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“Turn it into a garden. Something simple to remember them all. A few benches. Maybe a gazebo for shade. You could come here to talk to Brooke.”
Tears pricked my eyes. Most of the coven had turned their backs on Danica the moment they learned she was involved with Samael, and yet I knew she’d think of each of them when she planned that garden.
“I won’t tell them I’m responsible.” She smiled. “Then they’ll use it.”
“I love you.”
She flung her arm around my shoulders. “I love you too. Let’s go see Gemma.”
By the time we got back to the house, most of the coven had already taken their turns with Gemma. A few smiled at Danica, but most of them ignored her. While I was used to it now myself, seeing the way they treated Danica made me want to set something on fire.
“Ignore it.” She smiled serenely as we sat on the staircase, waiting for our turn.
“Since when are you a live-and-let-live kind of person?” I slitted my eyes at her, and she just shrugged.
“Turns out, running a realm keeps me so busy, I don’t have time or energy for petty bullshit. Unless I’m the one starting it.”
Freya walked toward us. Her face was wet with tears. “Your turn.”
“Thank you,” Danica said.
We stepped into the living room. Surprise flickered across Gemma’s face when she spotted Danica.
“You don’t look like you’re dying,” Danica mused.
Gemma nodded at me. “A nice little influx of power from your sister.”
“Want some of mine, too?”
Gemma let out a chortle. “I want to die, not live for the next few weeks.”
“Fair enough.” Danica sat cross-legged on the rug next to the sofa.
I concentrated on the power and frowned. I was the only one left…
She’d made the others stop the flow of their magic. My power was the only thing keeping her alive.
“I never would have expected both of you to be at my side during my final moments,” Gemma said. “But I find it oddly fitting. Your mother… If she could see you both now…”
I readied myself to hear about how ashamed my mother would be of us. Danica’s face had turned blank. The reason she’d fought Samael for so long was because Mom had made her promise to stay away from the demons. With just a few words, Gemma could break my sister.
“She would be proud,” Gemma finished, and I frowned. “Oh, she wouldn’t have wanted you to end up where you have. At her heart, she was as insular as the rest of us, even if she stumbled when it came to your father.” She nodded at Danica. “But she would be pleased to see both of her daughters powerful, with the kind of allies that ensure they will never have to run for their lives like she did.”
“Thank you,” Danica said gravely. The lump in my throat was too large to speak.
Gemma shifted her attention to me. “It’s time.”
Hot tears spilled from my eyes. I opened my mouth.
“I—”
Gemma shook her head. “I know. Now, let me go.”
Danica grabbed my hand and squeezed. I took a deep breath, memorizing Gemma’s face. And then I pulled my power away.
Gemma let out her last breath and closed her eyes.
She didn’t open them again.
