Chapter 190: Chapter 190
Heather
After the press conference, we grabbed food and headed to the labs. Now that we’d dealt with all the human drama, it was time to get to work. I had my messenger bag of stuff from Luciana’s craft room to show Claudia, and she had stuff from Peru to show me.
Mg qIf she’d brought back whatever she used to cure Raphael, then it was probably something that could help us against Luciana and her demons.
Hope blossomed that we might finally have a way to take her down.
Claudia, Adrian, Shane, Raphael, Cosette, and Brent look gathered with me in the lab. I hadn’t seen Beth since she found out about the coven, but I assumed the others were checking on her.
The rest of the Weres were on guard duty. Brent should’ve been with them, but he didn’t want to be apart from me today, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to argue. Although with Luciana on the loose and the ever-growing mob at our gates, they needed everyone they could get to keep the tension from boiling over.
Claudia placed her purse on the raised lab table. It clanged against the metal top. "All the objects I brought back from Peru are pure, white magic.
They’re potent, and I think they can be used to fight Luciana. The trick will be how we use them."
She pulled out the items one by one. The first was a bunch of tiny bundles of braided white hair. Next came a shriveled severed hand.
A few days ago, that would’ve totally freaked me out. But after what had been done to la Aquelarre, one hand was no big deal. And it was loads better than the jar of eyeballs.
Then a ring with a seal on it came next. And last, a knife. Claudia arranged everything on the table before pulling out the last item. "This is the most interesting piece."
She held up a gray crystal. It looked like one those cheap polished rocks they sold at rest stops. "Are you sure? I was thinking that hand was kind of the winner."
My cousin grinned. "I guess you’re right, but the crystal killed a demon."
Now she had my attention. I took the crystal from her, but I didn’t feel one lick of magic. "Are you sure it was the crystal? Not your own magic?"
"I’m sure. I think I used up all its magic when I stabbed the demon with it. It used to glow, like it was lit from the inside with a pure white light."
I set the crystal down. "That would’ve been too easy."
Cosette touched the crystal and her eyes narrowed. "Can we get more of them?"
Claudia nodded, and hope blossomed. "But it’s a long trek. I’m not sure we could get someone there and back in time."
"How long could it really take?" I asked. "You got back to Raphael so fast. If we send someone the same way, it shouldn’t be a problem."
She mumbled, mangling her words so much that even with my hearing, I couldn’t understand what she said.
"What?"
She cleared her throat, but wouldn’t meet anyone’s gaze. Instead, she stared at the crystal. "I made a promise with a fey to get me to Raphael."
Cosette jerked, knocking the crystal onto the floor. It skittered away, but everyone stood frozen. "I thought I expressly told you not to do that."
"I had no choice." Claudia rubbed her hands together. "My brother’s life was on the line."
Energy vibrated off Cosette and I realized this was the first time I’d ever seen her angry.
It made me worried for Claudia. By all accounts, fey could be tricky. Even saying thank you could lead to bad things happening. Making a bargain could be deadly.
Cosette muttered fey curses as she picked up the crystal and then plunked it on the table. "What were the terms? Exactly as they were stated. And who did you make this bargain with?"
"I gave him a favor of his choosing—"
"No you didn’t," Cosette’s voice was so cold, the sound made me shiver. Claudia was definitely in trouble.
"There were terms..."
"What terms?" A wave of energy spiked from Cosette and she was definitely casting off a glow. "Do you even know what court this fey was from?"
"Cosette," I said. "Calm down."
Raphael cleared his throat. "I know that what my sister did might not have been the best thing, but I was dying. If you’re worried about her, know that I’m willing to pay the price. Especially if it’s something that could harm her."
"No!" Claudia hit her brother’s shoulder. "It’s my debt to pay."
"No. It’s mine." Raphael crossed his arms as he stared down at his sister.
"Argue all you want." Cosette rubbed her temples, but at least she’d stopped glowing. "It doesn’t work like that."
"It doesn’t matter. I made the deal and I’m prepared to go through with it." Claudia pulled a chair to the table and sat. "We agreed that I wouldn’t do anything bad or evil, or kill or hurt anyone. He also agreed that he wouldn’t hurt or kill me or anyone I love. He can’t steal my magic or bind me to anyone. If I have to go somewhere for the favor, Lucas comes with me. And whatever he asks can’t override the agreement between the wolves and the fey."
"Mother of..." Cosette scrunched her eyes tight. "Give me your hand."
The deal sounded pretty airtight to me, but I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to see what Cosette would do.
Claudia offered her hand. Cosette took it gently and then closed her eyes, muttering something in her language.
The seconds drew out as Cosette did... I wasn’t really sure what she was doing, but when she finally let go, she pressed her forehead to the table. Her thick curls hid her face, but they didn’t muffle her voice. "If this is a test, it’s not funny."
We all exchanged glances. It looked like I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t tell whether this was seriously bad or if Cosette was just being dramatic.
Claudia broke the silence. "I made the deal and whatever I have to pay, it was worth it to save my brother." She shook her shoulders, as if she was physically pushing the tension away. "What matters now is how are we going to defeat Luciana?"
"I managed to salvage some books and things from Luciana’s house before it was burned." I started unloading my messenger bag, piling the books and things on the table beside Claudia’s relics. "In our defense, we had a bunch of dead bodies—including police officers. We couldn’t just leave everything as it was."
"Right." The word was clipped. "That doesn’t really help me as my whole life has been burned."
A wave of guilt had me hunching my shoulders. I should’ve been firmer about waiting. With the police tape leaking, destroying the compound hadn’t even done any good. "You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like."
"And the pack will help you relocate," Brent chimed in. "Buy houses for each of you. We’ll make sure you’re not homeless and left in the lurch."
"That would be appreciated," Shane said. "I’m not sure where we belong now, but I’m not above taking some charity." He crossed his arms, showing off his tattooed biceps.
"We wouldn’t do that to you," Adrian said. "The pack burned down your homes to hide our actions. It’s standard that we’d put you up and help you."
If I hadn’t been watching for it, I wouldn’t have noticed the way his arm gently pressed against Shane’s side. Adrian caught me looking, and I quickly turned my attention to Raphael. If Adrian wanted to have a secret, then that was his choice, but I hoped he’d confide in me when we finally had a quiet moment.
"How are you doing?" I asked Raphael.
"I’m okay. How are you?"
He was playing it tough, but I knew from experience what going up against Luciana was like. She’d taken something from me, too. "Doing better than before, but a brush with true evil leaves its mark." I paused. It probably wasn’t the best time to bring this up, but if I didn’t say something now, then I didn’t know when I’d have the chance. "I upset you at the press conference."
He shook his head. "No."
Maybe I was being too sensitive, but I really felt like I’d said something to hurt him. "But you walked away..."
"You don’t understand Luciana and why she’s doing this."
"No." I shook my head slowly. "I don’t. At first, I thought it was about the wolves, but now... I don’t know why she’s doing any of it. What’s the point of attacking humans in San Antonio? It makes no sense." I blew out a breath. "Do you have any thoughts?"
"A few."
I motioned my arms wide. "Please. Anything could help."
He pulled a stool over, and sat down. "Sorry. I don’t have all my energy back yet."
That sucked. I’d only recovered quickly from being drained because I was a Were.
"The thing you have to understand about Luciana is that she’s not a strong witch—not on her own—and she never was. Yet, she was next in line for the coven because of her visions. She saw the future in her dreams,
but it was always vague. Dream visions are never all that reliable. The waking ones get you closer to the truth." I briefly wondered if what I’d seen counted as a dream vision or a waking one, but Raphael kept taking before I could process.
"Luciana kept seeing visions of war. She talked about them all the time. How she saw the wolves fighting us. She never saw the setting. She never knew the context. But she started gearing up for war."
I knew some of this already—about her weak visions—but hearing it now that I’d experienced the vaguer side of the future, it was as if the proverbial lightbulb had been lit.
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