Page 44 of Redeeming the Angel

“Hush.”I held her tight and swallowed a lump in my throat.The last thing Xochitl needed was to see me cry.“You’re not evil.And you’re doing everything you’re supposed to.You’ve been forging the right alliances since you were in the third grade, you’ve always kept up with your lessons and training, and you’re going to win this war.And you’re not going to win it alone.We will all be with you.”

Xochitl sniffled and squeezed me tighter.“Thanks, Mom.Are you sure you don’t want to come to Earth with us?Kiara misses you.”

“I’m sure.I have much to do here.”

“What about Thanksgiving?”Her amber eyes were large and entreating.“Silas and Akasha are excited about hosting it.Aurora’s parents know you’re alive, and Sylvis is supposed to tell her family all about everything, so that could be the best day.But if it’s not the right time, you can come after they leave.”

“I’ll be there,” I promised.

“And I suppose since Lucian’s an important ally and Gabriel’s best friend, we should probably invite him too.Razvan has been pestering us nonstop about it too.Of all the vampires to make friends with him…” She sighed dramatically.“I suppose I should probably be a little more welcoming to him too.”

“Not if you’re uncomfortable with it.”I wanted to say no immediately, but that would be unfair.Aside from cementing his alliance with everyone, Razvan genuinely liked him.Still, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t hide my reservations.“What he did to me…and to you, was unforgivable.”

“Wait, what did he do tome?”

Now it was my turn to sigh.“I’ll tell you some other time.However, I’ll pass on the Thanksgiving invitation.Speaking of, the Duchess of Kinsen wants to have us over for Harvest Feast, which is only two days after.I think it would be good to accept.You and Zareth have too much on your plates to host anything right now.”

“That sounds good.”Xochitl hugged me one more time and rose.“I guess I better go.We need to find out how Nik and Del’s attack on a vampire cult cell in Lewiston went.”

I bit my tongue and forced a smile as I bade her goodbye.Why didn’t Nik tell me she was on such a dangerous mission?I’d figured she’d been in New Orleans with Aurora checking up on that witch coven they were so concerned with.

After everyone left, Zareth wasn’t good company.Aside from him having so many kingly duties to attend to, he was almost as antisocial as Rayven.To avoid the temptation of visiting Lucien, I transported myself to Kinsen and offered to help her with her planning her Harvest Feast banquet.I made sure that the meal would include many of Xochitl’s favorites.

When I’d exhausted myself sufficiently, I returned home.Unfortunately, my dreams were once more haunted with memories of Lucian.

As if summoned by those dreams, he arrived the next afternoon.Before I could send him away, he announced that Aurora, Anthony, and Razvan had brought the New Orleans witch coven to see the ruins of Medicia.

“Why in the fates would you do such a thing?”My fists tightened with anger.My home wasn’t a tourist attraction for some amateur Earth mages.

Lucian spoke firmly.“Because the Lord Vampire of New Orleans was uncommitted about supporting your daughter in the war.I wanted to make sure to change his mind and ensure that coven is on our side, not Mephistopheles’s.”

“Oh.”Before I could say more, Zareth appeared beside me and held out his hand.

“Thank you, Lucian.”He shook Lucian’s hand firmly.“My wife was concerned about that vampire.It will be good to allay her worries.Would you like to accompany Kerainne and me to Varashek tower to address our new knowledge about Mephistopheles targeting specific types of mages?”

Lucian flashed me a devilish smile and winked.“Anything for my allies.”

Once more, he was an asset with the Conclave, subtly keeping the more self-important members from diverting the subject and drawing out the meeting longer than necessary.

I’d always been astonished at how quickly he could go from boyish wonder with a devil-may-care attitude to a powerful and sophisticated aristocrat whenever the situation called for it.I just needed to remind myself that there was a third side of him that I never wanted to risk seeing ever again.

With that in mind, I resolved to avoid him as much as possible.At first, I was successful, though not in a way I personally would have chosen.The Order of Eternal Night, the vampire cult that worshipped Mephistopheles, had attacked a safehouse for mages and other people with supernatural abilities in New Orleans.Artavian brought me there to help heal the injured.But when I heard that Sylvis was gravely wounded, I almost took off for Coeur d’Alene before Artavian assured me she’d been taken to the vampire clinic and they’d saved her life with a blood transfusion from Gabriel.

My mind spun with wonder that there were that many powerful witches, psychics, and telekinetics on Earth, much less in one city.Less than a decade ago, Earth had been so devoid of magic that it had killed me.

The owners of the safehouse, an organization called the Nightwatch Society, were very curious about me and didn’t try to hide it.I deflected their questions, as politely as possible and asked my own.Zareth and I learned that the mages targeted in the attack were water mages.Another thing that would have to be discussed with the Conclave.

When I returned to the tower, I took refuge in hot bubble baths, books, and movies.

Then, suddenly, it was Thanksgiving.Lucian had the energy of an excited puppy when I took him through the portal into Coeur d’Alene.I silently cursed him for being completely oblivious to the fact that last time he and I were in this city together, he’d broken my heart.

I pulled the cell phone Xochitl had gotten for me out of my bottomless pouch and put it in my coat pocket.Sylvis still wasn’t ready to tell her parents about vampires, magic, other worlds, and the fact that I was alive.Aurora’s family had been told everything last summer, though only recently did they hear I was still alive.I wondered if they’d still be at Silas’s house when Xochitl texted me that it was safe to come.

“Wow,” Lucian interrupted my inner thoughts.“IsthatLake Skeetshue?”

His awed look at the beach, the marina, and the Coeur d’Alene resort made me smile, though his words brought back memories of the glorious natural beauty the lake had when the tribe controlled this territory.

“The white people who took over renamed it Lake Coeur d’Alene, but yes.”

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