47. Iris
Iris
When I look at my Mamaw, I know everything I need to know.
The Slayer told her what Celeste did to my mother, and it’s like an old wound opening up when I think about it.
“We need to kill her and destroy the books,” I reiterate.
Revenge is the thing I want most in this world, and well, a warm bath, and a moment of peace.
“I’ve reached out to the New Orleans coven,” Lavender, our High Priestess, says. “They’re willing to help us. We strike tomorrow night, along with the shifters and vampires.”
I glance over at Adam, and he doesn’t even bristle. The Slayer must truly be exhausted. They came for me. Both of them.
The Slayer saved me from the void, and Adam and Scarlett saved me from the last place he would ever want to go.
Those three little words sit on my tongue, but now doesn’t feel like the time. The moment we’re safe, that’s when I can say them out loud.
“How exactly are we planning on besting her?” Adam asks and Lavender gives him a cursory glance.
“We need to lure Celeste to the mayor’s office and destroy it all.”
Adam looks at her like he wants more explanation, and we all do.
“This is the plan,” Lavender says, laying it all out and I know everyone hates every facet of it, but it’s what we need to do. If we don’t destroy the books and Celeste tomorrow, then there’s no telling what will happen to all of us.
Everyone checks on me one last time, but the moment Adam teleports us back to the apartment, I can’t help but to fall apart the second we’re on our feet in my living room. He holds me tightly, and I feel safe in his arms.
“Let’s get some rest,” he says, his large hands framing my face. “I’ve got you, whatever you need.”
He says nothing else, doesn’t tell me to stop crying as he helps me undress and showers me, or when he puts his shirt over my head and tucks me into bed. His imposing frame wraps around mine, and slowly my nerves calm.
He rubs my back and I rub his.
“How did the Slayer communicate to me through the void?” I ask, since we haven’t gotten a moment truly together since he rescued me.
He clears his throat and softly says, “Your friends kind of killed me for a little bit.”
I pull away from his touch for a moment to search his face. He’s dead ass serious and while I know my coven would do anything for me, it’s a wholly new experience having someone who does that with no other reason but wanting to.
The Slayer is my mate, and he’s been intense about me since the moment we’ve met. That connection was undeniable. But this feeling between Adam and me, it’s a conscious decision.
Part of me wants to cry all over again, but I’m sick of it.
“We’re going to kill her for everything she’s done to all of us,” I promise.
He nods, his deep-brown gaze searching mine, like he’s reading right through me. Like maybe he’s holding back those words just like I am.
Instead of saying all the ridiculous things my heart wants me to, I rest my head on his chest, and the beat of his heart lulls me to sleep.
The plan has me on edge. I’m gripping on to Adam’s hand like I might lose him again if I let go.
The Slayer has been spending the last twenty-four hours resting. We need him for our part in the plan, which no one is happy about.
We’re bait.
Witches, wolf shifters, and vampires have the entirety of all the government buildings surrounded.
The wolf shifters and vampires are working together for part one of the plan.
Together they are tracking down any humans in any of the buildings, the wolf shifters using their more normal demeanor to ask them to politely leave, and if that doesn’t work, the vampire will glamor them to get the fuck out.
We don’t want any innocent blood on our hands.
I mean, there’s likely going to be destruction of public property, but that was unavoidable. The map shows that all the spell books are in her office and it’s a misstep on her part, keeping them in one place.
Maybe she’s so old that her ego has grown too large and she thinks she’s untouchable, along with her books.
A newcomer pops into place next to us, and my wand is up, ready to strike.
Adam squeezes my hand. “It’s fine. He’s a slayer too. He’s working with us.”
“Yes,” the man says plainly, his eyes voided out. He glances over at my glowing map and his brows furrow. “There are only four spell books.”
I glance at Adam, and he sighs. “I don’t know if your…I don’t know if she destroyed it or if maybe she played you.”
“Played me?” the man asks in his own deep-eerie slayer tone of voice.
Adam looks at me and back at the slayer. “Celeste has been keeping the other slayer he cares about away from him. They search for each other each cycle.”
It tugs at my heart as I tilt my head at him.
“How many cycles has it been?” I ask him and the slayer has to think for a long moment.
“Too many to remember. Perhaps thirty?”
My breath hitches and then I think about how long the Slayer waited for me. When they care for someone, time doesn’t make a difference.
“Help us and we’ll figure out how to get you together, wherever that may be,” I tell him and he looks down at his shoes.
“You think I’m a fool?”
“No, I think you’re a man in love, doing whatever it takes to find your other half. There’s nothing foolish about that,” I tell him as I squeeze Adam’s hand.
“This is quite the army you’ve gathered. I think possibly one strong enough to take her down. Where do I fit into your plans?”
“How do you feel about being bait?” Adam asks him.
The new slayer doesn’t hesitate. “Whatever it takes to kill her, I’m willing to do.”
I see it in his gaze that he means it. The amount of hurt and devastation that Celeste has caused is just unbelievable, and she needs to be stopped.
“Then let’s get you caught up on the plan,” Adam says, pulling him to the side.
I glance down Perdido Street, seeing all of these supernaturals coming together.
It’s something I couldn’t have imagined before but it feels right.
We all have to hide ourselves from the mortals, and we’ve spent too much time going at it alone.
Maybe it took a common enemy to truly unite us, but we’re all here.
Magic feels like it’s wanting to burst out of me in waves.
The rage I feel toward this witch isn’t anything I’ve ever experienced before.
My mom would be here with our coven today if it weren’t for her.
The Slayer and Adam wouldn’t have suffered.
I wouldn’t have been looking over my shoulder for the last year waiting for the big bad that was coming after me.
Maybe I would have accepted the Slayer sooner if my visions weren’t so terrifying.
We’re here for justice, for everything she’s ever done, and I’m ready to make her pay.
I’m so lost in my own plots for revenge that Adam surprises me when he comes to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on the top of my head.
“The plan is going to work. This ends tonight,” he promises and even though there’s no way he can guarantee that to me, I hold on to that promise. “The buildings are all cleared out. It’s time for the Slayer to take over and for you all to do your part.”
I turn around in his arms, running my palms down his chest. “You’re a part of this too.”
He grabs my wrists, bringing them to his mouth and placing gentle kisses on each one. “I know. I’ll be there the whole time. The Slayer still isn’t as strong as he wants to be. If anything feels off, we’ll teleport right out of there. We won’t let go of you the entire time.”
With a heavy breath I give him a nod of assurance.
“Let’s go and get this over with,” I say.
The vampires and wolves are on standby in case Celeste brings anyone else to the fight, meanwhile all the witches of the Celestial Coven and the New Orleans Coven circle the building, creating an unescapable barrier, ready to fight if it comes to it.
Adam leans down, pressing a sweet kiss against my lips as the Slayer takes over.
He steals his own kiss as he pulls away.
His face is serious, and he doesn’t say a word as he grabs my hand.
He holds my palm like I might slip through his fingers, and with a quick, disorienting moment, we teleport right into the mayor’s office along with Balam.
The books sit on her shelf as if they’re just an ordinary book, not ones that contain the ability to take and ruin lives. We leave them be, for now, as we wait.
It takes a long five minutes before Celeste portals in front of us. She looks annoyed as she crosses her arms and glances between the two slayers and where my Slayer holds my hand.
“Very impressive, all of it,” she says in a condescending tone, and I notice that she’s inching toward the shelf.
I hold my wand up high. “Don’t you move another inch.”
Celeste laughs sardonically. “What exactly are you going to do, Iris? It’s really cute that he slipped you out of the void and you got everyone working together outside, but it doesn’t matter.”
My hand trembles and the Slayer’s grip in mine tightens.
She doesn’t seem to notice Balam slowly moving around the desk. She’s focused on us and that’s exactly what we need.
“You think I can’t make a few more slayers? Start over somewhere new?”
This is why beings shouldn’t live this long, she’s delusional and unattached from reality.
“Let me leave with my books in peace and I won’t decimate the entire coven sitting outside right now,” Celeste threatens, her own wand in her hand. “You do not know the power I possess.”
I shake my head with a small laugh that pisses her off.
“It must really hurt, being the head of a coven, and none of them wanted you a part of it. You don’t get it, do you? The power of a coven always prevails.”
She raises her wand, ready to strike me with some type of offensive magic, but just as she does, Balam wraps his arms around her and the whole plan goes out of the fucking window, as another witch portals into the space.
My eyes widen as seeing her familiar face shocks me.
“You thought I’d come alone?” Celeste cackles.
Standing before me is Violet’s grandmother, our old High Priestess. The one who lied, hurt, schemed, and kept our coven in the dark ages. We removed her memories of being a witch and shunned her from the coven, her punishment to live out her life as an ordinary human.
Somehow she looks younger than I remember, her white-blonde hair full and lively, her previously wrinkled fair skin now smooth and shiny, yet she looks absolutely furious.
But as she stands next to Celeste, I realize the powerful witch has given her back everything she’s had taken away. She stands before me, pissed off and ready for vengeance. She hits Balam with a curse and he goes crumpling to the ground, likely dead.
“Tell me, are my infernal daughter and granddaughter outside? I’m assuming the rest of my ungrateful coven as well.”
My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest. This changes things. It’s no longer us against a witch that we don’t know who’s done unspeakable things, now it’s personal.
I go to open my mouth to say some retort, but the Slayer transports us out of the building.
“What are you doing?” I shout at him as our feet land in the courtyard.
“It got too dangerous. We needed to leave.”
“She’s going to get away, after everything she did to us, everything she did to my mother.”
“She won’t,” he promises, and I just shake my head, knowing that we’ve missed our opportunity.
The magic around us gets thicker, and I know it’s a containment spell.
We’re trapped here with the enemy and I’m not sure if we’re going to make it out.