Chapter 17 #2
I stared at her and then my eyes filled and overflowed that time. “He took Wilkie. My baby. Not only that, Wilkie was taken saving me.” I squeezed my eyes closed and tried not to feel all the overwhelming misery.
She covered my hand with hers. “Then you should go to war.”
I lifted my head, staring at her. Was she insane? “I can’t go to war. I’m helpless.”
Her eyes narrowed. “In direct combat, maybe, but overall, tactically, you’ve managed to unite the demons. You have an army like my husband hasn’t seen for centuries, all of them willing to kill for you. So ask your war-hungry husband to take down this Mad Hatter and bring back your baby.”
She made it sound ridiculously easy. “He doesn’t know that Wilkie is his.”
Her brows rose. “Are you sure he doesn’t know? Demons are supposed to be clever, and you’ve never been the best at prevarication. And if he doesn’t know, you tell him. He’s your baby. You’d do anything for him, right?”
I stared at her and then nodded solemnly. “Anything.”
She flashed me a sharp, literally sharp smile, and stood up. “Then I guess war’s not a big deal in the overall scheme of things. I’m going to go help with the tea. Joe actually sent some carrot cheesecake. I usually wouldn’t share it with anyone, but I think you need it more than I do.”
I wasn’t going to stay there by myself, so I went into the kitchen with. Gloria paused with her aunt’s old teapot in her hand and then blinked twice, dropped the pot, which Honey caught, and then began intoning in the creepiest voice ever.
“The angels have fallen. The demons are scattered. One whisper calls from the darkness. A spark. A flame. In the demon domains. A child waits. Cries. Dies.”
I grabbed her throat. “No. Wilkie isn’t dying.”
She turned her glassy eyes to me and grabbed my throat. Gurgle. Her grip was stronger than I expected. “Run or hide, like a rabbit and he dies,” she gurgled, which made her voice even creepier. “The rabbit is on your side.”
“Enough,” Lucy said, chopping our arms down so we weren’t choking each other. “I take it that was the vision you wanted us to hear?”
Gloria blinked at us and rubbed her throat. “What?”
Honey sighed and grabbed a knife to slice pieces of the cutest cheesecake with little frosting carrots on the top. “Let’s eat, drink, and be merry. Sounds like tomorrow someone’s going to die.”
I bared my teeth at her. “He’s not dying.”
She grinned back with her own terrifying teeth. “Then I guess you aren’t running or hiding. If you need backup, I’m sure my dark wolf would oblige.”
Lucy frowned at her. “It’s not safe for you to go wandering off in the demon lands without your mate.
Anyway, you’re not the one who owes her.
” She turned to face me, big eyes red and guilt-stricken.
“If you need backup, I’ll come. But I might hurt you instead of helping. ” Lucy winced, hating her new reality.
I hesitated and then gave her a big hug.
“No one wants to be a monster, but we don’t always get to choose.
” I pulled back from her stiff horror at me getting so close to her, then turned and took a plate of cheesecake and a tarnished fork from the usual drawer.
“It’s what we do with the monster that defines us, makes us who and what we are. ”
Lucy frowned at me and then took the plate of cheesecake Honey handed her. “Thanks.” She took a tiny bite, frowning as she nodded. “This is really good. Has no nutritional value for me as a vampire, but it’s good.”
Gloria sniffed and took a piece. “Nutritional value? It’s cheesecake. It’s not supposed to have nutritional value.”
I frowned at Lucy. “What did you think Gloria meant about the rabbit being on my side?”
She studied me. “My husband hates the White Rabbit. Like a lot. He infected me and then I ended up me chopping off my hand because of him. He is seriously the worst when he gets in your head. But he really didn’t mess with you when you went to visit him.
That was weird. So maybe, yeah, he might be on your side. ”
Honey nodded. “She mentioned rabbits twice, so it’s definitely important.”
Gloria shook her head. “Um, no. If I inferred that you should work with one of that psycho queen’s favorites, feel free to completely disregard my vision. It’s clearly all rubbish.” She dove into her cake with intensity she usually saved for spirits.
The front bell started ringing, and then there was pounding and a few howls.
We left the kitchen but hadn’t crossed the living room when the front door burst open and Dorian wearing his human glamour entered the room, Hazen and Alpha Joe on either side.
Dorian walked with authority, power, like he really was a king, coming over to scoop me up and cradle me against his chest. Even in a glamour he was dominating.
I was still holding a plate of cheesecake.
“Um, hi there,” I squeaked, heart beating too fast. Wilkie was dying, but maybe I could do something about it.
Something involving the White Rabbit. No way any of these men would be down with letting him out of jail.
So I’d have to break him out. Cue hysterical laughter.
Dorian ran his nose over my face, down my cheek to my neck, leaving a trail of shivers in its wake.
He smelled like cinnamon bears, and he felt like the coziest fire in the most awful winter.
But that was a distraction. I had to save Wilkie no matter what else I did, and the White Rabbit was the key.
Maybe. I might just be completely out of my mind over here.
“Time to return home, my love,” Dorian murmured, running a hand over my head, cradling me carefully in his strong arms. “There’s news of zombies stirring. You are not putting your arm in anyone’s mouth again.”
Dorian snuggled me close and carried me out to the car, like I was the child who couldn’t stand on my own two feet.