Page 13 of Bitten By Chaos

“I’m so sorry about your cottage,” I told the latter, standing.

“It will grow back,” Hazel said with a sad smile.

Sam spun around, clearly confused, but before he could ask, Hazel held up a hand and said, “It’s spelled to do that.”

“Nice.” Sam whistled and stuck his hands in his ripped jean pockets.

“Let’s get down to business,” Daphne said, hopping onto a counter and crossing her long, leather-clad legs.

“Before we start,” I said, averting my eyes to the floor. “I want you to know how much you all mean to me. You’ve sacrificed—continue to sacrifice—a lot to help us. And I want you to know that there’d be no hard feelings if you decided?—”

“Shut up already, Doc,” Lydia interrupted. “We are here because we want to be. It’s the right thing, and you’d do the same for any one of us. You have done the same.”

“We think it’s time to act first, like we did the night at the base,” Sam interrupted, stepping up beside my once-assistant turned vampire.

Instantly, I thought back to the battle between us, the demon board members, and the fae. So much blood and pain that night, and far too many close calls for my loved ones. I recalled with acid clarity the moment the demon Grival pulled his black sword, and how he tried to bring the entire building down on everyone.

I’d stopped him on instinct with my power. But he was still out there, with that weapon that digested auras. I shook my head. “No. I don’t want to risk it.”

“I get that you’re scared, Char, but we did some real damage that night,” Sam said, “There are only two board members left. We can do this if we start attacking instead defending.” His eyes flashed silver as his hand squeezed Lydia’s shoulder, biceps straining against the short sleeves of his T-shirt.

“Let’s say we agree. How do we get them here?” Daphne asked, slipping off her perch.

“We don’t,” Sam answered.

“We surprise them in their own dimension.” Lydia crossed her arms and widened her stance. “The doc did it, and if you’re about to argue that Zoe could be detected somehow if she uses her powers, Binx said he knows where there’s a portal.”

Binx, the incubus, knew about the same portal as Julian and me since he was with us when we’d discovered it in Paris and been captured by MorningStar’s Major Marcia Honeywell. The black ops organization’s goal may have been to collect psychics like me, but the major’s pentiant for torture was what caused Julian’s silver poisoning, and almost cost his life. Their operation was destroyed by a changeling, but Marcia and her leftenant Tomas were still out there somewhere.

Binx was taken along with us and tortured as well. He wasn’t here now for our meeting, couldn’t be in our dimension unless it was night, but as soon as the sun fell, I was going to have words with him about encouraging such risks when he knew full well the potential consequences.

The feel of Julian’s body brushing up against my back shouldn’t have aroused me like it did in that moment. But his purpose was clear when he spoke in my mind through our secret connection. I’d assumed it was no longer possible along with my psychic abilities when he turned me, but somehow all of my abilities had remained when other psychics like Silas had lost theirs.

Stop trying to protect everyone, he cautioned.

He was right. It was a lesson that continued to be difficult when I’d lost so many people I loved. But they had a right to choose their actions, just like I did.

Out loud he said, “This plan has merit.”

Sam grinned appreciatively, and it appeared his and Julian’s rivalry was almost a thing of the past. Maybe it had to do with Sam’s apparent affection for Lydia replacing his pursuit of me. Or maybe werewolf and vampire could overcome instinctual animosity. Either way, I was glad.

“What do you propose?” I asked, still fighting down the burning desire to stop them from trying something.

Lydia beamed, relaxing her shoulders, and Sam put an arm around her, which she promptly shrugged off. She followed it with a look that clearly said no PDA’s, wolf. But when I squinted, I saw the rosy, pink color in her aura and suppressed a smile.

“We send Tabitha in through the fae machine first, to spy on the demon lords and make sure they’re unprepared for our attack. We can’t afford mistakes,” Sam said, entering the center of our little circle.

“Hold on,” I interrupted, glancing over at the other psychic in the room. “That’s dangerous. What if you can’t get out like I did? We don’t have another psychic handy.”

Eye’s narrowed, Tabitha frowned. “You said it enhanced your abilities when you used it. Besides we do have another psychic.”

All gazes turned toward Em, currently sitting cross-legged on the floor, blowing up a plastic glove like a balloon.

“No. She’s not going anywhere near the base,” I said. Maybe I couldn’t stop them, but I wasn’t about to let a child, who’d already been through hell, participate in their dangerous plan.

“It’s abandoned,” Hazel argued.

“And probably ready to collapse from all the damage our battle caused.” My voice came out shrill, but I couldn’t help it. “Not to mention if they happen to go searching for anything…”

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