Chapter 32
Chapter
Thirty-Two
“Ineed help,” I whispered over the line.
Evie was at my side in an instant. “What is it?”
She sucked in a gasp. “Moira!”
My head lolled. “I need blood,” I whispered.
She opened her mouth, but I gripped her wrist. “Not Cernunnos.”
“What?” Evie hissed. “Why not?”
“Something isn’t right.”
“Dammit, Moira. Let me call him. Once you get your energy back, then we can look at another source.”
“No. I have a contact at the local blood bank. Ask for Gene.”
Evie swore. “I’ll be right back.” She blinked away.
I curled into a fetal position on the couch and waited. Mom’s spell was eating away at my insides, roaring through my bloodstream and sucking all my energy. If Mom managed to break into the Keep today, she could pluck me up like a chicken grabbing an earthworm. I was completely helpless.
The glasses in the cabinet rattled.
“Why didn’t you call me?” an imperious male voice asked.
“I told her not to call you.”
Cernunnos sat down beside me and held out his wrist. “Drink.”
“No.” The scent of his blood sang to me, but I wouldn’t take from him when we were weird like this.
“Moira. This grudge you’re holding against me is petty. We agreed to be honest with each other, and I know I stretched the boundaries of that agreement.”
I barked a laugh, and even that movement pained me. “You knew something horrific was going to happen and you gave me shitty, cryptic hints that were absolutely no help, and then everything blew up in my face!”
“To be fair,” he said mildly, “if you weren’t such a stubborn ass all the time, and actually gave into one of your desires instead of fighting it like a toddler fights naptime, maybe we wouldn’t be here.”
I gasped. “You asshole!”
“Moira. Look at you now. You can barely stand up because, once again, your stubborn ass refuses to do anything for your own good. What good are principles if you don’t survive them?”
“Your blood didn’t last as long as the last time when I was consuming human blood.”
For a while, after Fee had slammed into me, I didn’t need to drink blood at all, but the cravings and need came back with a vengeance when I was forced to drink from Cernunnos after Mom wounded the god with a fae weapon that could have killed him.
Cernunnos purged his power from my blood afterward, and I think it might have done something to me. Ever since then, things were different.
I was different, and I couldn’t ask Fee. Technically, the phoenix was dead. Her spirit was still active within me, but we couldn’t speak to each other. Not in words.
“And now you’re holding a black magic spell inside you while your Ethan tries to remember why the hell everything is so screwed up.”
“Something like that.”
“Alright.” Cernunnos crossed his ankle over his knee. “Let’s go through this, then. You were consuming human blood, correct?”
“You know I was.”
“And you had fatigue and low energy.”
“Yes, but it wasn’t as severe as now.”
“But you had a long period where you didn’t have to consume blood at all.”
I didn’t think he knew about Fee, but there was no way to tell.
“I went much longer without consuming any, yes.” My cravings were still there. I was part vampire. Those would never go away, no matter how much I wanted them to.
He snorted. “You might be dying, and you still cling to your secrets.”
“I’m not dying,” I snapped. Even though I felt like I was dying, all I needed was blood. I’d be good as new once I topped up.
I hoped.
“You might be.” Cernunnos sighed. “Look, Moira. Obviously, something happened. I may or may not have had something to do with that.”
“You always have something to do with it.”
He grinned. “How can I help you if you won’t tell me what I need to know?”
Evie popped back in with two bags of blood. “Godsdammit,” she growled. “You better not die on me.”
She blinked when she saw her dad sitting next to me. “Did she drink?”
He gestured at me. “Do you see her up doing a jig?”
Evie sighed and handed me a bag. “Drink.”
I sank my teeth into the bag and drank the first, followed directly by the second.
“How long does it take?” Evie asked. She was wringing her hands with worry.
“A couple of minutes.”
Cernunnos scoffed. “Normally, it’s instantaneous.”
I sighed. “Both of you are annoying me.”
“And you should have called me as soon as you started feeling funky,” Evie grumbled.
The blood hit my veins. I sighed with relief as energy filled me. It wasn’t the same as taking it straight from a god, but it would do. It would have to until I figured out something better.
I sat up and wiggled my fingers and toes. “All good. Crisis averted.”
The smile I shot at Evie made her roll her eyes. “I have Gene putting some more away for you. I’ll pick up a few more bags tomorrow. He warned me it doesn’t last long, so it needs to be consumed before the end of the week.”
I knew all this, but it was sweet that she was trying to help. “Got it.”
“And next time, you better call me the moment you feel tired.” Evie sighed. “We’re immortals. We’re not supposed to get tired.”
Cernunnos grunted. “Something is wrong with your magic, Moira. We need to figure out what happened when I took my power back and why it affected you so much.”
Evie frowned. “Or if that’s what it was at all. Maybe it’s something else.”
Our eyes met, and I knew she was thinking of Fee. “We can ask Cliona.”
Cernunnos scoffed. “I am sitting right here!”
“Yes,” I said, “and if you were responsible, maybe we should have someone else looking at the problem.”
He rolled his eyes, and it was such a human gesture, it made us both laugh. “Fine. Call me when you see reason.”
The god disappeared in a shower of light, leaving Evie and me sitting on the couch alone.
My friend turned to me. “I’ve been meaning to ask. You didn’t need blood for a really long time. What gives?”
“I don’t really know. I was fine until my mom injured Cernunnos. To get him safely out, I had to consume his blood.”
She knew about my gift. “So you could borrow his teleporting power.”
I nodded. “It worked. But once we returned, Cernunnos yanked the shared power and his blood from my system. After that, things went wonky.”
“How long before you needed a top up?”
“I haven’t consumed blood in four weeks. Not until tonight.”
“Yes, and you were weak as a kitten when I got here, so obviously, that’s not ideal.”
“Something that has never happened before. And I think I know why it happened.”
One of her eyebrows rose. “And you didn’t want my father to know?”
I winced. “Things are weird between us right now.”
She snorted. “Yeah. No shit.”
“When I took that spell from my mom, it drained me. Unraveling the spell so Ethan can remember things takes a lot of energy, but the spell just being there drains me as well. Maybe this has nothing to do with your father. Not completely. And maybe the four weeks weren’t exactly accurate, because Mommy Dearest showed up. ”
“Ethan was spelled, and things went to shit.”
“Yup.”
Evie rubbed her nose. “I feel like this is my karma for all the shit I put you through.”
I laughed. “You had nothing to do with my past, so that can’t be true. Mom acting insane was long overdue. I always knew she’d find me, and now, here I am.”
Evie entwined our fingers. “I don’t like seeing you like this. You’ve always been the rock steady one. I’m supposed to be the only one who’s a mess.”
“Aww. You can still be a mess if you want to.”
Evie snorted. “No need to be an ass about it.”
She fell silent for a moment. “So…I saw Ethan here the other night. How’d that go?”
“Surprisingly well. Though I have no idea how he got here or home. He was out of potions.”
Evie looked everywhere but at me.
“You!”
Her cheeks colored. “He called Rowan and asked if I’d be willing to offer transport.”
“What reason did he give?”
“He wanted to ask you for your chocolate chip cookie recipe.” Evie pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, but she couldn’t resist. “It was sooooo cute,” she gushed. “I couldn’t resist.”
“You are such a sucker,” I grumbled.
“He didn’t ask you for your recipe, did he?”
I grinned. “You know he didn’t.”
Evie clapped her hands together and laughed. “Just like a movie.”
“Yes, well, this movie doesn’t seem like it’s going to have a happy ending.”
“Not now, maybe,” Evie said. “But I have no doubt you’ll figure a way out of this.”
“Mom won’t stop. If I can find her soon, I’ll have the upper hand. But if she recovers all her power, there’s a strong possibility I’ll lose. She’s always had more raw power, and I never received the training I needed. Mom held a lot of things back to keep me dependent on her.”
Evie’s eyes narrowed. “Huh. I’m remembering a certain time in my life when I felt helpless and hopeless when it came to my wacky magic, and I am pretty sure someone told me to suck it up and help myself.” She tapped her chin. “Do you remember who that was?”
I rolled my eyes. “Whoever she is, she sounds like she sucks.”
Evie laughed. “The good thing is witchcraft is much easier to learn than being a chimera. And we have a ton of fae who can help, especially with herbs.”
“I’m handy with herbs. It’s the other stuff I don’t know.”
“The first thing we need to do is figure out how to keep that spell from draining your energy, so I don’t find you slumped on your couch like you’ve been on a three-day bender.
Then we figure out a new blood source for now so we can buy us some time to determine if Dad messed you up or if something else is going on. ”
“I vote it’s your dad’s fault. He’s been a terrible boyfriend this week.”
“To be fair, no one can really figure out what the hell you are, so you’re kind of a guinea pig.”
I grunted. “Truth. Let’s piece me together like Frankenstein’s monster, then we can kick Mom’s ass.”
“We have to. You can’t take her on in your current state. A stiff wind would blow you right over.” She poked me in the ribs. “You were already thin before. Now, when I hug you, I feel like I might impale myself on your collarbone.”
“Stop body shaming me,” I muttered.
Evie’s lips thinned. “Losing weight so quickly cannot be good for you. And it’s certainly not good for my continued health.”
“Yes, we all know it’s all about Evie.”
She rose and slapped me on the thigh. “We’ll figure it out. Until then, do all you can to keep unraveling that spell. We need to get it out of you as soon as we can.”
“Mind asking your mom if there’s a timeline on this thing?”
“I’ll call her as soon as I get back.”
She bent down and brought me in for a hug. “I’m sending some food over, so you don’t have to cook.”
I gave her a faint smile. “Thanks, Evie.”
She gave me a little wave and disappeared.
When I was alone, I sighed and got up, testing out my legs to make sure I could walk without wobbling.
When I reached the kitchen without incident, I made myself a cup of tea and took it back to the living room. I’d missed a few days of work and needed to adjust the schedule to take several more off.
Everyone who worked for me was getting a raise since I’d been such an absent boss.