Page 54 of Soulbound Shadows: Part 1

“So, what’s your next move?”

“You’re not gonna like it,” I warned her.

“I figured,” she grumbled. “Quit stalling.”

“Nanny Murk. She’s got the next piece of the array.”

Isabella went very still. “Evangeline, last time you went up against her, she nearly killed you.”

“This won’t be like last time,” I said firmly. “I’m stronger now, and I’ll have backup.”

“Do you want me with you?” She didn’t even hesitate to offer. How had I managed to find myself such a wonderful best friend?

“No,” I said. “Thank you, seriously, but no. Stealth will be the most important thing here, and you’re not really the quietest spell caster. It’ll just be Gabriel and me, in and out if we’re lucky.”

“And if you’re not lucky?” she asked.

“Then we’ll improvise.”

Isabella and I talked shop for a while, going over spells to use and precautions to take. We were eventually interrupted when the library doors slammed open, and a short, curvy woman with a flawless blonde bob burst in.

“You must be our guests!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together in delight. “I’m Lissa. Evangeline, Gabriel’s told me so much about you.”

“Has he now?” Isabella said dryly, elbowing me in the ribs.

I elbowed her back.

“And you, of course, must be Isabella,” Lissa went on. “I’ve heard a lot less about you, but so far, all of it’s been good.”

“Then, it must all be lies and slander,” Isabella said with a smile.

“I’ve instructed the boys to order dinner for the two of you because it seems rude to leave our guests hungry,” Lissa said. “And if you’re interested, I’d love to give you a proper tour of the place. Knowing Gabriel, he probably just stomped straight to his study and left you to fend for yourselves.”

“I mean, he didn’t stomp,” I said. “But aside from that, you’re not far off.”

Lissa laughed and waved a hand at us, signaling for us to follow after her. Isabella shrugged and set off after the vampire, and I fell into step alongside her.

18

GABRIEL

We set off early the next morning. Isabella had stayed at the manor for the evening, running through plans and tools to use with myself and Evangeline. My housemates had all offered to help, but it wasn’t worth the risk. According to Evangeline, Nanny Murk was completely blind but had incredibly sharp hearing. Even with vampiric stealth, more people would mean more noise.

Isabella had the forethought to loan Evangeline a clean shirt, which I had extremely mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, the sight of Evangeline in my sweater had been both stunning and enough to nearly kill me, and on the other, we were going into a sewer, and I didn’t want to inflict that on a silk mohair blend. It was probably for the best that I wouldn’t be distracted by the sight of her in my clothes while we tried to focus on an extremely dangerous situation, although the shirt Isabella had given her wasn’t that much better. It was black, with long sleeves and a high neck that should have been modest, but it was also skintight and printed with dark, reflective patches that made her look as though she was moving through dappled sunlight.

“Remember,” Evangeline said as we walked along an empty sidewalk. “We might have to adapt on the fly, so stick close. I know you can be all sneaky, but so can Nanny Murk. I’ll use the sound-muffling spell every now and then, but I have to focus to keep it up, so I can’t cast anything else while it’s active, or it’ll end.”

“Can you signal me so I know when you’re about to cast it?” I asked. “If you need to focus, then I can take the lead and try to make sure nothing throws you off.”

Evangeline flashed me a quick, brilliant smile. “It’ll be pretty clear when the spell settles around us,” she said. “But I can definitely give you a heads-up.”

“What exactly is she?” I asked her. “I was so focused on planning, I forgot to ask for the details.”

Evangeline’s mouth set into a grim line. “She was a witch once,” she said. “But that was a long, long time ago. Nobody knows for sure how old she actually is. Witches who use dark magic for too long get…corrupted. It’s like it’s some sort of parasite, and most of them tend to burn out when it starts eating away at them. Whatever the fuck she is now, she’s strong enough that the magic hasn’t killed her yet. Last time I faced off against her, I was a pretty young witch. She almost destroyed me.”

I refrained from pointing out that she was still fairly young. Most humans didn’t enjoy that, at least when they were young enough to be braced against being treated like a child. Besides, it felt odd to think about the fact that I was almost nine centuries older than her.

“You’re stronger now,” I said instead. She flashed me a grateful look. Apparently, that had been the right thing to say.

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