AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shrugged. “Perhaps she used a different kind of magic.”
“She did,” Daeva said, placing her hand on her belly. “A mother’s love.”
Phoenix swallowed at that, her gaze drawn to her sister’s hand as it rested protectively on what she now realized was the start of a demon wolf cub. She placed her hand on her sister’s.
“When we met with the beast,” Daeva continued, “Jezebeth asked him how to save you, and he told her it would take a sacrifice only a mother could make.”
“She knew when she went into his lair she would give her soul for yours,” Cadmus said as he gave Phoenix a grim look.
His words hit her like a punch to the gut. Her mother knew she would have to sacrifice her soul for her daughter. She knew, and she still went.
Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a sob. “I treated her so badly for so many years, and she sacrificed her soul for me.” She fell against Cadmus, crying uncontrollably.
“She did,” Daeva soothed while rubbing her back, “but she also sacrificed her soul for herself. Eilea performed a protection spell over her. Now she gets to be reborn. All her sins will be erased.”
Phoenix sat up, blinking at her sister as her mother’s words replayed in her mind.Don’t cry for me, child. My sins are cleansed.
She took a tissue from Damon, wiping her eyes and nose. “You’re right,” she said through a watery voice. “But when will she be reborn? Will I see her again?”
Daeva nodded. “It could take a thousand years, but she will find her way back to where she belongs, just like we found our way back to our mates.”
She thanked Daeva, feeling a weight lift off her chest. She prayed Daeva was right, that her mother’s soul would one day be reborn. They toasted Jezebeth once more, and then Daeva and her mates excused themselves and went to bed. She could tell by the circles under her sister’s eyes that she needed rest.
Now came the awkward part—where to sleep. The room the servants brought her to earlier seemed too small to share with four big demon wolves. She didn’t have to ask where to go, though, because Cadmus and Drakkon took her hands, and they followed Helius and Damon, who wordlessly led them toward a set of back stairs.
Her stomach did backflips, for even though they said they wouldn’t pressure her, she was still filled with a mixture of apprehension, curiosity, and even desire. But even if she wanted to sleep with them, that didn’t mean she should. Her heart was too heavy, her brain too muddled. At the moment, the only thing she wanted to do was lie down in their arms and let them soothe her to sleep. She hoped she wouldn’t disappoint them.
* * *
DRAKKON MENTALLY KICKEDhimself in the ass, feeling like ten kinds of dragonshit for suggesting Bennu...no, Phoenix, have sex with them on the same day her mother perished. What kind of a brute was he? Had that zombie curse done permanent brain damage? He couldn’t help it, though. After what they’d been through, he wanted nothing more than to be inside her, holding her close to his chest and never letting her go.
They stopped at the foot of the stairs to say goodnight to their mother, who kissed each of her sons on the cheek. She missed her other family. He could see the sadness in her eyes, the turn of her mouth. When he asked her if she was okay, she dismissed him with a wave, but there was no mistaking the distant look in her eyes.
Once they reached their suite of rooms, he walked straight for the bar, pouring himself something stronger than champagne.
“How do we cheer our mother?” Drakkon asked his brothers.
Clouds darkened Horatiu’s eyes as he poured himself a drink, too. “Tomorrow we must return to the second dimension and start our search.”
“I’m going with you,” Phoenix said as she wrapped her arms around herself.
A lead stone fell to the pit of Drakkon’s stomach as he and all three of his brothers simultaneously said, “No.”
She gave them a defiant look, but Drakkon and his brothers knew better than to argue with their mate, because they always lost. He had a sinking feeling she’d get her way come morning.
He shared a knowing look with his brothers.
Our mother may need another witch’s help,Helius said through thought.
He growled at his brother but said nothing else as he sat in a chair by the hearth, staring into his glass. Helius and Damon joined him, but when Cadmus carried Phoenix to a chair, pulling her into his lap, Drakkon felt a stab of jealousy. He didn’t smell virgin blood, which meant Cadmus or Damon, or both, had already bedded her. Drakkon didn’t fault them for it. No doubt it was to keep her safe from Gorgo.
A dark pall settled about the room as they drank in silence. Tonight was their last night in peace, and then another hellish quest.
Phoenix shot up like she’d been electrified, and she opened up her fist, revealing a solitary black claw. “I keep thinking about something my sister said.”
Cadmus rubbed her shoulder. “What?”
“How my mother’s soul will find her way back to where she belongs.” She held up the claw. “This was Amarok’s claw. He was the first Amaroki wolf. The goddess gave it to us, but I think we need to give it back.”
