She’s the daughter of true love, and that kind of blood has called to creatures like me since the dawn of time.”

“She might be the daughter of true love, but that’s not why Morrigan took the detective,” West said. “Your human wields a different power now. One you would be careful to keep hidden.”

“Don’t say it,” Eamon whispered.

“She’s a child of true love who also holds a son of hell’s heart. Your mortal carries your love inside her,” West said. “Which makes her an unusually strong sacrifice. She’s done the impossible. She taught a beast without a soul how to care. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t witnessed it myself. You and your detective are a once-in-an-eternity kind of anomaly. Your love has never happened before, and it will never happen again. You were a creature born of evil and hate, while she was a human born of pure love, yet somehow your halves created the perfect whole. You’re a dhampir, yet you sit peacefully in this cabin with mortals, animals, a witch, and a shifter. You should’ve bled us all dry hours ago, yet you helped me. You healed that little dog.”

“It’s what Isobel would want,” Eamon said, his nausea worsening by the second.

“A dhampir shouldn’t care what a human wants,” West said. “You shouldn’t love her, yet you do. I shouldn’t have been so afraid to warn you, but you understand my fear. Historically, you aren’t a man people walk away from.”

“I’m not,” he agreed.

“I should’ve tried harder.” West rubbed the defeat from her face. “But I cannot change the past, and I cannot undo centuries of learned behavior. I had good reason to fear you, and I will carry that guilt and shame with me because it gave Morrigan the opening to capture the detective. Your human is an extraordinary sacrifice, and if my leader succeeds in binding you, her love-soaked blood will make the bond unbreakable.”

“It won’t need to be broken.” Eamon launched off the bed, his rage unable to sit still any longer. “I’ll rip her head from her body before she can even utter the spell needed to make me attack Isobel.”

“No!” West scrambled out of the bloody sheets and grabbed Eamon’s wrist before he could leave the cabin, her fingers shaking in dread as she did something that would’ve gotten her throat ripped out in another lifetime. “You can’t go. You can’t get anywhere near her.”

“Listen to me carefully.” Eamon peeled her fingers off his skin. “Everyone in this room likes to remind me I’ve changed, but I am only a good man because Isobel loves me. If she dies… I won’t give a damn about this world. You thought the Impaler was a monster? Wait until you see what I become if that witch murders my detective. I won’t need to be bound to Morrigan. I’ll end the world myself. Nothing matters without Isobel. So I will find her, and I will kill whoever stands in my way. Just ask the first witch who tried this how it ended for her.”

“But my coven leader isn’t like other witches, even ones capable of cursing you.” West clawed at his skin until she reclaimed her grip. “In bindings, the slave needs to slaughter the sacrifice. It’s their first act of obedience, but Morrigan is different. She’s so powerful that it doesn’t matter who kills the mortal. She just needs you to be within the curse’s reach when she bleeds the sacrifice. Plus, your detective’s blood is potent—the daughter of true love who’s loved by a dhampir. Morrigan doesn’t need your help in the slightest. All you have to do is step within her grasp, and she’ll slit your detective’s throat.”

“What are you saying?” Eamon froze, his organs solidifying until he was stone.

“You can’t go anywhere near her,” West said. “You need to get as far away from Bajka as possible because as soon as she senses you, she’ll bleed your detective. Her curse is far more powerful, and your love for this human connects you. I saw her scars. You’ve drunk from her. Her blood is part of you, and you’re bound in a way that should be impossible for a dhampir. Last time, you needed to kill her to seal the curse, but this time? Your love is your connection. Your human will die with your name on her tongue. There is no question of her love. To be close to her is to feel it with her every heartbeat. The same goes for you… and the shifter. He loves this mortal.” West gestured to Olivia, and both she and Ewan burned red-hot and awkward.

“Which is why this detective needs to be careful as well,” the witch continued. “She doesn’t have the magic of true love, but she’s important to both you and this shifter. If Morrigan gets her hands on her, she could also become a useful sacrifice. She would work better for the shifter, but you, dhampir, care about her. The slave bond wouldn’t be as strong, but her death would bind you. The sheriff’s too. Both mortals would be adequate replacements for your woman, but she’s still the strongest sacrifice. Her death will wreak the most havoc, and it will spread the spell the furthest. That’s what Morrigan’s hoping for. She’s counting on you coming to your woman’s rescue. That’s why she took her. You’ll charge in, the hero, and she’ll curse you before you can get through the door.”

“You don’t know that,” Eamon said, his legs weak beneath him. This couldn’t be happening again. He’d almost killed Bel the first time a witch tried to claim him, but at least he’d retained some control in that encounter. A warning had rung through his skull, and he’d found the strength to stop drinking her blood. It was excruciating, but he’d stopped because something deep inside his soul understood that Bel would change his life. That she would become the only person to ever love him, and if he’d killed her that night in New York…

Eamon shut his brain down. He couldn’t consider the what-ifs. He hadn’t slaughtered her, and that’s what mattered. He’d killed Alcina instead, and he was free. Free to change. Free to love. Free to embrace his human half. But this new witch? She’d stolen that sliver of control from him. His love for Bel ensured that her sacrifice would enslave him no matter where he stood. He couldn’t go to her. He couldn’t save her. He could never save her.

“I do know that,” West said, tugging him away from the door. “I spent centuries guarding her tomb because I’d suffered the power she wielded. I knew what she would unleash if she ever got free. You cannot go after your detective.”

“But I can’t do nothing. I cannot let her kill Isobel. I swore to protect her. I swore she would never get taken again, but I’ve failed. I always fail her.”

“No, you don’t.” Olivia reached for him.

“She’s in danger once again because of me!” Eamon roared, and the entire cabin stepped away from him. “I constantly put her in harm’s way, and I can’t save her. I can’t even find her. Do nothing? You’re asking me to fail her.”

No one spoke; the trio remaining far from his reach, the dogs included, and he wanted to feel guilty for startling them, but his panic left no room for any emotion save rage.

“I cannot fail her, so what do I do?” he asked. “You defeated her once before. Tell me how to stop her.”

“It took my entire coven,” West said. “And it killed them all. We were some of the most powerful witches to walk the earth. Even if I found a coven willing to die for our cause, I doubt they’d have the power needed to defeat Morrigan.”

“So, what do we do?” Eamon seized her arms, seconds away from shaking her, but when he noticed the fear in her eyes, shame forced him to release her. “Tell me what to do. I won’t let Isobel die because of me. She deserves better, so tell me how to stop this witch.”

“I don’t know.” West sank to the couch.

“No!” Eamon’s fist pounded the table. He was reverting to the devil Bel hated, but his brain was spinning out of control. If she died, the world would die with her. He would take them all down with him if he lost her.

“No, you don’t get to say that,” he growled. “You did this. You let those men free your leader. You didn’t protect Isobel, so you don’t get to sit here and tell me you don’t know how to save her. Figure it out. I don’t care what has to be done. I will aim armor-piercing rounds at my own heart if my death will save her. Whatever has to happen, I’ll do it, but you need to tell me how to stop this.”

“I’m sorry!” West shouted. “My sister is dead. I just lost the only person I have loved for centuries, and our worst nightmare is about to come true. Morrigan will end the world if she enslaves you, but I don’t know how to stop her. We only succeeded last time because my entire coven gave their lives, but I’m only one witch. I cannot do this alone, and you cannot help me. You can’t get anywhere near her. Neither can your shifter. The minute she senses your power, she’ll unleash the curse.”

“Wait…” Griffin stepped forward and grabbed Eamon’s fist, gently peeling back his fingers until his tension relaxed. “You said if she senses power, she’ll kill Emerson.”