Page 51 of Never Say Die
Cit tipped her head, considering him. “Understandable. How, though? How were you made?”
“I wasn’t?—”
“I made a deal. His soul in exchange for the life I’d always wanted,” Aiden said. Shay snarled his name, but he kept going. “Whatever’s happening to Shay is the outcome of a specific ritual.Myritual. That’s all we know.”
“Oh.” Cit clucked her tongue, like a parent would to a child. “Nothing ishappeningto him—what’s done is done. That’s the catch with these things. Never knowin’ what you’ll get, never knowin’ who’ll come to the auction. But those pretty black eyes? That insatiability?” She sighed through her nose, nodding slowly. “Someone a lot more powerful than us left a bit of themself inside him. I’ve seen it happen before, but never like this. Black-eyes don’t stick. Like a Great White in captivity, always dyin’ before they’re useful.”
“Look, I’m no witch, okay? I don’t know what the fuck I did. I—I just smashed a few recipes together.” Aiden’s gaze drifted to the gun. “I can’t tell you how this happened, because I don’t have a damn clue why he came back.”
Laura furrowed her eyebrows, pinning Cit with a curious stare. “Is he the wrong Ramírez?”
Cit hushed her. She set the journal down and pushed awayfrom the dresser, baggy shirt half-tucked into straight-legged jeans. Her sunken eyes transferred between them. Aiden to Shay, Shay to Aiden. “Your sister is Camila Ramírez, correct? The intuitive Los Angeles folk healer.”
Hesitantly, Aiden nodded. “She had nothing to do with this.”
“I know.” A sigh gusted from her. “But you expect me to believeyou, a Ramírez, a brujo, didn’t use your ancestral gifts to createhim,” she said, and clicked her teeth repeatedly.
Aiden shook his head. “I don’t have any gifts, lady.”
Cit gestured loosely to Shay. “My daughter has good instincts, as do all my children. She sniffed you out like a dead rat. Tracked you to that nightclub, put Cassie in your line-of-sight, followed you to that parking garage, made the evidence disappear, but I have a strong feelin’ we’ve walked into a situation far more complicated than we originally thought. Ritualism, bloodlines, prophecy,fate. Everything intersects, don’t it?”
“I’m telling the truth. I don’t have a goddamn clue what kind ofwitchcraftI used,” Aiden said.
Cit hummed. “Black-eyes are born from a bond. Negotiated into existence from somewhere else, by somethin’ else. Eaten away, usually. Possession is an appropriate enough word.”
“I’m not possessed,” Shay bit out.
Cit nodded. One brow lifted. “I’m gatherin’ that. See, if a vessel dies, possession ends. But if you aren’t a vessel, then I’m bettin’ you were bit by a different bug. Just can’t quite understand the reason, though. How are you still kickin’ with all that power inside you, darlin’?”
Shay stayed silent.
Aiden swallowed around the stone growing in his throat.
“Cassandra—God rest her soul—was supposed to confirm your. . . behavior, so to speak. But she went too far. Got too curious. Can’t blame her. I’ve searched high and low for someone like you, Shay Bennett. Power is a rare, rare thing, and walkin’around with it, unguarded and unclaimed? Well, that’s brave. The tough thing about possession—you can’t break it down. Can’t take power from the source, because the sourceisthe power. You’re different. Stable by the looks of it. Strong. Giving, I hope,” she said, and smiled. “We’ve tried for years. Offered our own as vessels, attempted to transfer power from one person to another, found ourselves dealing with the same problem over and over. That’s the stickler, I guess. Can’t put power elsewhere when power itself is a sentient being. But there’s another catch here, isn’t there? Because you aren’t shared, Shay. You’ve carried somethin’ back from somewhere the living can’t reach. Foretold a future for the one who cut you down.” She paused for another sigh, dragging her eyes from his feet to his face. “I’ll put this as plainly as possible—I can save him,” she said, and gestured toward Aiden with Shay’s journal. “And I can take what you have. I don’t mind if you fight, but I’d prefer if you went willingly.”
“Save him. . . ?” Shay asked, breathlessly.
“Prophecy is a powerful thing. Same as ritual. If the intention exists, it’ll ripple into your life. Those dreams could very well come true,” Cit said. “I’d bet good money they will.”
“She’s lying,” Aiden said. His heart skittered, his hands shook, and Cit’s voice kept echoing:peachesandslaughteredandlove.
Cit licked her lips. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry it’s like this. Life, I mean. It’s a sorry thing. And I’ve spent mine lookin’ to get what you’ve got, so one way or another, I will undo your unfortunate future, Aiden Ramírez, and Iwilltake that power, Shay Bennett.”
Again, Shay said nothing. He blinked, inspecting Cit the way a vulture would a carcass.
The question fluttered under Aiden’s breath. “Who the fuck are you?”
Cit hummed, appreciatively. “No one, sweetheart. Just another person willing to do what you’ve done. It’s scary, though, isn’t it? Runnin’ into someone worse than yourself. I’ve been where you are. I know the feeling.”
“You’re not worse than me,” Aiden assured, spitting laughter at her feet. “I can promise you that.”
“We’ll see.” Cit tipped her chin toward the door. “We’re goin’ for a drive. Make a sound, I’ll shoot you. Try to run, I’ll shoot the pretty girls in room sixteen. It’d be an awful shame to sacrifice them, too. Do we understand each other?”
Shay turned toward Aiden. “We understand,” he said, expression soft and hopeful.
Aiden chewed on the inside of his cheek.I might die tonight, he thought.Shay can’t die tonight. He stood, nodding, and Cit tracked him with her gun. He touched Shay’s knuckles. “Yeah, we get it.”
“Good,” Cit said. “Laura, tell the others to pull the truck around.”
