I tilt my head at her, realizing she sounds more affected than she wants to let on about the Slayer dying.
“You know that he staked a vampire near me, and showed up at my house?” I tell Iris.
“I’m sure the psycho did,” she says with a nod, back to rubbing her temples. “Listen. I don’t like him much either, but I can’t let him die, okay?”
I stand from my chair. “Well, I can’t let anything happen to Warin. I actually like him.”
“Even though he’s a vampire?” Iris asks.
“Yes. He’s not perfect, far from it, but he’s protected me from the Slayer and from the vampire council. He’s the one I’ve been waiting for. I don’t know how to explain it,” I say, exacerbated.
Iris holds up her hand. “I’m sorry, Ember, I don’t mean to question you. I haven’t slept much. Having a demon, well, something adjacent in your house along with other nuisances has me exhausted,” Iris says.
“Wow. Okay. I thought my life was dramatic, but I think you two take the cake. So you both have supernatural mates of a…unique variety and they’re both trying to kill each other. Cool, awesome. What do we do now?” Violet says.
“For now, we go to the moon ritual. We act like everything is normal. You know your grandma is going to lose her shit when she finds out, Em. You being with a vampire may be the thing that sends her into an early grave. I’m sure some of the coven might have an issue with it at first, but they’ll have to get over it,” Iris says, assured.
“What about you and your Slayer?” I ask.
“I don’t know what to do with him yet.” She sighs. “I just know that every magical particle in my body doesn’t want him hurt.”
“I can understand that.”
“So we get through the ritual, then what?”
“I think Warin could maybe be reasoned with, a peace treaty. The vampire council is another thing all together though,” I say, biting my nail.
“He’ll be more difficult.” Iris sighs. “He’s not just the Slayer, he’s a human, too. The Slayer has more control though, and he’s proven pretty fucking difficult to reason with. We’ll probably need magic to deal with him. We’ll need to hit the books and come up with a magical solution on that front. Maybe your vampire council, too?” Iris questions.
I lick my lips. “Warin. He gave me some old grimoires. A witch who specialized in offensive and defensive magic against vampires. It’s come to me more naturally than I could have ever thought. Maybe there’s something in there?”
“That’s a good start. I’ll visit my aunt tomorrow, see if she has any suggestions. What about Delphine? Has she seen any of this?” Violet asks Iris about her grandmother.
Iris huffs. “All she’s told me is that she’s sorry for my ancestral burden. She was right about that. I’m not sure she could see anything involving vampires or slayers, but I can ask.”
“Okay, so in the meantime, you keep your Slayer. What’s his name?” Violet asks, being polite, and Iris sighs.
“It’s complicated,” Iris says.
“Alright then. You keep your Slayer safe locked in your house, do whatever you need to do to keep him there. Keep him preoccupied so that he doesn’t go after Warin. And Ember, figure out if you can reason with Warin, and what would make this council fuck off?”
I scrunch my nose and nod.
“That’s it. That’s the solution? You should be saving her from the bloodsucker,” Tabitha cries.
“Tabitha, if you don’t shut the fuck up,” Iris grates out, pulling her wand out, and I grab her wrist.
“Tabitha, go back with the other fairies. Now.”
She huffs, flapping her wings, before retreating to her fellow fairies.
“God, how do you deal with them all the time? Someone constantly talking your ear off when all you want is for them to go the fuck away?” Iris asks, and the question doesn’t seem so hypothetical.
“Iris, is there something else?” I ask, grabbing her shoulder.
She holds my hand and shakes her head. “No, we’ve got bigger problems right now. Let’s just get through tonight, alright?”
I search her eyes and nod. “Alright.”
