Chapter 46
Forty-Six
VAUGHN
Ipanic when I wake up and can’t find Sophie.
I was so relaxed when I finally went to sleep that I ended up sleeping too long.
What if she realized she couldn’t betray her father to be with me?
I put on the first pair of pants that I find and don’t bother with shoes or a T-shirt before I book it out of my room to look for her.
The first place I check is Igor and Tish’s room.
I knock on the door hard, not caring that I’m making a ruckus.
“Soph, are you in there?”
A moment later, the door opens, and a sleepy Igor is standing in front of me, his blond hair sticking out at odd angles. “What do you want?” He yawns.
Doubt Sophie is in there if Igor was asleep.
“Where’s Tish?”
“I don’t know. I just woke up.”
“What’s going on?” Lucca walks down the hallway in our direction.
“I don’t know where Sophie is, or Tish.”
Lucca narrows his eyes. “Great.”
Aurora and Saxon come out of their room, and soon we have a party in the hallway. “What’s happening?” Saxon asks.
“Sophie and her familiar are missing,” Lucca replies.
“They aren’t missing,” I grit out. “I just don’t know where they are.”
Saxon scowls. “That’s the definition of missing.”
“I can try a location spell if you have something that belongs to Sophie,” Aurora suggests.
“Or you can just look for her first like a normal person?” Igor retorts.
Saxon takes a menacing step toward Igor, his hand already balled into a fist. “Who are you calling abnormal?”
“Hey, what’s with the noise? I was trying to sleep,” Tish says from Lucca and Vivi’s bedroom door.
“Wait. What the hell were you doing in my room?”
“Lucca, calm down,” I say, but he ignores me.
“Relax, dude. I was waiting for Sophie and Vivi to return, and I ended up falling asleep. It’s not my fault your bed is so comfy.”
“Return from where?” he asks.
“From Sophie’s apartment.”
“How could you let Miss Sophie go to her apartment? You know it’s not safe,” Igor protests.
“Why is it not safe?” Aurora asks.
“That’s it. We’re going there.” Lucca turns to me. “Vaughn, I need the address.”
“I’m coming too.” Igor steps out of his room wearing nothing but his boxer shorts.
“Hello there,” Tish chimes in.
“You’re not going anywhere with us in that undressed state,” Saxon interjects.
“You guys are making a big deal out of nothing. The girls will be back soon. Vivi walked the wind.”
“I don’t care how she got there.” Lucca strides down the hallway, and I follow, even though I’m still barefoot and shirtless.
I don’t think he’ll take kindly to waiting for me to get dressed properly.
He’s about to blow, and since Vivi left with Sophie, I’ll be on the receiving end when he goes off.
Before Lucca reaches the stairs, Tish shouts, “They’re back!”
He turns around so fast, I almost bump into him. He shoves me out of his way and runs back to his room. I run too because I need to make sure Sophie is all right, and I also need to protect her from Lucca’s wrath.
“Vivi! How could you leave like that without telling me?” Lucca asks.
“I didn’t think you noticed. It was fine.”
I pull Sophie into a hug. “I thought you had left me for good.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You weren’t in bed, and then I couldn’t find you or Tish. Why did you go back to your apartment? I thought it wasn’t safe.”
“I had to get this.” She shows me an old leather book.
“What’s that?” Aurora steps closer, her eyes as round as saucers.
“A book I bought at the Nightshade Market for Sophie,” Tish explains.
Aurora’s eyes become even rounder. “I know that book. It belonged to Elena Montenegro.”
“Hell no. Burn that damn thing right the fuck now,” Saxon blurts out.
Sophie steps back, clutching the book against her chest. “I’m not burning anything.”
“Back off, dude,” I warn him.
“That’s not the same grimoire that she used to summon the demon, is it?” Lucca squints, focusing on the tome. Shit, I think he’s a second away from prying it from Sophie’s hands and tossing it into the fire.
“No, it isn’t that grimoire, but Sophie’s book also contains dark magic spells,” Aurora says. “Why do you have it?”
“Duh, because Sophie is a witch,” Tish cuts in again. “She even helped your mother trap the ghost of Madeleine Boucher.”
“She escaped again?” Vivi asks.
“Yeah, unfortunately,” I say. “But the fact of the matter is, Sophie did help the High Witch strengthen the wards. And it was thanks to that book of spells that she could come to our assistance in Indigo Mountain.”
“The book doesn’t only have dark magic spells,” she says. “I wouldn’t perform any of them.”
“Why did you risk going back to the apartment to retrieve it, Miss Sophie?” Igor asks, mercifully fully dressed now.
“It has a spell we want to try to unhex Tish,” she replies.
“I see.”
“Have we satisfied everyone’s curiosity?” Tish asks. “Can we carry on with our plan?”
“Hold on, Tish. I need to see what other ingredients are needed to perform the spell.” Sophie opens the book.
Aurora steps closer. “May I see it?”
Sophie hesitates, and Aurora adds, “I’m not going to destroy it.”
“Oh, all right.” She hands her the book.
Aurora scans through the page quickly, frowning at a specific portion of it. “Blood of… Does that mean Nightingale blood?”
“What the fuck! Let me see that.” Lucca yanks the book from Aurora’s hands, earning her glower. “You didn’t agree to this, did you, Vivi?”
“No, bellend. She just helped Sophie retrieve the book for funsies. How dense are you?” Tish retorts.
Lucca snarls at her. “Who are you calling dense, fleabag?”
“Hey, let’s not call anyone names, please,” Vivi interjects. “And yes, Luc, I said I’d help. It’s not a big deal.”
His expression softens. “Anything that requires your blood is a big deal, love.”
“Well, she already agreed to help, so no backsies,” Tish chimes in again.
“We’re missing a few ingredients to perform the spell,” Aurora interjects. “Some are rare.”
Vivi turns to her. “Doesn’t your mother have them at her house?”
“I’ll call Miranda so she can check. If not, we’ll have to make a trip to the Nightshade Market.”
Lucca and Saxon groan, and Tish says, “Yes, I love that place.”
“May I remind you that it’s still unsafe to be roaming about Salem, especially the Nightshade Market?” Lucca glares at everyone.
“He’s right, Miss Sophie,” Igor says. “Your father is on the lookout for you, and he will have people stationed at the Nightshade Market.”
Sophie lifts her chin. “We better hope that the High Witch has what we need, then.”