Page 57 of Mayhem and Ember

“You didn’t answer the question.”

And I didn’t intend to, so I dried off and wrapped the towel around my chest. “Hey, will you text Shade and see how many shadow spells he’s bottled? If he’s got enough vim, maybe he and Miles can come over and scry for the amulet before the fake date.” Because this entire ordeal could not be over quickly enough.

“Done.”

As I pulled back the curtain, her phone rang, “Asshole Alert” lighting up the screen.

“Guess I need to change that.” She laughed and answered on speaker. “Hey. Em’s with me.”

“This is Miles.” His hushed voice raised the hairs on the back of my neck and made my stomach dip.

“What’s wrong? Where’s Shade?” I pulled on my undies and shoved my legs into my pants.

“Hold on.” A door squeaked on its hinges before clicking shut. I finished getting dressed to the sound of carpet-muffled footsteps.

“He’s at my place. He’ll be okay, but he didn’t get the chance to bottle anything.”

I waited a beat. Two. Three. When he didn’t continue, I grabbed the phone and brought it to my mouth. “What happened?”

“We ran into a soldier. Literally.”

Ash gasped, touching her fingertips to her lips, and I jerked my head toward the front of the house.

“Did it bite him?” She followed me to the living room, and I turned up the volume before setting the phone on the coffee table.

“No, thank Hecate,” he said. “We caught it off guard, but it was fast. It grabbed me, which let Shade know where it was, even though it was invisible, and he…” Miles drew in a breath, and we all leaned toward the phone. “He sucked the light…the life…out of it. I’d never seen him do it to a sentient being before, but the way it shrieked… It has to be the most painful way to die.”

Ash nodded. “It’s not pleasant, but getting all the liquid sucked out through your pores might be worse. How’s Shade?”

“Sleeping. He said it drains him almost as much as it does his target.”

“Because he doesn’t practice,” Mayhem said. “With the amulet’s help, he could be an asset.”

“He already is an asset,” I said. “He doesn’t practice because light witches don’t kill people.”

Mayhem crossed his arms. “You’re Veil Keepers. You kill.”

“Vampire ghouls and the occasional gnome or mosquito fae.” I matched his posture. “He’s never had the need to use that kind of power against a beastie.”

“Now he does.”

“Anyway…” Miles cleared his throat. “Patrice is coming over to sit with him while I meet with Wendy. From the looks of him, he’ll be asleep all night.”

“Good. I’m glad she’s still willing to help,” I said.

“She might not agree with our methods, but she’ll do what she can for the good of the coven, just like the rest of us.” A faint knocking sounded through the phone. “Oh, she’s here.”

“What time should we pick you up?” I grabbed my own phone off the counter to check the clock.

“I’ll drive myself. I don’t want her to be suspicious if she sees me getting out of the coven van. I’m meeting her at six at Pennino’s.”

“Good plan. We’ll be there early and stay out of sight.”

“See you then.”

Ash ended the call and returned the phone to her pocket. “It would be convenient if Shade could work that kind of magic without completely draining his vim.”

“That small piece of the amulet could be enough to help him master it in a short time,” Mayhem said. Fabulous. Demon number two never bothered to back me up, but he had no problem agreeing with Ash.

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