Industrial Magic

Missing: One Celeb Necromancer



IN THE HOTEL PARKING LOT, ELENA PICKED UP A SCENT. But it wasn’t Jaime’s. It was Edward’s. She trailed it to an empty parking space, where I found Jaime’s designer cell phone lying on the asphalt. Elena and Clay could detect traces of Jaime’s scent at the site, but no trail, as if she’d stepped from the car, but gone no farther. And, unless Edward had perfectly retraced his own path, he hadn’t gone any farther, either. The logical conclusion: Edward had surprised Jaime getting out of her car; she’d had time to fumble for her cell phone, but dropped it as he overwhelmed her. Then he’d driven off, in her rental car, with her in it.

I cursed myself for not seeing this coming. Yet as Lucas insisted, kidnapping Jaime wasn’t the obvious scenario. Reopening a portal was considered a necromantic ritual only because it involved access to the dead. Edward didn’t need a necromancer to carry it out. If he had the right victim, he only needed to slit that person’s throat over the portal site. Without that blood, he couldn’t open the portal at all, not even with a dozen necromancers helping him.

What we had overlooked, though, was the very real possibility that Edward had no idea how to reopen the portal. As Jaime had said, it was an obscure ritual. Edward might not have even known any necromancers to ask about it. Yet he did know where to find one. Given Jaime’s celebrity, her involvement in our case had to be all over the supernatural grapevine. Even John in New Orleans had probably known about it. And to find a photo of Jaime, all Edward had to do was run an Internet search, as Elena had done.

Did I think Jaime would tell Edward what he needed to complete the ceremony? Yes, and that’s no reflection on her character. What reason did she have not to tell him? She knew Benicio was safely under guard, and if she steered Edward in his direction, she’d be steering him into ours, which was exactly what we wanted. Our main concern was that, after Edward got what he wanted from Jaime, he’d kill her. We could only hope he wouldn’t trust Jaime’s word enough to kill her before he had the portal reopened.

We planned our attack from both ends, the first end being the gala, where Edward would find Benicio, and the other end being the portal site, where he had to return if his mission was successful. Elena and Clay would join Aaron and Cassandra at the gala; with that kind of supernatural firepower on the alert, Edward would find it nearly impossible to capture Benicio. But, just in case, Lucas and I would stand guard at the portal site.



Lucas drove us back to the neighborhood where the portal had been opened. On the way, I drew a map of the surrounding area, noting all the possible points of entry and all the best locations for perimeter spells. Then we considered places to lie in wait. We were still debating our choices when Lucas’s cell phone rang. He checked the call display, then passed it to me.

I didn’t even get a chance to say hello before Aaron cut in. “Lucas? Where are you?”

“Uh, it’s Paige, and we’re still heading to the portal site. Do you want to talk to—”

“No, not if I can help it.” His voice sounded strained, and a bit breathless. “Shit! I am so sorry, guys. We f*cked up. F*cked up big-time.”

“What’s wrong?”

I tried to keep my voice steady, but Lucas’s gaze shot over the moment the words left my mouth. I mouthed, “It’s okay,” and pointed at the road.

“We were watching Benicio,” Aaron said. “Cass and I. He was on the dance floor. Couldn’t miss him with that mask. Then Cass saw his bodyguard leaving. The one with the freaky blue eyes.”

“Troy.”

“Right, and she wanted me to follow him. She said he sticks pretty close to Benicio, and if he was taking off, something was up. So I went after him while she watched Benicio. I caught the guy sneaking out the back. Tried to get him to talk to me, but he wasn’t in a talking mood. We scuffled and just as I took him down, Cass came running out. Said the guy on the dance floor wasn’t Benicio.”

My gut went cold. “Wasn’t—?”

“It was a stand-in. With the mask—F*ck! We saw that mask and we were sure it was him.”

“So Benicio’s go—”

I stopped myself, but it was too late. Lucas veered the car to the curbside and hit the brakes so hard the seat belt snapped me back against the seat. I passed him the phone.

“Aaron?” he said. “Let me talk to Troy.”



Within minutes later, Lucas had the whole story, which he relayed to me as he drove hell-for-leather for the portal site. The Cabal researchers had found the ritual, so Benicio had always known that Edward could use Lucas’s blood to reopen the portal. He’d played along with us because it had seemed the best way to ensure Lucas would be at the masquerade, safely under Cabal guard. As a precaution, he’d brought in a look-alike, who could take his place with that distinctive mask.

When Lucas and I took off after Jaime, Benicio feared the worst. And he’d feared that calling in a full Cabal SWAT team could result in a California-like fiasco, which would only endanger Lucas yet again. This had to be handled delicately. Earlier that day Benicio had sworn to us that if his name was no longer enough to protect his son, he’d do so himself; that was what he’d decided to do.

Benicio had grabbed Morris, told Troy to stay behind in case we reappeared. Then he’d left for the portal site, knowing that was where Edward had to end up. Troy, though, hadn’t been about to let his boss take on a murderous vampire aided only by a temporary bodyguard. So he waited until Benicio was gone, then went after him. And that’s when Aaron had intercepted him.

Now Benicio was indeed headed to the portal site, with only Morris for backup. But not for long. We were only a few minutes from the site. Aaron, Cassandra, and Troy were also on their way, and Aaron was phoning Elena to tell her to turn around and head over to the portal. In half an hour, we’d have seven supernaturals ready to take on Edward. We only prayed we’d get to him before Benicio did.



We parked as close to the site as we dared. As anxious as we both were to get there, we had to be careful. And there was very likely no need to rush. Benicio might have arrived ahead of us, but if Jaime had told Edward who he needed for the sacrifice, he was probably across the city by now, heading for the masquerade gala. The greatest danger we likely faced was Benicio himself. As Lucas said, it had been years—if not decades—since Benicio had needed to defend himself. If we came flying down the alley, we might find ourselves on the receiving end of a lethal energy bolt.

Once out of the car, we hurried to the café. I cast perimeter spells at the alley on either side, and across the rear door. That covered the east side. Now on to the west, on the other side of the dead-end alley where we’d met Edward.

We’d gone only a few steps when Lucas lifted a hand to stop me. I followed his gaze down to the ground. A fingerlike puddle snaked around the corner, moving almost imperceptibly, expanding. The puddle shone black in the darkness. Without even casting a light spell, I knew it wasn’t water.

As Lucas peered around the corner, I kept my gaze glued to his face, braced for a reaction I prayed I wouldn’t see. His eyes closed in a soft wince, and my breath whooshed out. I slipped over to him, and looked.

Morris sat braced against the wall. He was dead. His shirt was ripped apart, and his hands still clutched the bloodied missing half to his throat, a frantic final attempt to save himself. Over the cloth I could see long jagged holes where Edward had ripped at his throat. Then he’d left Morris to bleed out while he turned his attention to the secondary threat: Benicio.

Lucas darted around the corner, moving as quietly as he could. As I set out after him, the whisper of voices fluttered across the still night. We both froze and listened.

“…won’t help…” a woman said.

I looked up at Lucas and mouthed, “Jaime?” He nodded.

“You said…sacrifice.” Edward, his words clipped with anger.

Had Jaime betrayed us? Had she been betraying us all along? I told myself there was no motivation, nothing to be gained by this, but nor did I have time to think it through. If I did, maybe I would find a motive. For now, we had a far more pressing concern.

As we crept forward, the voices came clear.

“I’m telling you it won’t work,” Jaime said. “You can’t use him. It needs to be a very specific sacrifice. I was trying to tell you that—”

“You weren’t trying to tell me anything,” Edward snarled. “You said I needed a sacrifice. Any sacrifice.”

“Well, I lied, okay?”

“Oh, and now you’re telling the truth?”

Lucas motioned for me to pass him. I ducked down before peeking out, then cast a fast cover spell. Jaime knelt before a makeshift altar…bound hand and foot. Beside her, Benicio lay on his side, also bound. His eyes were closed. My gut went cold.

“Yes, now I’m telling the truth,” Jaime said. “Why? Because I’m scared shitless, okay? Maybe I did lie earlier, but that was before you killed a Cabal bodyguard and captured the damned CEO.”

A humorless laugh. “So now you take me seriously?”

“Look, you can’t kill Benicio, okay?”

Beside me, Lucas exhaled and slumped against the wall. I stifled my own sigh of relief, for fear of breaking my cover spell.

Jaime continued, “It won’t reopen the portal.”

“Oh, but I could try…and I think I will. Just to be sure.”

Edward stepped toward Benicio. I broke my cover, a spell flying to my lips. Lucas started to swing around the corner.

“Wait!” Jaime said. “If you kill him, you can’t get Lucas.”

Edward stopped. Lucas yanked me back behind the wall.

“You need Lucas,” Jaime said. “You need someone who went through the portal.”

“And what does that have to do with keeping this bastard alive?”

“Think about it. What would happen if you called Lucas and said you have his dad? If you can prove you have his dad? The kid puts his life on the line for total strangers. You think he’s not going to come running to save his father?”

“Good,” Lucas whispered. “Thank you, Jaime.”

I nodded. This was, of course, the perfect plan. Edward wouldn’t kill Benicio until he had Lucas, and Jaime knew that when Lucas received that call, he would indeed come running—backed by a small army of supernaturals.

“My phone’s gone, but you can use his,” Jaime said. “I’m sure he has Lucas on speed-dial. Probably right at the top.”

Lucas tensed, ready to dash back toward the café so he could answer his phone without being heard.

“In a minute,” Edward said. “First, I need to wake this one up…at least long enough to make that call for me. After that, though, I think I’ll test your word. Better hope you don’t fail.”

“W—what?”

“All I need him for is to phone Lucas. Once that’s done, he’ll have outlived his usefulness. And, if his blood does reopen the portal, you’ll have outlived yours. Believe me, if you are lying about that, I’ll take you with me to the other side. And if you aren’t? Well, then, the boy is in for a double surprise when he comes around that corner, though he won’t have long to grieve before he’s reunited with his old man.”

Lucas and I looked at one another. I cast a privacy spell, so I could speak without whispering.

“D—don’t answer the phone,” I said. “Just don’t answer it.”

He cast his own spell. “I wasn’t going to. If he can’t get through, it’ll buy us some time. But not long enough to wait for the others. We’ll have to handle this ourselves.” He laid his fingers on my arm. They trembled against my skin. He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing past the fear. “We can handle it. We have spells, and we have the element of surprise.”

“But we don’t know what spells work on vampires. We—” I took a deep breath and fought my own panic down. “A binding spell will work. But I need a way to get close enough to cast it without his seeing me. Maybe a distraction. But I don’t know what—”

“I might,” whispered a voice to our left.

Jeremy appeared beside us. He motioned for us to follow him to the other end of the alley, where Savannah waited.

“Aaron called the hotel for Elena’s number,” Jeremy whispered. “I thought you could use help, and we were closer than the others. Now what’s happened?”

We told him, as quickly as possible.

“Paige was right,” he said. “Distraction followed by attack is our best bet. I can provide the first, and assist you with the second.”

“Me, too,” Savannah said. “I can help.”

“Uh-uh,” I said. “You’re staying—”

“No, Savannah’s right,” Jeremy said. “She can help me with the distraction.”

He told us his idea, then turned to Savannah. “Now, you’ll wait with Paige and Lucas. As soon as you see me, you can start, but not until you see me.”

She nodded, and Jeremy headed down the side alley to loop around the north building. We returned to our hiding place at the head of the portal alley.





Nice Doggie


WE ARRIVED BACK AT THE CORNER JUST AS EDWARD finished telling a now-conscious Benicio that he needed to make a phone call. As we waited for Jeremy, I slid off my heels, in case we needed to dash down that alley.

“And if I refuse?” Benicio said.

A slap resounded through the silence. Benicio didn’t so much as gasp.

“This isn’t some business deal you can negotiate your way out of,” Edward hissed. “What do you think happens to you if you refuse?”

“You’ll kill me,” Benicio said calmly. “And if I do call Lucas, and he comes, you’ll kill him. Do you honestly think I would exchange my life for my son’s?”

Edward gave a short laugh. “So you’re offering to sacrifice yourself to save him. Very noble, but it won’t work. I’ll still find him and kill him.”

“But you wouldn’t need to. Kill me, use my blood on that portal, and it will reopen.”

Lucas’s eyes went round and his lips formed a silent no. I gripped his arm and looked anxiously down the alley for Jeremy, knowing it was still too soon, that he’d never be ready yet.

“N—no,” Jaime said. “It won’t work. Don’t listen to him. You need Lucas’s blood—”

“Try mine,” Benicio said, voice still as calm as if he were dickering over the cost of his lunch. “If I am lying, you’ve lost nothing. As you say, you could probably still capture Lucas without my help, which you’ll never get. Kill me, though, and I guarantee your portal will reopen.”

Lucas lunged forward, breaking from my grip. At that moment, Jeremy stepped around the other corner. Lucas stopped. Our eyes met, and I knew what he was thinking. Did we still dare try Jeremy’s plan? Both of us would have been much happier blazing in there, spells flying. But was that the smart move? The safe move? Savannah looked over at us. Lucas swallowed, then motioned for her to go. As she turned away, he took my hand and squeezed it so hard I heard the bones crackle. I squeezed his back.

As I watched Savannah go, a thousand new doubts skittered through my brain. She was so young. What if she couldn’t pull this off? What if she froze up? What if that happened, and we couldn’t cast before Edward pounced on her? What if Jeremy couldn’t stop him in time? I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Jeremy thought this would work, and I trusted that he’d never put Savannah in danger.

She stepped into the alley. Edward had his back turned to her, still talking to Benicio. Jaime and Benicio saw her, though. Jaime’s eyes widened. I leaned as far from my hiding place as I dared, and, seeing me, Jaime shuttered her look of surprise. Benicio hesitated, then gave a tiny nod, and said something to Edward, keeping him engaged.

I cast a cover spell, then readied a fireball. For the few seconds it took me to prep the spell, I was visible, but the cloak of invisibility fell again the moment I stopped. Behind me, Lucas had a knock-back spell ready—far from lethal, but one of the few spells we knew would work on a vampire.

Savannah crept down the alley. Edward was too intent on Benicio to notice her. When she’d reached the mark we’d agreed upon, she stopped.

“Hey,” she said. “Cool altar.”

Edward whirled around and stared, momentarily dumb-founded by the sight of a thirteen-year-old alone in an alley at midnight.

Savannah took another step forward. “Is that, like, a satanic altar? Are you guys gonna call up a demon or something?” She walked over near Jaime and pretended to notice Jaime and Benicio’s bindings for the first time. “A sacrifice? Cool. I’ve never seen anyone get sacrificed before. Can I watch?”

Edward’s mouth opened, then shut, as if his brain was still muddling through this. I glanced over at Jeremy, but he was already on his way, creeping along the far wall, out of Edward’s sight. He moved as soundlessly as a vampire. Within seconds he was less than a yard from Edward.

Savannah’s eyes rounded to saucers, mouth opening in an O of delighted surprise.

“Wow,” she said. “Is that your dog, mister?”

Edward followed her gaze, then backpedaled fast. Behind him stood a jet-black wolf the size of a Great Dane. When Jeremy looked up at Edward, his black eyes blended perfectly with his fur, so the effect was one of eerily unrelieved darkness, more like the shadow of a wolf than an animal itself. With Elena, I could easily mistake her for a large dog. With Jeremy, no one getting close enough could make that error. I could tell by Edward’s face that he knew this was no stray mutt.

Savannah strolled over and ran her fingers through the ruff around Jeremy’s neck. Edward gave a sharp intake of breath, as if expecting her to lose that hand, but Jeremy didn’t move.

“He’s beautiful,” Savannah said. “What’s his name?”

She kept her hand on the back of Jeremy’s neck. Jeremy looked up, eyes meeting Edward’s. He drew his lips back and growled so softly that the sound seemed more felt than heard as it vibrated down the alley.

“Oooh,” Savannah said. “I don’t think your dog likes you, mister.”

She scrunched her face in a thoughtful frown as she studied Jeremy’s face. “You know, I think he’s hungry.” She looked at Edward and smiled. “Maybe you should feed him.”

Jeremy pounced.

He caught Edward in the stomach and knocked him across the alley, away from Jaime and Savannah. Lucas and I bolted from our hiding spot and raced down the alley. By the time we got there, Jeremy was on top of Edward and had his teeth buried in his shoulder. Edward kicked and punched, but to no effect. Unfortunately, Jeremy’s bite had no effect either. Not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound and the moment Jeremy released his grip, the tears in Edward’s flesh knitted together.

Edward’s head jerked up, teeth bared, aiming for Jeremy’s foreleg.

“Jeremy!” I shouted.

Jeremy yanked his leg out of the way. We didn’t know whether the sedative in Edward’s bite would knock out a werewolf, but this wasn’t the time to find out. Jeremy planted his forepaws on Edward’s shoulders to pin him, then slashed at his throat, ripping the flesh in a slice that would have been lethal to anything mortal. Edward snarled in pain, but the moment Jeremy lifted his head from the bite, Edward’s neck was whole again.

I turned to say something to Lucas, but he was already hurrying toward the altar. He grabbed the length of rope left over from tying Jaime, and jogged to Edward and Jeremy. As strong as Jeremy might be, unless he could behead Edward, this fight required a pair of human hands.

As Lucas approached, Jeremy lifted his head and met his gaze. Then he sank his teeth into Edward’s side and lifted him, to flip him onto his back so Lucas could tie him. Edward slammed his fist into the back of Jeremy’s left foreleg joint. Jeremy’s leg buckled and his grip on Edward slid.

Beside me, Savannah began to cast. I prepped a knock-back spell, then heard Savannah’s incantation and whirled.

“No!” I yelled. “Don’t—”

The last words to the spell left her lips as Jeremy regained his hold and tossed Edward up. As Jeremy swung Edward, he moved into the path of Savannah’s binding spell and stopped dead. Edward landed on top of Jeremy. Savannah broke the spell, but Edward already had hold of Jeremy’s rear leg. He bit it. Jeremy recovered and twisted, but Edward kept his teeth firmly planted in Jeremy’s leg, drawing blood and injecting his sedative. Lucas lunged at the pair. He caught Edward in the side and knocked him away from Jeremy. As the two skidded across the alley, Jeremy stayed where he was, looking around as if confused. Then he snorted, and slid to the pavement.

Lucas and Edward hit the ground fighting, each grappling for a hold on the other. I prepped a binding spell. I knew I couldn’t use it while they were tumbling together, but nor could I risk using anything dangerous. I felt useless enough standing there watching. At least the binding spell made me feel I could stop Edward if things went wrong.

The two men were an equal match in size and strength. Lucas had one forearm jammed under Edward’s throat, so he couldn’t bite, but every time Lucas lifted his free hand to cast, Edward knocked it down.

Edward wrenched away from Lucas and managed to get halfway to his feet before Lucas yanked him down again. They rolled together. When they reached the wall, Edward reared up and twisted. Lucas’s head slammed into the brick.

The blow dazed Lucas only for a moment, but in that moment Edward saw his chance. His head arched back, mouth opening. I cast my binding spell—cast it too fast and knew before I even finished that it hadn’t worked. Savannah and I both raced toward them, but we were ten feet away, too far to cover the distance in time. As Edward’s head swung down for the bite, Lucas recovered and ducked. Edward’s fangs still caught the skin of his neck. As Lucas tore himself away, a fine mist of blood sprayed across the alley. The air surrounding Lucas started to shimmer. He dove out of the way. I grabbed Savannah and yanked her backward.

Edward stopped. He saw that first glimmer of the portal and his lips curved in a slow smile.

“Natasha,” he whispered.

Lucas pitched himself at Edward, trying to shove him away from the portal. And Edward let him. He knew the portal wasn’t about to open. Not yet. He hadn’t spilled nearly enough of Lucas’s blood. Edward grabbed Lucas by the hair and snapped his head back, teeth arcing down to tear through his throat. Lucas’s eyes went wide as he realized his mistake.

“Binding spell!” I shouted at Savannah.

As she cast, I dove for Edward. I caught the back of his shirt and threw myself sideways. I managed to rip him away from Lucas, but not before his fangs made contact. More blood sprayed. The ground began to vibrate.

Edward wrenched away from me. As my grasp on his shirt slipped, Savannah cast her binding spell. Edward froze. Lucas wheeled to grab him.

“No!” I yelled. “Go!”

He hesitated.

“Get away from the portal!”

Lucas’s gaze darted from me to his father to the portal, shimmering behind me. Then he turned and jogged toward the other end of the alley.

“Keep holding him,” I said to Savannah. “I’ll grab the rope.”

Something moved behind Savannah. It was just Jeremy waking and lurching to his feet, but the sudden motion startled her and the binding spell snapped. Edward tore free of my grasp. Lucas spun around, saw Edward, and lifted his hands to cast.

“No!” I shouted. “Keep going!”

Lucas hesitated only a second before racing down the alley. Edward shot after him. And I followed, passing Jeremy as he tried to shake off the sedative, growling softly.

Ahead, the two men disappeared around the corner. A moment of silence. Then trash cans crashed like cymbals, the sound not quite drowning out a yelp of pain. I hiked up my skirt and tore down the alley.

I rounded the corner as Edward sprang to his feet, recovering from whatever spell Lucas had cast at him. With a roar, Edward threw himself at Lucas. Lucas backpedaled and lifted his hands to cast again. Then Jeremy skidded around the corner. He whipped past me and launched himself at Edward. As Edward fell, Jeremy clamped his jaws around the back of his neck. Then he pinned him to the pavement, forepaws on his shoulders, mouth still on his neck. I raced in with the rope. Lucas grabbed Edward’s hands, yanked them behind his back, and I tied them with the best knots I knew, then let Lucas add his own, just to be sure.

When we’d finished, I turned to Savannah, and nodded. She cast a binding spell on Edward. And it was over.



As Jeremy Changed back, I cared for Lucas, casting a spell to staunch the dribbling blood flow, then wrapping his neck with strips of fabric from my dress. Then, leaving Savannah in charge of the binding spell, we hurried into the alley to free Jaime and Benicio. Lucas headed straight for his father.

Jaime had her head down, but on hearing me, she looked up and flashed a wide grin.

“Hey,” she said. “Everything under control?”

“Yes,” I said, kneeling behind her. “Thank you so much. You were amazing.”

At a noise of assent behind me, Jaime looked up and, from the sudden light in her face, I knew who was standing there. I glanced up at Jeremy and motioned to the ropes.

“Do you mind?” I said. “My fingers are too slippery. Sweating pretty hard, I guess.”

He nodded and circled Jaime. “I’ll start with your hands. If I pull too tight, just say so.”

“Ummm, not yet, okay? Hold on for a minute. I’m still trying to figure out how to escape.”

“You don’t need to escape, Jaime,” he said gently. “It’s all over. I can untie you now.”

“Oh, I know, and you can, just as soon as I figure out how I could have done it. It’s humiliating enough to be kidnapped, tied up, and need rescuing. At least I have to be able to say, ‘Thanks for setting me free, but I was actually just minutes away from doing it myself.’”

A low chuckle. “I see.”

“What do you think of lip gloss?”

“In general? Or as an instrument of escape?”

“Escape. I have some in my pocket and I can almost reach it. What if I’d smeared lip gloss on the ropes? Could I have slid out?”

As Jeremy answered, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Benicio. As I stood, he embraced me.

“Well done,” he whispered in my ear.

“I’ve just called the Cabal, Papá,” Lucas said. “They’re sending an extraction team.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that will be necessary.”

Benicio pulled back from me. As Lucas and I exchanged a look, Benicio headed for the end of the alley.

“He’s quite secure, Papá,” Lucas called after him. “Perhaps—”

Benicio lifted a finger, and kept walking. His voice floated back to us, barely above a whisper. Lucas frowned and jogged after him. I followed, trying to hear what Benicio was saying. Then I caught a few words of Latin and knew he was casting. Lucas realized it at the same moment and broke into a run. When we reached the corner, though, Benicio had stopped the incantation. He was leaning over Edward, who lay on his back, staring up, cold-eyed and defiant. Benicio’s lips curved in a small smile.

“Vampires are indeed the race of arrogance, aren’t they?” he said, his tone pleasant, even congenial. “And perhaps not without reason. You did manage to kill my son once. Almost managed to do it twice. Did you really think you’d get away with it? If you had, I’d have pursued you through every level of Hell to wreak my revenge. As it is, though, things are a bit”—his smile broadened, showing his teeth—“easier.”

Benicio lifted his hands and said the last three words of the incantation. As his hands flew down, a lightning bolt severed Edward’s head from his neck.

No one moved. We all stood in shock, watching Edward’s head roll across the alley.

Benicio lifted his hands again. This time, his voice boomed down the alley, as he cursed Edward’s soul for eternity.





Full Circle


FOR ME, THE CASE TRULY ENDED ONLY WHEN IT RETURNED to where it had begun: with a teenage witch named Dana MacArthur.

While we’d been tracking Edward, Randy MacArthur had finally arrived in Miami to see his daughter. When the initial flurry of activity over Edward’s execution died down, we admitted to Benicio that Dana was gone. Of course, the Cortez Cabal wasn’t taking Jaime’s say-so, but their necromancers tried to contact Dana and confirmed that she had indeed passed over. So, two days later, Lucas, Savannah, and I stood in a Cabal cemetery and said good-bye to a girl we’d never known.

Since I’d now seen what lay on the other side, Dana’s passing pained me less than it might have. Yet I still felt the full weight of the tragedy her death brought for her father and her younger sister, and maybe even her mother. Even for Dana herself, there was tragedy here. She’d gone to a good place, and I was sure she’d be happy, but that didn’t mean her life hadn’t been cut short, that she hadn’t missed out on so much. And for what? To avenge the death of a vampire who had herself killed so many, gone so far beyond the needs of her nature? As I stood in that cemetery, listening to the minister try to eulogize a girl he’d never met, I looked out across the graves and thought of all the other fresh graves in other Cabal cemeteries. I glanced over at Savannah, and thought about Joey Nast, the cousin she never knew. On the other side of the group of mourners, I could see Holden Wyngaard, a plump red-haired boy, now the lone survivor. I thought of the others. Jacob Sorenson. Stephen St. Cloud. Colby Washington. Sarah Dermack. Michael Shane. Matthew Tucker. All gone. And how many tombstones would it take to commemorate the lives of everyone else Edward and Natasha had killed, the scores of humans they’d murdered trying to become immortal? I thought of that, of all those lives, and I couldn’t for one second disagree with what Benicio had done. No matter what kind of hell Edward now faced, it was no less than he deserved.

I looked out at the small crowd gathered around Dana’s open grave. Her mother wasn’t there. I still wondered what had gone wrong in that woman’s life to make her abandon her daughter, and I couldn’t help but wonder whether having a Coven would have helped. I’m sure it would have, at least for Dana. If she’d had other witches to turn to, she would never have ended up on the streets of Atlanta, and now here.

Yet, as bad as I felt for Dana, I had to accept that the responsibility for starting a second Coven did not lie squarely on my shoulders. I was willing to start one. I would always be willing, and I’d make that willingness known, but I would no longer actively try to convince witches that they needed a Coven. They had to come to see that for themselves. In the meantime, I certainly didn’t lack for work. I had an interracial council to reform and a new partnership with Lucas to pursue. Yes, I would have been more comfortable pouring my energy into a dream that started with me, but I think part of growing up is realizing that everything doesn’t have to be mine. It could be ours, and that wasn’t a show of weakness or dependence. I liked what Lucas did. I believed in it. I wanted to share it. And, if he wanted to share it back, well, that was damned near perfect.

When the service ended, Benicio leaned over and whispered an invitation to lunch, before we left for Portland. We agreed, and he slipped away to offer final condolences to Randy MacArthur.

The others had all gone their separate ways. The werewolves left Miami the morning after the showdown with Edward. Cassandra and Aaron had followed later that day, after they’d met with Benicio and the other CEOs to discuss possible fallout between the Cabals and the vampire community. Jaime had done her Halloween show in Memphis the night before, then zipped back to attend Dana’s morning memorial service before returning to Tennessee for her next show.

As the mourners drifted away from the grave site, I glanced back one last time. Lucas took my hand and squeezed it.

“She’ll be okay,” he said.

I managed a smile. “I know she will.”

“Mr. Cortez? Ms. Winterbourne?”

We turned to see Randy MacArthur behind us, looking uncomfortable in a too-tight black suit. His hand rested on the shoulder of an equally uncomfortable-looking young girl with Dana’s long blond hair.

“I—we wanted to thank you,” he said. “For stopping him. This—it should never—I don’t know how it happened. I had no idea how bad things were—”

“It’s okay, Dad,” the girl murmured, her red-rimmed eyes fixed on the ground. “It was Mom’s fault. Her and that guy. He didn’t want kids, and she let him chase Dana off.”

“This is Gillian,” Randy said. “Dana’s sister. I’m going to be looking after her now. Mr. Cortez is giving me a job in town here, so I can stay with her.”

“That’s great,” I said. I tried to catch Gillian’s eye and smiled. “You must be what, thirteen? Fourteen? Just starting your second-level spells, I bet.”

Gillian looked up at me and for a moment, her eyes were blank, then she realized what I meant. “Spells, no, we don’t do that. My mom, I mean. She never…well, not much.”

“That was, uh, one reason I wanted to speak to you before you left,” Randy said. “I know Miss Nast here is about Gillian’s age…”

It took a moment for me to realize he meant Savannah.

Randy continued. “I know that you’re teaching her, and that you used to be with the Coven and you did some teaching there, so I thought maybe you could help Gillian. Long-distance, of course. By phone or e-mail or whatever, maybe visit when you’re in town, or we could visit up there. I’ll pay you, of course. I hate to impose, but I don’t know any other witches. My ex-wife didn’t keep in contact with her sister, and I wouldn’t even know where to find her, but I really want Gillian to know more, to be able to cast spells, so she can protect herself”—a quick glance at his daughter’s grave—“against everything.”

“And so she should,” I said. “I would love to help her, in any way I can.”

“Are you sure?” Randy asked.

I met Gillian’s shy gaze with a wide smile. “I’m positive.”