“Wait,” I pleaded.
My grandmother emerged into the clearing and paused to inspect the carnage on the ground. She showed zero emotion as she stepped over her dead elementals and headed toward us.
“Well, aren’t you quite remarkable? I always knew you had something special hiding inside you, Cora, but this is something entirely out of this world.”
So she knew I was something, but not what? Meaning she had no clue who my father is. “I am Eloise Roberts, Head of The Order.”
“A pauper posing as a president,” Indigo snarled. My grandmother’s throat bobbed as she locked eyes with the daughter of death. At least she had the common sense to be a little scared, Michael was still glaring at Indigo like he was going to dissect her and eat her entrails with a good chianti. Hannibal had nothing on this guy.
“Perhaps, but what are you posing as?” she asked, stopping a few yards away from us, just out of the danger zone. Hudson and Sebastian flanked Indigo’s sides.
My grandmother’s lips lifted as she took in three powerful representations of the factions. “I’d like to speak to my granddaughter.”
“No,” Indigo snarled. “Cora is weak for family, I hold no such reservations.”
“Cora is powerful because of such familial ties, you would do well to remember that she houses you, not the other way around.”
Oh snap. Granny Eloise was getting all soppy on me, what next? Would the sun start rising in the west and setting in the east?
“Keep our form, but let me out,”I instructed Indigo. This needed diplomacy, not the swift justice of a crazy half angel.
“Fine.”She shrank back, letting me take control.
My grandmother’s eyes watched with keen interest. “Cora, perhaps we can get this resolved.”
“I will not give you the Red Dragon, you cannot steal the demon magic and murder innocents to create the fear you need to take control.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Child, you are being led around by your emotions and remain blind to the truth. You played right into my hands. Your duplicate vault is not the big secret you believe, and the walls you live in aren’t as private as you wish. I knew Sophia wouldn’t translate the grimoire for me, but she would do it to stop me, leading us to the location of the tomb you now hold.” I blinked and my grip loosened around Michael, not freeing him completely but enough so he could breathe. “Your quest to save the weak humans is admirable, but my intention was never to murder them.”
“What are you trying to do then?”
“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.” That sounded ominous. “Now be a dutiful granddaughter and hand me the book.”
“No.”
She sighed like she used to when I’d failed to complete a spell as a child. She clapped her hands and the crowd parted to allow two men manhandling Aunt Dayna into the clearing. She glared at her mother and mumbled something behind the white cloth shoved in her mouth as she struggled between the assholes.
“Am I supposed to believe you’ll kill your own daughter in pursuit of your power?” I said. She’d overplayed her hand. My grandmother was a tyrant, but she wouldn’t kill her own flesh and blood, she would see it as a waste of magic.
“No,” she said with a smile. “I won’t kill her. But there are things worse than death that can be done to a woman, and once my men wear her out, I’ll collect my next daughter, then the next.” That was how ugly my grandmother was. She was promising a life of rape and torture to get what she wants.
“She lies,”Indigo reasoned.
“I don’t believe so. Eloise doesn’t make idle threats.”
“Your Aunt Liz is currently shopping at the local supermarket with the young girl, Maggie. I believe my sister sent her for extra cabbage.” I felt the tension rolling off Sebastian and Hudson next to me. They were staying silent, letting me take the lead. “I have a team ready to grab them if you refuse.”
My hand cramped as I peeled it from Michael’s neck. He stepped back and eyeballed me from head to toe, his slimy magic pushed at my flesh and I fought the violent urge to end him.
Aunt Dayna’s protests loudened as I undid the satchel and pulled the book out. Michael lunged forward and snatched it from my hands with a wink. I grimaced.
“Good girl,” Eloise said, eyeballing Hudson. “You were meant to control him, not marry him. That is a disappointment.”
I glared at her. “I no longer yearn for your approval. That ended when you tried to use me to further your own power.”
She rolled her eyes. “So dramatic, Cora. Don’t burn the family bridge—it is irreplaceable.”
“I have a family. You are no longer welcome in it. Don’t call, don’t visit, do not expect an invitation.”
