“I’m a demon. I have no knowledge of auto mechanics. I wouldn’t need to use an accident of that sort to accomplish the same ending.”
“I can’t lose my sister.”
Anger flashed the hurt. “You don’t believe me.”
“I want to, Malik. I do. But I can’t risk Felicia.”
He walked away from her. “But you can risk me.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
He spun back toward her. “I was blinded by love, Merada, when your aunt entombed me. I should have felt that power about to ruin my life, but my focus was on you. I watched you die. I saw you wrap your arms around our child still in your womb after you took the poison. There was nothing I could do to stop it. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”
“I’m Tori.”
“Excuse me?”
“You called me Merada.”
“Merada. Victorianna. By any name, you are my soul. You have been for centuries. And yet, despite the fact that I have done nothing of which I am accused, you still fault me for wanting to be with you forever.” He held up a finger. “A forever that does not include immortality, which is damned lonely.”
“Don’t make me choose.”
He walked away. “Your choice has been made. There is no win to this situation.”
Tears ran down her face as he disappeared into the bedroom. Tori walked outside and leaned against the railing that lined her deck.
A flutter of wings and Sonhos perched next to her. Without thinking, she reached over and stroked his soft feathers.
“You’re much larger than I thought crows were.”
His eyes watched her as he preened at her touch. She reached up and ran a finger down his beak. “What do you think? Am I wrong for being suspicious?”
The crow took a step closer and nuzzled his beak into her neck. She gently rested her head against his and continued to stroke his feathers. The simple gesture just made things worse.
A bird that has been locked up with him for so long still believes in him.
Listen to the crow.
Can you risk your sister?
Her heart and her mind warred, yet no answers appeared. After a few moments, Sonhos straightened and shook his body to fluff out his feathers. With a mighty caw, his massive wings spread, and he took to the sky.
He wants me to remember. The thought popped into her head. She watched him disappear. I wonder if he can avoid going back in the stone this time.
When she went back in the house, Malik was gone. The crack in her heart shattered into a million pieces, the same way she imagined she had shattered his.
Her cell phone buzzed. “Hey, Dad.”
“You do what’s right for your sister.”
She moaned. “Are you sure you don’t have powers of your own?”
“My daughter, you don’t love a woman like your mother as hard as I did and not learn a thing or two. Tell me. Talk to me. I won’t interrupt.”
With a sob, the story burst from her from beginning to end. She told him everything, including the sex out of wedlock.
Please don’t judge me.
When she finished, he remained silent.
“Dad?” Just my luck if the call dropped.
“You have quite a quandary.”
“What do I do, Daddy? Tell me because I don’t know.”
“A demon presents special challenges. You don’t need powers to see that. But you have your mother’s spirit. You need to trust in your own abilities to sift through the layers and find the truth.”
“But Felicia.”
“Victorianna, I have forever challenged you to care for your sister, and you have done a marvelous job. But this situation is for you alone. I do not believe that your Malik will risk your love for revenge. Love alone would protect him against what occurred in the past. And your power is stronger than you know to keep him safe.”
“But Rosie and Helena.”
She heard him sigh. “I cannot say one way or the other. My gut guides me in the direction of coincidence; my cynicism still wonders. You know I’m not a fan of this entire world of sorcery, so this conversation is difficult at best for me.”
“You know I won’t risk my sister.”
“Only you can decide whether love can override your doubt.”
Chapter Fourteen
Tori sat in a yoga position on the floor of her mother’s chamber. Malik had never returned, and the full moon was about to rise. She needed answers.
She controlled her breathing and tried to clear her mind. She breathed in the lingering scents of cinnamon and bluebonnets that permeated the room no matter how much time passed since her mother had last been there. She heard her heart beat, strong and unafraid.
And conflicted.
“Please, Momma. Please help me know what to do.”
She had spent the entire day searching the grimoire for an answer and going through every journal her mother had ever written in. Nothing had given her what she needed.
Tori could feel her mother’s power flow through her as she focused on it, and with it, a fresh surge of energy as it mingled with her own. Edward was right; her abilities were many and her strength was extraordinary.
If you could just make it work for you.
If you had paid attention to it all these years.
If you had just listened to your mother.
She finally stood and stretched. Meditation had never been her strong point and today was proving no different. The book on past life regression sat open on the desk. She pushed the cover closed in frustration. Her attempts to unlock that door in her mind that held Merada’s past consciousness had failed.
I’m sorry, Momma. I should have respected you more.
I should have accepted a gift instead of accepting a curse.
I should have been possessed by the passion that you tried to teach.
She locked the door to the chamber and sat out on the steps. The sun hung low on the horizon. While she didn’t know where Malik was at the moment, she knew where he’d be at midnight.
The same place she would be. The difference this time was it wouldn’t take a coven to return him to the immortal stone.
It would only take her.
She sighed and went back inside. She stopped at the wall that held all of her family photos. There were several of her with her siblings before Roger had fled. She picked up one of her and Felicia before they hit their teenage years.
“What were we doing here?”
She couldn’t remember what the secret was that they had shared, but their mother had snapped the photograph as they both giggled about it.
I love you, sis.
She shuffled the papers where she had rewritten the spell used to release Malik. Nothing but words on paper, but when she spoke them, she would send him to his final destiny.
A piece of stone.
A gargoyle with wings.
But she had added a caveat that would prevent anyone from releasing him again, on purpose or by accident. Seasoned witches or dabblers.
Her hand splayed across her abdomen. She could already sense a tiny presence, not quite big enough to make itself known. But it was there.
Just like Merada.
Created the night in his realm.
He doesn’t even know.
Regardless, it wouldn’t be an aspect of her decision. She grabbed a jacket and headed out the door.
Malik stood in the field when she arrived. He’d set both pieces of the marble up on the rock and kept his back to her as she approached.