Chapter 23 #3
"Hot chocolate and Baileys for me."
"Original or salted caramel?"
"Ooo, salted caramel sounds perfect, thanks." I take my laptop to the dining room table to get set up.
Wylder stands in the doorway with his duffel slung across his shoulders. "Do you mind if I spend an hour on the treadmill and zone out for a bit? Or do you need me?"
I smile up at him. "My gym is your gym, babe. I'm good. Go get your sweat on if that's what you're in the mood for."
He winks. "Thanks. I'll see you in a while. And if you need me, you know where I am."
"Yep, you do you."
I watch him leave and my heart aches for him. He's physically and spiritually healed from the lash, but mentally he's still feeling a little vulnerable.
Which, given that he went from being an athletic, healthy guy to shuffling around like an old man, I get it.
If hitting the gym helps him get back to feeling strong and indestructible, I'm all for it.
Asher comes into the dining room carrying two oversized mugs, and I laugh. "Oh, I didn't know we were indulging. You realize Baileys is more than flavored creamer, right? It's like 15% alcohol."
"It's 17% actually, and yes, I'm aware. But I figured we're being administrative, not action heroes today, so we can indulge in a little buzz."
I chuckle and accept my mug. "Well, as long as it was considered."
He winks. "Naturally."
As the bliss of chocolatey indulgence slides down my throat, I log into the Order portal and pull up my internal email.
Before we left the guest wing of the Bahamas chapter, I sent Xavier's list of stone witches to Garrison. I asked that he coordinate transport, pair each stone witch with a lockstone location, and get teams working on the repairs as soon as possible.
I read his response. "Garrison is taking care of the witches, so that's done, at least."
"Good. Where are you on gathering the spirit witches?"
I pick up my phone and scroll through to find Freya's contact. The phone rings, and she picks up on the second ring. "Hey, it's me. How are things going?"
"Well, I've got three Descendants of the Nine confirmed and I'm still working on getting two more. I've got four people thinking about it, two of them descendants and two who are just spirit witches."
"Well, we can only do what we can do. I agree that descendants would be better, but if it comes down to it, we'll have to go with whoever we've got."
"Aye, that's my thinking too."
A knock sounds at the front door, and Asher hurries off to corral the pups and see who's come calling.
I take another sip of my hot chocolate and swallow.
"All right. Keep trying. We're at a standstill until we have all nine.
But, on a positive note, between the journals my team went through in the Bahamas and Khylie's understanding of the original warding spell, I think we have the ritual figured out. "
Sebastian is ushered in by Asher, and I hold up one finger.
"You're sure?"
"There's no way to be completely sure, but I'm going to send you both the ritual as we've deciphered it, and the notes and comments from the journals that support our thinking. Study it. Think about it. And let me know if you have any concerns. Well… other than the obvious concerns we all share."
"All right. I'll look for the email and will keep working on gathering spirit witches."
We end the call, and I close my eyes for exactly four seconds before I meet the curious gaze of Sebastian.
He's leaning with his shoulder against the entrance to the dining room, his arms crossed over the padded fabric of his jacket.
His black hair is slightly disheveled, but his bright blue eyes meet mine with something quietly careful in them. "Gathering spirit witches?"
I hurry over to pull him into a hug. "Yeah, sorry. I'm glad you came."
He pats my back twice and then eases back. "You said it was important."
"It is." I step back and invite him to join me. "Have a seat. I'll catch you up."
We settle at the dining room table, and I tell him everything that's been going on. By the time I finish, his face has moved through several expressions I don't have names for.
"I've never heard of the Descendants of the Nine."
"Neither had I. Apparently, they're like this Illuminati group of spirit witches, and they kept the information on Tharuzel's master's prison super-secret. It's been Tharuzel's plan all along."
"And that's why he forced you into the blood contract."
"Yeah, so he could bind me to him and use me to get the locations of the lockstone chambers."
"Because you're descended from the Key."
"Yep."
"And the only thing keeping this super demon from breaking free is Asher's magic shielding the remaining lockstones."
"Yep, but that's only a stopgap. We need to repair the other lockstones, reinstate the warding spell, and send Tharuzel back to hell."
There's a beat of silence as he stares at me, then he nods. "Is that all?"
"And I need your help," I say. "Not to be dramatic, but the world as we know it needs your help."
He lets out a long sigh. "Well, yeah, let's not be dramatic."