Page 14 of A Bond with the Dark

“We should ask her,” I state, a glimmer of hope igniting in my chest. “If older vampires are around, they should know how to find a phoenix or if there even is one.”

“Go ask her,” Dad says, stubbing the cigar out in the ashtray. “We need to do something; this shit is getting bad. I saw eighteen cases in the ER before lunch yesterday.”

“What are you doing for the blowback on that?” I ask, sliding the glass door open and entering, the smells of pot roast and gravy tantalizing my senses.

“Veilweaving them to believe they have the flu,” Dad answers as he trails in behind us. “But the only thing we can do for them once they’re bitten is kill them. We can’t let them wander out in the world as those zombies. The world will fall even faster if we let it get out of control.”

Sliding onto one of the barstools, I ask, “What do the warlocks even want with that many grims?”

“What any arch nemesis is after: Power and immortality,” Dad answers, whisking his arms around my mom’s waist and kissing her neck. “The more a grimspawn eats, the more youthful and powerful the warlock controlling them will be. One warlock could control over a hundred grimspawn. We need to wonder why there are so many warlocks. If they’re making so many, the fae must be gearing up for something huge.”

“And you went to the Neverdusk Dominion to see if you could get any information?” Mom asks, standing by the island holding the stem of her elegant wine glass filled with blood.

“We did. The fae said Tallyn and Trystan haven’t been around in months,” Ollie answers. “They didn’t know what to tell us.”

“There’s got to be somebody who knows something,” Jasantha adds. “They know we’re on the brink of a pandemic, right? I mean, someone has to want to stop this from happening.”

“Maybe that’s what the fae king and queen want,” Hattie says dismally. “Maybe they want total destruction.”

“How long do we have?” Scarlet queries. “Before the world is overrun?”

“That’s nearly impossible to determine accurately,” Dad responds, scratching his beard, the sounds intermingling with the crackling fire in the attached living room. Leaning on the kitchen island, he says, “They’ve multiplied rapidly in the last few months. I would imagine at this rate, if something isn’t done to stop them, in six months the world will look like a much different place.”

Hattie bites her nails nervously. “Just go into the Neverdusk and raise hell. Start ripping heads and wings off until someone starts talking.”

“Hattie, for fuck’s sake,” Scarlet chides. “That’s just going to start a war with the fae that we don’t want.”

“What the fuck do you suggest then, Scarlet?”

“Just shut the fuck up and let the adults talk,” Scarlet scoffs, darting her gaze to Hattie.

Hattie lets out a sharp exhale. Ollie’s look quells her outburst.

Even though Hattie loves to play the part of the bratty teen, she still embodies a vicious woman who gets what she wants. Being the youngest one, we are ferociously protective of her, but she often gets the brunt of everyone’s short tempers. Not that she doesn’t bring it on herself most times, but Jasantha and Scarlet are hard on her. That could quite possibly be why she acts out toward our parents most of the time.

“What about the Nyktorim Syndicate you discovered after you learned about our curse?” I ask Mom, getting the attention off Hattie.

“Gods, I don’t know where to find them; it’s been so long,” Mom answers, taking a sip of her blood. “I can research, check the census, and see if I can track them down. The leaders’ names were Blackwood and Ravenscroft. Shouldn’t be too hard to find out what happened to them.”

“You do that, and maybe tomorrow after dark, Ollie and I will go back to Neverdusk. We can’t veilweave fae, but maybe someone will fall for Ollie’s charms and give him information.”

Ollie smiles and pours himself some of the blood my mom had put in a wine bottle. “You’re a good-looking vampire, too, brother. Shouldn’t be too hard for us.”

His smile does not ease the doubt and hesitation that creep up my spine at the thought of returning to the Neverdusk Dominion.

7

DESTRUCTIVE BLUE EYES

SAYAH

“What about this spell you were saying we should do earlier?” I ask, setting my ‘Yes’ pile aside and taking a drink of my tea.

“Ah, yes,” Hilda says, setting her pictures down. “Safe passage spell, and a healing one for us.”

I walk to my spell cabinet and open it. “What do we need?”

“Three white candles,” Maggie answers, “quartz crystal and rose oil for the healing. For the safe passage, we need a piece of white cloth, bay leaves, sea salt, tiger's eye stone, white sage incense, white candles, and some dirt.”

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