Chapter 31
Mori
Crow’s Beak Airport
The plane touched down shortly after sunset.
I got off the plane and ignored Philip. Opting for a mad dash to the restroom to respray my cherry-scented pheromone blocker spray before joining him.
He was alone and adjusting his cowboy hat as if this was all some elaborate prank I was playing on him.
As promised, he sniffed me and the protocol I laid out before leaving Moonscale London was followed to a T.
Inside his truck, I held my tote bag to my chest. I hadn’t packed anything except my water bottle, pheromone blocker spray, the book, and the scroll that Pami’s letter was written on. Then in the side pocket there was one all-purpose eraser and a pen enchanted to draw runes.
“Where’s your dog?” Philip asked.
“With Preston,” I said.
“You made him come all the way to London to watch your dog?” he huffed.
“No, I took Snowy over there last night. I just dropped him off with a note that I’d pick him up in the middle of the night a few days from now,” I said.
“That seems like an awful lot of work, Mori,” Philip said. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull off but I hope it works out. You know that no one can help you unless you let us.”
“I have asked for help. I’ve told you what I need.
That’s the best I can do for now. I wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t think this would give Preston and his family a chance to live in peace,” I told him, staring out into the night.
“Some things you have to keep to yourself. You of all people know that.”
“I also learned that it’s okay to ask for help,” he said. “Sometimes you need a partner in crime, so to speak.”
“I’ll have Snowy back soon. Ni and Teddy are going to bring the kids to visit too once things calm down on my end.”
“Suit yourself,” he said.
It was true night by the time we reached the well.
I sat on the blanket clutching my bag to my chest until Philip disappeared inside and pulled down the curtains.
I needed a moment. A long moment to get my head together before I freed Pami.
I made to spin my ring around on my finger, but it wasn’t there.
The ring that housed Venal was attached to Snowy’s collar.
He was safe and sound with my dog and his son.
Most importantly, he was far far away from where his deceased but wouldn’t stay dead mother was.
I still wasn’t sure if he really meant to take her out to save Andy or if he’d slip back into his old ways.
I wasn’t taking any chances with this ritual.
This one wasn’t mine. It was Pami’s. She didn’t need any supplies, only an iron clad will about what she wanted.
I taught her the ancient words, and she picked them up quickly.
She had practiced magic for longer than I’d been alive.
She’d dabbled in dark magic at least as long as I knew the meaning of the phrase.
I knocked on the book three times. That was our system to let her know it was time.
I lay the book down and clutched my eraser in one hand and my pen in the other.
I elbowed the book open and it fell to the page I had marked before leaving the B&B.
I undid one little stroke of the pen that originally scribed the page.
She slipped out wordlessly and stood ethereal and calm in front of me.
Her eyes glued themselves to my hand as a scale rubbed up against the gap the erasing had created.
“Hurry!” she hissed and I made the stroke I had practiced no less than a thousand times the night before. The scales disappeared and the page looked unimpressive once the mark was back in place.
My wolf wanted to stretch out in the dark and watch Pami work, but this wasn’t a leisurely night for us.
If Pami failed, Sharon was going to be pissed.
I’d have to fight her and I’d need to win.
I’d win one way or another. If Sharon Claudis managed to kill me, I’d take her out with the spell I’d taught Pami.
I didn’t want it to come to that but if it did, I’d written my own goodbye letters.
They were stashed in my safety deposit box back in Nightshade Territory.
I almost told Preston about my true-mate but decided against it.
My guy might live the rest of his life looking for me but at least he’d never know his mother killed me and there was very little chance of finding me. Better for him not to know.
“Are you ready?” Pami asked.
There was no ceremony to her words. She was as stonehearted as she must’ve been when she offed her own true-mate.
I’d never understand Pami and her wobbly alliances, but I didn’t need to.
If she took Sharon Claudis to the Other World that was enough for me.
More than enough for me. Maybe it wasn’t enough to balance the scales of all the bad things she had done while living but I hoped it was a start.
Everyone deserved another chance when they were reborn.
“I am. Are you?” I asked.
“I’ve waited for this moment,” she said. “Back up. Give me space.”
I stepped back, leaving her to the well.
It was as if Sharon awaited this moment too.
She rose from deep within the well and hovered above it in her ethereal form.
Her eyes glowed red. Was she more solid than when I had last seen her?
Had she managed to kill a second relative while I wasn’t here?
It didn’t matter. This shit ended tonight.
The magical words tumbled perfectly off Pami’s spiteful lips.
Her energy trembled with rage and passion and that was the perfect fuel for the spell.
Sharon laughed at first and took a swing.
Pami stepped back away from the other woman’s meaty hand.
Her death flashed through my mind. The crackling sound her neck made when it broke echoed in my thoughts.
I forced myself to think of the grass. Then to think of how strong Pami was and how much everyone in the GGB and around Earthside would be on our side tonight if they knew what we were doing.
“Pami!” Nashen’s voice broke through the magic wind as it whirled around the ghostly women.
“Go home!” I said, marching across the grass sideways like a crab to keep Sharon Claudis in my eyeline. “Nashen, go home! You’re too pregnant to be here! Go!”
“Pami!” Nashen yelled.
“Nashen,” I said more softly once he was within proper earshot. “Go home. Please, go home.”
“What are you doing?” he demanded, bright magic dancing on his fingers.
“Nothing. I am doing nothing,” I said patting my pockets until I found the letter to him from his sister. “She’s doing it all. She’s taking care of this. Let her. Please let her.”
He took the letter but tried to push past me. A second later, the harpy Zee, landed with a soft thud in the grass and scooped him up.
“FUCK!!” my wolf swore into my thoughts. “I should’ve known no one could mind their own damn business.”
Nashen snarled and shot off a spell that soared into the sky before descending and striking straight through Sharon.
The ghostly shebear stumbled. It was the opening that Pami needed!
The sky swirled and a vortex opened. Sharon was sucked up higher and higher.
Pami stayed firm in her spot, but an ornate elven door appeared behind her.
Nashen wiggled, using his pregnant weight to his advantage, breaking free of the harpy’s steel-fingered grip.
He crashed into his sister and she hugged him.
“Don’t,” she shook her head. “Don’t make this hard. Don’t be gooey. Just don’t have that baby in a field, okay?”
“Pami,” Nashen whispered. “I—”
“No need to thank me. Go live! Okay? Go live and be happy and do your dumb nerdy book things. Okay?”
“Okay,” he nodded and hugged her one last time.
This time her doorway wasn’t dark on the other side.
It looked like it was dusk or dawn on the other side of her door.
No one was there but at least the elf had a little light to shine her through to the other side.
As soon as she was through, the door slammed shut and disappeared.
Nashen hit his knees as Bernard sprinted across the field, his wings out, half gliding as the dragonesses followed on his heels.
I left the group to their grief and walked to Philip’s house and knocked on the door. I was ready to be taken to the Other World gateway. Philip answered after one knock. It seemed he was ready for me to be gone too.