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What stories had they been told? “I wasn’t. Zack was injured early on. I wasn’t part of the army then.”
“Liv, there are tales of how fiercely you fought the day the Council was taken over.”
I hadn’t. “I hid that day.”
“It’s why seeing the vision of you saving Sarah Day made no sense to me. There were multiple people who saw you at Myrddin’s side the night of the slaughter. I wondered how you could save her in the morning and then execute prisoners that night.”
“I couldn’t have done that.” My head was starting to hurt again. “After I saved the Days, they closed the door to their place before I could let them know I was there. I thought about trying to go with them, but I waited too long. So I made my way back to my apartment, hoping Casey would be there. I was in there hiding when I was taken by some higher-up witches and I went straight to the reeduca….to the new safe house.”
Evan’s head shook. “No. You were right the first time. You were taken to a reeducation camp. Liv, what do you remember about it?”
Pain. Fear. Loneliness. “I was turned into a strong witch. They helped me not only get my power back, but I was far stronger than before.”
“Do you remember specific days? How long were you there?”
“Of course I remember days,” I replied. They were right there. Right on the tip of my brain. I’d had roommates. So why couldn’t I remember their names? “I was there for two years.”
There was the headache.
“It’s okay. Don’t think about it, Liv. You know what happened.” Evan was on her feet, looking at me with concern.
“Of course, I do.” I tried to shake the ache off. “Now about your spell. Did you bring me what I need?”
Evan started to unload the packs on her belt. “Eddie said we can use the kitchen if you need a space.”
I bet Eddie would be sitting right there watching over me to ensure I didn’t do something that could harm his precious charges. Still, I would need a mortar and pestle. “While we’re at it, I’ve got a couple of salves I’d like to use to keep Dean’s temp down. Let’s go do this.”
Evan nodded and seemed far more comfortable than she had before. “I was hoping you could teach me.”
I loved to teach. That word sparked such a sweet longing.
I shook it off.
But as I followed Evan, I realized that I didn’t have anything else to do this afternoon. Maybe I would join Casey and the others.
Make myself useful. For the time being.
* * * *
Kelsey
I was anxious, but that was probably a good thing to be when one is invited to the Hell plane version of a dinner party. I paced the big office I’d retreated to. After Lucifer had gone, Gray had been called in on what he’d described as an agricultural emergency, and Tix had shown me to this office where I’d been told I could fret and pace to my heart’s content.
Lucifer knew about Dean, but he couldn’t know what we were planning. Could he?
Pacing wasn’t helping.
Trent was wolfing it up along with Fenrir. Lee was checking on Dean, and Casey was currently slicing open our friend from the night before, and he wasn’t exactly happy about it.
I would have helped him but…the smell. God, the smell. After heaving a couple of times he’d banished me.
Eddie had asked me to stay out of the kitchens because Liv was brewing some kind of salve for Dean, and he wasn’t sure what was in it and if it could affect the baby. So I was stuffed in here with nothing but a pitcher of sweet tea and a single charcuterie board. Which I mostly ate. Okay, I ate all of it, but I did mention the hurling, right? And I hadn’t done breakfast justice because I’d been trying to figure out how to shove a knife in that asshole’s face.
The door opened and Evan strode in, looking more comfortable than she had hours before. “Hey, Kelsey. I heard we were supposed to be meeting to find out what Casey’s discovered. You mind if I bring a friend?”
Liv stood in the doorway, a certain caution in her gaze as she looked my way. “By friend she means prisoner, and a harmless one at that. I’m bored. If I have to stare out over the moonlit garden for another second I’m going to go mad, Kels.”
Goddess, she sounded like the old Liv. I would have sworn that her hair looked lighter, too, but that was probably a trick of my eyes and a longing for my best friend.
