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Her expression is unimpressed. She eyes me like a teacher would a particularly slow student. I feel small in her presence.
“You idiot boy. I never said the soul has to go back to its original body. Bodies die, but souls live on forever. Anderson doesn’t need his body to come back. His soul is safe in this stone. He can take over anyone and keep doing it for as long as he has a shaman to perform the ritual.”
She points at the glowing green stone, and I growl in frustration. The summer heat gets to my brain and I want to smash the damn thing to bits. My anger is getting the better of me because I start to put the pieces together.
If Anderson sent me his soul, it means he intends to take me over, or perhaps one of my men. Perhaps Hex. I can’t allow him to do that, not as long as I have to power to stop him.
“Can’t we just smash the stone and be done with it?” I ask.
She shakes her head because of course it can’t be that easy. Fucking magic. “The stone is nearly impossible to destroy not to mention how much worst the situation could become if we release him from the stone. It takes the darkest magic to bind the old soul to a new body. He must have a powerful warlock helping him.”
“His old lackey is dead,” I tell her. “Besides, Edward stole all his magic with another stupid-ass magical stone.”
“You think that man didn’t have backups?” she asks with a shudder. “Evil like Anderson Grey doesn’t leave fate up to chance. He surely found someone to perform the ritual, and a body to put his soul in. He probably has multiple bodies lined up. If we’re going to end this, we must find that warlock to destroy the stone.”
“His soul isn’t in the stone,” a voice calls from the doorway. We look up to see Tory standing there.
Seer stands behind her, concerned but hopeful. Tory walks out onto the porch slowly and sits down gingerly next to Mama. Mama takes her hand and squeezes it tightly. For just having risen from a coma, Tory seems surprisingly refreshed.
“I knew you’d win,” Mama whispers. Seer and I share a confused look.
Tory looks between us, an apprehensive frown on her face. She glances at Mama, who nods.
“I’m sure you both have questions.”
As if that’s not fucking obvious.
“Mon couer, you should probably sit down for this.”
Seer does as she says, completely pussy whipped. I won’t give him shit for it. She’s awake and out of bed, which is better than she’s been for the last few days. But she still looks like a strong breeze might bowl her over. Seer is beyond susceptible to any request she has right now.
Tory draws a deep breath and pats her knees, preparing herself for whatever she has to tell us. “I’ve been in the spirit world,” she finally says, and I hear Seer’s sharp intake of breath.
“You weren’t supposed to do any more rituals,” Seer says, looking furious. “Graveyard said it could kill you!”
She watches him carefully, her hand rubbing her stomach. I glance at Seer, who’s seething. He may do anything for his wife, but he also has the capacity to be angry with her. I know how much he wants to have this baby with her.
“I promise you, Nicholas, I didn’t do a ritual to get there,” she tells him. “I was dragged there by Anderson Grey. He knows I have the power to stop him, and he wanted to get to me before I got to him.”
Now Seer’s the one looking like he might get blown over. I feel the same. Anderson was to blame for this, but I didn’t think he’d go after Tory. He’s been trying to take us out one by one, but for what purpose?
“He’s been trying to drain my life force for weeks, but he couldn’t have known I was pregnant.” She looks at Seer with admiration. “Our little baby’s soul is so pure, he couldn’t get to me until I was too weak to defend myself.”
“Shit,” I whisper.
Seer looks from Tory’s face to her stomach, pure love radiating off him. “And our baby?” he asks, terrified. “Is it…”
“He’s fine. Thanks to Mama, we both are,” she says, giving Mama an appreciative smile. “It wasn’t the rituals that hurt me, Nicholas, it was Anderson. But I fought him in the spirit world, and I won.”
Her face is triumphant, pride and joy emanating from her. Of course she won, the scrappy little witch. I can’t help but feel grateful. But I have so many questions.
“So Anderson is in the spirit world wreaking havoc,” I clarify. “He has a foot in the physical world apparently, because he’s been fucking with us. What is the point of this fucking stone? What does he need it for?”
“It had to hold his soul before his death,” she responds. “He probably had it transferred shortly before his body was murdered. He must have known it was coming.”
“Like I said,” Mama interjects. “The man isn’t leaving his fate to chance.”
Tory nods and takes the vase from me. “Now he needs the stone to trap the soul of whoever he possesses. If he doesn’t trap their soul, it will spend eternity trying to fight him.”
