Page 54 of Destined for Eternity
Cori shrugged. “He’s staying at Bartol’s cabin, but they could be out right now training the nerou or something.”
“So they both left you alone!”
Cori looked up at the ceiling, praying for deliverance. “Did you miss what I said about them dealing with the demons? Bartol will know through our bond if I’m in danger. And anyway, Melena told me if I just put some salt in the doorways and windows, the demons can’t get inside.”
She would have put the salt down already, but it was easy for a gust of wind or wrong footstep to mess up the line. Using glue to make it stick would alter the properties enough it wouldn’t be effective for long. The sensor had said to wait until demons were close or Cori would just have to keep putting a fresh line down again and again. For now, she had a ring of Mel’s blood around her cabin that would help keep trouble out. Even Bartol wouldn’t be able to flash inside. She explained all that to her mother as well, hoping to alleviate Joy’s fears.
Just as she was finishing, a niggling sensation tickled her senses. A supernatural was getting close. A moment later, she caught the sound of tires crunching on the driveway. “Someone is coming.”
“Any idea who?” Joy asked, stiffening.
Cori hurried for the front window. “We’ll find out soon enough.”
They stood peeking around the curtains as a gray minivan pulled up the drive. Cori sighed in relief. “It’s just Ginny.”
She’d mentioned the pixie to her mother a few times before, so Joy knew who she was talking about. Her mother dropped the curtain. “Did she tell you she was coming?”
“No.” Cori drew her brows together, thinking her mother had a point. No one came this far out without making certain the person was home first. “She usually only comes when I invite her over.”
They hurried out the door. Ginny parked her van next to Joy’s car and hopped out. Her purple hair was a total mess, a long cut ran down her left arm, and blood tinged her pink tank top. “I’m so sorry to show up like this, but those protesters attacked my house! I just had to get my daughters out right away.”
“Oh, my God. That’s terrible!” Cori said, hurrying toward the pixie. “Are you okay?”
Ginny’s hands shook as she glanced at her arm. “They threw broken glass bottles at me as I got the girls loaded into the van. I only got the one cut. It could have been worse, but I was more worried about them.”
“We can get that taken care of.” Cori gave her a concerned look. “But are the girls okay?”
The pixie nodded. “They’re fine.”
“Let’s get them inside,” Joy said, pulling open the van door without hesitation. “The poor dears are probably frightened to death.”
Ginny arched her brows at Cori. “Who is this?”
“Oh, right.” She’d forgotten the pixie hadn’t met her mom. “This is my mother, Joy.”
The two women nodded at each other. After that, they hurried to get the girls inside. Aislin and Dinara were much quieter than usual and had dried tears on their faces. Joy sat them at the kitchen table and gave them juice.
“The stew will be ready in a little bit, and then you can have some of that,” her mother said, smiling sweetly at them.
“Thank you both so much.” Ginny rubbed her face. “I didn’t know what to do, but I figured your house would be safer for us than anywhere else.”
Joy grunted. “First demons, and now humans causing trouble. When will it ever end?”
“Did you call Derrick and let him know?” Cori asked the pixie. Derrick was a powerful werewolf and the supernatural leader for the Fairbanks area.
Ginny nodded. “He said we could go there to stay, but with so many vampires and werewolves at his house already, I didn’t want to bring my girls into that.”
Cori couldn’t blame her. “I’m glad you came here.”
“You can take the guest bedroom.” Joy headed out of the kitchen. “There’s a spare cot I can set up in the downstairs office.”
Her mother couldn’t help organizing the sleeping arrangements right away. “Don’t mind my mom. She has a way of taking over your life before you even have a chance to stop her.”
“You’re lucky.” Ginny smiled. “I wish I had my mom with me right now.”
One thing Cori had learned, no matter how strong a woman might be, was that it was tough when her kids were in danger. Ginny had a few relatives in Tulsa, but her parents had passed away in an accident years ago, and she wasn’t very close to her other family.
“She’ll be happy to take care of you and the girls if you let her.”
