Dae #2
Judy's composure shattered completely, color rising in her face until I worried about her blood pressure. "How long have you been hiding that thing? Alice Marie Moss, answer me!"
Alice's chin lifted higher, but I caught the slight tremor in her hands. "It just appeared for me after we got Alex back. I didn't—"
"You didn't what? Think to mention it?" Judy's voice climbed another octave.
"A book that powerful, connected to the djinn who nearly possessed you, and you hid it from me like it was—" She pressed both hands to her temples.
"Do you have any idea what that thing could have been doing to you? What it could have been feeding him?"
"I didn't know Marcus was still—"
"That's exactly the point!" Judy's hands dropped to her sides, clenched into fists. "You should have brought it to me immediately. That's what you do when something dangerous comes into your possession. You bring it to your High Priestess. You don't hide it like—"
"Like what?" Alice's voice went dangerously quiet. "Like the spell book I found might be the only weapon we have against him? Like maybe I was trying to figure out how to use it before everyone told me I couldn't?"
"Don't you dare turn this around on me." Judy's eyes blazed. "You put yourself at risk. You put the entire coven at risk by—"
"Stop." The word came out harsher than I intended, but I was done watching Alice get blamed for trying to help. I stepped between them, angling my body slightly in front of Alice. "What's done is done. Yelling at her now won't change anything."
Judy's gaze snapped to me. "This is coven business—"
"Alice is MY business." I didn't raise my voice, but something in my tone made Judy's mouth close. "She's been trying to protect everyone the only way she knew how. And yes, maybe she should have said something sooner. But standing here yelling at her isn't helping anything."
Judy stared at me, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
Then her eyes cut to Alice, and some of the anger drained from her face, replaced by raw fear.
"First Angel. Then Alex. And then you. He's almost taken three of you away from me.
When I think about you carrying around that book, while I had no idea—" Her voice cracked.
Alice's expression softened slightly, but she didn't back down. "I know. But I'm not a child anymore, Aunt Judy. And I need you to stop treating me like one."
The silence stretched between them, heavy with years of protection and control and love that didn't always know how to express itself.
Finally, Judy exhaled slowly. "I need to go to Ancient Magicks.
I have to make preparations for tomorrow night.
" She grabbed her keys from the hook near the door, then turned back.
"You stay here. Please," she added. "Both of you.
The wards will hold against anything he tries.
" Her gaze landed on me. "Keep her safe. "
I gave her a small bow. "Always."
Judy hesitated at the threshold, one hand on the doorframe. "Alice..." She swallowed hard, and I could tell she was searching for the right words to say. "Just stay inside these wards. Please."
"I will. I promise."
The door closed behind Judy with a soft click, leaving Alice and me alone in the sudden quiet of the house.
After a moment, Alice turned to me, her eyes on the floor between us. Her hands trembled at her sides, fingers curling into fists before releasing again. The golden flecks in her eyes—his flecks—glowed brighter than ever, but the fire behind them was all Alice this time.
"I can feel him now, Dae," she whispered, pressing a hand to her chest. "Not just in my head. In my blood." Her voice cracked. "And he's in us? In the bond between us? He's—" She swallowed hard, her throat working. "I don't… I can't—"
I crossed the space between us before she could finish, catching her face in my hands. Her skin was warm beneath my palms, her pulse fluttering against my thumbs as I gently rubbed her temples.
"He doesn't get to take that from us," I said, my voice little more than a growl. "He doesn't get to ruin what we have."
Alice shook her head as tears spilled down her cheeks. "But he has. Don't you see? Every time you touch me, he feels it. Every time I—" She choked on the words. "I can't even kiss you without him—"
"Then let him fucking feel it." My grip tightened slightly. "Let him feel how much you're MINE. Let him know he can try to be a part of what we have all he fucking wants, but it won't change a damn thing. It won't change that YOU," I forced her to meet my eyes, "are MINE."
Alice's breath hitched as wetness filled her eyes.
"You think I care if he watches?" I leaned in, my lips brushing the shell of her ear. "Let him see how you taste. Let him hear the sounds you make when I touch you. Let him burn knowing he can never have you—not the way I do."
She shuddered, her hands gripping my wrists. "Dae—"
"I don't care if he's inside you," I murmured. "He doesn't own you. He doesn't own us." I pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. "You hear me, yeobo? He can crawl into every corner of you, but he'll never be what I am to you. He'll never be your mate. He'll never really have you."
Alice stared at me, her lips parted, her breath coming fast. For a heartbeat, I thought she might pull away...
Then her fingers tightened on my wrists, and she yanked me forward, crushing her mouth to mine.
It wasn't gentle. It wasn't sweet. It was teeth and tongue and desperation, her nails digging into my skin like she was trying to claw her way inside me. I kissed her back just as fiercely, pouring every ounce of conviction into it that I meant every word I'd just said.
When she finally broke away, gasping, her eyes were wild.
"Say it again," she demanded.
I didn't hesitate. "You're mine."
A slow, dangerous smile curved her lips.
"Then prove it."
I didn't need to be told twice.
Backing her against the wall, my hands slid down to grip her hips. Her breath caught as I leaned in, my lips grazing the pulse point at her throat—right where I'd bitten her last night. A shudder ran through her body as I scraped her skin with my teeth.
"Let him feel this," I whispered against her skin. Then I sank my fangs deep into her throat.
Alice arched against me with a sharp cry, her fingers tangling in my hair. Her blood flooded my mouth, dark and rich and warm, laced with the sweetness of the woman in my arms. But there was something else there—something I hadn't noticed before, but I did now. Something ancient and hungry.
Marcus.
I drank deeper, my grip bruising, my thoughts repeating one single word:
MINE. MINE. MINE.
And somewhere, buried in the bond between us, I felt the djinn recoil.
Because Alice wasn't his.
And she never would be.
I smiled as her blood lit me on fire.