The emotions that filled me at his words were too many to begin to identify. My throat was tight, making it hard to respond. “Finn, I love you too. That was never the issue.”
He cut me off one final time, his smile sad but firm. “I don’t need an explanation. I think I actually understand, but even if I don’t, things worked out as they should.” He paused, looking over his shoulder. “We’ve used too much time. We need to go.”
At thefork in the stairs, the others stood waiting. After the moment with Finn a few seconds before, I felt strangely exposed as I looked on their faces, especially Schwint’s. To my surprise, he gave me a friendly smile and nod. I doubted I would be so accepting if my boyfriend had spent time alone with his ex. Though it was hard to picture Finn with anyone else, an innate sense of kindness surrounded the fairy that made me like him, despite myself.
No words were exchanged between Newton and Caitlin and I, but we shared a unifying feeling, something I’d never dreamed possible with Finn’s sister. I guess facing a bunch of vampires together transcended any differences in personality.
When I saw Shane on the steps below the rest, my surprise told me that I’d not really expected him to stay around. “You sure you wanna do this?”
His rugged face broke into a wide smile. “Told you I wanted adventure. Don’t try to cut me out now.”
Forty-Four
FINN DE MORISCO
Schwint kissedme good-bye at the top of the stairs as we entered the main floor of the Cathedral. Following the plan, he walked away.
“Wait.” I cringed when my voice was louder than I’d intended. I rushed toward him as he turned back to me.
“Change of plan? Do you think I should come with you to get Cynthia?”
I shook my head and grabbed him by the upper arms as I reached him. “No. I still think it’s best if you’re close to the dining chamber so you can stall if Gwala gets impatient. I just need to tell you…” My words were strangled by the tears that threatened.
Schwint smiled and pulled me into his arms. Within seconds, he moved away once more and paused to kiss my lips briefly. “I know. I love you too, my little warlock. Now go. We’ve taken too long as it is, and who knows how much time it will take Brett to get Cynthia free, if it’s even possible.”
I couldn’t respond, so I tried to nod.
With another smile, Schwint turned, rising off the ground, and flew toward where the vampires were in the midst of Charity’s ceremony.
“Come on, Finn. We gotta go.” Caitlin pulled at my arm, and I turned back toward the group.
The journey to where Cynthia was imprisoned felt strange. Though only a few brief minutes away, the Cathedral was eerily silent. There was never a time that vampires weren’t roaming throughout the fortress. Even with the late afternoon sunlight pouring through the openings in the ceiling, the stillness made the beautiful place feel like a tomb.
Caitlin gaped as she stared at our sister through the window. “This is where she’s been? She looks like a fucking princess in there. You flashed that damn picture on the table so fast, I didn’t really get a chance to take it all in. Wish they’d taken me instead. Better than sharing that damned cave with Pewlet for all that time.”
The fairy didn’t even take issue with the use of his given name. “A prison is a prison.”
Ignoring him, Caitlin turned to Brett. “You really think you can get her out? Finn’s already tried every spell he can think of, and I guarantee Cynthia has as well.”
In response, Brett stepped forward, put one hand on the glass, and the other flat against the smooth pink marble of the wall. “Yeah. I’m sure. I couldn’t place it when I first saw it, but after being in the mers’ enclosure, I’m certain. This place is demon-made. It has to be. It’s all too perfect. I’ve only seen that once before.”
“Even so, that doesn’t mean you can—”
“Let him try, witch. You’re not helping.”
To my amazement, Caitlin didn’t offer a retort to the werewolf. She actually nodded and stepped back.
Brett glanced over his shoulder, his eyes on mine. “Actually, if you could all move back quite a ways. I’m pretty sure I can do this, but I don’t know how hot it will have to get.” Something changed in his expression, and he looked down. “Oh, I hadn’t thought about those.” He lowered his hand and slipped the shorts over his legs, then tossed them to Shane.
When he was confident we were far enough away, he returned his attention to the task at hand.
All I remembered of Brett’s ability was him bursting into uncontrolled flames whenever he couldn’t rein in his emotions. Watching him now, as the fire started under his palms and spread up over his arm and then encompassed his naked body, the increase in his strength and power was undeniable. It seemed incomprehensible that there’d ever been any doubt to his heritage. He was every inch a demon as his inferno roared around him.
Through the blaze, Cynthia was visible, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing us. Her expression was fierce—not in anger, but in barely controlled power.
Confirming my suspicion that she knew we were there, the sconces surrounding her chamber and as far down the passageways as I could see combusted in surges of fire.
“Holy shit.” Caitlin’s muttered words echoed my own thoughts. The witch who was getting ready to exit was not the same as the one who had been captured.
