I took a breath. “Jonas was here. We need to—”
“Go? Yes, Jo stopped by to check on Lake. She’s brought someone to watch over Grace and Lake. Let’s go—” Keir was tugging at the bandages on his left hand.
“Let me try something? Let’s go to the men’s room.” I hoped I still had a little of Lilith’s magic left inside me to help my husband.
I glanced into the nursery to see Lani smile and nod before she walked to the door. “Go ahead. I’m here with Angela, and we’ll look out for that sweet baby girl.”
When Lani smiled, it was like the room lit up, much like when Jo did when they were in their angelic form. I nodded and took Keir’s hand to lead him to the men’s room.
Once inside, I pulled him into the accessible stall and smiled. “We’re going to Normandy, you know.” I began removing the bandages to see the blistered and inflamed skin on Keir’s hand and arm.
I then moved up to check the burns on his face and neck. They looked so painful. My heart slammed against my ribs. “Are you in pain, Dearly?”
Keir’s smile lit up my world. “I’m so happy right now that I don’t feel any pain.”
I brushed my lips over Keir’s. “I can’t tell you how much I love you. I’m not smart enough to have the vocabulary to say it properly and give it the importance it deserves. I just know that I was a zombie, going through my life without much thought or purpose...” I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.
“Love, I’m not sure right now is the time for seduction.”
Of course, I guffawed. The man made me happy from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. “Yeah, I guess that will have to wait. Anyway, let’s see if I can help you.”
I bit into my wrist and gathered some of my and Lilith’s blood that coursed through me. I then gently smeared it on the raised blisters and scorched skin on Keir’s face, neck, and arm, seeing the skin peel away like a sunburn and leave supple pink skin in its wake. I was so grateful. I just didn’t know who to.
“May I kiss you?”
Keir nodded, so I wrapped myself around him and kissed the man with all the love he’d inspired inside me. If we made it out ofthis battle alive, I would look forward to spending the rest of my days with Keir Dearly by my side.
We stepped out of the stall to see Jo leaning against the wall in their angelic form. “You get that all worked out?”
Keir stopped in front of the mirror to check that the burns were indeed gone. He turned to me with a smile. “How’d you know it would work?”
“I didn’t. I just had faith Lilith had told me to drink her blood for a reason.” I then looked at Jo. “Ready to go?”
“We’ve got to make a stop first.”
We swung by the nursery to kiss our little girl, and then Jo led us out to a courtyard behind the hospital. It was already dark outside, which was probably good as Jo wrapped her huge white wings around us, and we were off.
When I opened my eyes, we were in front of the smoking remains of Dearly & Son. “The building is unsafe, so I’ll take you inside. Keir, you need to get the scroll, top and bottom, to destroy it. Dash, get the cooler with the other bag of Lilith’s blood from your vehicle.Hurry!We have no time to waste.”
Jo took Keir up the stairs on the outside of the building while I rushed to the garage where my Escalade was parked, retrieving the cooler. The small demon wasn’t still inside, thankfully, but my cooler, a white and royal-blue Playmate, was on the floor on the front passenger side.
I opened it to see the blood was still there and the ice pack was still frozen. I touched it to feel it was cool. I had no idea what the lifespan of vampire blood in a bag was, but I was pretty sure I was in the clear in case Lilith was forbidden from joining us.
I stepped out of the garage and looked toward the garden, seeing a bunch of spirits gathered there, so I walked over. “Hello. I wanted to let you know your resting place is secure. This will always be your memorial. You will always be visited here.”
I noticed Lorraine Joly standing in the woods near the memorial, so I headed that way. “You have no place here. You tried to kill my husband, you crazy nutjob.”
“Dash, she’s confused.” I turned to see Keir step closer with Jo following.
“Lorraine, my family’s roots are a product of Pierre d’Erlie. He went on to have children, only males because of a curse he didn’t know had been cast on our family. That’s the d’Erlie bloodline of my forefathers. Claude joined a religious order and never fathered children. He’s already gone to judgment and ascended to—”
“Lorraine Joly?” The snow-white spirit of a male appeared, and when the glow faded a bit, or my eyes adjusted to it, I saw a man who strongly resembled my husband.
“Claude!”
Lorraine ran to his arms and the two embraced for an instant before Claude pushed her back. “You will not join me in the Celestial Realm, and I’m sorry for that. I should have tried to help you seek the righteous path instead of falling in love with you. I hope you’ll forgive me for my shortcomings and allow me to lead you toward a chance at redemption.”
Hell, I was anxious to hear what that could be. Keir glanced at me and shrugged, echoing my thoughts exactly.
