She didn’t breathe again until he was out the door.
Chapter Eight
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tobias stood outside the gates of his brother’s Garden District home, feeling dejected. Everything he and Sabrina had worked for, their entire home and existence, had been deconstructed at vampire speed. All his clothes and things had been packed into boxes and hidden in a secret room behind the men’s bathroom mirror at the Chicago Theatre, a room that hadn’t been used since the days of Al Capone.
For all intents and purposes, everything he had in the world now fit inside the rolling suitcase that had traveled with him from the airport. As instructed, he’d had his taxi drop him off two blocks from the Prytania Street address Gabriel had given him and he’d walked the rest of the way. But when he reached the Garden District home, he checked the address twice and was sure there had been a mistake. This couldn’t be the right place.
The gate was locked. Worse, although he’d texted his brother Gabriel to say he’d arrived, the house beyond loomed dark and abandoned. The yard was overgrown, the screens on the windows covered in a thick layer of grime and rust that stained the peeling paint of the siding with orange streaks. Not only did the house look uncared for, it looked unwelcoming, with no lights on inside any of the windows. The New Orleans humidity settled over him like a hot, wet blanket, and everything in him told him to leave, to seek the welcoming air-conditioning of the nearest restaurant or bar.
“I’m going to touch your hand.”
Tobias jumped at the sound of his sister-in-law’s voice. Although it had seemed as if she’d been whispering in his ear, he couldn’t see her. But then her hand landed on his and everything changed. The yard tidied itself, the grass retracting into the earth until it appeared freshly mowed, the bushes’ gangly branches becoming perfectly sculpted, and the house’s exterior smoothed to a freshly painted, welcoming butter yellow. The gate clicked open.
“To aíma tou aímatós mou,” Raven chanted as Tobias stepped across a granite slab that served as the threshold, carved with symbols he couldn’t read. She explained, “It roughly translates to blood of my blood. This place is protected with a blood ward, Gabriel’s and mine. Anyone who crosses the threshold must be touching one of us or be marked with our blood.”
Tobias understood the need for such security. Ever since they’d discovered that their own mother had been part of the coup that resulted in the murder of their oldest sibling and their own exile from Paragon, their lives had been in jeopardy. Only a few short weeks ago, mommy dearest and her sidekick, an evil fairy named Aborella, had sent the captain of the Obsidian Guard to kill them. They’d survived the attack, but none of them were ignorant enough to believe it would be the only one. And that threat was completely separate and distinct from the one Tobias had to now share with Raven and Gabriel concerning his wife’s vampire kin.
Raven closed the gate behind them and a ripple warped the air, tinting everything red for a flash before fading to normal again.
“Whoa,” he said, placing a hand on his stomach at the place where he felt the spell pass through him.
“Yeah, it’s strong. Witch and dragon magic braided together.” She rubbed a hand over the small mound of her lower belly. “Pregnant witch. This little guy has made me about twenty times stronger than usual. No one is getting in here without an invitation.”
“And no one can see us from outside the gate?”
“Or hear us. Or find us. The house isn’t in either of our names. Gabriel has a lawyer friend who set up a trust as owner. There’s no way to trace us. You’re safe here.”
“What exactly did you mean, marked by your blood?”
She flipped over her wrist and showed him a small red tattoo of three wavy lines bisected by an arrow. “We put a drop of our blood in the ink.”
He sucked air in through his teeth. “As a doctor, I have to tell you that is not medically advisable.”
Gabriel strode through the front door and grabbed his suitcase out of his hand. “The only thing that matters is that it’s magically advisable.”
“Hello, brother.” He accepted Gabriel’s hug. “I appreciate your taking me in on such short notice.”
“About that, your message was light on the details. Come inside, have a drink, and tell us why you suddenly had to leave your wife.” Gabriel ushered them inside, depositing Tobias’s bag in the foyer before following Raven into a formal dining room where a tea service fit for royalty was waiting.
Meow.A tortoiseshell cat leaped down from the bookshelf and rubbed against his legs. He reached down and scratched her behind the ears. “Missed you too, Artemis.”
“She’s the best cat, Tobias. Honestly, thank you,” Raven said.
“No. Thank you. It wasn’t like I could keep her.”
“Have some coffee or tea. You look exhausted.” Raven motioned toward the spread.
“You two didn’t have to do all this,” Tobias said. He’d been rushed to leave Chicago and hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so it was a welcome sight.
“We didn’t. Compliments of Juniper and Hazel.” Gabriel poured himself a coffee.
That’s right. Juniper and Hazel were Gabriel’s oreads. Tobias hadn’t ever taken one into his service, but only because he’d gone through a phase where he’d tried to deny who he was. He had no problem with them now.
Raven’s hand landed on his. “Tell us what happened. Did you and Sabrina have a falling-out?”
“No, nothing like that. It turns out that an ancient vampire named Aldrich saw me shift at Sabrina’s coronation.”
