Page 180 of Blue Moon Mistress

“I was hit with the back burst of the power she leached. I’m okay.”

Elaria pushes to her feet, offering her hand to help me up, and the guys push me up too, even though I don’t need the help.

“Stay put. You guys were under the influence a lot longer than I was. You need to get your strength back.”

They’re all piled together, so I’m not certain who it is that gives me the thumbs up. All of their eyes are closed.

When I rejoin the coven circled around Aphrodite and Martha Lourdes, it’s leaning on Elaria.

What remains is a pair of twisted… mummified creatures.

The end of a bloodline. The thought brings a sour taste to my mouth.

Thirty-Nine

I leavethem to clean up Aphrodite’s mess. It’s technically their mess after all.

“I’m taking you home.” Elaria wraps her arm around my waist and steers me back toward the guys. “It’s going to be cramped, but we don’t have far to go.”

“The girls… Mrs. Miller’s Granddaughters?”

“Already taken care of. Someone else is taking them home. They’ve gotten the first explanation with a promise of more. It’s strange though… three of them, not knowing they’re witches and getting past their teens without being outed?”

“Very strange.”

The guys are upright when we get to them, but they are relyingheavilyon their wolfy counterparts to stay that way.

“Come on, kids,” Elaria jerks her head toward the dark shape of the cabin. “Time to get in the school bus and go home.”

None of them complain when the “school bus” is an old Nova and we have to sit on top of each other in the back.

And at least Elaria was right. We don’t have far to go.

Helping us inside like we’re all drunks, Elaria doesn’t pass the threshold. “Take care of them, okay?”

I nod. “Did they tell you you couldn’t stay?”

“In more words, but yes. I’ll crash at your place tonight, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. You have a key for that very reason… Just know, the place is a mess, so don’t accidentally fall asleep on the wrong spell.”

“I’ll try not to.”

Closing the door, I follow the trail of discarded shoes and clothes and find them in the living room… slumped together in the same space I’ve begun to think of as our nest. They look exhausted and I’d love to lay down in the pile with them, but they need to eat.

I have to search for the nearest pizza place’s number, and it feels like a miracle that they’ll let me make a delivery order this late.

The guy stutters the order back to me. “Four large meat lover’s pizzas and a small veggie, five liters of soda,andwings?”

“Yep.”

He seems embarrassed to ask me for my card, but it’s a hefty order, it came with a hefty price tag.

Slipping back into the living room, I watch their wolves snuggle closer to them, more corporeal than I’ve ever seen them, outside of the full moon.

“Come here.” Joshua holds out his hand.

“Not yet.”

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