Chapter 13
Thirteen
Boston, Massachusetts, Present Day.
How long do I have?
Every morning, Cally woke with the same question. Every night, it was the last thought on her mind.
Five days had passed since she and Noah visited Antoine again. Two weeks since he’d been entombed.
Two weeks since he’d lain beside her, in this very bed.
Gabe had said a fortnight had been the longest any vampire had ever gone without blood, and that was without the constant torture he was under, which both Gabe and Noah agreed would increase Antoine’s need.
He’d be feral by now.
Would that madness deepen his torment, or grant him some dissociative peace?
If two weeks was the limit of a vampire, was it also her limit?
Someone tentatively knocked on her door, but Cally knew who it was. No one else around here knocked like that.
“Come in, Eve.” She sat up in the bed and leaned back against the headboard.
The door opened and Eve walked in, a steaming cup in each hand. “Lazy Saturday morning, coffee in bed?”
“Sounds good.” Cally took the offered mug and inhaled the rousing scent, while Eve perched on the edge of the bed. “What are you doing today?”
“Same old.” Eve took a sip. “The fake IDs came through yesterday. Ryan’s been amazing, leading all of Gabe’s thralls on this.
Alvin’s stored at McLean Labs, a service facility with no water access.
The eighteen-wheeler with a lowboy trailer was the easy bit.
” She shook her head. “Ryan’s working on acquiring a converted fishing trawler out of Newport that’s now a private research vessel.
Something to carry her out. We still need a private dock to load up, and a heap of bright orange uniforms. But we’re getting there. ”
“How much longer?”
Eve toyed with a stray curl, considering. “Four or five days, maybe. Not long, really.”
“I hate that I have no way to contribute.”
“Not true.” Eve grinned. “Your spear-phishing attack paid off. Courtesy of a vehicle maintenance coordinator, we now have training manuals for Alvin. Want to learn how to pilot a sub?”
“It’s always been on my bucket list.” Finally. Something to do.
Eve fished out her new phone and typed rapidly. Both their old phones were deactivated and locked in a lead-lined box in Marcel’s safe, just in case the Order had been more insidious than they realized. Darian could keep their numbers. “There. That should keep you out of trouble for a few hours.”
On the subject of trouble… “Any progress with the tome?”
“Yeah, loads. Though I haven’t been able to put as much time into it as I would’ve liked.”
“Sure, sure. Of course.” Cally fidgeted with her coffee cup. “Anything we can use yet?”
“Use as in… do magic?”
“Yes.”
Eve scrunched her nose. “Not really. Most of the stuff is seriously complicated, like one of those instruction manuals written for people who don’t need them in the first place. It assumes you already know everything, and… well… sorry, but I don’t.”
“Oh.” The handle of her coffee cup snapped off, and coffee spilled onto Antoine’s white silk sheets. “Fuck.”
Eve jumped up. “I’ll get a towel,” she said, heading for the bathroom. She was back a second later. “Are you all right? You haven’t hulked anything for a few days.”
“Sorry,” Cally muttered. “Just a bit distracted.” She accepted the towel and dabbed at the sheets, before giving it up as pointless. Marcel would have some stain remover.
“Anything I can help with?”
“Well, I hoped by now you’d have a spell or two I could try.”
“Keen to practice, huh?”
Cally fought to keep her voice steady. “Is there anything? Anything at all? Something I could pour some magic into?”
“Not really, no. Not without getting some help from the Order, and we don’t want to do that, do we?”
“No. We don’t want to do that.”
Eve narrowed her eyes. “So. Are you going to tell me?”
Cally worried her lip. “Tell you what?”
“Whatever it is that has you so tense. At first, I figured it was just having your vampire beau in a state of constant agony in a watery grave. But it’s got worse, hasn’t it? There’s something else, isn’t there? Is it the Order?”
“No. No, it’s not the Order.” Cally sighed. “And yes, there’s um… something I haven’t told you.”
Eve sat back down on the bed. “Spill it.”
Cally took a breath. “Well, you know how Antoine gets stronger from our bond?”
“No, but okay.”
“Well, he does. And… so do I. When a witch is bonded to a vampire, they both grow in power.”
“Hence the accidental breakages?”
“Yes, and no. What I mean is, my magic is growing inside me. And, well, Belle told me that if I don’t find an outlet for it, it could… kind of explode.”
Eve’s eyebrows rose. “Explode? Like fireballs all over the place?”
“Like redecorating any furniture I’m on in a more charming color.” Cally grimaced. “Her words, obviously.”
“Wait. You mean to say that if you don’t find an outlet for your magic, it’ll kill you?”
“Yeah. Basically.”
Eve shot up, pacing across the room, then spun on her heel to stare at her. “And you’re telling me this now?”
Cally squirmed, chewing her lip. “Well, I sort of hoped we’d get Antoine back so it wouldn’t be an issue. Then I hoped the tome might give a spell or two I could just dump some magic into.”
“How long do you have?”
“No one knows. But vampires go feral after two weeks, and the bond is tied to vampires, and Antoine has been gone for two weeks.”
“Great. So it doesn’t matter that you spilled coffee on the sheets, because you’re about to stain them far worse.” Eve crossed her arms. “Am I safe at this distance? Right now, I kinda feel like I want to watch.”
Cally winced. “I’m really sorry, okay? I should’ve told you sooner. I just… you had a lot on your plate.”
“Don’t you dare put this on me, Calista Davis. You have something like this you’re sitting on, and you don’t tell me? You don’t think I’d want to know? That I needed to know?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you.”
Eve threw her hands up. “Worry me? Girl, I do nothing but worry about you! Have you any idea how—” She cut herself off with a shake of her head, then forced a steadying breath.
“All right. So, you have a magical bomb sitting inside you that can go off at any second. No more hugs for you. How do we defuse it?”
“Ideally, by finding me a spell.”
“The crystal-glowing thing? Would that work?”
Cally looked doubtful. “I really have no idea. I’m not even sure that is a spell. It’s more like an effect whenever I focus near it.”
Eve nodded along. “Scrying maybe? We pull the coven together and get you flying through nightclubs of your choice?”
“I did think of it, and it might help. But I worry it’s too low-level. I did that before Antoine bonded me, and my magic is way stronger now. Apparently.”
“But you said if Antoine were back it wouldn’t be a problem. How does he fix it?”
Cally felt her cheeks heat. “By feeding on me.”
“Oh,” Eve said, and blinked twice. “Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.” She cocked her head to one side. “Does it have to be him?”
“Gabe, you mean?” Cally sighed again. “It’s the obvious choice, but first, Antoine doesn’t trust him, and doesn’t want him anywhere near me. And second, he’s already fed from me once, and if he does again, there’s a risk he’ll get addicted.”
Eve paused for just a fraction too long. “Addicted?”
“Well, witch blood isn’t like normal blood.”
“Vampire crack, huh?”
Cally eyed the ceiling, as if it held answers. “I like to think it’s a power thing, not a drug reference. But sure, if you want.”
“I don’t see we have much choice. You can’t use enough of your magic to make a difference, Antoine isn’t here to suck on your neck, so that leaves Gabe. And it’s been two weeks, so if we don’t go find him now, you could go splat at any moment.”
Cally gave her a long look. “You really have a way with words.”
“But I’m not wrong, am I? What do you want to do, light up crystals all afternoon and hope you’re around tomorrow to say ‘I told you so’?”
“No, I suppose not.” Cally pressed her lips together. “Antoine’s going to go ballistic when he finds out.”
“Antoine wants you alive. He’ll understand. But if not Gabe, then Belle? Do we even know where she is?”
“No, we don’t, and it doesn’t matter anyway—she’s already refused.”
“Huh.” Eve looked thoughtful. “You’ll have to tell Gabe why, of course.”
“Yes,” Cally said quietly. “I will.” She picked at a loose thread of the sheet and didn’t look up. “What if he refuses, too?”
“Well… guess I’ll have the crystals on standby.”
*
Gabe folded his arms across his broad chest. “You want me to do what?”
“Save her life,” Eve replied for her. “That’s what’s at stake.”
“Yeah, but you’re saying I could bond you. Become addicted to you.” He exhaled sharply and turned to pace across the carpet in Antoine’s living room.
“It’s not definite, but it is a risk,” Cally said quietly. “I know I’m asking a lot.”
“Antoine will have my hide,” Gabe muttered, stopping before the empty wingback chair near the fireplace.
“What will he do if you don’t, and she’s dead when we rescue him?” Eve asked. She sat on Antoine’s sofa with her laptop out, with a pretense at not being involved that fooled no one.
Gabe flicked her a look, then sighed. “How much do I need to take?”
“Is that a yes?” Cally asked.
“Of course it’s a yes,” Gabe said, resigned. “There’s no other option, is there?”
“No, there’s no other option. Not in the time we have. But thank you.”
“Sure, sure. Now, I suppose?”
“Please.”
He gestured to Antoine’s chair. “Sit there, then. Maybe it’ll help mollify him.”
Cally gave a dry laugh but did as bid while Eve perked up, watching with undisguised curiosity.
Gabe took a knee before her and reached for her arm, pushing back the sleeve of her hoodie, half with reluctance, half with reverence. He looked up at her. “How much should I take?”
“I don’t know,” Cally replied. “As much as you normally would?”
He lowered his face to her wrist, and she felt the sting of his fangs.
She rested her head against Antoine’s chair as Gabe took his first swallow.
As before, there was none of the rush of pleasure that came when Antoine fed from her, just a warm feeling of contentment and peace, comfort and safety.
It was addictive in its own way, easy to get lost within.
Instead, Cally chose to focus on Antoine.
It made it hurt more, but that helped too.
Her head swam and blurred as he drank more, longer than when he’d fed from her in his apartment. But that didn’t matter either; with Antoine’s bond, she’d regenerate fast enough.
What if this did create a bond with Gabe? What would Antoine do, knowing she had two vampires to sustain?
They had been friends, hadn’t they? Antoine would understand. He had to understand.
Gabe licked the punctures, healing her, then released her arm as he sat back on the floor at her feet. “Second time I’ve fed from you for all the wrong reasons.”
“Thank you for saving my life.”
“Second time you’ve thanked me for drinking your blood.”
“It was kind of hot,” Eve said in a hushed voice. “Even more so because of Gabe’s reluctance.”
Cally threw her an irritated look as Gabe warningly cleared his throat, and Eve leaned back on the sofa, warding them off with raised hands. “I say it like I see it.”
“Yes,” Cally agreed, “but sometimes it’s better not to say it.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
Gabe rose to his feet. “If we’re done here, I’m going to check in with Ryan and Noah.” He paused, not quite meeting Cally’s eyes. “Will you be okay now, or do we need to do this again?”
“I lasted two weeks, and we’ll have Antoine back before then. I’ll be okay.”
He nodded slowly. “Another reason to get him back, eh?” Then he turned and walked out, his head held high, shoulders stiff.
“A life saved, awkward tension, hunk of a man on his knees at your feet. Just a normal Saturday for you, huh?”
Cally rose to retrieve a folder from the coffee table. “If you’re done with vicarious fantasies, I’m going to get back to my Alvin manual.”
“Knock yourself out. At least I don’t have to worry about you splatting in Antoine’s favorite chair.”