I lost my battle with gravity, landing on my ass on the wooden kitchen floor.
Pops was immediately at my side, his large frame crouched over me. “Erasmus.” Pops’s fingers pushed my cold, sweat-damp hair from my eyes. “Talk to me, Erasmus. Your pulse is thready, and your skin is clammy. I do not like your vitals. I need you to—”
“He has them,” I no more than whispered. “Huxley has them. I’ve been staying in the house like a coward, so he went after them.” I’d been a selfish fool. I’d thought I’d been protecting everyone by hiding away, but all I’d done was paint new targets for Tenzen Huxley to go after.
“Doubtful.” Leon’s voice wasn’t cold. It was cool like spring rain. I had no idea when he’d woken and entered the kitchen. When I pulled my eyes from my shaking hands, it was to find Leon’s cheeks flushed from a recent feeding. He was alone and freshly fed, which most likely meant Phlox was sleeping it off in bed.
Pops pulled in another harsh breath. “Vampire.”
“Warlock,” Leon calmly answered before dismissing Pops by crouching down on my other side. He didn’t attempt to reach for me. Leon sat on his haunches, head slightly cocked to the side. “It sounds like much happened while I slumbered.”
My head dropped, gaze landing on the dust bunnies clinging to the cracks in the floorboards. “I think… We think Huxley has Momma and Franklin. He went after them when he couldn’t get to me. I should have—”
“I doubt there is much you could have done to change the outcome. While it is true you have stayed within the protective wards of your home in recent days, this was not true before. Huxley could have taken you any time prior. He did not. Nor did he take your mother or mate before. There is a rhythm and plan only Huxley understands.”
“But it’s me he wants,” I argued. “Momma and Franklin can’t hurt a djinn. Only I can do that.”
“Gaia have mercy.” Pops reared back but didn’t remove his touch. “There are djinn involved.”
Leon answered, “Two that we know of.”
“There could be more,” Aureliahelpfullyanswered. “I only saw the two.” She didn’t sound exactly put-out about the situation.
Pops grumbled something I didn’t completely understand. Leon seemed to be the only one with a functioning, calculating brain. “And if Huxley had taken you, threatened you with the loss of your life if you did not do what he wants, if you refused to fulfill the threat only you can make good on, would you do as he asked? Would you return the djinn’s soul making them vulnerable and signing their death warrant?”
I was horrified. “Of course not! Only if lives were at risk. None of us know what Tenzen wants with the djinn, but I think we can all agree it’s not for the betterment of society in general. That said, I wouldn’t hold it against the djinn involved. I… Itwould be unfair to punish them. I’d only do it if absolutely necessary.”
Leon’s obsidian eyes shimmered in the fading light of my kitchen. The sun was continuing its descent from the sky. “Tenzen Huxley is no fool. He’s observed you long enough to understand you are not a weak-minded individual who is easily controlled. And if that is the case, then what Huxley needs is—”
“Leverage,” Pops all but growled.
Leon tilted his head in agreement. “And what better leverage than the twohumansyou love. Huxley chose his victims well. Humans are fragile beings.”
My head shot up, chin jutting out as determination filled my veins. “Fragile, maybe. Weak, never.”
Pops’s chuckle was anything but mirthful. “Huxley has definitely made a miscalculation. Lydia Boone is no wilting violet. I would not have chosen her to birth my son if that were true.”
“Franklin’s no slouch either.” Most likely Franklin was pissed.
A pulsing blue glow caught my attention, and when I looked Aurelia’s way, my eyes widened in surprise. Most of her tattoos flared, and I doubted I’d ever seen her eyes that bright. Fuzzy Britches was no longer sleeping. Deep brown eyes shimmered through narrowed openings, her lips pulled back, showing off her deadly maw filled with razor-sharp teeth. Aurelia’s voice was cold enough to freeze the warmest sea. “I do not like not knowing where Lydia Boone is. I do not like this feeling at all.”
Leon’s smirk was just shy of showing fang. “I believe Warlock Holland is correct. Our shadow borne has made a miscalculation. A very serious miscalculation.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Franklin
I woke with a start and sat up far too quickly. My head swam. It felt like the roar of the ocean was inside, waves crashing in my brain. Cupping my forehead in my hands, I leaned over and groaned.
“It’ll pass. Take shallow breaths. That helped me.”
My head snapped in the direction of a voice I knew all too well. “Ms. Boone?” My throat was scratchy and ached with those simple words.
“Lydia, dear.” Her smile was soft with an apologetic edge, as if it were her fault we were… Where exactly were we?
I slowly registered Lydia’s hand rubbing circles on my back. Focusing on her touch and taking those small, shallow breaths helped me regain my equilibrium. The nausea rolling in my stomach dissipated as did my swimming head. The crash of waves remained.
