I sighed. “Both of you are annoying me.”
“And you should have called me as soon as you started feeling funky,” Evie grumbled.
The blood hit my veins. I sighed with relief as energy filled me. It wasn’t the same as taking it straight from a god, but it would do. It would have to until I figured out something better.
I sat up and wiggled my fingers and toes. “All good. Crisis averted.”
The smile I shot at Evie made her roll her eyes. “I have Gene putting some more away for you. I’ll pick up a few more bags tomorrow. He warned me it doesn’t last long, so it needs to be consumed before the end of the week.”
I knew all this, but it was sweet that she was trying to help. “Got it.”
“And next time, you better call me the moment you feel tired.” Evie sighed. “We’re immortals. We’re not supposed to get tired.”
Cernunnos grunted. “Something is wrong with your magic, Moira. We need to figure out what happened when I took my power back and why it affected you so much.”
Evie frowned. “Or if that’s what it was at all. Maybe it’s something else.”
Our eyes met, and I knew she was thinking of Fee. “We can ask Cliona.”
Cernunnos scoffed. “I am sitting right here!”
“Yes,” I said, “and if you were responsible, maybe we should have someone else looking at the problem.”
He rolled his eyes, and it was such a human gesture, it made us both laugh. “Fine. Call me when you see reason.”
The god disappeared in a shower of light, leaving Evie and me sitting on the couch alone.
My friend turned to me. “I’ve been meaning to ask. You didn’t need blood for a really long time. What gives?”
“I don’t really know. I was fine until my mom injured Cernunnos. To get him safely out, I had to consume his blood.”
She knew about my gift. “So you could borrow his teleporting power.”
I nodded. “It worked. But once we returned, Cernunnos yanked the shared power and his blood from my system. After that, things went wonky.”
“How long before you needed a top up?”
“I haven’t consumed blood in four weeks. Not until tonight.”
“Yes, and you were weak as a kitten when I got here, so obviously, that’s not ideal.”
“Something that has never happened before. And I think I know why it happened.”
One of her eyebrows rose. “And you didn’t want my father to know?”
I winced. “Things are weird between us right now.”
She snorted. “Yeah. No shit.”
“When I took that spell from my mom, it drained me. Unraveling the spell so Ethan can remember things takes a lot of energy, but the spell just being there drains me as well. Maybe this has nothing to do with your father. Not completely. And maybe the four weeks weren’t exactly accurate, because Mommy Dearest showed up.”
“Ethan was spelled, and things went to shit.”
“Yup.”
Evie rubbed her nose. “I feel like this is my karma for all the shit I put you through.”
I laughed. “You had nothing to do with my past, so that can’t be true. Mom acting insane was long overdue. I always knew she’d find me, and now, here I am.”
