The hunter wanted to argue, I could see that. But I was feeling better, Lula looked ready for a fight, and Hado loomed over Abbi and snarled.
It was Franny who broke the stalemate.
“You have traded fairly,” she said. “I give you my word and the bond of my coven. We’ll see to it they meet you there before sunset, with your token, which we will guard and keep safe.
“Also,” she said, “if you need medical care, healing, or rest, we will provide it for you. You are welcome to return with us.”
I didn’t think I’d ever seen the real face of the ghoul before.
But for a moment, he was so shocked by that offer, his entire face seemed to shift into something that almost looked like longing.
Then he shook his head as if warding off an annoying gnat.
“Tomorrow,” he snarled. “By sunset. If you betray me, I will hunt you down and feast on your entrails.” He took one step back, two.
Then he was gone, faded into darkness.
Abbi blew out a breath. “Okay,” she said. “We need to go back to the witches now. Right? We’re going back?”
“We’re going back,” I agreed.
Lula put her hand on Abbi’s head, and the Moon Rabbit leaned her face into her side for a minute.
“Thank you,” Lula said. “You did really good.”
“You were bright,” I added. “Like the sun.”
Abbi held still a moment, then tipped her head up.
“I’m getting cookies for this, right?” Her mouth dipped then rose again like she was fighting off tears. “Or ice cream?”
Abbi wasn’t a fighter, wasn’t a killer. She was good at running and hiding. She was good at seeing things and hearing things.
But she’d just taken on a swarm of vampires and melted them down like she was the sun itself.
“You get all the cookies and ice cream you can eat, Pumpkin,” I told her.
And oh, the smile she gave me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ifell asleep on the car ride back to the honky tonk. Abbi woke me and Lula both. The witches were at the door, helping us out of the SUV and into the bar.
Rhianna, with the ratty little elephant toy clutched tightly against her chest, was already showing signs of being more human—her color better, her eyes less hollow.
Cassia carried her off to a room, singing a sweet lullaby about pretty horses.
Variance was on a stretcher in the middle of the dance floor. He’d been bathed and bandaged and was asleep. Several people gathered closer to him and picked up the stretcher, following Cassia out of the room.
If they were lucky, if they mixed the spells correctly with the vampire blood, Rhianna would be fully cured.
“We’re hopeful for Variance too,” Franny told Lu and me, as she led us back to a bedroom. “The spells from the Crossroads were very powerful. We will return them once they are both healed.”
The room was small, painted a soft green, and was very clean, smelling of gardenia. A queen-size bed, with a carved woodenheadboard and patchwork quilt, filled most of the space. A door at the end of the room led to a small, private bathroom.
I wanted to fall onto that bed and sleep for a century.
“I’ll send Cassia in to look at your injuries,” Franny said. “You can shower if you want. There’s water there,” she pointed at a minifridge, “and I’ll bring you some food. Lula, do you need blood?”
