by Angie Fox
I stalked down the hall and up the stairs, my mind tumbling over itself. Looking back, there had been a reason why I’d felt compelled to grab the grave dirt. Sometimes, I just knew. Hadn’t the necklace clung to it? It had actively fought me when I’d tried to take my only connection to the ghost and dump it out over the ocean. It was still protecting me.
If I’d been thinking that way, I would have realized something was up when Pirate hadn’t been able to see the dead bride. Pirate loved ghosts. He played with them. But we weren’t dealing with a soul who was free to strike up a game of Parcheesi. The woman was trapped, and Pirate had lacked the connection to the locket, and the grave dirt inside.
I touched my fingers to my bare throat. It was no mistake the specter hadn’t appeared since I’d given up the pendant. At the time, I’d been worried about hurting Dimitri by breaking our bond. Now, I could see it was a lot worse than that.
Twisting the doorknob to my room, I said a quick prayer, made my way over to the dresser. I opened the drawer and gasped.
There was an empty place where the necklace should have been.
Yes, I’d feared it, maybe I should have expected it, but it stunned me to the core. The emerald was pledged to me. Mine. I couldn’t even throw it off a fricking cliff. It was wholly and totally bound to me.
Unless Dimitri was compromised.
He was the only one I knew who could touch it like I could.
By all that was holy, if he had taken it, I didn’t know what I’d do.
It was clear someone had been in my dresser. My underthings had been neatly folded. As always. Now they were scattered as if they’d been caught in a storm. Bottoms mixed with bras and slips and, oh hell.
I dug through the mess, hoping, praying it was still there. I tossed panties, socks, everything out onto the floor.
There was no good way for the search to end. I’d felt it deep down in my gut.
The necklace was gone.
“Fuck!” I slammed my hand down on the dresser, staring down at the empty drawer.
Dimitri’s door opened. “What’s the matter?” he asked, no doubt startled by my outburst. Oh, no. I wasn’t ready to face him yet.
He wore a blue t-shirt and jeans. His hair was mussed from sleep, and it was clear he still felt the effects of the earlier battle downstairs. A half-dozen witches crowded the hall as well.
There was no hiding my discovery. I tossed a stray bra off the dresser. “Someone stole my emerald,” I said, still trying to wrap my head around it.
Dimitri flinched. “That’s impossible.”
He knew better than to say things like that.
He advanced on me as soon as he’d recovered from his surprise. “I can’t believe you took it off.”
Yeah, he was hurt. I would have been, too. But dammit. “Stay back.” I moved to the other side of the open drawer. “I mean it.” He didn’t look possessed. His eyes were deep green, his voice clear. But it was the easiest explanation for my missing emerald. I needed time to think.
He kept coming. A purple bruise had formed at his collarbone. His face was raw from where the curses had streaked across his skin. His mouth was tight. “What the hell is wrong?”
Hades.
If he knew what I’d seen in the Cave of Visions, would he attack?
Oh my God. I loved him. I needed him. I couldn’t put a switch star through his heart simply because he was possessed.
Grandma moved in right behind him. “Tell us what happened,” she said, grim, as if she were afraid of the answer. She tried to move in on the side of me, but Dimitri blocked her. “We have a right to know what’s going on,” she added.
“I can’t.” I bit back.
Even if I wanted to show my cards to my potentially possessed fiancé, it would still be hard to accurately describe what kind of shit we were in.
And I’d burned through my one big idea: Grab the necklace. Use the grave dirt and the ghost to power down the marks.
Now, I had nothing.
I was on my own.
And Zatar was coming.
Grandma’s mouth set in a hard line. “I told you we shouldn’t have let you go into the Cave of Visions.”
“You what?” Dimitri roared.
“It was a last minute thing,” I said quickly, retreating to the window. Hell. “You should be more upset about the necklace anyway.”
If he was in his right mind.
His eyes narrowed. “We’ll make a list,” he said, still blocking Grandma. “What kind of trouble are we in?”
“It’s complicated,” I said. And getting worse all the time.
Ant Eater and Creely joined the crowd behind Grandma.
My hand drifted to my switch stars. No. There had to be a better way.
If I could only see him clearly, if I knew he was on my side, then I’d have something to go on. A partner I could trust. But I couldn’t let down my guard for anyone, not even Dimitri. Rachmort had warned me of this very thing.
Another unpleasant thought intruded. There was a way to see inside him. If I was willing to bet my life he wasn’t compromised.
Truth be told, it wasn’t even up for debate at that point. For Dimitri, I’d do it.
“New plan,” I said to the assembled biker witches. “I need everybody to leave Dimitri and me by ourselves in here.”
Grandma balked. “Because leaving you alone has worked out so well for us.”
Dimitri glared at the witches. “I can remove every last one of you if I want.”
They grumbled, but they retreated. Score one for Dimitri. He’d tamed the biker witches. For the time being.
Now I was alone with my potentially possessed fiancé.
He didn’t look too happy about it, either. “How the hell did the emerald even leave your body?”
It hurt to say it. “I had to renounce our bond in order to get the emerald off.”
He brought a hand up, running it through his hair until it stood up in spiky clumps. A lesser man would have questioned my devotion, but not Dimitri.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I said quickly. “I was afraid of it.” I’d leave the part out about trying to toss it. At least for now. “I kept it safe upstairs. You didn’t even notice I’d taken it off.”
He frowned at that.
It was a difficult thing to explain, but, “I’m trying to save your life, maybe even your soul. And mine.” And everyone else’s.
His hand dropped. “Wait. Back up. Are you protecting me or are you afraid I won’t understand what you’re facing?” His expression tightened. “Either way, you’re pissing me off. Now, calm down and start from the beginning.”
I couldn’t. Not unless I knew who was with me. “You have to trust me. I have to trust you.” I reached out, taking his hands in mine. He was hard with tension. Rawness burned in his expression, shaking me to the core. “It’s the only way.” My hands trembled, and my mouth was dry. “I need to see inside you.”
He watched me for a long, slow moment. “Lizzie, you’re not making any sense.”
I snorted, out of pure desperation, or maybe I didn’t know what else to do. “Trust me,” I told him.
When it came right down to it, I was more in tune with Dimitri than I was with anyone in heaven or on Earth. He was the most important person in my life.
He had a sliver of me inside of him. I was in his soul.
We were connected, ever since I’d saved his life by giving him a part of my demon slayer essence. Now that I had my instincts back, my power, I’d use that bond to look into his heart and soul. If he’d let me.
“Please,” I said. I understood his hesitation. Truth be told, I didn’t want to see every deep dark corner of his soul any more than I wanted him to see mine. There are some things we should be allowed to keep separate and whole, even from those we love. Now, we had to strip that away and lay us both bare. He’d see my insecurities, my failings, and I’d see if he had any doubt whether or not I was the one he truly wanted for the rest of h
is life.
Yes, the fight ahead would be brutal. Now, at least, we had what we needed right here.
His eyes shone with frustration, fear, hurt, and love.
“You know I trust you,” he said quietly. “With my life.”
He gave himself over to me, his emotions naked, his spirit willing. He didn’t ask for any other explanation. At that moment, if it was even possible, I loved him more.
I clutched his hands, at the same time, opening up my demon slayer senses. It was all or nothing. If he were possessed, it would enter me as well.
For better or for worse…
I embraced our connection and his true intentions washed over me.
His heart beat raw against his chest. The evil water nymph had escaped. He cursed under his breath, and it came out as a lion’s snarl. It had attacked the demon slayer. Its orders were to kill.
Lizzie Brown is mine.
The demon slayer stood in the clearing, her hair damp, her breaths coming hard. She watched him warily, but she didn’t back down to a griffin.
Impressive.
She looked so small, so vulnerable, but there was steel underneath. He’d followed her for weeks, but he’d never been this close. And now, as her gaze locked with his, he felt something in him shift.
He wanted to say it was how she’d fought. She was brave. But, no, it was more than that. She inspired loyalty.
The biker witch beside her didn’t work well with others. Not since her own daughter had betrayed her. Yet the witch believed in this slayer. Trusted her.
Then there was the annoying little dog. It had bit him without the least bit of provocation. The foul creature had even seemed to enjoy it. Yet it had been willing to die for her.
Who was she to inspire such loyalty?
He’d been playing griffin politics for so long, trying to put together a team to save his sisters, he’d forgotten what it was like to find someone who was so completely genuine, so refreshingly open, even if she wasn’t completely aware yet of what she could become.
It was almost a shame to lie to her.
He jerked, then pressed harder against me. These were his memories, not mine. I had no right to them. But I needed to see inside him. I needed to know.
His palms burned and his head felt ready to explode. But she wasn’t there yet.
“Try it again, Lizzie.” He handed her another switch star, schooling his expression as it singed his fingers.
Her mouth quirked. “You realize I just decapitated the Shoney’s Big Boy.”
“He was asking for it.” A grin tickling his lips, despite the pain, despite everything. She made him feel, in a way he’d never allowed himself. “Let’s try again.”
She threw, coming closer to the target this time, even though she sighed in frustration.
He reached for another star. Every touch took a year off his life. But damn fool that he was, he knew she was worth it. It wasn’t only about his sisters anymore. It was about helping her reach her true potential, even if that meant she would leave him.
“Dimitri,” I whispered. He had his eyes closed, as if it could shield him from me knowing. There was nothing so personal as being inside a person’s mind. But in his case, it was beautiful.
He held a wedding ring. It was a wrap-style, made to fit around her diamond solitaire engagement ring. The jagged aquamarine-colored stones glinted in the afternoon sun. They were the most rare and precious things he could give her.
They weren’t cut by a jeweler, or bought in a store. These were pieces of skye stone, one of the last things he had left of his original clan. They had belonged to his mother and radiated a quiet beauty.
He would give this to her on their wedding day.
It was tradition to have the stones blessed by the head of each of the oldest clans. He’d made it to five of the kingdoms already. He was tired, but happy.
He smiled to himself. She had been asking where he was going, had been a little impatient even. But it would be worth it when she saw. Perhaps she’d be so busy when they met with her mother, she may not even notice him gone.
These stones not only expressed his love for her, but they could absorb it and give it back to her, even when he wasn’t there to tell her how much she meant to him.
He’d go to the ends of the earth to make her feel that way.
My breath caught in my throat when I felt the true depth of his love for me. It filled me, drew from my strength and gave it back a thousand fold. He needed me, like no one ever had before. He wasn’t corrupted by a demon. Dimitri was with me, body and soul.
Tears stung my eyes as I slowly came back to myself. “It’s not you,” I said. The words themselves sounded beautiful.
He looked at me with such love it undid me completely. “You did discover my surprise.”
“I love it,” I said. I couldn’t believe he’d go to the ends of the earth for me.
“You’re worth all that and more.” He tugged me into his arms and kissed me. I gave myself over to him as his arms wrapped around me, safe, like they always did.
Grandma banged on the door. “Are you done in there? Whatever you’re doing, this isn’t the time. We’ve got to talk about what happened in the Cave of Visions.”
I understood her frustration, I really did. But, now wasn’t the time. I pulled back, gazed up at him, his bottom lip damp from my kiss. “I need to talk to you. Somewhere where we won’t be disturbed.”
“All right.” He twined his fingers in mine. The biker witches started beating on the door. “This should be fun.”
My room was certainly out, as was his.
We opened the door on a gaggle of witches shouting questions. It was like the paranormal paparazzi, with Dimitri as my hunky bodyguard.
He pulled me close and cut through them like I never could.
“How’d you do that?” I asked, as we cleared them.
“Extreme focus.”
We headed down the stairs, with Grandma and the gang close behind. I didn’t know how we were going to shake them.
We were almost to the foyer when the doorbell rang. I didn’t know who that could be, considering it was at least eleven o’clock.
My mom rushed from the sitting room to answer.
“What are you—” I managed to utter, before she gave a half-apologetic glance and opened the door to the VanWillens and the Rodgersons, two of her country club couples.
She did not look surprised enough. I wanted to scream. I’d told her no more guests.
The Gucci couples gave exaggerated hugs and sighs and talked about late flights and rude taxi drivers.
I broke away and found Rachmort as he came in from the sitting room.
“They have to go,” I told him.
My mentor shook his head. “It’s too late. They’re a part of it now.”
Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick. Everyone was in danger, and I didn’t have the one thing I needed that could stop this.
“Keep moving,” Dimitri said under his breath, as he drew me straight for the mini-society gathering in the front hall.
I glanced over my shoulder at Grandma. “You follow, and you’re out of the loop,” I said under my breath.
She looked like she wanted to thwack me over the head with a Truth spell, but she didn’t.
Dimitri tensed as we approached the VanWillens.
I put on my best grin. “Hi! So glad you could make it! We ran out of ice. Be back in a jif!”
His grip on me eased as the fight drained out of him. “I don’t know what’s more frightening,” Dimitri said once we’d made it out into the cool night, “the idea of you in the Cave of Visions or what I just saw.”
A glimpse of society Lizzie. “Yes, well you’re stuck with me now.”
“We’re not married yet,” he mused, as we headed down the steps.
“No.” I squeezed his hand. “But you love me.”
We let the darkness envelop us as we drew farther and farther toward the front of the house, away from the marks
, to where the trees stood tall along the drive. The moon hung low, and the sound of insects and frogs pierced the night.
“Is there any particular place you’re taking me?” I asked, fighting to keep up with him.
“Away,” he said, as we passed the first gargoyle.
Yes, well, I couldn’t wait. Moonlight played of his strong features. He was so determined, brave. Beautiful. If I needed anyone on my side—for this and in life—it was Dimitri.
I glanced at the darkened path behind him to make sure we were alone, and then the truth poured out of me like water. I explained to him about the three marks, and how the soul of the murdered bride was powering them. I told him about the necklace, and how the grave dirt inside it had been dampening my demon slayer radar. That someone close to us was possessed. At last, I told him what I’d seen in the Cave of Visions, how the most powerful demon I’d ever encountered was powering up to take me on, to hurt everyone I’d ever loved. To kill me.
He didn’t hug me, or tell me that everything was going to be all right. Dimitri respected me too much to lie. Instead, he walked beside me, his powerful body alert, no doubt trying think of some detail, some way out that I’d missed.
“You could tell when your uncle was under the influence of a demon,” he said, thinking as he spoke, “you said his eyes looked red.”
“Believe me, I’ve been looking for signs.” And I certainly would have noticed that. “The only reason I could see through to you, to know you’re okay, was because of our bond.” And only after I was able to get my demon slayer senses back. “Our connection, what we have, is one of the only things in my life that always comes through.”
If my declaration had touched him, he didn’t show it. Dimitri was either hearts and flowers or all business. Right now he was trying to figure a way out of this. He stood still, working it through, then his intense brown eyes locked on mine. “Maybe you need more power.”
I snorted. “Thanks.” I was already doing everything I could.
He shook me off. “Listen to where I’m going.” He took a step closer. “When we get married tomorrow—”
I met his calm stare. “If we survive that long.”
“—I’ll be giving you a part of my power.”
I knew that. It was how the magical world worked. But griffin power was all about family ties and protection, not demon slaying.
