by Sarra Cannon
“If she manages to take you on as her demon, she’ll be even more powerful than she is now,” he said, running a nervous hand across his face.
“Don’t tell me you’re doubting your abilities now?” I asked.
He laughed. “No. Just trying to figure out a course of action,” he said. “When are you planning to offer this trade to her? And what does your witch think of this? I can’t imagine she’s too happy about it.”
I swallowed. “I’m not going to tell her,” I said. “I’d like to take a day or two to spend some time with her before I die, but she doesn’t have much time left, either. I plan to go to the Mother Crow tomorrow night with my offer.”
“And if she doesn’t bite?”
“She will,” I said. “She’s wants this above all things. She’ll say yes.”
“Why not just kill her yourself when she lets Franki go?” he asked.
“She’s too smart for that. She’ll have me bound before she ever agrees to release Franki.”
“Damn, Rend, this is some real shit you’ve gotten yourself into here,” he said quietly.
I laughed, but there was no joy in the sound. Only resolution. “You’re telling me,” I said. “So, you’ll do it?”
“Of course, I’ll do it,” he said. “But I swear to you, if this turns out to be some trick, and you’re planning to double-cross me in some way, I will kill you, Rend. And then I’ll kill everyone you know, as slowly and painfully as I can.”
“It’s not a trick, Dagon,” I said. “I wish it didn’t have to come to this, but it’s the only way I can be sure Franki and my friends come out of this alive. But you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone else. If the Council finds out—”
“They won’t find out because of me,” he said.
The Dagger of Truth was still pressed against my side in its sheath. Dagon wouldn’t be able to lie with it here, so I had no choice but to trust him now.
“By now, they know I’ve figured out the location of the village. They’ll do what they can to keep us from winning this challenge,” I said. “Leave here tonight. Hide somewhere safe. Somewhere the Council can’t find you.”
He nodded, running a nervous hand through his hair.
“I’ll contact you by nightfall tomorrow,” I said, handing him a ruby communication stone.
“What’s this?”
“Consider it a mystical cell phone,” I said. “If it lights up, just wave your hand over the top and we’ll be able to speak to each other. Keep it with you at all times. I’ll let you know if the plan changes. Otherwise, you’ll hear from me tomorrow.”
He nodded and placed the stone in the pocket of his jeans.
Dagon walked me to the door without a goodbye. I made my way to a dark alley, shifted into demon smoke, and flew back toward home.
I just had one more stop to make before I got there.
The Last Time
Rend
I used the Paris entrance to Venom and walked inside just as the doors were officially opening for the night.
Marco and Azure stood behind the bar, but they shared a glance when I appeared.
There weren’t too many people here yet, which was good for me. I didn’t feel like socializing tonight.
“What are you doing here?” Azure asked. “I thought you’d be home with Franki.”
“I had to make a trip to see someone first,” I said. “Have you seen Mary Anne at all?”
“Not since earlier today,” she said. “When she was here with the other crows. Why?”
“She’s supposed to meet me here tonight,” I said, taking a quick glance around the room to be sure she wasn't around.
When I didn’t see her, I went behind the bar, opened the wooden box on the wall with the key I always kept on me, and mixed up one of my favorite potions. This one was just for me, and it helped me calm my nerves when things got particularly stressful.
I hadn’t needed it as much since Franki came into my life, but tonight was an exception.
I stood behind the glass-topped bar, staring out at all the lights and the people who walked through. I studied my employees and really thought for a long moment about what I had managed to build here.
What Azure and I had built together.
It had been crazy to try to build a place that was safe from the Order and the Brotherhood. A place where enemies could meet to try to negotiate better deals, rather than fighting to the death or causing more bloodshed among their kind.
A place where fae, vampires, and witches could gather to celebrate without ever having to worry about being attacked.
Here, everyone was free.
It was the thing I hoped most for in the world before I knew how great love could be, and looking out at my club, I couldn’t believe this would be the last time I ever stepped foot in here.
I wanted to believe that things could be different. That Dagon would get to the Mother Crow before she had a chance to cast the spell that would bind me to her forever. But I knew his best chance of killing her was while she was distracted. When her full focus was on casting the spell, she’d be more vulnerable. And by then, it would be too late for me.
Marco excused himself, and Azure leaned against the bar, her arm touching mine.
“How are you holding up?” she asked.
I downed the drink I’d made and poured a second one.
“That good, huh?” she asked with a laugh. “The nights you needed two were never good nights.”
“We really did a good thing here, didn’t we?” I asked, nodding toward the dance floor. “We made a difference.”
She scanned the room. “Yeah, we did,” she said. “Venom turned out to be the sanctuary we always hoped it could be.”
“If I don’t survive this, I need you to promise me you’ll keep this place going,” I said, turning to look into her eyes. “No matter what.”
She swallowed, tears forming in her eyes. She tried to laugh them off as she looked away. “You’re crazy,” she said. “You’re going to survive. Nothing would be the same without you. We’ll figure out a way, Rend. We always do.”
I stared down at my empty glass, the potion not doing much tonight to help me feel better.
“Not this time, Azure,” I said softly. “I’ve run it every way I can think of. There’s no way we all get out of this alive.”
She fully turned to me, studying my face.
“What are you planning to do, Rend?” she asked.
“What I have to do,” I said. “I always knew that someday my sins would come back to haunt me. Someday, I would have to pay for the things I’ve done, and I guess this is how it happens. An impossible choice. A sacrifice that truly means something.”
A tear slid down her cheek, but she swiped it away and refused to let another fall.
“I don’t know that I’m strong enough to do this without you,” she said, her voice a whisper against the music that flooded the club.
“You are stronger than you think you are,” I said.
I pulled her into a tight hug and felt her tears soak into my shirt as I held her.
“There has to be another way,” she said. “We can think of something. We can fight.”
“I’ve been fighting for over a century,” I said. “And if I thought I could win this with a fight, I would go in with everything I have. But this time it’s different.”
She pulled away and dried her tears.
“I’m not giving up hope,” she said. “But if you don’t come back, I promise I’ll keep Venom going. I won’t let this piece of you die. Not ever.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking her hand. “Thank you for everything. I do love you, you know.”
“I know,” she said, a smile touching her lips.
She glanced over toward the door and nodded.
“Mary Anne,” she said. “I’ll leave you guys to chat.”
Azure walked to the other end of the bar to take a few orders, and I motioned for Mary Anne to join me behind the black
curtain so we could talk in private. Her boyfriend, Essex, stayed back in the bar area to wait for her.
“Did you get it?” I asked.
Her blue eyes searched mine. “Are you sure this is the only way?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “But we’re running out of time, and I can’t think of anything else that’s got a better chance of working. Can you?”
She slowly shook her head. “We talked about it for hours,” she said. “We could have an army surround the village. Try to force her hand, but I don’t think that kind of tactic is going to work with the Mother Crow. When her mind is set on revenge, she’ll see it through. But if you want us there, you know we’ll be there to help however we can.”
“I’ve thought about it,” I said. “But I think having you and Harper there will only make her angrier. More determined to see us fail. I don’t think she’ll ever release Franki if she feels she’s being threatened. She’ll just fight harder.”
“I hate to say I agree with you,” she said. “But I do.”
Her hands were stuffed into a black hoodie, and as she pulled one hand out, it held a small square of paper folded over several times. She turned it around in her fingers for a moment.
“I wish I could, but I don’t see another way out of this, Rend. Not one where Franki survives it,” she said. “Are you going to tell her what you’re planning to do?”
“I can’t,” I said. “She’ll never agree to it. As it is, she’s going to spend a lifetime feeling that this was her fault, but at least she’ll be alive. That’s all that matters to me right now.”
“Harper agreed to let me write down this spell,” she said. “It’s not going to allow the Mother Crow to open her own gate, but it will still work to bind your soul to her. She won’t be able to pull other demons through, but she’ll be able to control your power just the same. You just won’t be connected to a gate or to the Order of Shadows the way the other demons are.”
“But the spell itself will work?” I asked. “Even without a gate?”
“Yes. It details exactly how to trap a demon’s soul inside the body of a witch,” she said. “It was the first way the priestesses themselves were created before the gates were fully active. Back then, they were just portals, really. Or at least that’s how we understand it. There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding how the magic works or how they discovered it, but yes, the spell should do what you need it to do.”
“Thank you for this,” I said.
“Harper said to ask you why we can’t just let the Mother Crow live. We saved Aerden and so many others. We can reverse this spell, Rend. We can save you, too. It might take some time, but we can figure it out,” she said.
“Because if the Mother Crow lives, the Council wins,” I said. “They’ll send Dagon to the dungeons for failing to complete his task, and they’ll appoint someone new. Someone who will vote against the brothers who helped me kill the Devil. I can’t sacrifice them just to save myself. I won’t add those sins to my list. If we had more time, it might be possible, but we don’t have that luxury. Not anymore.”
“Just know that if he fails, we’ll do everything we can to save you. I promise you that,” she said. “Harper wanted to come herself to try to talk you out of this. She and Jackson both owe you their lives after what you did for them. She would have come, but—”
“It’s okay,” I said. “She has an entire kingdom to protect, and I know their situation is difficult right now with the ruby priestess and everything that’s going on. I wish I had the words to say to her after all we’ve been through together. Just tell her I’m sorry. I wish I could be there at the end of this war when the Order of Shadows is defeated for good. I would have liked to have been there to see that. Just promise me you guys won’t stop until that happens.”
“Never,” she said, smiling up at me. There were tears in her eyes. “You’re a good man, Rend. Well, demon, I mean. I’m honored to have known you and fought at your side.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You, too.”
She threw her arms around me, then said goodbye. I followed her back out to the bar and watched them leave, a hollow feeling in my heart as I thought of the good friends I might never see again.
The war I had wanted to end at their side.
But there was no use mourning it now. Some things were simply unavoidable.
I stopped by the bar on my way out, tapping Marco on the shoulder.
“What’s up, boss?” he asked.
“You know I hate to ask you this, but I’m going to need a favor.”
Unafraid
Franki
I spent the rest of the evening talking to my mother. I showed her around the parts of the house I knew Rend wouldn’t mind her seeing, and then we sat on the steps outside, just talking about how things might have been.
“I have always loved you,” she said. “You have no idea how badly I wanted to break free and look for you, but it took a very long time for my body and power to recover from the pregnancy. After that, I pretended to be weaker than I really was, hoping the Mother Crow would stop seeing me as a threat. That she’d stop seeing me at all, really.”
“Why didn’t you come talk to me after you were free?” I asked.
“I couldn’t find you at first,” she said. “You could have been anywhere in the world. I searched for signs of you, but I never was able to track you down until after the Devil came for you. News of what Rend and the other vampires had done to save you travelled fast in the paranormal community.”
“You still didn’t come for me,” I said, trying to understand. “It’s been months since that happened. We could have had more time together.”
“I’m sorry, Franki,” she said. “You were being watched. I was afraid contacting you might put all of the crows in our small coven in danger. It wasn't an easy decision to make, but I hoped that someday we’d be able to be together freely, without worrying about the Mother Crow. I never expected something like this to happen.”
“Me, either,” I said. “But here we are, I guess.”
I touched Solomon’s stone. His energy vibrated higher here next to my mother, and even though I hadn’t been able to hear his voice the way Silas had, it was still nice to know they were both here with me now.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you,” she said. “I’ve failed in so many ways.”
I took her hand in mine. “We are all just doing the best we can,” I said. “When you’re fighting against evil, there’s no level playing field. They’re willing to do things we can’t. You shouldn’t blame yourself.”
“I do,” she said. “I couldn’t save your father, either. I tried, but I had no power over the Mother Crow. I should have never gone back there. We should have just run away while we had the chance, but we believed I would be safer in the village. We never dreamed the Brotherhood would betray him the way they did.”
“The memory stone,” I whispered.
“What?”
“A woman back at the village told me that when the girls return pregnant, they have to give the Mother Crow proof that they had taken the memories of the man who got them pregnant,” I said. “They were required to put that memory into a stone and give it to the Mother Crow. But Solomon remembered you. How did you fake that?”
My mother smiled. “Easy,” she said. “We simply went back to the place we first met and went through the day as if we were experiencing it for the first time. We had a great time together, careful not to say anything that would give it away that we’d known each other for a while by then. Then, after the day was over, I took that memory away. But I didn’t touch the original memories. Those were ours to keep forever, hidden from the Mother Crow.”
I laughed. “I wonder how many women have done something similar.”
“Not too many, I think,” she said, her smile turning to sadness. “I think most women are glad the men forget. They either felt no connection to them at all, or they felt guilty for having one in the first p
lace. A lot of the girls who came back actually used the memory stones on themselves, too. They said it was easier to just forget the whole thing, but I never wanted to forget your father. I loved him so much.”
“He loved you, too,” I said.
The door behind us opened, and Rend stepped out onto the porch. I stood and wrapped my arms around him.
“You’ve been gone all day,” I said. “I was starting to think you were never coming back.”
He laughed. “Yeah, you’re just too much trouble for me. I bailed,” he said.
I elbowed him in the ribs. “You better be joking,” I said.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” he asked, smiling down at me.
I wanted to freeze time right there with him smiling and cracking jokes. My mother standing by my side. I wanted to live my life with the promise of more nights together.
If none of this other stuff had happened, we’d be planning a wedding right now. Looking forward to the future.
But time moved forward, and the smile faded from his lips.
“Where did you go?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” he said, kissing my forehead. “What have you guys been up to here?”
“You know, I’m actually going to head on upstairs and get some rest,” Mom said. “Leave you two lovebirds in peace for a little while.”
“I can set up a room for you—”
“I already took care of it,” I said, interrupting him. “I chose three of the prettiest guest rooms and set them up for Katy, Mary Krista, and Mom. Katy went to bed a few hours ago, which actually surprised me, considering she’s been sleeping for days.”
“Spells like that can wear you out,” Rend said. “She’ll probably feel off for a few weeks before things return to normal.”
“I’m going to head on up,” Mom said. She squeezed my hand. “I love you, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I love you, too,” I said, hugging her goodnight.
“Where’s everyone else?” Rend asked.
