Chapter 5

The three of us made it back to Haven house with only a few minutes to spare before the noon hour. We were still missing Feish and Bridgette, and Dr. Mori had left to check on his people.

"What did you find? What did Robert show you?" Penny asked as she met us at the door, the panic clear in her voice.

Eammon slid off my back. "Well, we lost Robert. He's gone. And the only things we found is a coin and a rotten box."

He flipped the coin to Penny. "A euro," she said, "does that mean they took her back to Europe?"

"Too easy." I set the box on the table in the main living area. "It could be from Remy's last visit. We don't know enough to say that's where she is."

"Wait, what do you mean you lost Robert? Did I hear that right?" Suzy stepped out of the kitchen. "How could you lose him?"

Sarge explained what had happened, how Robert had tried to prove that Evangeline was in the ground. How he'd wanted us to help him dig her up but had instead disappeared.

"And then we finished what he started." Sarge pointed at the box that looked as though a gentle breeze could take it out and send it flying through the air.

I took note that he didn't share that Robert had been sobbing, shaking on the ground as he'd tried to prove his wife was not a monster. As he'd tried to save her again.

The thing was…I understood how he must have felt. Realizing that Karissa was a raving lunatic had been hard for me. When you loved someone, it could be difficult to see them as they truly were, especially if they were a monster under all their layers. You always looked to the few good moments, as if they outweighed the dangerous ones.

Sarge fell silent and everyone looked to me. "Someone is coming to help us," I said. "She's?—"

The knock at the front door startled everyone but me. Of course, Bramble didn't wait for someone to answer. She just walked in and shut the door behind her.

"I see you started the meeting without me, Crash." She dusted her hands off on her skirt, as if touching the door had made them dirty.

Her presence caused immediate chaos, not that I'd expected anything less.

I let Bree's friends yell and back away from Bramble—of course the last they'd seen her, she'd been with Louis—and then I stepped between them, putting a hand up to Bramble and one up to everyone else as if I were some sort of referee. "Bramble is here to help. Or so she says. I think we should hear her out."

"Bullshit," Damian snapped. "She turned me into a fucking catfish! That's not exactly helpful!"

My eyebrows shot up at Bramble, who just shrugged. "I did. But I had to convince Louis that I was working fully for him, in order to gain his trust. You know how that is, don't you, Crash? The things we do to hide our true intentions sometimes leave us…looking like a villain for a period of time. But in the end, we do it for the right reasons."

Damn it, I did know how it worked when you were tied to the Dark Council and were constantly asked to prove it. There were choices I'd made when I'd been bound to them that had pitted me…distinctly against my friends, against Bree.

Penny pointed at Bramble with her cane. "We don't need the help of the likes of you, girl. You went bad a long time ago, and there is no going back from that. You should have stayed gone. I told Celia that too!"

Bramble laughed and lifted one finger. "You might not need me. But my cousin does. Sit down, all of you, so I can explain. Now."

She snapped the fingers on her left hand and everyone—with the exception of myself—in the room was shoved back toward the wall. The couch magically stretched out to accommodate them all, and they fell into the sofa as a group, shock written on their faces as clear as day.

"That's not going to make them, or me, trust you." I rolled my shoulders, feeling the tension in the room as if it were an actual weight.

"None of you trust me. To be clear, I know that." Bramble smiled and shrugged. "But let me offer you something that perhaps will help. A peace offering." She pulled a wand from her skirt pocket and swirled it twice through the air.

A glittering line of what looked like green dust spun out from the wand and wrapped around two people who most in the room couldn't see.

Celia and Corb.

Their bodies came more fully into view—even for me who usually saw them as transparent— solidifying to the point that they looked…alive.

"No one but those in this group can see or hear them, but they can still offer you help. Even dead. Consider it a gift."

I looked to Celia first. "Celia, say something."

"That is my granddaughter. She is the same age as Bree." She tipped her head toward Bramble, color in her cheeks. "And I hope she knows what she is doing. I would hate to lose them both."

Bramble smiled, her eyes sparkling with…tears? Did I believe that emotion, or was it false? "Hi Gran. I've missed you."

"Oh, my sweet rosebud. I've missed you too. You should have come home long ago…I thought I'd lost you in New Orleans." Her words were very much the opposite of what Penny had said earlier.

Penny gave a low snort of disbelief. "You could make them say things that are false. That is the power of a wand like that, held by a witch who can manipulate memories!"

Bramble's smile slid, and her eyes darkened as she glanced at Penny, but she spoke to her grandmother. "I am not the girl you knew, Gran, that much is true. And I couldn't come home, it was too dangerous. But I'm here now. Will you vouch for me?"

Celia looked pained, her eyes drifting over the group. They lingered on me last before her gaze shot back to Bramble. "I…I know your heart, my girl, you have always been honest. And I will trust that you still love your cousin like the sister she was to you. Even if you are not the girl you once were, the woman before me…she is still my granddaughter. I will vouch for you."

Bramble nodded and everyone else in the room relaxed a little. Though I could have sworn I felt something push against my skin. Was it magic, or was I just being hypersensitive to the situation?

I found myself laying my hand over the demon blade, perhaps moving on instinct, I wasn't quite sure. But the feeling of pressure against my skin faded.

"Smart," Nancy mumbled under my palm.

So what the hell was it I was feeling? Something Bramble had done?

Corb cleared his throat. "What about me? Can you see me too?"

Sarge was staring at his friend and previous lover like he'd seen a ghost, which I suppose was accurate. "Holy shit, man. I never thought I'd see you again."

Corb's eyes drifted over the group. "You can all hear me too?"

"Maybe we don't want to, ever think of that? You've caused enough trouble, Corb." Kinkly snapped her wings in his direction.

Corb stepped back so he was up against the wall, partially hidden by the shadows. "Fair enough. I don't have anything to add right now. I was just…curious if you could actually see and hear me."

Bramble folded her arms over her chest, tapping her wand to her shoulder. "I have been trying to stop the Dark Council of Savannah since they put out a call for a witch with immense power. Not the First Witch, they knew she was too volatile and that they would potentially need her soul for their spell. But her son…well, her son wanted her power, and he was willing to kill her for it. That is how I learned that the spell was being attempted—they approached him when I was near. This will be the third time this spell has been put into play."

Penny whipped around to face her. "The third time? I thought it was only used once before, during the 1800s?"

I took note that Celia went pale—even for a ghost.

"The first time was the yellow fever plague—at least that's what the humans called it," Bramble said. "But we all know about that one." She sighed. "There was a second attempt about twenty years ago by the Dark Council—and it went wrong too."

I frowned. I'd been part of the Dark Council then—unwillingly. And there had been no mention of that plan. No mention of a spell that could cause destruction.

Something about her story felt…off. But no one else seemed to be reacting to her words the same way I was.

She sighed. "The Sentinel of New Orleans was pulled into the Dark Council's plans. That's why Celia encouraged me to strip Bree of her memories of me and send her off with Alan. To keep her safe for as long as we could. Maybe forever. She figured losing Bree to the mundane world would be worth it if it kept her and the rest of the shadow world safe. The spell in question required a sentinel. At that point, there was only one left—Ward from New Orleans. Bree would have been the second if she'd been allowed to come into her own."

I frowned and we all looked at Celia, who was unmistakably blushing. "I did what I had to do to keep you both safe. I will not say I regret it, nor will I apologize for doing what I thought was best. Alan…was not a good husband to her, I know that. But he took her far away from the dangers."

Bramble nodded. "I know. But that will be a discussion between you and Bree once we get her back. We will both have to answer to her for taking her choices from her."

Their story made sense at least in regards to Bree. They'd tried to protect her, but in doing so, they had taken her life from her—or what her life could have been. Would I have met her sooner?

It was a gut punch to realize that if Celia had made a different choice, I might have met Bree years before, that we might have had a chance to have a life together before all this mess…gods, what I wouldn't give to have had that chance.

Twenty years ago, the Seer had told me to turn to the Sentinel of Savannah—a person who at that point did not exist.

Twenty years ago, Celia had shunted Bree off to live with Alan.

What if I could have had her in my life for the last twenty years? Would things have turned out differently? It was only a year later that Karissa and I had gone our separate ways, she to her many men and me to my solitude.

I turned to Celia. "To be clear, are you saying that you…put a spell on Alan and Bree? To make them fall in love?"

Celia looked away. "It was not an easy choice to make. I still think I made the right choice. I couldn't take Bramble's powers from her, but I could slow down Bree's from emerging. And of the two…Bree was the more dangerous."

I turned to Bramble in time to see a flash of anger in her eyes. She did not like that Celia believed in Bree.

The thing was, I'd never understood what Bree had seen in Alan, so this spell making them fall in love made sense. Because Alan was a prick, and by all counts had always been one, right from the beginning.

But Bree…gods, she'd lived with him for twenty years, trying to make him love her. Trying to fix a marriage that had been broken from the very beginning. A piece of my heart broke for her, for the years lost on a love that never would have been, no matter what she did.

Celia grimaced. "I paid him a good deal of money and put the spell on them both, but it barely lasted past the wedding for him. I knew he would take her far away and that was what I wanted. Ward—the Sentinel of New Orleans and occasionally Savannah—was in trouble, playing too many sides, and Bree was too young to take over as the Sentinel for Savannah. That's what I thought at the time. I wanted her to have a life. To have a chance before…before she faced the shadows that threatened to overwhelm her."

Bramble's eyes darkened. "There was no putting me away from the danger. So we took a chance to try and save Bree."

Kinkly darted around the room. "As interesting as this all is, how is any of this going to help us find her right now? We should be out there, looking for her! She would be looking for any one of us! Not standing around telling stories from twenty years ago!"

Bramble held up her hand. "All of this will help us shed light on the players that are still pulling strings behind the scenes. Ward has been missing for the last twenty years. We need to make sure he either stays missing or we…"

"Or what?" Kinkly asked quietly. "You wish to kill him to make sure that he doesn't take part? Is that what we will have to do to Bree if she's the only sentinel left?"

Bramble looked her right in the eye. "To keep this world, and my cousin safe, yes. Ward willingly cooperated with those who wish to cast the spell. Gran did all she could to hide the items of the spell that were physical—most you cannot destroy, and yes, we did try. We all did. I didn't think anyone else could find them—I erased a lot of memories. But it appears that Evangeline was working hard to figure it out—and figure it out she has—she found Vesuvius first and got the spell straight from him. As for Bree, as you so sweetly asked little fairy…I will keep her alive. I am her only hope."

As if she was the only one who was trying to keep Bree from being hurt.

"That's sounds like a pile of horseshit. Suddenly, here you are," Eammon growled. "Ready to help the Dark Council and Evangeline too!"

Bramble snorted, tapping her wand against her thigh, sending tiny green sparks floating through the air. "Would you prefer it if they'd recruited a witch who is fully committed to their plan to raise all those vampires? A witch like Remy, someone who is a proven liar, a proven destroyer of lives and hearts? He is strong enough to make the spell happen. And Evangeline understands it far better than anyone else has, so he has a greater chance to make it real. Isn't it better for everyone that they're working with someone like me? Someone who can slip past the enemy's defenses and make sure that there is no way that the spell comes to fruition?"

I wondered at that bit about Remy being a destroyer of hearts, because Bree had never loved Remy. I knew it because…well, because I just did. If I'd been alone, I would have snorted to myself. He'd never destroyed Bree's heart—he'd shaken her confidence but hadn't touched her heart. That belonged to me. I looked hard at Bramble, taking in the tension around her eyes, the way her fingers shook, and the high color in her cheeks as she spoke about my distant cousin.

I thought about how Remy had looked at Bree, as if he were trying to see inside of her.

Reading people was not always easy, but Bramble's emotions were high, which made it a simpler thing. There had been love between her and Remy, I was sure of it. Or if not love, then a connection of some sort.

Nothing turned to hate more surely than a love that had been shattered against the walls of deceit. Nothing could make a woman stand with a spine of steel more than that kind of betrayal. It made me trust her more.

Penny pushed carefully to her feet, leaning heavily on her cane. "There are holes in this story, witch. Either Bree is the cauldron, and therefore Evangeline will wish to keep her alive, or she is not the cauldron and is just another ingredient in which case Evangeline will kill her. Which is it?"

The room visibly tensed as Penny went silent.

Bramble turned to the older witch. "She is the cauldron, of that I am certain—but she is also the final ingredient. The ingredients are nearly all in her, that is true. Evangeline will wait till the night of the dark moon before she has Bree killed, then they will bury her in an unmarked grave—that is the final missing piece of the spell. When she rises again, she will be a vampire like Evangeline, only stronger. And her blood, every drop of it, will be taken from her. They will kill her a second time. Unless I am there. I can stop it all from happening. I have convinced Louis that the spell must be cast by a powerful witch to ensure that it works. So far, Evangeline believes this to be true from what Louis has told me."

Thinks. Believes. None of that gave me the strength to put my trust in Bramble.

"Something stinks," Nancy mumbled under my hand.

Eric paled. "They…why wouldn't they keep her alive if her blood is so powerful?"

Bramble smiled, though it did not reach her eyes. "A fog comes over a vampire in the early days. All they see is bloodlust. But it does eventually lift. And when it lifted from her? She would be stronger than Evangeline, as I said. With her own mind and her own convictions. Do you think she would allow Evangeline to continue her rampage?"

Kinkly shot up in the air, her wings a blur. Damian reached up as if to stop her, but he wasn't quick enough. "If you're so damn strong, if you love Bree so much, then you should just stop them!"

Bramble flung her hands up, and I gave Kinkly all the credit in the world for not backing down.

But there was no injury to Kinkly. The back wall of the room came to life, Bramble's magic scrawling over it, painting moving pictures there.

The image was shadowy, but it became clearer the longer it continued to play out, though there was no sound. First it was the Dark Council of Savannah meeting in secret. Louis was running the show. Moving the people around him like chess pieces on the board of the world. People were taken and hurt, or even killed.

Secrets were dug up.

Many people were forced to work for the Dark Council.

I saw myself in one image, on my knees, chained to a wall.

That was not a memory I liked revisiting.

The image was flicked away, replaced by a moment I recalled. A meeting I was at.

A cloaked figure stood at the front of a room filled with cloaked figures and sound boomed suddenly all around us. "We will take the world by storm, my brothers, and sisters. We will lead from the darkness and put the humans in chains. We will rule as we always have been meant to rule. Not since the dark ages have we had our dues, and now is the time for us to take what we are owed."

It was Louis speaking, I knew that now. But he'd hidden his accent then. The Dark Council of Savannah cheered him. Visiting members from other Dark Councils around the world cheered him.

The image flickered again, and Evangeline, who looked so much like Bree, sat on a stone throne, smiling as she touched literal pieces on a chess board. One that looked like Louis. One that looked like Remy. One that looked like Bramble. We were all there. Every single one of us.

It was not unlike the table that Dr. Mori had on his ship. Bree had told me about it, how it showed the light and the dark players in Savannah. Only Evangeline's table was more like a chess board on a massive scale.

Bramble looked up and the image shattered.

The room was quiet except for the shaky breaths that whispered in and out of awestruck mouths.

"Evangeline has been working from the shadows, manipulating the board since the day she died two hundred years ago. No one knew it was her. Not even the vampires knew of her existence until recently—she always worked through another. I have questioned more than a few of them at the point of a stake, and I believe they were truly unaware of her. I still can't understand. In life, she was a sentinel, like Bree. Like Robert. But becoming a vampire…it changed her in ways that I've never seen before. Like it opened the darkest parts of her."

Kinkly swept up again and asked the question I was sure everyone else was thinking. "How do you know that won't happen to Bree?"