“You came!” she called out with a giant smile as soon as she divorced her lips from his. If I were surprised, Lorcan appeared even more so.

  “Of course, my darling,” he answered and kissed her again just as enthusiastically. “I would cross into the depths of hell itself were you there.”

  “Okay, Romeo and Juliet,” I started. “Focus please.”

  Wanda appeared to remember herself and immediately separated from Lorcan, a rose blush stealing over her cheeks. She cleared her throat and ran her hands down the front of her pants as she gave me a little embarrassed smile.

  “Yes, right,” she said and refused to look at Lorcan, who simply looked down at her with a huge grin.

  That was when she noticed Olga.

  “Olga?” she questioned and appeared surprised to see the older witch.

  “I thought we needed all the magical manpower we could get,” I explained as I smiled at Olga, who returned it. “Or, magical womanpower, in this case.”

  Wanda looked at me, then Olga, and nodded. “Unfortunately, only Betanya’s magic will work while we’re within the maze, but I’d rather have you here, Olga, than not.”

  “Und I am happy to be here.”

  “Lorcan and Olga, this is Florence,” I said as I motioned to the other woman in the room.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Lorcan started, as he took Florence’s hand. As soon as he touched her, her eyes went wide.

  “You’re a vampire!” she started, as her gaze clouded with panic. She immediately dropped his hand and pulled away from him.

  “It’s okay, Florence,” Wanda said as she placed a hand on the zombie and quieted her. I had to wonder if Wanda’s being a Blood Witch had some sort of control over Florence or if Florence’s change in demeanor was just purely owing to Wanda being Wanda.

  “Lorcan is here to rescue Betanya,” I said. “Not harm her.”

  “If Wanda trusts you, then I can too,” Florence said as she looked at Lorcan, apparently caring little for my vote of confidence.

  “I trust zee vampire az vell,” Olga added and gave Florence a quick nod. “Und I am a vitch.”

  Florence then gave Lorcan a quick but still somewhat reserved smile before she glanced down at her maker.

  “Can you save her?”

  Lorcan’s eyes settled on Betanya as Wanda took his hand and pulled him down to his knees, where he could better inspect the still witch. When Wanda looked up at him, her eyes were hopeful.

  “She’s lost a lot of blood and she’s weak,” Wanda said.

  Lorcan further knelt down beside Betanya and touched her pale cheek. He studied her for a moment or two before he looked up at Wanda again.

  “She doesn’t have much blood left.”

  Wanda nodded. “Roscoe really did a number on her—it was enough to weaken her magic which weakened the strength of the wards which bound him to this maze.”

  “Ah, right, that’s how he got out?” Lorcan asked. “At least, that’s what Poppy said.”

  Wanda nodded. “That’s how he got out.”

  “You can bring her back, can’t you?” I asked Lorcan.

  “I can certainly try.”

  Wanda raised her eyes to his and there was something in them that looked a lot like adoration, trust and… and love. And it was about damned time.

  “How will you help her?” I asked him.

  He looked at me and shrugged, as if the answer were obvious. “I shall donate my blood.”

  I nodded as Wanda chewed her lower lip. “If you donate your blood to Betanya, would you somehow override Roscoe’s claim on her?” she asked. “Would you become her new sire?”

  Even though she posed the question the way she did, I was more than sure she was really asking if giving Betanya his blood would make Lorcan desire her, just as he desired Wanda. No doubt, she was worried he might obsess over Betanya the same way he obsessed over her.

  “No, my dear, fear not,” he answered on a chuckle and reached forward, gripping Wanda around the back of her neck and pulling her into him so he could plop a kiss on her forehead.

  Wanda immediately pulled away. Clearly, she wasn’t fully okay with public displays of affection, which was just as well because, at the moment, we were in a major hurry.

  “I wasn’t afraid,” she said immediately. “I just… wanted to make sure.”

  “I would not be able to supplant Roscoe’s claim to Betanya even if I wanted to—which I don’t—but my blood will heal her.”

  “As soon as you do whatever it is that you need to do, can we get out of this place?” I asked.

  Lorcan looked around himself before he focused on me again. “I do believe so, yes.”

  “Where will we take her?” I asked as I focused on Wanda.

  “To my house,” she answered quickly. “My Sanctum Spell will block Roscoe from attacking her.”

  “No more conversation for the time being, please,” Lorcan said, looking at us both. “I require full concentration.” Then he stared down at Betanya. He went very still and no one said another word. But, he didn’t do anything for a few seconds—just kneeled there, staring at Betanya, who was just as unmoving as she had been.

  After another second, Lorcan raised his hand to his mouth and opened wide as piercing fangs lengthened from his white canines. His fangs elongated to sharp points, and I felt my heartbeat speed up in spite of myself. Fear traveled through me, and even though I knew and trusted Lorcan, I was suddenly well aware of the fact that he was an incredibly powerful creature. If he wanted to, he could rip each of us apart, just like Roscoe had attempted to do to Betanya. Good thing for us that Lorcan still possessed his mental faculties...

  He sank his fangs into the flesh of his wrist and when he pulled away, there was blood dripping from his mouth and even more bubbling from the punctures in his wrist.

  Then he scooped his powerful fingers under Betanya’s neck and lifted her head off the floor as he positioned his wrist above her face. Drops of blood, almost the same color as her hair, fell on her mouth and cheeks and, in response, her nostrils flared and her eyelids began to shift as if she were experiencing REM sleep.

  Even though she was still beyond weak, I could see the stirrings of life within her. She opened her mouth and, in response, Lorcan pushed his wrist down to her lips. She latched on like a baby and at the first swallow of his blood, she locked her lips around the wound and sucked his blood like her life depended on it, drinking in greedy gulps.

  I looked at Wanda to see how she was handling the whole thing, but she wore a poker face. Her lips were compressed into a tight, white line, but she didn’t speak. I thought for a brief moment that she shouldn’t have been here to witness this, because it was quite a bit more… personal than I thought it would be, but there was no way out now.

  “Stop looking at me like that, Poppy,” she said from the corner of her mouth.

  “Oh,” I answered, surprised she’d caught me. “I’m sorry… I just wanted to make sure you were… okay.”

  “I’m fine,” she replied stonily.

  After a few minutes, Lorcan pried his wrist away from Betanya with trouble because she didn’t appear to want to release him or it anytime soon.

  “That’s enough, my dear,” he said as he brought his wrist to his mouth and licked the punctures. When he pulled his hand away from his mouth, both holes were completely gone, healed.

  “You feel better now, I hope?” he continued, smiling down at Betanya.

  Betanya blinked and then stared straight ahead, as if she weren’t sure where she was. Her eyes were like emeralds in her porcelain face.

  “Betanya?” Florence repeated as she bent down over her maker and began brushing Betanya’s hair with her fingers like I’d seen Libby do to Wanda.

  Betanya focused on Florence, and an expression of recognition overcame her gaze. Then she turned to look at Lorcan and appeared to be in a haze, almost as if she were drunk. For a second, their eyes locked, and then Betanya collapsed on the floor.

  Florence immediately leaned down, attempting to cradle her head. “Betanya—no!”

  “Is she dead?” Wanda asked as she turned to face Lorcan, her expression now almost as panicked as Florence’s.

  “She is far from dead,” he answered on a slight chuckle—as if he thought Wanda’s concern was amusing. Whatever Lorcan was or wasn’t, he was definitely unique.

  “She sort of looks dead,” I said.

  “She will recover,” he answered as he stood up. “And that means we can remove her from the void now.” Lorcan then leaned over and picked Betanya up effortlessly, cradling her in his arms. Then he faced Wanda and me.

  “Lead the way, ladies.”

  Chapter Ten

  When I stepped through the veil and back into Henner’s house, something odd happened.

  The Mystic Veil with which I’d anointed myself and the opening to the void began to pulsate, almost feeling like a legion of ants marching across my skin. As I glanced down at the pulse points in my wrists and my elbows, the potion began to glow with a bright blue light—something I’d never witnessed before with any other potions I’d brewed. I glanced back at the entrance to the veil and noticed the entire doorway was also glowing with the same faint azure.

  At seeing us, Henner jumped up so fast, he kicked over a Parcheesi board which was arranged on the floor in front of them. In fact, when I came through the veil, I nearly tripped over it.

  “You’re back!” he called out.

  I found Marty and Henner slouching in Bergere chairs they’d no doubt taken from the living room, each nursing a drink in his hand. But, I couldn’t say my attention was on them at the moment. Instead, it was still stuck on the strange blue glow that was now fully encapsulating me.

  “What in the world,” I started as I looked at Lorcan and then at Betanya in his arms. My eyes widened as the same bluish glow outlined her completely.

  “Your magic,” Olga said as she gave me a brief nod. “It allowed us entry into zee veil and zee veil ist powered by Betanya. Thus, your magic und Betanya’s magic… merged.”

  “Oh,” I started and Olga reached out, patting my hand.

  “It ist nozing to vorry about.”

  “Pops,” Marty started, but then he fell silent and his jaw dropped when he spotted Lorcan and, more pointedly, the person Lorcan was carrying.

  “That isn’t…” Marty began.

  “Betanya Tayir in the flesh,” I responded.

  “My grandmother,” Henner said, sounding shocked as he looked from her to me. “Is she… is she okay?”

  “She will be fine,” Lorcan answered.

  “Should we… take her to a hospital?” Henner continued.

  Lorcan shook his head. “No need. Her body is busily integrating my blood into her own, and she will be alert and well momentarily. For now, she needs her rest.”

  “Her bedroom is upstairs,” Henner started, but Wanda shook her head, interrupting him.

  “Betanya needs to be under the care of another Blood Witch, not a human.” I didn’t think she meant to sound rude or impertinent (since this was Henner’s grandmother, after all), but there it was.

  “And I need to stay with her for the foreseeable future,” Lorcan continued with a nod. “In case she requires more of my blood.”

  “I think it’s what’s best for your grandmother, Henner,” I said, and gave him a smile.

  He nodded. “I understand.”

  Then I turned to Marty. “We need to borrow the hearse.” A second or so later I realized not all of us would fit in the hearse.

  “Wanda and I will need to keep close to Betanya,” Lorcan announced, and I figured he was dictating driving arrangements.

  I nodded and faced Marty again. “Will you take Olga in my Jeep and meet us at Wanda’s?” Then I looked to Henner. “And, Henner, can you drive Wanda’s Escalade back?”

  “It would be my pleasure,” Henner answered.

  “And be careful!” Wanda added, giving him an expression that said he’d better be exactly that.

  “You bet.”

  Those of us who needed to traded keys and as we did Lorcan began barking directions to Marty and Henner about removing his coffin from the hearse. Then, apparently realizing he’d have more luck pulling the heavy thing out himself, he handed Betanya to Henner and then yanked the coffin out of the hearse as if it weighed no more than five pounds. Once the coffin was sitting on the ground, Lorcan popped open the top and laid Betanya in it. Rather than closing the top and sealing her inside, he grabbed a sweatshirt Marty had left in the back of the hearse and wedged it into the coffin. Then he closed the lid atop the sweatshirt so there was a sizable gap and Betanya wouldn’t suffocate. Loading the coffin back into the rear of the hearse, he faced me and gave me a brief nod, to which I hurried to climb in beside Betanya.

  “Tut tut, my dear,” Lorcan said as he looked at me and shook his head.

  “What?”

  “When in the hearse, I do not care to drive it.”

  “Oh, for the love of,” I started, but then figured there was no use in arguing. I simply climbed into the front seat as Wanda took the passenger seat and Florence and Lorcan, the rear. I fired up the engine as Marty did the same with my Jeep and Henner was already waiting in the Escalade. Then I followed Marty down the long and winding driveway of the Tayir mansion as we traveled towards Haven Hollow.

  ***

  I parked in front of Wanda’s duplex and all the while I had this sinking feeling in my gut. Where was Roscoe at this moment? Was he watching us? Had he seen us remove Betanya from the house? Was he following us? Thank God, I’d decided to leave Finn at Wanda’s—it was pretty much the safest place for him, owing to the Sanctum Spell which disallowed anyone within to befall harm. That and Roy.

  I couldn’t help but cast sidelong glances up and down the street while Lorcan set to removing Betanya from the back of the hearse. Wanda held the rear door of the hearse open for Lorcan so he could carry Betanya into the duplex.

  “I’ll need to sleep soon,” Lorcan announced as he walked up the stairs.

  I followed his gaze. The sun was coming up in the eastern sky and spreading light over Haven Hollow. We’d been inside the void for nine hours…

  Lorcan carried Betanya to Wanda’s couch and settled her down on the cushions as Wanda covered her with a blanket. A moment or so later, Hellcat bounded onto the arm of the couch and inspected Betanya’s still form with interest.

  “What is this?” he demanded in his highfalutin, English accent.

  “This is Betanya Tayir,” I answered.

  “The Blood Witch?” the cat continued, nearly spitting out the words.

  “Mom!” Finn called out, interrupting the grumpy feline, as he ran up to me and threw his arms around me. “You’ve been gone forever!”

  “We were getting worried,” Astrid added as they both appeared from the kitchen.

  I hugged Finn immediately and, as soon as we separated, he noticed Betanya.

  “Who is that?”

  “That is another redheaded upstart,” Hellcat answered.

  “That’s Henner’s grandmother,” I corrected, giving the cat a frown in the process. “Betanya Tayir.”

  “She’s alive?” Astrid asked, her mouth dropping open in shock.

  “She is alive,” Lorcan answered as he studied Betanya, as if trying to deduce just how long she’d remain alive.

  That was when Roy walked out from the living room and immediately smiled at me. His smile wavered as soon as his eyes settled on Marty, who was also looking at me. Ergh…

  “I’m nervous about Roscoe,” I said, my stomach still riding into my throat regarding that exact topic.

  Florence looked at me. “Once Roscoe learns Betanya survived and that she escaped the void, he’ll come after her.”

  “Just like he’s been doing,” I said somewhat absentmindedly. “Searching for her in Haven Hollow.”

  “But now that they’re both in the mortal world, he’ll be able to track her,” Florence said.

  “Then we have to find him before he finds us,” Wanda concluded.

  “Und vee destroy him,” Olga added.

  Just then, Betanya groaned. We all looked down at her as she began to shift her head and a moment later, opened her eyes. Her glossy red hair, large and round green eyes and full mouth made her appear truly beautiful, not to mention young. She looked like she was in her early forties—no one would ever guess she was centuries old.

  “What am I…” Her eyelashes fluttered, and she looked around, frowning as she did so. “Where am I?”

  “You’re safe, Betanya,” Wanda offered.

  Betanya’s eyes snapped to Lorcan, and her countenance turned to solid granite. “Vampire!”

  Before anyone could move, Betanya lunged off the couch (or more like fell off the couch) but she immediately began forming a ball of energy between her hands and there was fear in her eyes. Fear and anger.

  Wanda immediately sprang between Betanya and Lorcan, throwing up her hands at the exact moment when Betanya unloaded the energy ball. The power pounded into Wanda’s palms and a deafening explosion boomed out from the point of impact. It felt like it shook the whole house, and I heard myself gasp. A second later, I glanced around and noticed the house wasn’t any the worse for wear, even though I was expecting the windows to have blown out, at the very least.

  “We aren’t your enemies,” Wanda said as she faced Betanya and the latter moved from the floor, back to the couch. She was panting and obviously exhausted, even with the added benefit of Lorcan’s blood.

  “And that’s no way to show gratitude to the man who just saved your life,” Lorcan added.

  “Ve are all friends here,” Olga said, nodding.

  Betanya squared her shoulders. “What… what are you talking about?”

  “This vampire,” Florence said from where she stood behind Betanya, “Rescued you by donating his blood.”

  Betanya turned around to face Florence and immediately smiled when she recognized her friend. “Florence, are you… well?”

  Florence nodded. “They are our friends, Betanya and we can trust them.”

  “This is Lorcan Rowe,” I said as I stepped forward and faced Betanya with a smile. “He saved your life in the void. Don’t you remember?” Betanya narrowed her eyes and appeared to be attempting to do just that before she shook her head as if to say she couldn’t remember.