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“The vampires killed all Max’s people.” My heart skips a beat at the sound of his name. I shake my head and step back. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Talia. That you had to go through that loss.” Her hand pushes against the barrier, and I feel it in me as she does it. “Let us in.” I study her for a moment and then drop the barrier. Everyone walks in, and I put it back up when the last of them is through. She steps close to me, and I smile at her, leaning in near her ear.
“It would be best if you didn’t speak his name to me again.”
She looks at me as if I am a stranger standing in front of her and not her sister, and she is partly correct. I’m not the pushover I once was—I’m a new woman, and I enjoy who I have become.
Max may have had a small part in it, and while my sister had a larger part, I still don’t ever want to hear her say his name.
It hurts.
And I prefer not to deal with the pain.
I enjoy living here again, though it’s not the same as it was. The house is different now. It has real food that we didn’t have to go to a market to buy. The witches don’t have to fear for their lives because I plan to protect them, as I have been doing. I always thought we would grow old here, but now I think that will only be me. I plan never to leave this place. It is where I see the rest of my life. And whether my sisters want to be a part of that will be completely up to them. I won’t force them to stay, but I also won’t force them to leave because, at one stage, this was home to all of us.
Tatiana looks around, confused, as the witches gather behind me. They’re all in a stance that speaks volumes of who they are here to protect. Her eyes scan each of them before they land back on me. She wants to say something but bites her tongue, not voicing it. She is probably the second-most powerful witch here—after me, that is—and most of these witches know it.
“Do you think of me as a threat, sister?” she asks.
I smile and lean in to touch her, and John growls. At his reaction, the witches raise a spell into the air.
Tatiana leans back and touches John’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” she assures him before she looks back at me. “You would have them harm me? You would allow it?” she asks.
“No, of course not. I let you in, did I not?”
“You did, but I feel it comes with consequences.” She pauses, a frown marring her features. “Have you spoken to Death?”
“Grim. And no, I have not.”
“You loved him,” she pushes, and I bite my cheek.
“I loved him, yes. And I loved someone else. So what is your point?”
“He may know how to help us.”
Something hits the barrier.
We turn toward the sound, and I see him.
Standing there, looking at me. How easy it would be to walk up to the barrier and reach out and take his hand. A part of me wants to. To let it all down and watch as he walks to me and wraps his arms around my waist, and picks me up as his lips touch mine.
I miss Max.
And even though I know it’s a york standing on the other side of that barrier, it doesn’t mean that my heart rate doesn’t pick up at the mere sight of him. He looks exactly as I remember. Even when he smiles at me, it’s soft, and I know it’s just for me. I want to reach out, but an arm wraps around my waist and pulls me back. When I turn, I see the real Grim standing tall amongst the frozen wolves and witches. He doesn’t smile or even speak.
I raise my hands, and before I know it, they are smacking his chest, hitting him over and over again. He lets me, not bothering to move as I strike him.
I hate him.
I hate that he just left me there to deal with everything.
It’s unfair and simply not right.
“Max told me to tell you something.”
My hands pause at his words. “What?”
“I took Max, little fighter. You would have known that.” He reaches out and wipes away a tear I didn’t know had fallen.
“You saw him?” I ask on a choked breath.
