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“Lilith isn’t like anything else, and because of that, it’s hard to know what abilities she has. All the time since we’ve been back, I’ve been looking into her, finding every record the guild has on her, tracking down every expert I’ve heard of, and it all points to the same thing—Lilith has a connection to the dead, probably because she was made by Lucifer, who’s also connected to them. She’s proven herself dangerous over the years, but no one knows exactly what she’s capable of.” He lifted an eyebrow as he looked at me. “It’s a bit like you—we don’t know what you can do until you do it.”
“So how do we get there if it’s toxic and no one can pass the abyss?”
Grant shifted, the first sign of discomfort he’d shown, telling me I wouldn’t like his answer. Then again, did I ever? “Well, it’s going to take reaper blood. That could bridge the realms and allow us passage, since reapers are tethered to purgatory. As luck would have it, I happen to know one who bleeds.”
“Wonderful. Why is it that every plan you have requires making me bleed?”
“Maybe try not to have such useful blood?” He let out a slow breath, as if the rest of the conversation wasn’t so pleasant—not that the first part had been full of good news. “Tearing portals into limbo is a dangerous thing to do. It requires access to a huge amount of steady power, and that sort of power is rare and dangerous. I only know of one place where it would be even possible.”
I didn’t need him to continue to know it was a horrible place. “Let me guess. It’s on some haunted mountain with killer yetis or on the ocean floor in the mouth of some huge sea creature? Maybe on the moon?”
“I wish,” Grant muttered. “Nope. The only place we have a chance of pulling this off is on the intersection of ancient power lines.”
“And where exactly is one of those located?”
“How do you feel about breaking into the guild?”
And boy, that sounded like one hell of a bad idea.
* * * *
The door of Kase’s townhouse stood open when I arrived, the handle broken as if someone had twisted it and snapped the lock clean off.
Had someone attacked him in his weakened state? Someone from the coven?
“You need to leave,” came Kase’s voice—careful, controlled but still weaker than it should have been.
I rushed into the house, fear gripping me. I hadn’t gotten to put my nifty and freshly bolstered new tattoos to the test, so if anyone had decided to cause Kase problems, they seemed as good a target as any.
“You don’t need to be so damned difficult,” came a voice that slowed my steps.
Troy?
“I am not being difficult.”
“Yes, you are. Are you going to let yourself just die? For no good reason?”
A deep growl came out—Kase’s. “What business is it of yours?”
Heavy steps echoed, but I stayed back far enough that I couldn’t see them and hoped they couldn’t hear or smell me. It was odd to hear them talk on their own, without me there to play peacemaker. It was like eavesdropping on adults as a kid, when I realized they existed outside of my life.
“How do you think Ava is going to take it if you just waste away? Howdareyou put her through that.”
“She’ll get over it.”
“If you think that, you don’t know her all that well.”
Another growl. “Can you at least sit across the room if you refuse to leave? Keeping my composure is far more difficult when I can smell your blood.”
“No. Maybe the smell of my blood will force you to make a good choice for once. Now stop being stubborn and just agree.”
“I will not live my life beholden to you or any other werewolf. I refuse to live as nothing but a junkie.”
“Why’s that any different from before, since you were already living off human blood?”
Kase made an unhappy noise deep in his throat. “Because at least then I could feed from any number of mortals. Now? It’s just you. I won’t force you into this.”
“Last I checked, I had tobreakyour door to get in here. Pretty sure you’re not in any position to force me to do anything.”
