Chapter 7

Iwoke up in my bed.

Not the one up in Blackwood, the one at my mama's house.

The one I'd giggled about boys with Roseline in, the one I'd cried about hurt feelings in, the one I'd dreamed about my future in.

I'd gotten so caught up in the whole must be bound to a first descendant vampire of it all that I'd not even read further, didn't know what else my ancestors had already seen for me.

Had I actually made a difference?

Was this the most impactful thing I'd ever do, or was there more in store for me?

I didn't care much for fame, and had no use for massive fortune, but there had to be something more after this, right?

A legacy?

Kids?

Could vampires have kids?

My brow furrowed as I considered it.

Brosia was half vampire, half eonian. Maybe it only worked because of that?

Could you be half witch?

I had no earthly idea, but surely it was too soon to find out?

Wait. Is Parris hearing all of this, and laughing at me somewhere?

I searched my head for him, and was surprised to… not find him.

Hmm.

That struck me as odd, but instead of dwelling on it, I pulled myself from the bed, into the bathroom. Fresh toiletries were already set out for me, so I made quick work of emptying my bladder and washing my hands so I could get myself cleaned up and presentable.

The tattoo was completely healed.

That was one of the first things I noticed about myself in the mirror. I had other tattoos, enough to know what my typical experience was like, which was an annoying period of itching and peeling before the beautiful final result.

This one was already done.

How long was I asleep, I wondered, running my fingers over the neatly inked script. A smile came over my face as I traced the lines, prompting unexpected warmth in my chest.

"So sleeping beauty has risen from her slumber."

Eyes wide, I looked around the small bathroom, my face getting hot when I realized, duh, he was in my head.

"Hey. How long was I asleep?"

"Couple days."

"Is that normal?"

"For non-humans? Yeah."

I nodded like he could see me, returning my gaze to myself in the mirror to remove the bonnet from my hair, surveying what was underneath.

Thank goodness for whoever had the thought to put it into two big French braids for me, so it wasn't matted.

"That was your cousin Roseline."

I frowned, not at the information, at him giving it. "So were you just ignoring me earlier?"

"I don't believe so. Your warm fuzzies let me know you were awake."

"My warm fuzzies?"

"Yeah, I got a surge of lovey-dovey off you. It was pretty sick."

"Oh fuck you."

"Not in your mama's house, love."

That made me raise an eyebrow.

"Wait, so you're here?"

He didn't answer.

Which, of course, was an answer, and one that made me feel pretty damn giddy at that. I blamed my excitement on the magic of the blood-mingling tattoo, not the eternally binding bite.

We could hate each other forever.

His name on my neck was the only explanation for the way I rushed around my room getting dressed so I could see him.

Him?

Bitch?

Where is your mother?

Oh, shit.

I moved even faster now, abandoning the need to "look cute" in favor of finding my mother to check on her condition.

That was the point of this, after all.

I found her in the first place I looked, her private library. Not everything they found—or everything I found for them—made it to a place in the store downstairs. There were many things that were too valuable or precious to be made available to the general public. Other witches in our community were welcome to visit this area, by appointment.

What she was poring over though, was only for us.

I wasn't surprised to find the grimoire perched on a table in front of her, gloves on her hand to protect the pages from natural body oils. It was magic-infused, stronger than some regular ancient text, so the precautions weren't actually necessary.

But I knew what she'd say if I brought that up.

Just in case.

"What else have you found?" I asked, pulling her attention.

She looked up at me with a smile. The deep wrinkles that had—I felt—aged her prematurely were no longer etched in her face. As I moved closer, I saw the difference in her hands as well, even her stance. She was still a mature woman, but appropriately so now.

If I had to guess, Clerie had been gifted the same regression.

"So many interesting things," she gushed, gesturing for me to come and look with her. "Things about our past I didn't know, things about our future—warnings," she said, her face turning gravely serious. "So that our restoration isn't squandered. And—" She grabbed my hand, gripping and squeezing. "Family! That sorceress bitch did a good job of erasing the records, but not all of them. She had children, and grandchildren, who aren't witches. They don't have other powers, but they are still living. Look."

I followed the line of her finger to where she was pointing, my gaze landing on a name I immediately recognized.

"Khalida."

That name was distinctive enough on its own, but when it was followed by her sister's name, Ancelin,I knew for sure.

"I… actually know them," I told my mother, shaking my head. "Well, kind of. I know of them. They run this nightclub in Blackwood. I knew they were eonian, but I didn't know they were… blood."

"Well, now you do, thanks to this." She beamed, patting the open pages. "And now you've got that handsome consort as well."

Her mention of Parris brought immediate warmth, and I shook my head as she tipped hers, looking at my neck.

"I coulda sworn I made you promise me you'd never let any knucklehead talk you into something like that. But now that I've met him… I understand," she laughed. "Does he know you are awake?"

I nodded. "He does. I was headed to find him, but wanted to see you first. To make sure you?—"

"Hadn't croaked?"

"Ugh, Mama!" I fussed. "Don't say it like that!"

"Don't say it like it is?" she questioned, laughing again.

"Don't say it so casually, I was really scared!"

"Me too," she countered. "Mwen pral di li jan mwen vle!"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Miss Lady," I told her, shaking my head. "If you say so."

"I do, as a matter of fact. Now go on," she said, waving me off. "Go find Parris. Certainly you could be bothering him instead of me."

"Wow," I gasped, eyes wide as she started to literally push me out of the room. "Is this necessary?!"

"Very," she said, not stopping until we were at the door, where she stopped pushing to grab my hands, clasping them between hers. "Pitit fi, thank you."

And then she closed the door in my face.

Well damn.

For a moment, I just stared at the door, thinking about going back in just to annoy her. But… I had other pressing matters to attend.

Things to see.

Vampires to do.

I practically hopped down the stairs, breezing through the shop door to find Roseline at the front counter with our cousin Rhys, Clerie's son. I spoke to them, then immediately looked around, searching for Parris, who I'd expected to find down here.

To no avail.

"Look at her. Got a man and a neck tat and immediately turned brand new," Roseline spoke, and I turned to find her and Rhys shaking their heads.

"Don't do that," I laughed. "I…this is different."

Rhys chuckled. "So… you don't deny it then?"

My mouth fell open, but I didn't say anything.

What could I say?

"Relax," Roseline laughed. "It's not like you can help it, or like you should want to. Congratulations, Riv."

"Yuup," Rhys agreed, coming around the counter to hug me. "I told ol' boy he better not fuck around with my cousin," he said, with his big arms still tight around me. "Told him I'ma put the type of hex he couldn't get rid of on him."

I gasped, leaning back to look him in the face. "Parris is incredibly powerful, he could?—"

"Still get his ass hurt? Mmmhmm." Rhys chuckled as he let me go. "The family magic is back in action, baby, you ain't realized? Now I ain't saying I'd win, but I'd definitely give his ass something to think about for the rest of eternity."

"Won't be necessary," Parris spoke up, from the door. "I told you already. I couldn't hurt Riv if I wanted to, not with the type of bindings we've done."

"Plural." Roseline giggled from her perch at the counter. "Y'all so extra."

"No, this is extra," Parris complained, pointing at the door again. "You reset the vampire trap? You know I could just destroy this, right?"

I looked to Roseline, who seemed genuinely surprised. "I never erased the first one. I didn't touch it all. I guess now that the conduit is restored, a little smudge isn't enough to keep the rune from working."

I thought she would tag a "my bad" or something onto the end of that, but instead… she just shrugged.

There's the Roseline I know.

Laughing, I moved to the doorway. Instead of just smudging the rune, this time I wiped one of the symbols completely out. It wasn't until it was fully unrecognizable that Parris was able to move.

"Hey," he said, grabbing my hand.

"Hey, yourself," I countered, trying my hardest not to start beaming, but honestly?

Only because we were in front of Rhys and Roseline.

"Man, y'all go somewhere with the lovey dovey shit," Rhys grunted, only barely keeping his face straight as he joined Roseline behind the counter, and she nodded.

"Yeah, ew. Get a fucking room," she added, with a quick wink.

"I'm actually taking her back home anyway, so fuck y'all," Parris groused, frowning while I laughed.

Clearly he wasn't yet familiar with our dynamic.

And I wasn't about to teach him either. I could probably get years of laughs by letting him figure it out on his own.

In the meantime, I rushed back upstairs to say my goodbyes to my mother and Clerie, then Rhys and Roseline, and a quick stop back by St. Louis No. 1 to lay yarrow and magnolias at Este's tomb before we got on our flight.

That was something Parris couldn't affect.

The time the flight took was just the time it took, but those couple of hours gave us the opportunity to actually talk, and get a better sense of who the other was, rather than preconceived notions.

Based on his stories… Parris was exactly the wild boy I already believed he was.

His claim was that he'd been doing those things—fighting and fucking and whatever the hell else—because he was trying to fulfill that empty space we'd loosely talked about before.

When I asked him if he would stop though…

"I definitely won't be fucking anybody but you," he swore earnestly, and really… I appreciated the transparency.

Mainly because I wasn't exactly a docile little homebody housewife type myself, and I didn't want him trying to change me either.

Really… It felt like we were pretty well-matched.

Back in Blackwood, he took me straight to the hills, straight to his family home. While he was holed up somewhere with his brothers, probably celebrating their victory, I was in deep conversation with Celeste and Ambrosia, comparing stories and filling in blanks for each other.

Especially for Brosia, who had no idea there were other Eonians right here in Blackwood. I promised her I would take her to Ivory, the piano-bar-nightclub hybrid my apparent relatives ran.

For now though, we had plenty of other things to discuss.

Like our alliance to make the brothers do what we wanted.

It was only right, since they'd essentially made us sisters now.

"What the hell y'all in here plotting?" Parris asked, barging back into the room unannounced.

We shared a look and a laugh before I shook my head. "Nothing for you to be worried about."

"Notice that she didn't say nothing," Cassius spoke up as he grabbed Brosia by the hand.

"Yeah," Elias said, draping an arm around Celeste's shoulders. "Just nothing to worry about."

"So y'all can mind your business," Brosia quipped.

"Right? Nosy asses," Celeste laughed. "What are we doing tonight?"

Elias whispered something into her ear that made her giggle before he turned to the rest of us, in a normal volume. "Well, now that our personal family prophecy has been completed… It's time to properly introduce you into our community. In about an hour… we're having a party."

Instantly, me, Celeste, and Ambrosia pushed away from them, panicking about getting ready for what sounded damn near like an impromptu debutante ball.

"Everything you might want or need to prepare is already here," Cash said, in a tone that sounded like trying to calm us down, but… it wasn't working.

"He's making it sound fancier than it is," Parris assured, sucking his teeth. "Y'all know his ass is dramatic."

"Really?" Celeste spoke up, asking Elias. "It's not fancy?"

He shook his head. "Think cocktail."

A collective sigh of relief went around us three, but still.

An hour wasn't that much time.

Together, we turned to rush off, with Celeste leading the way.

"And ladies!" Elias called, prompting us to stop and look back. "You should know… the mood will change promptly at midnight."