Chapter 25 Like for Like
Casimir
I coddled them too much, I thought with a fond scowl.
Reaching over to silence the alarm before it could wake anyone, I slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Seri, who slept peacefully between Zane and me.
The dim blue light of predawn filtered through the blinds, casting long shadows across our bedroom.
Today was the day we’d catch Amabel, and I needed everything to go perfectly.
Perfection required preparation.
I padded into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, and tied my hair up into a tight top knot. The face that stared back at me from the mirror was all hard lines and sharp focus, exactly what today required. By the time I returned to the bedroom, Koa was sitting up, rubbing his eyes.
“Time?” he mumbled.
“Almost,” I whispered. “Wake Z.”
Koa nodded and slid out of bed, then gently shook Zane awake while I moved to our closet.
“Five more minutes,” the menace groaned, burying his face in Seri’s ‘tit-pillows,’ as he called them. Vulgar beast.
“Now.” Even hushed, my voice left no room for argument. “Today’s the day.”
That got his attention. His eyes snapped open, suddenly alert. He glanced at Seri’s sleeping face, a protective shadow crossing his face before he threw off the covers and joined us.
We moved to the security room that I’d prepped last night: Maps of the estate spread across the table, security feeds from Koa’s spy eyes displayed on multiple screens, and our weapons laid out with military precision. Koa immediately went to his laptop, checking the feeds from the Bell homestead.
“Any movement?” I asked, strapping a tactical knife to my thigh.
“Nothing. Amabel’s still asleep.” Koa’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Foster messaged at 1 a.m. Said she planned to leave for the water witch’s by 10.”
“Perfect,” I said, checking my rifle one more time. “That gives us plenty of time to get in position.”
With Arabesque still at her witches’ conference in Chicago, Amabel was alone and vulnerable, distracted by her missing twin. The memory of Eluned’s final moments, her pieces crumbling to ash in our crucible, still warmed my heart.
One down, one to go.
For the next hour, we went through every detail of our plan. The positioning. The timing. The contingencies. By 6:30, when the first hints of sunlight began creeping over the horizon, we were as ready as we’d ever be.
“Time to wake Seri,” I decreed.
As if summoned by her name, she appeared in the doorway, Brumous at her heels.
Her honey-gold hair was tousled from sleep, and she wore one of my button-up shirts that hung to her knees.
Even half-asleep, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
My chest tightened at the sight of her, and I wanted nothing more than to strip out of this gear and carry her back to bed.
“You didn’t wake me,” she pouted, her voice still husky with sleep.
“Wanted to let you rest.” Koa crossed the room to kiss her forehead.
“An early breakfast?” Zane was already heading for the door. “I’ll make blueberry pancakes!”
Seri smiled, but I could see the anxiety behind her eyes. She knew what today meant just as well as we did. If all went according to plan, we’d finally eliminate the threat of Amabel Harrow, leaving only Arabesque herself to deal with. And that would be a battle for another day.
At Seri’s insistence, we’d given the entire staff a paid day off.
“No need for collateral damage,” she’d said, which had made my heart swell with pride at her forethought. Although she’d only been with us for a short time, she was already thinking like a strategist.
“I’ve been wondering,” she said now, stabbing a piece of pancake with her fork, “what does Arabesque pay her spies with?”
“Foster gets promises of power and position once her goals are achieved,” I shared. “That’s part of her payment plan.”
“But what about the others?” she pressed. “She clearly has one in the vampire court that your father and Sebastian are trying to root out.”
“Probably has one in most royal courts, if we’re being honest,” Zane pointed out.
“Money?” Koa suggested. “She must have amassed wealth over the years.”
“I think it’s more complicated than that.” I shook my head. “People who betray royalty aren’t usually motivated by gold alone. My guess is she offers them something specific, something they desperately want that only Dark magic can provide.”
“Like what?” Seri asked, her gray eyes wide.
“Immortality. Youth. Power.” I took a sip of coffee. “Maybe even revenge. Arabesque is skilled at uncovering people’s deepest desires and exploiting them.”
Seri shuddered, and I immediately regretted my bluntness. She, more than anyone, knew exactly how manipulative Arabesque could be.
“Speaking of spies,” Koa interrupted, his attention on his laptop, “our little friend is stirring.”
He turned the screen so we could all see the feed from one of his spy eyes.
Amabel was finally getting out of bed, stretching lazily like she didn’t have a care in the world.
The sight of her made my jaw clench. This was the woman who had tormented Seri, who had helped Arabesque keep her prisoner, who had participated in the illegal siphoning of Seri’s magic until she was a shell of herself.
“Time to move,” I said, standing abruptly. “Zane, get the SUV ready.”
Zane nodded and headed for the garage, while Koa continued monitoring the feed. Seri began clearing the dishes, but I gently took them from her hands.
“Leave them,” I said quietly. “Let me help you get ready.”
She looked up at me, her expression resolute despite the worry I could see lurking beneath the surface.
“I’m not afraid, Simmy.”
“I know, my brave love.” I leaned down to touch my forehead to hers. “But I am. I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.” Her small hand came up to cup my cheek, and I turned my face so I could kiss her palm. “Everything’s going to work out. Hang onto that, okay?”
“I’ll try.”
#
Thirty minutes later, we were all kitted up and ready to go.
Zane had backed the armored SUV out of the garage, a sleek black beast that Sebastian had gifted us as a wedding present.
It was a technological marvel: bullet-proof, armor-plated, warded down to the spark plugs.
Even Father had been impressed when Sebastian had presented it to us, pride evident in his usually stoic expression.
“This will keep our beloved safe while we deal with Amabel,” I’d told my brothers, and they’d agreed without hesitation.
Our plan was simple. We would all pretend to be leaving the estate, driving the SUV down the winding driveway until we were just out of sight of the mansion.
Seri would stay safely in the vehicle with Brumous standing guard, while my brothers and I doubled back to catch Amabel when she inevitably tried to sneak into the house.
I still didn’t quite believe she’d try to kill Eluned if she couldn’t free her. True, my own morals veered towards gray at times, but to eliminate Ko or Zane or even Sebastian? I’d die myself first.
“Are we missing anything?” I went through one final mental inventory as we prepared to leave.
“Nope. We’re ready.” Koa patted his tactical vest, his favorite dagger Serafina front and center in his chest harness.
“Can’t wait to slap this on that bitch.” Zane stroked the handle of the Hexenf?nger as seductively as if it were Seri’s neck.
I nodded, but paused at the sudden feeling that something was wrong. Shaking my head, I pushed the thought aside. The plan was solid. Everything was in place. We’d been successful many times with far less planning and prep.
We would be fine.
#
The first hint that our perfect plan was not fine came when Koa cursed under his breath, his eyes glued to his laptop. We were still getting into the SUV when his fingers froze over the keyboard.
“She’s gone,” he said, his voice tight with alarm.
“What do you mean?” Climbing into the driver’s seat, I started the engine with a frown.
“Amabel just entered Ondine Filcher’s cottage,” Koa explained, typing furiously. “The spy eyes can’t follow. Water witch has wards up.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror at Seri, who sat between Zane and Brumous, her face pale, but her eyes alight with determination.
“Just like you predicted, my love.” Even as I praised her, my knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “She’s coming through the lake.”
“Too damn early,” Zane muttered. “Fosteroni said 10. It’s only 8.”
“Plans change.” I accelerated slightly, the SUV’s powerful engine responding instantly. “Her ETA, Ko?”
“Best estimate? Three minutes.”
“Should you deactivate the wards around the house?” Seri leaned forward, her small hand resting on my shoulder. “Just for today?”
I considered it for a moment. The wards were our primary defense, two layers of protection that Father and Sebastian had laid themselves, covering the mansion from top to bottom and extending five feet out in every direction.
My brothers and I had added additional protections since then, transforming Evermere into an impenetrable fortress.
“No,” Zane said before I could respond. “I want to see if she can get around them. From a security perspective,” he added, catching my eye in the mirror, “but also to see what the bitch is made of.”
“I’m curious, too,” I admitted. “Those wards would keep out most supernatural creatures, even powerful ones. If she can breach them, we need to know.”
I left the thought unfinished, but we all understood the implications. If Amabel could get past our security, we needed to know how.
“Foster mentioned that Amabel stole a favor token,” Koa reminded us, still monitoring his feeds. “One that a greater demon gave to Arabesque.”
“Waste of a demon favor,” Zane scoffed, although privately, I was concerned. There were diabolical powers who could get through wards…
“There,” Koa suddenly said, pointing to his screen. “Movement in the lake. Park, Cas.”