“Don’t look now, darling, but the good sisters are here too. I have a feeling they are the cause of all this. I heard Meredith say it was a bomb scare.”

  “Yes. Where are they? And why are you still here?”

  “I noticed they were down the street in that big Lincoln, and I’m here in case something like this should happen. I couldn’t be away from you tonight,” he says as he kisses the top of my head, sending warm fuzzies through me. “I think their plan was to draw you out before I came to pick you up so they only had to deal with you.”

  Sure enough, I see the sisters stealing their way through the shadows down the street. Thank goodness for vampire sight.

  “Here they come, Bast.”

  “I see them, sweetheart. Get in front of me so I’m in their line of sight. I want to make this difficult for them. If for some reason this spell Helena put on us doesn’t work and I start acting strange I want you to run to the car and go straight home. Julian and Aidan said the witches won’t have enough energy to cast again right away. They have to do both of us at once or it’s for nothing.”

  He puts the car keys in my hand and closes my fingers around them.

  “What about you? What if they get you? You don’t think I’ll leave you, do you?”

  “You must leave me, that’s probably their back up plan. They’ll try to lure you by capturing me. Don’t worry about me. They want me for Indio. They want to kill you, Cherie. Do not forget that.”

  “I don’t think I can just leave you, Bast. Please don’t let them take you.” I’m shaking. Some badass vampire I am. Where is my mojo when I need it? Where is the hand sanitizer? Dammit, I am falling apart. I need something to bite! If I wasn’t opposed to killing I would drain those bitches tonight. I’m actually considering it. I can’t believe myself, but the thought of losing Sebastian stirs something primal in me.

  I can hear them across the street, whispering.

  “Can you hear them, Cherie?”

  “Yes.”

  “So far, so good,” Sebastian whispers.

  “I’m going to keep asking,” I whisper back.

  “Okay.”

  “They’ve stopped their incantation. Are you still okay?” I ask.

  “Yes, no problems, how about you?”

  “None. I can hear them, they’re frustrated. Iris is pissed and Indio is throwing a tantrum.”

  Meredith, for once, gives me stupendous news. “Everyone, excuse me, can I have your attention. This is going to take some time. They are bringing in a robot and it won’t be here for a while. I am sending this shift home.”

  “Give me the keys, ma petite. Let’s get out of here before they make a scene.”

  I hand Bast the keys and we walk across the street making sure we keep our eyes diverted from the area where Indio and Iris are. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Indio jumping up and down. Iris is trying to pull her into the doorway of some shop so they won’t be seen. I can’t help letting a small giggle escape. Sebastian squeezes my fingers to quiet me.

  “Lily,” he warns.

  “I know. I can’t help myself.”

  We get into the car and he starts chuckling under his breath and I have to bend down so they won’t see me laughing.

  “Indio is going to be so pissed,” I say sobering up. “We have to warn Hannah. She is going to be walking into a hornet’s nest. I’m worried for her. We have to send Aidan with her again.”

  “It’s too bad she and Aidan haven’t hit it off,” Sebastian casually remarks.

  “I suppose that’s true. It would be good for both of them,” I agree reluctantly. Conflicted again.

  “Why do you think that?” Aidan says from the back seat.

  “Dammit, Aidan,” I say.

  “Merde!” Sebastian yells.

  “A little privacy would be nice. And I said it because she is a really cool and a decent woman. And she is into you.”

  “It’s not because you’ve made your mind up yet, is it.”

  “I’ll tell you when I do, Aidan. I promise.”

  “Well in that case, I’ll meet you at the manse. By the way, the spell of Helena’s held and the sisters are furious.” Then he is gone, I assume to go to the manse and tell Helena, Julian and Hannah what happened.

  I sigh. The realization that we have just escaped a very dangerous situation sinks in and I begin to shake again. My mind longs for normalcy, stability. Sebastian sees me shaking and he gathers me up in his arms. He murmurs gentle words to me, telling me he will always protect me and will always be here for me. I hold him tight for a long time before reluctantly letting go.

  “Sebastian, can we find a coffee house and get a peppermint mocha?”

  “It’s kind of late for that, but I think I know a place that’s still open. Let me call the others so they don’t worry.” He calls and talks to Julian for a few minutes. All the time he keeps his eyes on me and holds onto my hand. Aidan has already filled them in.

  “Why the late night coffee house trip, Lily?” he asks me as he ends his call.

  “I just want to do something normal, Bast. Everything has been so out of control lately, I just want to pretend that we’re on a little date and are going out for coffee. Is that okay?”

  “It’s more than okay. I would have loved to do this with you. You can’t imagine how many times I have thought about doing this very thing with you, sitting outside, watching people go by, holding hands.”

  “I’ll take a rain check on that. We’ll have to be satisfied with eleven at night and stuffed into a booth inside somewhere, probably poetry night on top of it.”

  “I think you might be right,” he grins.

  We drive down Geary and pull into a parking spot. Bast gets my door and we walk hand in hand down the street to a coffee shop. It is open mic night and they are reading poetry and singing. The coffee is sublime. We’re able to find a booth at the back of the shop, it is a tight squeeze. You can’t see the stage so I’m guessing that’s why it is available. We didn’t come to see the performance anyway.

  “This is fun,” I say as Bast squeezes in next to me.

  “Yes it is. It reminds me of our time in Paris. We should go back for a visit, Cherie. Your French was just starting to come together. I bet you’ve lost it all now.”

  “Are you saying you wouldn’t tutor me night and day?” I ask while batting my lashes.

  “You are an incorrigible flirt.”

  “True,” I agree. I do like to flirt, but it’s too provocative now and I rein myself in. “I love Paris. I want to go down through Brittany again and the valley of the Loire. I wonder if they sell handi-wipes in France.”

  “If they don’t, I will make sure we have a crate shipped ahead of us. Why don’t we take that trip, just you and me? Let’s get out of here and all this craziness. Please, let me keep you alive.”

  “We have to help Julian with those texts or the witches will end up doing something to our entire family. I can’t just leave them with all this in the air.”

  “Or do you mean you can’t leave with Aidan in the mix?”

  “Look at me.” I take his face in my hands. “If your invitation had happened before all this and I knew how I felt about our relationship, I’d leave with you tonight.”

  He leans in and tries to break the rules. Kissing Sebastian makes me feel safe and yet I stay firm to my convictions. No problem with my attraction to him or with my attraction to Aidan. Almost a century without love and now I’m overwhelmed with offers. I really need this time to sort out my feelings.

  “We better get back home,” Sebastian says, ruefully.

  “Okay.”

  “I know. I can’t believe I’m being the good one.” He laughs. “Come on, I’ll carry you if you want.”

  “How about piggy back?” I ask.

  “Deal.” It’s just what I need to lighten my serious, somewhat melancholy mood.

  We leave the café and I jump on his back. He runs down the street with me, we’re laughing like fools. When we get to the car he pulls me around to the front so he can hold me like a child. He has the biggest smile I think I have ever seen on his face.

  “Lily, you make me happy.”

  “We should get going,” I say.

  “We should, but I don’t want to.”

  “I know, I’m having fun too. But everyone will be worried. Come on, young man,” I tease.

  “Sweetheart, I’m all man but I’m certainly not young.”

  “Figure of speech, Bast.”

  27 . AIDAN

  Hannah gets a call from the witches demanding she come over right away and I go with her to see them. She’s nervous as hell on the way over there.

  “Aidan, what am going to say?” Hannah asks while chewing on her lower lip.

  “You need to be indignant and surprised. Remember to pretend like you were kept out of the fun.”

  “Okay,” she blows out a gust of air which must have been difficult, and shows me just how agitated she really is.

  “Remember, Helena’s spell worked on Sebastian and Lily.”

  “Yeah, it’s one of the reasons I can go through with this. I have to admit I’m more than a little afraid.”

  We pull up to the witches’ place and I become a beetle and hop a ride on Hannah’s skirt again. Hannah knocks on the door. Iris opens it and grabs Hannah by the shirt and yanks her inside.

  “You little traitor! You warned them!” Iris yells in Hannah’s face.

  Hannah takes a step back and removes Iris’s hand forcibly.

  “What ARE you talking about?”

  “Lily and Sebastian. They knew we were coming. They were impervious to our spell. How did that happen? Was Helena in the shadows too?” Iris spits at her.

  “First of all, I don’t know what you are talking about. I just left the manse and Helena and Julian have been with me all night. Second, I didn’t say a word to Lily or Sebastian.”

  I pop over to the manse to give them a quick update and am back in an instant. I try to catch up with the argument.

  “What do you mean you tried to kidnap Lily without me?” Hannah argues. “You were supposed to wait for me.”

  “We called in a bomb threat. We figured that if we got her without Sebastian it would make things easier. But Sebastian was waiting outside her work and met her outside when they all came out,” Iris growls.

  “I told you he goes everywhere with her,” Hannah snaps.

  “We incanted the spell and it didn’t work. Are you sure Helena was with you?” Indio asks Hannah again.

  “She never left the manse all night.” Hannah’s got her hand on her hip – definitely giving attitude.

  “Has Helena put any spells on you lately?” Iris asks suspiciously.

  “She put a spell on me after the stakings started. She called it a protection spell. She put it on all of us.”

  “Fuck!” Iris yells.

  “How could she know?” Indio mumbles.

  “I don’t know, but she obviously knows more magik than we thought and the immobilizing spell will not work on them,” Iris rants.

  “What now?” Hannah asks.

  “I don’t know. I have to think. We’ll call you. For now just pretend like you know nothing. If we need you again we’ll be in touch,” Iris says as she starts pacing.

  “That’s not good enough. I want to know what’s going on. I thought we were going to take care of things,” Hannah says menacingly.

  Iris jumps in her face, on a rampage. “I’ll tell you what I want to tell you when I want to tell you. This is my show and don’t you forget it, blood sucker.” Indio cowers in the background. “I will not let that bitch Lily ruin my plans. She has more luck than anyone I have ever seen. There has to be something going on that I haven’t figured out yet. In the mean time you are on a strictly need to know basis and you don’t need to know anything right now. Understand?”

  “Call me,” Hannah says abruptly and leaves. As she heads for the car I pop over to the manse and give them an update and pop back to Hannah’s side. When we get into the car I slip into my human form for the ride home. Hannah shakes.

  “You did brilliantly, Hannah.”

  “I’m scared, Aidan. Iris is seriously psycho.”

  “I know. She won’t wait much longer. She is getting desperate. The more desperate she gets the more drastic her actions are going to be. We’ll just have to be extra careful and stay on top of them. You need to pull back now. I think they are suspicious of you. You did a good job. I just think Iris is suspicious of all vampires now, especially since she knows she can’t put the subduing spell on Lilith and Sebastian.”

  “Yeah, she lost it, didn’t she? I think it made her feel safer to be around me knowing that she could get me in the end if she decided to. What a mess. I wouldn’t be Lily for a million dollars right now. We have to keep her safe, Aidan.”

  “I will, Hannah. I swear to you, I will. My existence would mean nothing without her.”

  “Oh Aidan, not you too.” But her grin takes the heat out of her statement.

  “I’m afraid so, dear. I’ve lost myself to her, if only she would return the gesture.”

  “Not that I am in favor of this, but can’t you just bespell her to fall in love with you?”

  “No, djinn can’t make people fall in love,” I say. “I could make her my love slave but that is not what I want from her. I want her whole body, mind and soul. Nothing less.”

  “Always the sidekick, never the lead,” she complains.

  As usual at this time of night all the lights are on. Lilith is back.

  “I wish you well, Aidan,” Hannah says and she kisses me gently on the cheek. I look at her for a moment and take her hand and squeeze it. I have never had anyone to share my feelings with before. I have found a friend in Hannah.

  These vamps are messing with my mind. Millennia of hatred and suddenly they show me love and friendship and acceptance. It’s hard to wrap my head around.

  28 . LILITH

  We arrive, to the manse blazing with light and activity. I don’t want to go in. I am lingering in my “normal” moment. Just thinking of going in has me longing for hand sanitizer and handi-wipes. I’m still freaked about my encounter with the witches and I don’t want to have to relive it in detailed minutia.

  “We can’t put it off for ever, Cherie.”

  “I know. But it’s been so nice, Bast. Don’t you think? Just the two of us, a normal couple out for the night.”

  “You have no idea how nice it’s been for me, ma petite.”

  He takes my hand and kisses it and then he gets out of the car and opens my door.

  I sigh and slowly get out. He laughs at me. He holds my hand and we walk through the front doors and into a whirlwind of activity.

  “Hannah was summoned by the witches, and Aidan went with her,” Helena says.

  “He just popped in a second ago to say that they are furious and are attempting to blame their failure on her.”

  Julian is in a state.

  “Calm down,” Sebastian says, “Aidan is with her. He won’t let them hurt her and the spell works, Helena. Hannah will be able to get away if she needs to, or she can do what is necessary.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Helena asks.

  “I mean that she can kill them if she has to. She and I had a conversation about it. I thought it might be important to give her options,” Sebastian says.

  “I don’t like this,” I say.

  “Nothing about this situation is good, Cherie. Hannah just has to remember to play her part. She should act pissed that they went with out her.”

  “Hopefully she can remember. It won’t be easy when they are angry and in her face.” I start to pace and Sebastian catches up with me and takes me by the hand again.

  Warm air rushes against my cheek.

  “Aidan.”

  Everyone watches in anticipation.

  “I can’t stay long. Things are settling down. Hannah got indignant with them and accused them of leaving her out of the fun. They backed down a little. Iris is still raging and she is unhinged. I don’t want to leave Hannah for long.” And he is gone.

  “That’s our girl,” Julian says, pride evident in his voice. Despite his earlier confidence, Julian looks relieved.

  Aidan is in such a hurry he hadn’t even noticed I held Sebastian’s hand. I take my hand away. Aidan is working so hard to keep us informed and to save my friend and I am holding hands with the rival.

  Andrew brings in some coffee and then sits down to have some with us. He is as worried about Hannah as we are.

  “I hope Mr. Aidan is as good as he seems to be, because I will kill him if he lets Ms. Hannah come to any harm,” Andrew says with total conviction.

  “As much as it hurts me to admit it, Andrew, Aidan is that good. It will be okay,” Sebastian reassures him.

  Sebastian puts his hand on Andrew’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. The look in his eyes is serious and full of compassion.

  We hear Hannah’s bug drive up, and everyone relaxes. Aidan and Hannah walk in as if they had only been to the nearest Starbucks for a latte.

  “Thank goodness,” Helena rushes to Hannah and gives her a tight hug.

  “We were so worried, Han, Aidan. I’m so pleased you’re both okay,” I say giving them both a hug.

  Aidan tries to linger but I pull away. He gives me a rueful look but doesn’t say anything. Sebastian is very quiet, acting like a true gentleman and I appreciate it.

  “Tell us what they’ve decided.” Julian wants to hear and moves us along.

  “Well, they can’t come up with a plan, because they’ve now figured out that their secret weapon no longer works and they’re pissed about it. They guessed that Helena has figured out a spell to counteract theirs. They asked if Helena had put a spell on me and I said yes, she called it a protection spell. I told them she did it a while ago after the stakings started. Iris was screaming like a lunatic when I told her.”

  “Hannah, do they think we suspect them?” I ask.

  “No. Not yet. They still think they are fooling everyone, which is to our benefit.” She runs her fingers through her hair, shaking it out. “I hope they’ll keep me around so I can stay informed. I don’t know, though. Iris was not pleased with vampires in general tonight. She’s convinced Lily is too lucky for it to be coincidence. She is sure there is something behind it all that she hasn’t figured out yet. She’s sharper than we thought. But I doubt she will ever guess Aidan has been helping. She is not sure if she trusts me anymore so I just don’t know if she will call me. Iris was raging. She’s psychotic!