“Did Gwala not teach you, child?” He continued without waiting for a response. “The vampires oversee the Squares. Make sure everything is as it should be in each one.”
At Sonia’s continued look of confusion, the demon rose back to his full height and made a sweeping motion with his arms, his gesture seeming to encompass so much more than the banquet room. “We steal the souls, vampire. The Squares are but one tool in which we accomplish that end.” His lips curled in distaste. “Your ilk manages that particular system for us. And you just rose to the top.”
Sonia looked on the edge of panic. She glanced around the room as if an escape might present itself. “I can’t. I don’t want it.”
“I didn’t ask.” Chuckling, he turned back to me, as if sharing a joke. “Training her should be interesting. She’s got a lot more to her than Gwala ever had.”
I searched for some way to help her. Strike some sort of bargain.
Finn’s voice cut between us, drawing our attention across the room. “Can you help her? Please?”
Finn was against the wall, tears streaming down his face, Caitlin’s body limp in his arms. Nearby, Schwint stood protectively over Cynthia’s still-unconscious form.
The demon stared at Finn and Caitlin for a moment before responding in a bored tone. “Even if I wanted to, warlock, I cannot heal the dead.”
With no other response, without looking back toward me, he disappeared in a final surge of flame.
Forty-Eight
BRETT WRIGHT
Somewhere inall the chaos around Caitlin’s death, Sonia disappeared. Since I was afraid what her reaction might be once she recovered from the shock of her new fate, I thought it best to leave the Vampire Cathedral immediately. In all honesty, I doubted she would recover any time soon, if ever. Still, I didn’t know how long the other vampires would be away from the fortress, nor did I have any delusions that my demon grandfather would show up to protect us. Cynthia was still unconscious as we ran down the stairs that led to our escape. Shane carried her, while Finn refused to let anyone else take care of Caitlin’s body.
Somehow the sense of terror had increased as we’d run from the piles of ash in the banquet chamber. It was all too quiet. Not even the distant cry of animals. Only the echo of our feet on the marble floor and the rustle of Cynthia’s gown.
Even as we reached the fork in the tunnel, one path descending to freedom, the other to the mers, the rank stench of the torched vampires seemed to cloud around us.
Ahead of me, Schwint led Finn down the steps toward the underground harbor, helping guide his steps as he made sure he didn’t fall with Caitlin’s body.
“Wait!” My voice echoed through the stone passageways.
Only Schwint and Shane looked back at the noise. Finn didn’t even stop until Schwint blocked his path.
We waited for a moment, perhaps afraid my cry would call the vampires down upon us. Bring Gwala back from the dead. When nothing happened, I stepped forward, moving past Shane and closing the distance between Finn and me. My gaze flicked toward Schwint, but I looked back to Finn before he could respond. I didn’t need his permission.
He gave it anyway. As I reached Finn, the fairy moved down several steps, giving us privacy. Or at least the illusion of it.
I moved in front of Finn, reaching over Caitlin’s body to grasp his shoulder. His brown eyes shifted to look my way, but they were unfocused and distant. There were so many things I wanted to say. So many things that didn’t even have words. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Tears continued to fall down his face as I pulled him close, pressing Caitlin between us. I kissed his cheek and managed to whisper that I loved him.
I wasn’t sure how long I held him before I felt Schwint’s hand on my back. Feeling as if I were ripping my own heart out, I released my hold and stepped away. Schwint squeezed my shoulder and mumbled something I couldn’t make out, then led him away.
I’d like to think at least some of Finn’s tears were for me, for us. In my honest moments, I doubt it. I don’t really think he was aware of anything that was going on outside of his grief for his sister. Still, maybe some of the tears were for me. A selfish wish.
“Are you sure you can free the mers yourself?” Shane stepped down, pausing when he was even with me. “I can stay.”
As I looked back at him, Cynthia’s body was between us, just like her older sister before her. Cynthia’s skin still had a faint glow about it. I stretched my hand out and stroked her cheek with the back of my index finger. She’d saved us all. The purest of us all had been the one to harness the power of a demon. I’d felt the shift when she’d begun to absorb my power. Something had changed in me, and I was certain the same was true for her. Poor, fragile Cynthia.
Not anymore. I hoped I hadn’t broken her.
“Brett, would you like me to stay?” Shane’s voice drew my attention away from the tiny witch in his arms.
“No.” I couldn’t suppress a grin as I looked into his face. “I’m not sure who would be more scared. The mers seeing a werewolf swimming around, or you having to get your hair wet.”
He smiled back at me. “Good thing I don’t have much hair to get wet, huh?”
“Thank you, Shane, but go.” I glanced back down the empty steps, then met Shane’s gaze. “Keep them safe. Make sure they get home, okay?”
