Page 70 of Shadows of the Soul

My grandmother smiled. It was ten times warmer. “Good, someone who isn’t trying to climb up my asshole. Tell me what’s happened.”

Huh, the Terror of Tennessee had won around my grandmother with one word. No one ever accused Eloise Roberts of being predictable.

Hudson tilted his head. “We rescued your daughter from the clutches of Lucifer and brought her back here.”

My grandmother’s eyes widened, and she shot a look in my direction as I sat down. Great, now she knew the devil was involved.Nice going, keep digging my grave, Principal.I had to steer her away from anything that would lead her to discovering my true heritage. My mother had done a fine job convincing the world my father was a lowlife scum that had slunk into the shadows and wasn’t worthy of being named, and with my family being a gaggle of females, it was perfectly acceptable. If I was an optimist, I’d say my grandmother would murder me quickly. However, I knew my grandmother, and I’d be stowed away in the deepest, darkest depths of The Order. They’d pick me apart until I was unrecognizable, then they’d piece me back together to do it all over again.

“Dayna reworked the wards, and left a way for a possessed person to enter,” he continued. “Liz left under the pretense of dealing with Rebecca’s parents when in fact, she went to New Orleans to meet with an unknown male. When she returned, she was different.”

“Do you know who this male was?” my grandmother asked.

“Not yet,” Sebastian answered. “We should have footage of their meeting within the hour.”

She nodded. “Good, I will be present when you first view it.” Not a request, a demand. “Where is my second born?”

“In the basement, inside a protection circle,” I offered.

“Dayna,” my grandmother snapped.

Dayna’s spine straightened as she looked at her mother. “Yes?”

My grandmother sighed. “I need to see if you are still under the influence of the devil. If you are a ticking time bomb, we need to be prepared.”

Dayna swallowed. “Yes, mother.”

“What about Liz?” Dave asked, sitting forward with his elbows on his knees.

My grandmother arched a perfectly sculpted brow and eyeballed Dave. Her perceptive gaze took in his investment in Liz’s welfare. She analyzed and concluded in a split second their involvement. Oh, Dave, you complete idiot.

“Liz is possessed,” my grandmother said. “There are two ways of dealing with the issue.”

Dave went stiff. He didn’t enjoy the same analysis he gave everyone else. “Which are?”

“We perform an exorcism, banish the demon and regain Liz.”

“Or?”

“Or, we kill it. Liz will die, but the world is a safer place.”

Dave jumped up and snarled at my grandmother. She didn’t bat an eyelid. It would take more than a growling grumpy wolf to shake the confidence of The Order’s leader.

“Sit down, Dave. I have every intention of keeping my daughter alive. But we have to prepare for the possibility.”

He sliced a hand through the air in front of her face. “It’s not an option.” Then he stalked out of the room, his footsteps banged on the way to the basement.

He had already lost a sister, he couldn’t lose the woman he’d fallen for, and I couldn’t lose an aunt.

My grandmother looked at the rest of us. “I need thirteen supernaturals for the exorcism. Gather your forces, we will conduct the exorcism at the peak of the moon. Anita is on her way back as we speak.”

I looked around the room. With the doc and Maggie, we had eleven—two short.

“I’ll sort it,” Hudson said. I bet he would, but over my dead body would Mercy be involved in my personal business.

I frowned. “No, I’ll call Rockhard and Lenson. They are discreet and capable.” It would cost me, but it’s not like we had powerful magical beings hanging around wanting to take part in an exorcism. They were dangerous, and anyone with half a brain would run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. I’d need something good to persuade the spell casters.

“What happens now?” he asked.

“Now,” my grandmother stated, “I pick apart the psyche of my daughter and try not to fry her mind.”

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