Chapter 23

23

GAbrIEL

W e did talk eventually. We talked about the unexciting practicalities, the wishes, the compromises we were each willing to make. It wasn't pulse-poundingly erotic or sweepingly romantic. At a certain point, Evangeline brought out one of the battered notebooks she preferred and began to jot down notes. At that point, there had been a brief tangent while we discussed the relative merits of lined paper versus grid paper, although I had made an impassioned argument for the merits of the thrillingly newfangled dot-grid. At that point, she'd told me I was cute, and we'd gotten distracted for another half hour or so.

Neither Evangeline nor I had ever been in a real relationship before. Evangeline was a busy woman, and she was the first to admit that opening her life up to others didn't come easily to her. I, on the other hand, had moved through the centuries with casual trysts and short-term flings. Up until extremely recently, I hadn't thought I wanted a romantic relationship. Evangeline seemed immensely pleased with herself about having proved that idea wrong.

In the end, we'd made sure that things would be better. Relationships required work, work neither of us were used to doing, but at least now we'd laid the groundwork. There was a crawling anxious feeling telling me it wouldn't be enough, that all it would do was set a clear framework for my failures, but part of me that sounded remarkably like Evangeline shouted that feeling down. She and I were in this together.

Unfortunately, we could only avoid the outside world for so long. We had to strategize, which tragically involved getting cleaned up and properly dressed. It was probably a good thing the room had such a comically small shower or we would've gotten distracted again.

I was sitting on the bed while Evangeline showered, trying to gather my thoughts. It proved to be something of a challenge. When the shower squeaked off and the bathroom door swung open, I perked up like an eager dog hearing its master come home. She came out wrapped in my robe, which, again, caused most of my higher reasoning to exit the building. A bead of water slid down the long, pale column of her neck, tracing over the edges of a love bite I'd left above her collarbone. I clenched my hands in the bedspread and turned away as she dressed, not out of a sense of modesty but out of the knowledge that we had places to be.

Unfortunately, she still looked gorgeous in jeans and an oversized sweater. The sweater was familiar.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You're doing this on purpose," I said accusatorially.

She laughed and came over to stand in front of me. "I have no idea what you mean," she lied cheerfully.

I brushed a hand over the soft knit of the sweater—my sweater—where it dipped over her waist. She ducked her head down to kiss me, and I hummed.

"I have a request," I said hesitantly when we parted. I fidgeted a little as she waited for me to continue, then I stood and went over to the drawers. I withdrew the small bundle of fabric that held my toiletries and unrolled it onto the bed, picking out a small bottle of golden-green oil and a wide-toothed ivory comb with an intricately carved handle. "Would you…?" I asked, waving a hand vaguely at my nearly dry hair.

Evangeline hesitated. "Isn't that, like, a big thing for vampires? I thought grooming each other was just for family."

"It is," I said.

She blinked at me, then blushed faintly. "Oh," she said softly. "Oh. Okay."

She picked up the comb and began to work the macassar oil through my hair. It was expensive stuff, carefully perfumed with a scent that would linger but not overwhelm the enhanced senses of supernatural beings. The delicate scents of vetiver, oak moss, and ylang-ylang wafted up around the two of us.

"I can do your hair as well if you'd like," I murmured, lost in the quietly meditative state that always fell over me when someone did this.

"Oh, I was just gonna hit it with a drying charm," Evangeline said dismissively. "That's what I usually do."

I cracked an eye open and peered over my shoulder at her. She made a disapproving noise and fixed the curl she'd just put into place. "Have you considered that may be why your hair is… how do I put this? Somewhat unruly?"

Evangeline gave me that small scowl I'd come to recognize as her realizing I was right about something. "Maybe when we've got some down time," she allowed finally. "This stuff does smell pretty nice."

Most of the others were already gathered downstairs in Marcus's overwhelming mess of a workshop. Someone had pulled up a mismatched collection of seating around the table with the ley line map. Theo and Isabella had chosen a violently purple silk love seat, and I was amused to note that Isabella's legs were thrown over Theo's lap. They had their hands splayed across her thigh protectively. Damien looked wildly uncomfortable perched in a rickety director's chair, and Lissa somehow made the narrow bench look as luxurious and comfortable as the finest chaise lounge. Vic held a tray with mugs of synth blood, tea, and a small plate of shortbread.

I leaned against an armchair, and Evangeline perched on the arm on its other side. I felt too restless to sit, and I suspected she felt the same.

Marcus and Xarek were the last to join us. Marcus flitted down the stairs, chattering animatedly, and Xarek took it in his stride, nodding when the occasion called for it. It was like watching an excitable moon orbiting a planet.

"Potentially incredibly useful," Marcus was saying as Xarek steered him over to the table. "I mean, imagine the possible applications."

I cleared my throat, and Marcus seemed to realize that there were, in fact, other people in the room.

"Ah!" he said brightly, pushing up his glasses. "You're all here. Excellent."

"You guys know what we're all here for," Evangeline said. "So, let's just cut to the chase, huh? Morgana wants to do some horrible shit, and we have a weapon that can stop her."

As if on cue, Xarek set down the wand, now in one of the magic-proofed bags Evangeline used to collect evidence and contain artifacts.

"The wand will draw out her power," I said. "But it won't be an immediate thing. It will take time to drain her properly, and she doesn't strike me as the type to stay still and let that happen if she can help it."

"So, we need to either restrain her first, or keep her too busy to go after the person using the wand," Evangeline said.

"We need to find her first," Theo pointed out.

"That's not gonna be as hard as you might think," Isabella said. She leaned forward and fiddled with something on the side of the table. Before our eyes, one of the spots on the map brightened—an area a little ways into the forest, not far from the garden district. Lines of light shifted and twisted over each other until they converged in that spot.

"This is what the map looked like when we first finished it," Isabella told us. "And…" She fiddled again, and the lines of light parted again, splitting away from each other until the spot went dark once more. "This is what it looks like now."

"Ye gods," Marcus breathed.

"What does that mean?" Lissa asked.

"Someone moved the ley lines," Evangeline said distantly. "Someone who's been keeping an eye out for me, and who's very familiar with ancient magic. Someone who doesn't want me to ley-hop into her territory."

"I thought the ley lines were part of the land," I said.

"They are," Marcus told me. His expression had gone deadly serious. "Moving a ley line would be somewhat more difficult than moving a river."

"Which means Morgana is even more powerful than we thought," Isabella said grimly.

Evangeline's hands were braced on the table, and she leaned over to look at that dim spot on the map. "It'll be protected," she said, mostly to herself. "Not just with wards. There'll be guards. Probably a lot of them."

"They'll be strong, but not exceptional," Damien said. "Anyone with a power too exciting would've been drained already. So, grunts, but strong grunts nonetheless."

"We can deal with grunts," Theo said with a nasty smile.

"Which leaves us with the wards to think about," Evangeline said.

Xarek cleared his throat, and she looked up at him. "If I may," he said. "It seems to me that if she's draining anyone who's powerful enough to interest her, then she's more greedy than she is paranoid."

"What are you suggesting?" Marcus asked. From his tone, it sounded like he already had a pretty good guess, but he was hoping he was wrong.

"I'm suggesting we try to draw her out," Xarek said. "If we get her away from her home turf, we can take that advantage away from her."

"Not just anything would get her out into the open. It would have to be good," Damien said, then his eyes widened. "No. You can't be serious."

Xarek smiled wanly. It sat oddly on his broad, cheerful face. This man was not built for melancholy. "If Morgana is collecting rare specimens, then the chance to get her hands on a real, live copper dragon would be fucking hard for her to resist."

Marcus was completely still, which I'd never seen before. The man had always given the impression of constant motion, even if it was only the cloud of vape smoke curling around him while he twinkled infuriatingly at you. Now, his eyes were fixed on the table.

Damien looked aghast. "Xarek, you don't know what it's like! She'll tear a piece of you out while you're awake to feel it. She'll search through everything that makes you you and take whatever she wants."

Xarek nodded. "And she'll keep doing that to whoever she wants if we don't stop her. Everyone in this room will be at risk, Damien. That's a choice we're all making."

Damien's nostrils flared. "Not all of us had a choice."

"Damien, if this is too much…" Evangeline started.

"No." Damien blew out a breath and shook his head. "No, I've come this far already."

She studied him. I expected to feel a prickle of jealousy, and was surprised when I didn't. I thought of the notes she'd scribbled, still in the notebook upstairs. Trust , she'd written, then underlined it three times.

"All right," Evangeline said, looking around the table and staring each of us in the eyes. "We know where she is. We can get close, trip some of the outer wards, then use Xarek to draw her out."

"Best case, she comes out into the open to get him herself," Theo said. "Worst case, she sends her people to try to get him, leaving her base much less protected."

"If she sends her henchmen, I can lead them away," Xarek said. "What if she comes herself?"

Evangeline stared down at the map, then pushed away from the table and began to pace.

"Then we have a trap set," I said. "A bubble of protective magic, keeping her trapped with us, so she can't call in reinforcements." I looked to Theo, who had the most military experience, and they nodded once, approval glimmering in their eyes.

"Can we keep her trapped if she's as powerful as all that?" Lissa asked. "Not that I don't have the utmost faith in your abilities, of course. I'm simply not an expert in this kind of thing."

"We can figure something out," Isabella said. "Between me, Marcus, and Evangeline, we could keep a pretty powerful spell going for a while. And we might be able to call in some favors."

"Now does seem to be the time to call them in," Marcus murmured in agreement. He still hadn't looked at Xarek.

"If we can't draw her out, can you still use that spell?" I asked.

Evangeline glanced at me, brow furrowed. "For what?"

"To block off whatever her hideout is," I said. "So nobody she sent after Xarek can get back in."

"Might be tricky depending on her wards," Isabella said. "But I think Theo and I might have a backup plan for that."

I raised an eyebrow at Theo, whose grin concerned me.

"So, if Xarek might be leading her followers on a wild goose chase, and the witches will be keeping Morgana contained, then it'll be up to us to actually fight her," Lissa said, gesturing at the other vampires. "Does the wand need to be used by a witch to work?"

"No, it can be wielded by anyone," I said. Trust , I thought. "But I should be the one to do it."

"Why you?" Evangeline asked.

Trust. Just below it, she'd written: Honesty. "The wand will drain her magic, but it'll also drain mine," I said, feeling like I was speaking from a very long way away. "My… My life force. It has to be me, because I was bred to be strong enough to withstand the wand long enough for it to hurt her."

Evangeline grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face her. Suddenly, we might as well have been the only people in the room. Her eyes bored into mine. "What will it do to you?"

"Based on what I saw of my father's experiments with it? Turn me to ash," I said. "None of the people he had use it seemed to be in any pain, though, which is nice."

Evangeline stared at me, her eyes narrowing into slits. "No," she decided abruptly.

"Ev—" I began.

"No! There has to be another way!"

There was a genteel cough, and I remembered the other people in the room existed. Marcus raised his hand like he was waiting to be called on.

"What, Marcus?" Evangeline snapped.

"There is something that may help," he said mildly. "Although it is somewhat…"

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well, you've been feeling much more powerful since you began consuming Evangeline's blood, haven't you?" Marcus asked. He was gratingly cheerful now, which I guessed meant he was pleased about knowing something we didn't know.

"How—Never mind. Yes, I have been," I admitted. "I thought perhaps if I drank from you before the battle it might help," I told Evangeline.

Her scowl softened slightly.

"There's a more direct solution," Marcus said. "The blood drinking would no longer be required, and you would be able to, well, find balance. As the wand drained you, Evangeline's magic would fill you right back up. The drain would be balanced between the two of you."

Next to me, Evangeline had put her hands on her face, which wasn't doing anything to hide the fact that she was slowly but inexorably flushing pink.

"What would it require?" I asked.

"Oh, just a quick ceremony," Marcus said breezily.

Evangeline let out a strangled squeak. Isabella grinned, her eyes sparkling.

"And you're sure this would work?" I pressed him.

"Absolutely," he promised. "The two of you would form a continuous loop of magic. Or life force, power, whichever you prefer. Evangeline's little issue would be dealt with, and you would be strong enough to use the wand without coming to any harm."

Why wasn't Evangeline already on board with this? I looked down at her to find her bright pink and glassy-eyed. Ah. Marcus wasn't telling me something, and it was something big.

"Evangeline," I said softly. "Would this ritual work?"

"I—yeah." She cleared her throat and began again. "Yeah, no, it definitely would."

"You're sure?"

She flashed me a bright, nervous smile. "A hundred percent."

From there, the meeting turned to logistics and preparations, the mundane realities of battle. I drew Evangeline aside with a questioning glance. She took my hand and led me outside. Behind the old mill building was a small, somewhat sad garden, which looked as though it had been planted on the orders of a real estate agent, then left to fend for itself. Leggy plants and leafless brambles surrounded iron patio furniture.

"Tell me what Marcus wasn't telling me," I said.

"He doesn't tell you a lot of stuff," she mumbled. "Could take a while."

"Evangeline," I said sternly.

She sighed. "Yeah, no, I know. It's just kind of a doozy."

"Is the ritual dangerous?"

She huffed out a laugh and leaned against one of the chairs, picking dead leaves out of the iron pattern of its back. "No, it's nothing like that. It's… Okay, so it's sort of like the ritual for familiars, but…"

"But?" I prompted.

"But it's meant to bind two humans—or, well, two humanoids—together."

I watched her. I could be patient when I had to be.

"Body and soul," she continued, twisting a brown leaf until it crumbled. "In sickness or in health. Till…"

Perhaps I should have caught her meaning more quickly, but it blindsided me. "Oh," I said when light dawned.

"Yeah," Evangeline said, looking embarrassed, apologetic, and her cheeks were even pinker now. "I mean, it's not exactly the same, but it's… it's pretty close."

Being magically linked. Being magically married. My mind went blank, then immediately stuttered into overdrive. We were already somewhat linked, weren't we? I couldn't deny how my mind sought her out all the time, and if doing this meant I could help keep her magic from overwhelming her…

The decision was simple. So simple, in fact, I could barely even count it as a decision. Then I smiled.

I took Evangeline's hand, and she looked up at me, her mouth dropping open. The dry autumn grass crunched beneath me as I went down on one knee, and her eyes widened even further.

"Evangeline Summers," I said. "Would you make me the happiest man ali—er, unalive— and do me the honor of defeating an insane witch with me?"

Evangeline stared at me, then let out a shocked, happy laugh. "Gabriel De Montclair, I can honestly say that I thought you'd never ask."