43. Epilogue

Icreptbackup the stairs, counting to be sure I missed the creaky ones. The Lovell mansion might be hundreds of years old, but nothing here ever showed signs of disrepair. The stairs only creaked so my parents could know when me or Oleander came downstairs. They were spelled. But I had long ago learned how to read the magic.

My parents liked to brag about how I was going to be the strongest Lovell in an age. But they still underestimated me. I suppose they assumed I was just a stupid kid. But maybe they just had more important things to worry about than their daughter at the moment. Since we were all about to die.

My stomach was in a twisted knot as I made my way back upstairs toward my room. I glanced into Oleander"s bedroom as I passed. My six-year-old sister was sprawled out in a tangle of stuffed creatures and frilly pink, sleeping the way only the truly innocent could. I was only fifteen myself. I should still sleep like that. But I was pretty sure I"d never sleep again after what I"d just overheard.

I knew my family wasn"t filled with good people. Lovells were smart, cunning, crafty, and gifted with incredibly strong magic. We were known for inventing spells and new magics that others couldn"t dream of. But I had never once seen anyone use those spells and magics for good.

My parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles always told me what a bright girl I was. How my magic was going to do my family proud. When I was twelve years old, my parents finally allowed me to participate in a family ritual. I was so excited. I had been training my magic for years, doing my best to exceed the expectations of my tutors—all in an attempt to get my parents to finally look my way, to forget whatever grand scheme they were embroiled in at the time and truly see me. It had worked, or so I thought. I got their attention. Finally, they thought I was grown up enough to do real magic with the family coven.

I had worn my best black dress, embroidered with blue pentagrams. I had the maid put my hair up in an adult-looking twist secured with great aunt Nightshade"s best werewolf bone comb to enhance my power. I looked in the mirror and thought how much I looked like my beautiful, elegant mother when she was getting ready for one of her gatherings.

But the horror of that night washed away every bit of that pride. I entered the family workroom a little girl eager to please her parents. I left unconscious, drained of my power by my family as they all pulled together to bleed a vampire dry so they could use its blood for spell components.

Silly me. In all my lessons, I never thought to ask where the spell ingredients came from. I just naively assumed that some ally paranormals had offered up bits of themselves and their magics to the all-powerful Lovell witches. And I had stupidly thought my parents were proud of me for being such a good witch, when really all they wanted was another powerful coven member—someone to use for their rituals and spells.

By the time I was thirteen, they had forced me to help with nearly a dozen "special projects." I had tried to refuse at first, but I quickly learned that no one said no to my mother if they wanted to continue to live—not even her children. By then I had taken to practicing my magic in secret, away from the prying eyes of my tutors and family. I would steal away to a little glade deep in the forest near the remnants of a long-forgotten shrine. There I would work myself to exhaustion learning everything I could from whichever spell book I had managed to liberate from my family that day.

Making myself stronger gave them more power to steal from me. But it was also the only way I could see to ever be free of the monsters who called themselves my family.

When I was fourteen, I managed to summon a powerful elemental—a burly, blue-skinned jinn who answered the summons looking to bargain with an unsuspecting witch. I wanted his power, he wanted to amuse himself at the expense of a stupid witch—we both ended up with an unexpected friend.

That same year, my family started a war.

And now, here I was, fifteen years old and my time had just run out. I wasn"t legally old enough to live on my own. And my magic wasn"t strong enough to defy my family. But it seemed we were all going to die together for their evil deeds.

The thing is, when you start a war, there"s always a chance you will lose. It started with little snippets of overheard conversations. The fae were being uncooperative. The centaurs were too stubborn for their own good. And how soon they would all bow down to witch kind. There had been moments of ecstatic euphoria, when my mother and father were overflowing with smiles and smug satisfaction as the newspapers told of the sudden eradication of rival witch families or dangerous paranormals. But gradually, over the last six months or so, there had been less smiles and more sharp words, more whispered arguments when they thought they were alone. The newspaper told of witch families being arrested for attacks on other magical beings. And how the authorities had sworn to root out the origin of this elitist rebellion against everything moral in our world.

I didn"t understand everything that went on. All I knew was my family was horrible. They wanted to be the most powerful witches in the world. And they didn"t care what they had to do, who they had to betray, use, torture, or murder to get there. They thought witches were the superior race, and all others were nothing more than animals. Tonight I had crept downstairs to listen in on the adults" coven meeting. And I overheard one of my uncles—who always gave me the creeps in a way I didn"t want to examine—talking about "going to ground." They knew, he said. The government was planning to come and arrest the entire family and anyone close to them.

"Let them try," my mother had said in that cold, haughty voice of hers. "Let them see how powerful we really are and how many of the noblest families stand with us. With our power and our allies, what can they do?"

But I knew. Something deep inside me knew we were all dead.

I slipped into my room and quietly closed the door. I couldn"t feel bad for my family. They deserved this. I wanted them to be stopped. I wanted the world to realize what kinds of things they did behind closed doors and out of sight of people with morals. But I also didn"t want to die.

Taking my spelled mirror out from between my mattress and box spring, I sank to the floor and called to my magic. My parents wouldn"t notice me using this little bit of power, not when they were still shouting at the rest of the coven. "Junaid," I whispered. "Can you hear me?"

The mirror"s surface rippled, and the image of my best friend"s smiling blue face appeared. "Little witch," he said fondly. "Isn"t it a bit late for you to want to chat?"

Then his smile slowly morphed into a frown as he probably saw the despair in my own expression. "What is it? Do you need to cancel our outing tomorrow?"

I shook my head. "No. It"s happening, Junaid. Like we always said it would. The government is coming for us. I might be in a cell somewhere tomorrow, for all I know. I just…I don"t know what to do. And Oleander. She"s just a baby, Junaid. What will they do with her?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Don"t give up hope, little witch. As you say, we knew this was going to happen one day." He sighed. "Maybe even hoped for it, for the sake of my paranormal brethren. I"m coming for you tonight. But I need you to do something for me. It will be dangerous, but I know you can manage it, little witch. You"re more cunning than all your family combined."

His words bolstered my spirits a tiny bit. Junaid had a plan. He was older, wiser, and more magical than me. Surely everything would be okay. "I"ll do whatever I need to," I promised him.

He nodded. "There is a special grimoire your family values above all others. One they use to draw huge amounts of power from other beings. Do you know it?"

I frowned, considering all I had seen in the Lovell mansion. "I think so, yes. But they keep it locked away. I would need to slip past their wards—and I"m sure being a fellow Lovell won"t be enough to help me."

That book was one of the ones they wouldn"t even let me look at. I only knew of its existence because I"d caught my dad carrying it down to the basement workroom one day. He had done his best to hide it behind his back and told me to mind my own business in that tone that promised severe pain if I disobeyed.

I worried my bottom lip, my mind already whirring as I tried to figure out how I was going to get that book out from behind the wards in my parents" bedroom.

*****

I held my breath as I slipped into my parents" bedroom. This was the fifth—and final—thing I was stealing tonight. The first two had been easy. I took some herbs and crystals from the workroom, then I liberated my great, great grandmother"s ceremonial athame from its place of honor in the front hall. The adults were still in their coven meeting, which had devolved into shouting and accusations, so no one noticed me skulking about. If I was caught, I could just say I was practicing a spell for my lessons and wanted to get it just right, so I needed the best ingredients and tools. No Lovell would cast an important spell with cheap, subpar things.

The next two items had been a bit trickier. Have you ever stolen a fingerbone from a dead ancestor in the family crypt at o-dark-thirty at night while hoping your family or the magical police didn"t come charging down on you? I wouldn"t recommend it. No one needs that kind of stress in their lives. Then there was the eyeball. My other great grandmother, Granny Wolfsbane, had created the grimoire I was about to steal. Her eye was in a jar in the basement. I just had to make it past the carnivorous stairs and the shrieking ghost alarm system. Cousin Delphinium had mediumship abilities, and I knew she would definitely tattle if she heard me sneaking around. She was just barely an adult, and she was dying to impress the rest of the coven, the little suck-up. But I managed.

With all the ingredients, I formed a temporary ward around myself that should allow me to bypass the wards in my parents" room. I had just enough bits and pieces of all the involved ancestors on my person to make the spells think I was someone who should have access to the grimoire. Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and opened the door to my parents" room. Hadn"t they always told me how clever and powerful I was? Time to prove it.

I crept through the dark room to the bookshelf, using my magic to feel for the powerful wards that would be hiding the book. It was stashed in a secret drawer that I opened by using a locator spell to find the hidden release button. I gingerly lifted the heavy tome from the drawer, bracing for something awful to happen. When nothing did, I let out a sigh of relief.

Then I tiptoed back to my bedroom, holding my breath all the way.

Once I was inside, I locked my door and took out my mirror to summon Junaid. This time, I cast a dud sleeping spell to mask the fact that I had just summoned a jinn. Hopefully it would be enough to keep my parents from looking my way too hard, since they were still holed up with the others, planning our great victory, or how to best blame someone else so we could run and hide, or something.

Junaid wrapped his thick arms around me the moment he appeared, and I leaned into him, sighing in relief. Ever since I met him, he had been the one good, solid, grounding thing in my life. Like the big brother I should have had. I sniffled against his chest, probably ruining his nice shirt. But he didn"t seem to care. "Come on, then little witch," he said, gripping my shoulders and holding me at arm"s length to look down at me. "Where"s all that defiance of yours?"

I wiped the back of my hand under my nose and sniffed again, this time squaring my shoulders. "Why do we need the book?" I pointed at the grimoire lying there on my bed.

He nodded, silently confirming that he had never had a doubt I would be successful in my heist. "I"m going to teleport you out of here, little witch. I"ve had it planned for months now. But you wanted to protect your sister, too, right?"

I nodded emphatically. "We"ll take Oleander with us when we go."

He just shook his head, and his eye were sad when they met mine. "No, little witch. Where we"re going, the way we"ll have to live…it wouldn"t be good for a six-year-old child."

Anger welled up at his words, the first time I"d felt that emotion in a long time. I was resigned to pretty much everything in my life. But not this. "We can"t leave her here! What if there"s an attack? What if the government or some rival witch family decides to hurt her? What if my parents decide to drain her for power? She"s little, but she"s gifted."

He gripped my shoulders and again, his big hands squeezing. "She"s too young to be convicted of anything. And we"ll protect her the best we can. She has to stay, Bella. But you can"t stay with her. You"re fifteen now, little witch, nearly grown by coven standards. And you"ve participated in their magic rituals. You"ll be tried as an adult."

I swallowed hard. "I"ll never forgive you for making me leave her behind," I muttered.

He just nodded, as if he expected nothing less. "And I"d never forgive myself if I didn"t get you out of here, even if it means leaving the little one behind. Now, let"s get to work. I have a friend who owes me a favor."

The temporary charm I had created to allow me to steal the grimoire also allowed me to access its contents. I flipped through the pages, hating the way the heavy, tainted magic of the book clung to my fingertips. There was too much power in this book, all of it filled with rage and pain. "There," Junaid said, pointing at a listing. "That"s the jinn. Call him out but be careful little witch. He"s not too fond of your family."

I muttered the incantation, knowing I was pushing it by doing this. I had reinforced the wards on my room to help with hiding how much magic I was doing in here, but summoning a second strong elemental creature was probably going to fry the wards and tip off every witch in the house.

My dresser burst into flames and a slender figure appeared, sitting atop the chest in a cross-legged position. He was bare-chested, but draped in glittering jewelry, golden eyes watching me from a pretty, dangerous face. "Baby Lovell. Did you decide today was a good day to die?"

Junaid stepped in front of me with his hands up. "Aahil, brother. I"ve come to cash in the debt you owe me. I need your mind magics."

The fire jinn tilted his head and his lips stretched into a sneer. "What do I care for debts, now that I"m imprisoned for eternity in the pages of this wretched hell? Either free me or let this witch finish draining me. I"m done with this life."

His words made Junaid flinch. "I can"t free you. But I can give you vengeance. The Lovells are about to lose the war they started. I need your help saving the only innocent Lovell remaining.

This Aahil snorted. "Lovells never lose at anything. They"ll find a way to wriggle free, probably using torture and black magic. And…an innocent Lovell? Not that I fucking care, but there"s no such thing."

I pushed past Junaid to face the demon myself. "Please," I pleaded. "She"s my sister and she"s only six years old. She doesn"t deserve to be punished for the evils of the rest of our family."

The strange jinn"s golden eyes flickered with flame as he regarded me. "Are you one of the ones who used my power? Did you stand in the shadows laughing as I was drained and used, just waiting until you were old enough to join in, runt?"

I swallowed hard. "No. But only because they didn"t get around to forcing me to help with that yet. Please. Help me make sure my sister doesn"t end up just like the rest of us."

He sighed. "It"s not like I have a fucking choice. I own this soggy asshole a favor, and among our kind that"s a potentially life-threatening condition." He gestured at Junaid. "I"ll help your teen witch. But only on one condition."

"Anything," I promised before Junaid could speak. "Anything in my power, I"ll give it gladly to help Oleander."

The jinn"s golden eyes met mine and I shuddered at the darkness there. "Promise you"ll release me from this cursed book and let me go free."

"Aahil—" Junaid started in, but I waved him off. "I promise it. I can"t do it now. I"m not strong enough and we haven"t got time. But I promise I will come back for the book once my parents are dead. I"ll make sure you are freed."

He gave me a sly look, which made my cheeks flush stupidly at the same time it made me want to run for my life. "Bargain accepted, Lovell. Let"s hope for your sake you aren"t lying."

I glared right back. "I"m not. I"ll come back and free you as soon as they are gone."

Junaid didn"t look happy. But the other jinn just smiled, slow and dangerous. "Well then," he said, dematerializing before he reappeared standing on the floor. "Whose mind am I destroying tonight?"

Junaid ran a hand over his bald head and gave me a sheepish look. "The little girl"s."

I argued in hushed tones as we crept down the hall to Oleander"s bedroom. I had the grimoire clutched under my arm, and the fire elemental was trailing along behind us with a bored look on his face that I didn"t trust. Junaid simply silenced me by slipping into Oleander"s room, leaving me to catch up. The gothic-inspired room would be filled with pink in the daylight, but currently the night and the moon washed everything in shades of blue.

I joined Junaid at Oleander"s bedside and stood staring down at my sweet, innocent, sleeping sister. "You won"t hurt her?" I whispered, watching the other jinn, who had come to stand at the other side of her bed.

He lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug, his voice saying he couldn"t care less if he fried my little sister"s brain. "Probably not."

Junaid glowered at him, and his low voice was a growl. "Aahil."

The other jinn heaved a tired sigh. "It would be easier if I wasn"t drained and half dead, brother. But I"ll do my best not to turn the little one"s brain to gelatin. Even a Lovell child is still a child."

Then the guy reached out and held one hand over my sister"s forehead, his golden eyes slipping closed as his magic flowed around him. In the warm light of his magic, I saw just how drawn and pinched his face was, and how he winced at the pull on his reserves. I held my breath for what felt like an eternity, expecting my family to come bursting through the door at any moment. But finally, the jinn"s power faded. He opened his eyes, swaying on his feet.

"It is done," he said tiredly. "It will be as if you never existed. The girl will not know she ever had a sister." Then he looked to Junaid. "Come bolster me and I"ll take care of the others as well."

"Thank you, Aahil," Junaid said on a relieved sigh. "And you swear you"ll never tell another Lovell of her existence?"

I hated that I knew what he was thinking. That if my family lived, they might be able to torture the information out of the other jinn.

Aahil just shrugged. "I swear it. Torture is hardly new to me. And death would be welcome at this point."

Junaid moved around the bed and put his hand in the other jinn"s letting pooling their elemental magics together. Aahil"s expression twisted into a bitter, smug thing. "Forget, you stupid cunts," he whispered. "Forget her…and forget me too!"

Then he crumpled. Junaid reached to catch him, but before the jinn hit the floor, he disappeared, a thin stream of golden magic flowing into the grimoire I still held.

"Shit," Junaid muttered. "Just had to try to sneak in something extra, didn"t you, Aahil?"

At my questioning look, he explained. "I was going to rely on your family getting wiped out and taking your memory with them. But he just wiped you from the minds of the entire coven downstairs. As of right now you only exist on paper, and we can fix that after we escape this place." He shook his head. "Aahil is an unparalleled mind manipulator. But he tried to erase himself and the grimoire from their minds too, and he wasn"t strong enough for that."

I clutched the book. "Is he still alive? In here?"

Junaid nodded. "I think so. I think he just returned to wherever you lot store the creatures."

I gaped in horror. "All of these entries are people?"

He nodded sadly. "I think so. Hurry now, we"ve got to dump that and get out of here."

"Oleander?" my mother"s voice called from the end of the hallway. Damn it, they had felt all of that magic.

Junaid grabbed the grimoire and poofed out of existence. He was back a moment later, looking a bit singed. "Dropped it just inside the doorway and the wards zapped me. They"ll think someone tried to steal it and got obliterated." He took my hand and tugged. "Come on, we need to go now, before we"re seen."

I took one last look at my sweet little sister. "Forget me," I said as tears started to fall. "Forget all about me, but I"ll never forget you."

Then Junaid wrapped a strong arm around my waist and jerked me out of existence, pulling me with him as he dematerialized and reformed somewhere miles away.

I finally cried then, big, heaving sobs for all I had lost, all I had never had, and the unfairness of it all. I was still crying a few days later when we got the news that the Lovell coven had called up an army of fellow witches and dark paranormal allies and attempted to overthrow the local magical government. Every member of the Lovell coven that had not died in the skirmish just outside their lands had been captured and sentenced to death for crimes against magic kind.

Their one remaining child, a little girl no more than six years old, had been taken into protective custody so she could grow up far away from the Lovell legacy.

"We gave her the best chance we could," Junaid said softly. Then he took the newspaper from my hands and tossed it into the trash. He ruffled my hair. "Well, kid," he asked. "Where to now? We need to keep moving so no one around here recognizes you and has some sudden realization that they missed a Lovell."

I looked up at him as sadness and hope warred inside me. I was alone now. But I had Junaid. And I might have to be on the run for a while, but I was finally free of my family and their expectations and demands.

"Can we go someplace warm?" I asked, reaching for the jinn"s hand. "Maybe by the ocean? I always wanted to see the ocean, but mother said we had a blood feud with the sirens."

He gave me a knowing look that said he could see every bit of my sadness, but was determined not to mention it if I didn"t. "I can handle a few sirens little witch. One tropical adventure, coming up," he said lightly. Then he whisked me away to my new life.