Alice
Being around the dead has never bothered me.
I'd grown up with a certain respect for cemeteries. The hush of them, the weight of all that accumulated history sealed behind plaster and brick, names worn down by rain until they were barely legible. The comfort of being able to visit the people you loved who'd left this earth before me.
But tonight, I'd expected it to feel different. Ominous. Heavy with what we were about to do. Instead it just felt quiet. Peaceful. The dead were completely oblivious to what was about to take place there.
The others were already there.
All of them.
Judy stood at the center of the space they'd cleared near the center. She'd carefully placed rune stones I recognized from her private collection around the circle just outside the candles. The ones she never touched except for the deepest work.
Lizzy and Keira stood on either side of her, their magic already linked. I could feel the hum of their combined power from ten feet away, low and steady, like a current running through the ground.
The rest of my coven ringed the space, waiting to join the circle, their vampire mates standing near them.
We were all caught in the peculiar tension of the moment, that suspended breath before something we may or may survive begins.
I could feel it in the air between us, that nervous energy that thrummed beneath our collective stillness.
This wasn't like the other workings we'd done together.
This was Marcus. This was the djinn who'd haunted my family for generations.
And the weight of what we were about to attempt pressed down on all of us.
I could see it in the way Lizzy rubbed her fingertips together at her sides, in the set of Keira's shoulders, in how Judy's jaw was clenched tight even as she moved with careful precision around the circle.
Even the vampires felt it. Killian's usual casual lean was gone, replaced by a coiled readiness that was reflected in the others, their eyes scanning the cemetery as if Marcus might materialize from the shadows at any moment.
We were about to drag an ancient, furious djinn out of whatever dark corner of me he was hiding in and bind him here. Or, preferably, kill him. The danger of it sat heavy in my chest, made my heart beat faster and my palms grow damp.
Then I noticed Angel stood among them, watching me carefully as I walked up to the circle.
I stopped when I saw her, and Dae stopped with me, his thumb moving once against my knuckles as he gave me a questioning glance.
"No," I said right away. "She shouldn't be here."
Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Angel, then back to me.
Her eyes whipped around the circle as Jamal came to stand behind her to glare at me.
She huffed out a humorless laugh. "Look, I know we haven't always been close—"
I shook my head. That hadn't come out right. "No. No, that's not it." Releasing Dae's hand, I walked up to Judy. "She can't be here. You bound her magic. She could get hurt. Or she could die."
"She's at full power," Judy told me. "I gave her magic back to her, and after being unused for so long, she's probably one of the most powerful of us here right now."
I stepped back with a surprised "oh" and turned back to Angel. "Are you okay?" I asked her. "Everything feels…right?"
She laughed, but it was a short, disbelieving sound. "Alice." She gave me a familiar patronizing look, but then she dropped the sarcastic act. "Yeah," she told me, her voice cracking slightly. "I feel great. Like me again."
I took both of her hands in mine. "Okay, then. Good. Thank you for being here."
Behind me, Judy said quietly, "Well, we need all the help we can get."
That was as close to an apology as Judy was capable of. Knowing her, it cost a lot.
Angel pulled away, swiping quickly under both eyes with the heels of her hands as she stepped back into Jamal's arms, and her expression resettled into something more like the version of herself she usually showed the world.
"Go," she told me. "We can talk after if you want."
I nodded, and after sending Dae a look that told him everything I couldn't say out loud in that moment, I moved carefully to my place inside the circle, the spell book cradled against my chest. The weight of it had changed since the last time I'd held it.
It felt heavier, or maybe just more aware.
The leather cover was warm under my palms, and I'd swear I could feel something moving beneath the surface.
Not a vibration exactly. More like a pulse.
Present. Insistent. The way Marcus had always been present, even when he wasn't speaking.
Even before I knew he'd slithered his way inside of me.
He was a weight in the back of my mind, watching, waiting.
The vampires spread to the outer perimeter without anyone needing to tell them, standing at intervals behind the witch they were mated to.
They held the space, forming a different kind of wall.
Even Elias was there, though he was more human than vampire these days.
But one look at his face told me there was absolutely nothing in this life or the next that would keep him from being here with Talin.
And I guess he had his own ax to grind with Marcus.
I gave him a smile that was much braver than I actually felt, and he gave me a reassuring wink in return. It grew when I heard Dae's possessive growl from behind me.
Talin stepped into the circle with me, her dark hair loose down her back.
Her thumbnail was pressed against her opposite wrist. It was an anxious habit she'd had since she was sick with the cancer that took parts of her with it when it left.
She was focusing on the rune stones, mumbling something under her breath only the vampires could hear.
Jesse stood at the south edge of the circle, Shea slightly behind him.
He had a stillness to him that was different from the vampires'.
Not the stillness of a hunter, but the stillness of winter after a deep snow has fallen.
When ordinary noises are dampened and no footprints have yet disturbed the pristine blanket spread across the world.
He was probably the only one here who truly understood the exact dimensions of the danger we were walking into. He was watching me, his expression revealing nothing, and I wondered if he could see his father inside of me the way Dae did.
When I met his eyes, he reached into his jacket and held up a dagger.
It wasn't impressive-looking. Not like something out of a movie. There was no gleaming edge, no ornate handle. The blade was dark, the metal such a deep gray it was almost black, and something moved within it when the light hit it wrong. Something that wasn't a reflection.
"I finished spelling it this morning." His golden eyes held mine. "My blood. Ryan's blood." He paused before holding it out to me. "It should work this time."
I looked at the dagger.
"Thank you," I told him earnestly as I brought it into the circle with me.
Jesse's expression shifted into something that might, under different lighting, been called warmth. "Don't thank me yet. Let's make sure it works first."
"Right. But still, thank you."
He gave me a nod, and I moved back to the center of the circle.
Judy poured salt on the ground in one continuous pour just inside the runes, her voice low and steady as she named each element in turn, the words so old they weren't any English words you'd recognize now.
When she lit the first candle, the flame went up straight and then bent inward, toward the center, as if the circle were already beginning to breathe. She lit all the candles except one.
Straightening to her full height, she stepped inside with me and Talin and took one of our hands in each of hers.
"Remember not to let him get to you. No matter what he says or does, don't let him break your focus.
If you panic, he'll get away, and who the hell knows what this thing will do on his way out. "
We both agreed, and she pulled us in for a quick hug. "I love you both. You're strong. You can do this. And we'll help you." Then she let us go, clearing her throat as she stepped back, lighting the last candle to close the circle.
The witches joined hands, surrounding us in their power and security. The humming I'd felt when we arrived intensified, rising through the soles of my feet. Talin and I glanced at each other, then I looked around the circle at each witch in turn.
Keira. The most powerful witch of the Seattle coven. She was the only one with the power to control a master vampire. Hopefully, that power would help us control a djinn. I'd heard she was also the one cloaking what was about to happen from any prying human eyes.
Emma. Keira's sister. She'd be responsible for keeping Marcus immobile within the circle.
Grace. Her healing powers may come in handy this night.
Ryan. Jesse's sister and Marcus's daughter. Half witch and half djinn, although she'd only just found out about her darker side. I could already see her communicating with her spirit friends, asking them to do what they could to help us.
Laney. The Protector. She'd be doing the actual exorcism tonight.
Jesse. Marcus's son and Ryan's brother. Half witch and half djinn.
Arguably the most powerful one there, he could also communicate with his spirit protectors like his sister, along with his raven, who was currently circling high above our heads.
I'd heard he could also read minds, though I wasn't sure if this was true or not.
Lizzy. She'll help Emma hold Marcus and set him on fire if he gets out of hand. Not that fire was enough to kill him, but putting out the flames will surely slow him down.
Alex. My brother and the strongest among our coven here in New Orleans, with his djinn magic similar to mine. The fact that he's embraced his darkness made him even stronger, although still not nearly as dangerous as our cousin, Jesse.
Angel. As one of the most magically potent and aggressive spell casters of the coven, having her magic back will be a godsend tonight.
Esme. Her blood magic is dangerous. But it's also very strong, and nearly irresistible to the djinn. If things start falling apart, she may be the only one who's able to hold it together while the rest of us send Marcus somewhere he can't escape from.
Talin. She'll threadwalk through our bond and start un-weaving Marcus's thread from mine and Dae's from the inside.
Judy. Our high priestess and our anchor. The others will channel all of their collective power through her to intensify it as much as they can.
And me…
I found Talin again. "Are you ready?" I asked her.
"No," she told me. "But I don't think the answer to that question will ever change, so we might as well get started.
When I'm inside," she said, quieter, "I'll find where he's anchored in the bond and cut it, so to speak.
If I sever his anchor point before he can fix it, he can't use the bond to pull himself back in.
He comes out whole. Separate." She paused.
"Dae stays safe. And so do you. Or, at least, that's my working theory. "
I looked at her, wondering if that cut would also sever the connection between me and Dae.
"I've been practicing," Talin said, and the slight tightness around her eyes was the only indication of what that practice had cost. "I know what the threads look like.
" She pressed her thumbnail briefly against her finger and then released it.
"He's been inside you long enough that the weave is deep, but I can get there if he's distracted with everyone else. "
With one last, longing look at Dae-Jung, I took myself back to earlier in the day, when I was lying safely in his strong arms. Then, with his nod of encouragement and seeing the love in his eyes, I drew from that strength and security, took a deep breath, and crouched down to lay the spell book in the center of the circle.
Opening the pages, I found the spell I would need, and stood.
And I started to chant.