“You okay?” Dee asked after a pause.
“No.” She was so not okay. “But can we not talk about it?”
Not talk about how she’d fallen for another fuckwit who only thought about themselves. Not get into how she’d given herself to another shithead who only saw her as a means to an end.
Eddie nodded and stood. “Sure. We’ll get you some tea.”
“Thanks, but I don’t want any tea.” She wanted to go home, to her home, and crawl into her own bed and pull the covers over her head and stay there until she didn’t hurt so much.
“You’ll want this tea,” Dee said with a wink. “Did you find Lucifer?”
“Yup.” His name sent a pang through her. He who shall henceforth have no name but shithead. Or HWSHHNNBS—call her crazy but it didn’t have a ring to it. Shithead worked.
Eddie put a mug in front of her. “Is that something we’re not going to talk about?”
Bianca nodded, took a sip, and coughed as strong spirits seared her throat. “You’re drinking.” She checked the clock. “At eleven a.m.”
“I don’t get drunk anymore.” Eddie shrugged. “Nephilim thing.”
“And I’m keeping her company.” Dee clinked her mug against Bianca’s. “Nobody should day drink alone.”
“Why are we day drinking?” Assuming they didn’t have a shithead situation of their own, talking about someone else’s crappy morning was better than talking about hers.
Eddie shrugged. “Seemed like the thing to do. End of days and all that.”
Made sense to Bianca. She sipped. It was basically whisky with a smidge of tea, but it warmed her from throat to gullet, and if she drank enough, it might anesthetize her.
They drank in silence until Eddie said, “Can I ask what you’re going to do now?”
“Seems like you just did.” Bianca patted her backpack. “I’m going to do the tracking spell and find Leona.”
“Good.” Dee pushed her mug away. “What do you need?”
Feeling like she’d missed something vital, Bianca stared at her.
“Looks like Lucifer is a no show.” Dee got to her feet. “And we promised those children we’d get their mother back.”
“Just like that.” The instant support brought her perilously close to tears.
Eddie put all three mugs in the sink. “Just like that. What do you need?”
During the flight back with Raphael, thinking about the spell had kept her mind off Luc—shithead. “I don’t think we should do it here.” She gestured the theatre around them. “I’ve never done this spell before, and I don’t want to place Emma and Ethan in any more danger.”
Dee blinked at her and crossed her arms. “What kind of danger? Like the blowing up kind?”
“No.” Bianca had to laugh. “At least, I don’t think so. The spell tracks, but to do that, it connects the wielder with the subject.” Magic was unpredictable, and she didn’t have her coven with her. “I want to be away from the children when I establish that connection.”
It took some discussion, but it was finally agreed that Sophia, Daniel, and Dee would stay at the theatre. Eddie and Shade would take Bianca to her cabin and provide the power boost. Raphael must have said something, because nobody asked her about shithead.
It was midafternoon by the time they arrived at Bianca’s house. It looked the same, which was strange, because Bianca felt like she’d changed so much since the night they’d brought Lucifer here. Her home’s familiarity wrapped around her like a snuggly blanket. They’d swung past Leona’s to collect a personal object, and Bianca had Leona’s hairbrush in the bag with the grimoire.
True spellwork didn’t rely on candles, or herbs, or crystals, but the ritual of placing these objects centered Bianca as she set up at her kitchen table.
She cleared negative energy from the room and placed anchoring crystals in a grid around her, Shade, and Eddie.
With keen eyes, Shade watched her work. “How can we help?”
“If you could open your power to me,” Bianca said as she lit candles. “Then I can use your power for an extra push.”
Shade nodded, his eyes glowing silver. The wash of his lust power made her want to purr and rub up against him, but she forced herself to focus.
Eddie’s power felt different. Where Shade’s oozed like honey, Eddie’s was sharp and clear like a gemstone.
“Let’s get this done,” Shade said. “I want you two back at the theatre as soon as possible.”
Bianca opened the grimoire to the tracking spell. She placed Leona’s crystal on the age yellowed tome and channeled into it. The rush of power from Eddie and Shade was like a tsunami, and it took Bianca a moment to control the storm.
Then she locked her power stream on the crystal and spoke the incantation.
Her vision went black, her ears popped, and she could hear nothing but her breathing and the rapid thump of her heart.
She floated in a dark, blue-tinted vacuum. A tug at her solar plexus made her gasp. The dark streamed past her and the pull inside her strengthened.
She hit a barrier and was repelled.
Bianca drew on Eddie and Shade.
The barrier popped, and another heartbeat filled the silence. It was a disconcerting counter rhythm to her heartbeat.
