“You have nothing to fear,” he says.
And despite there beingso manythings for me to fear right now, I believe his words so deeply that my muscles surrender the last of their tension. I’m at the edge of unconsciousness when he murmurs something I don’t understand.
“I will always protect my mate, no matter the cost.”
But I’m too far gone to ask what he means before warm darkness whisks me away.
twenty-seven
Witchy Fun with Friends
Idon’t know how long I sleep for, but when I wake, Rhaz is gone and I feel like I had a full night’s rest. I’m only a little sad he’s gone. I know he has things he needs to take care of, and he has to be in the bar. He stayed until I fell asleep, at least.
The clock on my phone shows it’s after two and I scramble out of bed. I was supposed to rest for thirty minutes and it’s been three hours! I slap on another layer of deodorant and run downstairs.
The café is already looking better, even though one of the windows is covered in cling film. We can’t get someone to replace the window for another few days, but that’s fine. Our plan is still a few days out from being executable.
Nai Nai, Deelia, Ace, and Lacey are on the far side of the bar. Grandma’s drawn some symbols on the wall and has the three of them diligently practicing with a paintbrush. These are the combination runes that will capture Lei. I’ll have to activatethem with a spoken incantation, but the phrase is short enough that I know it’ll work.
Capturing him, and whatever goons he brings with, is just step one. The next steps are trickier. We have to bind them from doing harm against us, our family, and our friends. Blood will be needed for this part, but surprisingly, Lacey and Deelia didn’t even blink when we mentioned it.
Deelia in particular has had a smile on her face the entire day, and I see it hasn’t waned.
I pick up a brush and practice the runes with them.
“You know,” Deelia peeps, then spews a string of words so quickly I barely understand her. “I used to do something just like this every Wednesday here.”
“Yes, I know,” Nai Nai says. “I read about it in the paper. I knew you would understand.”
Huh, so she’s the séance lady. That makes sense. I remember seeing her picture in the paper that covered the windows when we first got here; she was just younger.
“How long have you been doing that kind of work?” I ask.
“Oh, all my life. I’ve spoken to the other side,” she says, her glasses gleaming as she grins at me.
“I believe it. I have too,” I say.
“The veil between realms has always been weaker here. I’m not sure why. I’ll be sad to see it firmed up,” she says as she swishes the last arm on a protection symbol.
“Not too firm,” Nai Nai says with a smile for me. “We have friends on the other side.”
“Oh, my! You made friends with them?” Deelia asks.
“Jade has aboooyfrieeend,” Ace says with a teasing tone.
I reach across the table and jab him with my paintbrush, blotting a black mark on his cheek.
“Hey! It’s true,” he complains, swiping at me with his brush.
Lacey giggles. “He may be a demon, but he’s nice.”
“Interesting.” Deelia hums. “And he’s not here…helping?”
I rub the back of my neck. “I wouldn’t want him to get in trouble with the magic police. I’m guessing we’re breaking a few laws, but if we don’t know them, it’s not our fault, right?”
“Magic police?” Ace asks, his voice cracking.
“Yeah, they’re called the Interdimensional Bureau of Magical Affairs. I guess they’re police for every plane, but small stuff, like what we’re doing, seems to fly under their radar.”
