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She proceeds to tell me the full story, not in any particular logical order because of her whisky brain. About the video she got showing Luciana’s transformation, and how the Night Guild made her work down in a hellish subterranean cavern laboratory. How there were dozens of other supernaturals-turned-demon in their black market blood bank for pricey hybrid blood, but how the rest were dying off, unable to be saved.
“And Darkness?” I prompt when she seems to be done rambling.
Tamsin goes very still atop the horse, looking off into the distance with a blank expression on her face. “I only met her once,” she whispers. “Only for about five minutes. She told me if I tried to escape, she’d find me in my dreams, every night, for the rest of my life.”
A shudder moves over her, and she winds her fingers into the horse’s mane.
“It was very brave of you to fight your way out, then,” I say. I sound impressed because I am. Clearly the tough witch I grew up with is still in there, even if she’s lived outside the magical world for the last two decades.
“I just did what I had to do. For Luciana.” She shrugs. “I wouldn’t have been able to leave if it hadn’t been for Ven and Ryder. Ven busted me out of a magical collar they’d placed around my neck. It blocked my magic.” Her hand moves up to her collarbone as if remembering the feel of it.
I stop walking for a moment and turn to look at her. “They’re going to come back for us. You know that, right? But we’ll be ready for them.”
“Not us,” she says. “Me. This isn’t your fight, Blake. You don’t want to get mixed up in this.”
Our talk of Darkness has apparently sobered her up. Her eyes burn fiercely as she looks down at me from astride the horse.
“If you think I’m going to leave you to fight this on your own, you are gravely mistaken.” I turn, before she can argue, and lead the horse forward again.
We walk in silence for a half mile or so. The wind whips across the lake, though we’re a good bit south of it the way I’d taken us. In the distance, I can hear the howl of wolves. Wild ones, not my clan. I hear the sound of water, too, from a nearby creek.
“Stop,” Tamsin says. “I need water.”
I halt the horse and Tamsin slides off its back. She walks over and crouches down by the swiftly flowing water. Though she seems to be sobered up, I follow her just in case. I don’t want her pitching into the icy creek.
She scoops a few handfuls of water up to her mouth and then turns and looks up at me. “I’m not going to fall in.”
“Says the person who was giddy drunk half an hour ago.”
A frown turns her lips. “Don’t be mad at the guys for hanging out with me. Even if you… feel the way you feel about things between us.”
Frustration boils in my blood. “And how exactly is that, Tamsin?” I cross my arms over my chest. “Please explain to me how I feel about you.”
Tamsin stands abruptly and her eyes cut into me. “You’ve been nothing but an asshole since I came back. I think it’s pretty clear where we stand.”
She walks back over to the horse and springs nimbly up onto its back. “I can make my way from here. You’re absolved of your duty.”
