Chapter 25 #2
My gaze shifts to Jareth, who is chewing his bottom lip. My chest tightens, but when he looks up at me the panic settles. There’s confidence shining in his eyes, and he nods.
“I’ll go with Cas and Loch. I’m not immortal, but I’ve had my share of vampire interactions over the years. I can use a protection spell,” Jare says.
Rune rubs his hands together. “I’m gonna fuck up the fae. I hate those tricky bastards.”
Atlas practically has heart eyes as he gazes at his mate. “It’ll be fun. They’ve given a bad name to the whole of the fae realm.”
Mac grins, gazing at his demon mate. “I’m down. Let’s do this.”
“Where are we going first?” Drax asks. “How do we know where they are?”
“My contact,” Cas says. “Gentleman, we’re going to good old New Orleans. Meet in front of the St. Louis Cathedral. We’ll go from there.”
JARETH
When my feet touch down on the concrete path of the park in front of the cathedral, I draw a deep breath of mortal air. It’s muggy and warm, even at night, but it’s not as stifling as the underworld.
Even though it’s late, there are plenty of people around, which will make what we need to do that much harder.
I might have to conjure one of my tougher spells.
It’ll make the air misty and anyone who witnesses something they shouldn’t will feel like it was nothing but a dream in the morning.
It’s effective, but I’ve only used it twice before because it takes a lot out of me. Maybe Rune can support me.
It only takes a few minutes before we’re surrounded by witches, demons, vampires, wolf shifters, and even gargoyles.
“You came,” Atlas says, smiling at two gargoyles in their human forms.
“Of course we came. We owe you and this benefits us all,” one of them says.
“That’s why we’re here, even though the gargoyle owes us,” a purple-haired woman says. I can feel the magic she holds, but she’s restraining it for some reason. Her gaze falls on me and we nod respectfully, acknowledging each other.
Rune leans into Atlas as if he’s nervous, which is very unlike him. He’s always bordering on cockiness when I’m around him. Do these witches intimidate him?
“Hello, Rune,” the woman says. “I see you’ve managed to find yourself a mate.”
“Yes.” Rune’s voice is tinged with defiance. “I’m worthy.”
“Didn’t say you weren’t.”
Atlas whispers something to Rune, whose expression softens. Rune clears his throat. “I see all is well in your fair city.”
“We do our best,” the woman says, clearly proud. “So of course we couldn’t resist when we heard the consortium is gathering here at midnight.”
Gripping both mine and Loch’s hands, Roman makes a grumbling noise that vibrates through me and gets the attention of the remainder of the group.
“We need two teams,” he says. “One deals with the vampires, the other goes after the fae.”
“We have plenty of magic users, so why don’t we split the witches up evenly into both groups. Vampires target the rogue vampires, and let’s send most of our brute strength to deal with the fae,” Cas suggests. “Rune, go with Atlas. Any arguments?”
Everyone glances around at each other, but no one objects.
“Perfect,” Cas says. “Leander, you have some info?”
An almost comically tall man steps forward. He’s a vampire with a grayish pallor to his skin. His hair is salt and pepper, and he has a distinguished face. He was obviously turned later in life.
“There’s a church on Rampart Street. Word has it the vampires will be there.”
“And the fae?” Cas asks.
“Cemetery number three,” one of the magic users says. “At midnight.”
“We need to be prepared for an attack on Lochlan,” Cas says. “If they sense him, they’ll come. The fae scent should be gone, but we never know.”
“I’m ready,” Loch says.
“Let’s go, then,” Roman says before he turns to me and Lochlan. His expression is tortured and I can feel the conflict pouring off him. “I’ll see you both soon. You mean everything to me, do you understand? Please, be safe.”
“Remember, I have a spell I can use to help protect me while I’m still mortal.”
Roman looks relieved. “Gods, yes, please use it. And stick close to Cas. He won’t let anything happen to you.”
I fist the hem of his shirt. “Make sure nothing happens to you, either. We need you, Roman.”
Loch nods. “We need you.”
“Don’t worry about me. Nothing can tear us apart.”
He kisses me, then leans in and kisses Loch, and the three of us linger, our foreheads pressed together. I feel like I’m being torn apart, so I can only imagine how intense this feels for Loch and Rome.
“I’ll see you soon,” Roman says, then he disappears into the darkness with the others.
Loch squeezes my hand. “It’s ten to midnight. Do your protection spell.”
I mumble the incantation as I bend down and run my fingers through the soft grass of the square. As the spell takes hold, my body warms from the tips of my ears down to my toes, creating a shield around me, but the silence is broken by Lochlan’s screech as he’s swept off his feet by a vampire.
A witch yells “Oh, fuck no” while Cas launches himself into the air after them.
The three vampires tumble to the ground several feet away from us and I take off running toward them, two other vampires blurring past me.
The witches who chose to stay with us are chanting, creating an invisible wall around us, blocking us from mortal eyes, and as I jump into the fight, we’re surrounded by several more rabid vampires, their wild eyes glowing, fangs on display, mouths hanging open.
We’re fucked.