As if summoned by her words, Guardian spirits from every bloodline were converging on Willowberry like supernatural reinforcements answering a call to arms. "Holy shit," I breathed as the spiritual energy surrounded me. "The cavalry has arrived." Now, we needed to get our asses to Congo Square to end this.
CHAPTER 19
DAHLIA
"Get inside, now!" I bellowed over the supernatural mayhem, watching another wave of zombie creatures melt under our magical barrage. The acrid smell of charred flesh and ozone filled my nostrils as I surveyed the battlefield that used to be Willowberry's front yard. This had become my happy place. Seeing it like this made me sick to my stomach. I didn’t relish the idea of leaving it like this.
"Lucas!" I caught his arm as he finished tearing apart a zombie with his claws. My heart skipped a beat when his gaze landed on me. I hoped it always would. "Baby, I need you to stay here with the pack. Keep fighting these things."
His golden eyes locked onto mine. I could see the war between his wolf's need to protect me and his understanding of what I was asking. "You want me to let you walk into the most dangerous situation we've ever faced without me?" His voice was rough with emotion.
"I want you to keep our family safe," I said softly, reaching up to cup his face despite the chaos around us. "Lucas, if this goes wrong, if we fail at Congo Square, you and the pack are our last line of defense. I need to know you're here, protecting what matters most." Thankfully, those still at the plantationwere able to fight with him. Dre sent her husband, Steve, to their son’s house a couple of days ago, and he hadn’t returned, given everything we had been dealing with.
His hand covered mine, warm and solid and everything that anchored me. "Lia, you are what matters most. How am I supposed to let you go?"
"Because you love me enough to trust me," I whispered, then rose on my toes to kiss him fiercely. "And because I love you enough to trust you to defend our home."
Lucas growled against my lips. When we broke apart, his eyes held resignation along with the love. “You come back to me, you hear? I don't care what you have to do or who you have to kill. You come back.”
“Noted,” I said dryly, then turned toward the house. “Everyone else, inside! Kaveh needs space to work his teleportation mojo.”
Margaret, Sarah, Claude, and Thomas were huddled in the entryway. Their faces were grim but determined. “We heard the plan,” Claude assured me.
“And we’ve been studying our part of the ritual,” Margaret added. “We are ready to do our best.”
“That’s a relief,” I replied before I turned to do a quick headcount.
A familiar figure walked through the melee, making my sisters and me walk out onto the porch. "Looks like y'all have been busy," Marie Laveau drawled as her dark eyes surveyed the zombie carnage with professional interest. My sisters stopped dead in their tracks. Phi actually made a small squeaking noise.
"Marie?" I managed. "What are you doing here?" Dani mentioned she was on her way, but I’d forgotten about that.
"I came to help, of course." She flicked her wrist, and three zombie animals that had been shambling toward us simply...stopped. Then crumbled to dust. "We can't have the Collector destroying our city, can we?"
"Our city?" Kota snorted. This could go sideways. Kota had never learned when to keep her mouth shut. "Last year, it wasyourcity, and you were the one sending zombies after us.”
Marie's smile was sharp as a blade. "This argument is getting old, but I see I have to tell it again. I've seen the error of my ways." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Turns out there's a difference between controlled chaos and total annihilation. Who knew?"
"Right," I said. We really didn't have time for this. Although she had been helpful since we stopped Samedi. "Marie, if you're serious about helping, can you keep the zombies off our property while we're gone and help Lucas with this?" I asked.
"That’s why I came," she replied with a frown. “Where are you going?”
“To stop the Collector,” I said as I considered who else we needed to take with us. “Cyran! I need you to gather the bloodline representatives. We can't do this ritual without all seven families.”
Cyran popped up around the side of the house. "I’ve already gathered them." He gestured to the battle-worn individuals standing behind him.
"That's six with Claude, Thomas, and Margaret," Dre noted. "What about the seventh?"
"Michel Drake," Phi said grimly. "The problem is, he's working for the other side now."
"You have his blood and hair," Adèle interjected as she prowled on the staircase inside the house. "In the gris-gris bag. You can bind it to your power, so it carries the signature of his bloodline during the ritual."
“You mean we can trick the Collector,” Kota pointed out. “Is that going to work?”
“It’s the only way you will be able to do the ritual,” Adèle countered. “Cami and I will continue to research the concept. You need to get out of here.”
Nodding, I gestured for everyone to gather close and looked for our transportation. “Kaveh, how many people can you transport at once?”
The djinn leader looked up from where he'd been talking to Kaitlyn. "All of you, but it'll drain me significantly. And teleporting into an active magical zone carries risks."
