He had about as much interest in calling her Mari as he did in continuing to talk to her. If they became that comfortable with each other, she would undoubtedly return, and no matter how annoying all the pixies were, she was the worst.
And then, the pixie stopped talking, the phoenix turned toward something, and a hush descended across the realm.
A few seconds later, Kaylia emerged from around the backside of her lodge. Sahira rose from where she’d been running her hand over the feathers of a baby phoenix. It squawked in protest but stopped when it spotted Kaylia.
“Come with me,” Kaylia commanded and slipped into her lodge.
Brokk strained to keep his fraying patience under control. This woman had left them here in limbo while she wandered around trying to figure her shit out. And now she was finally back, commanding them around and expecting them to jump because she said so.
He almost told her to fuck off, but they needed her, and she knew it. He shot a look at Sahira, who stared at him like she was willing him to hold his tongue. Brokk shoved his festering ire aside as he started to rise.
Marigold giggled as she fluttered back from his knee. “Good luck!” she called before zipping away.
Brokk rose and trudged toward the lodge. Even if Kaylia had an attitude the size of a giant, at least they would get her decision, and he wouldn’t have to listen to any more pixie drama.
One way or another, they were going to leave this place behind today… if the crones didn’t decide to try to kill them first.
Sahira followed Kaylia into the lodge, and Brokk trailed her. The flap settled into place with a swish behind him. He remained standing by the exit with his arms crossed over his chest. Sahira sank onto the fluffy padding they sat on before; they both stared at him until he reluctantly did the same.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kaylia stared down her aquiline nose at them before shifting her gaze to the wall again. He was growing tired of her inability to look at them. Half vampires or not, neither he nor Sahira was bad, and they didn’t deserve to be treated as if they were lesser.
He didn’t care how beautiful this woman was on the outside; there was something ugly and broken inside her.
“I have decided that to save lives, I will allow you to have the harrow stone,” Kaylia said.
Brokk’s heart lurched with excitement. This was the answer they’d hoped for, but as the days passed, and as he was again reminded how much she despised them, it was not the answer he expected.
“Thank you,” Sahira murmured.
“Yes, thank you,” Brokk said.
“There are, of course, rules to obey. If broken, at any time, you will both die. It won’t be quick, but it will come with time, and it will be painful. You will pay for your disobedience. That is one of the curses of the harrow stone.”
Brokk quirked an eyebrow over this declaration and glanced at Sahira. His life was now entwined with hers and vice versa. Did he trust her enough for that?
He didn’t have a choice if they were going to save his brothers and possibly bring down the Lord. Besides, Sahira wouldn’t do anything to put Lexi at risk, and infuriating these crones could bring their wrath down on all of them.
“We will obey the rules,” Brokk said.
“I know you will,” Kaylia stated, and Brokk’s teeth ground together as she looked dismissively away from him to Sahira. “You will be the only one allowed to use or touch the stone. If someone else touches the stone, they will die. Their death will be instantaneous. No one will be allowed to steal the stone.”
“Understood,” Sahira murmured.
“What are the names of the fae you intend to use it on?”
“Varo and Orin,” Brokk said.
“You will only use it on those two fae. If it’s used on anyone else, not only will you die, but so will they. You are to return it in three days, or you will both face the consequences. That should be plenty of time for you to gather the ingredients and perform the spell. Do you know how to do it?”
“There’s a spell for it in the Book of Shadows my mother left me as a baby.”
“She left you a very powerful book. Most have no record of the spell or the harrow stone. There aren’t many witches who know it exists.”
“It’s the only thing she ever gave me.”
Kaylia’s gaze ran over Sahira before she lifted her nose into the air. “I can understand why.”
The sorrow that flashed across Sahira’s face sent a bolt of anger through Brokk. Yes, witches hated vampires, but Kaylia’s intense loathing was the worst he’d ever encountered.
Sahira didn’t deserve it, and neither did he, but especially not Sahira. From what he’d seen of her, she was good and kind. However, Kaylia knew she had them at her mercy, and she enjoyed it.
Kaylia dipped her hand into the pocket of her ankle-length, white dress and removed something. She opened her hand to reveal a stone almost the size of her palm and more brilliant than a ruby, but the same red hue.
The dim rays of the sun shone off it as she bent to whisper a couple of words to it. He thought he caught his and Varo’s name in the incantation but couldn’t be sure. When she finished speaking, she blew on the stone.
It grew cloudy, and its color dimmed before she placed it on the ground in the center of the lodge. “You may take it now.”
She withdrew in a way that made it clear she didn’t want them touching her when they went for the stone. Brokk despised that she made him feel dirty. He was not lesser because he was a vampire, and neither was Sahira. He understood why the witches hated vampires, but Kaylia took it to a whole new level.
“Are you going to tell anyone what we revealed to you about going against the Lord?” Brokk asked.
Kaylia’s eyes remained focused on the back wall as she spoke. “There are no secrets in the crone realm, but it will not go beyond us.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Unlike vampires, we are loyal.”
Brokk couldn’t stop the snort of disgust that escaped him. He managed to stop himself from telling her where she could shove her stone, but just barely.
“There are many, in all the realms, who have been betrayed by someone they once considered loyal,” he reminded her.
“No one here wants to see me dead.”
He’d only talked to her for a combined total of five minutes, and he seriously doubted that, but before he could say something stupid, she kept speaking.
“We all rely on each other here. We are one here, and I have aligned us against the Lord by giving you the stone. No one will say anything.”
Before they could respond, Kaylia ducked out the back and vanished again.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lexi stepped into the manor’s kitchen and immediately felt a sense of relief as calm stole through her. The familiar scents of Sahira’s potions lingered in the air even though it had been days since she last brewed one.
For a second, Lexi had a surge of hope that perhaps Sahira had returned, but the scent was too faint. Sahira hadn’t returned, but her essence remained. Lexi would give anything to hug her aunt again and worried it might not happen.
She couldn’t lose Sahira too. She wouldn’t be able to handle losing her aunt and her father. Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Lexi pushed aside her morose musings as Sahira’s familiar, a black cat named Shade, twisted his way through Lexi’s legs and meowed.