“Now, you both are going to take another sip of our special wine to make sure you are incapacitated while we work our summoning,” Iris says.

  Damn the unholy harpy.

  Indio pulls Sebastian’s head back and makes him take a drink of the wine and goat blood mixture out of a cheap plastic cup, while Iris keeps the stake at his heart. His eyes roll into the back of his head and he starts to tremble. Soon he is slack-faced and looks dead. Julian is paler than usual, but he takes the cup and has the foresight to sit down. He takes his drink like a man. The concoction has the same effect on him. They both look near death’s door. It is not for the weak of heart. Indio keeps wiping Sebastian’s hair off his forehead.

  “Stop fussing, Indio, he’ll be fine. He was the last time wasn’t he?”

  “Yes, he just looks dead. I can’t stand to see him like this.”

  “If this summoning goes as planned we can turn him into your lover and you will never have to see him like this again. I may take Julian. He is rather handsome and his knowledge would make me very powerful even without the Jinni,” Iris says.

  “Julian kept saying Sebastian would never really be mine because he loves that slut Lily.”

  “Do you want me to stake him,” Iris asks with a gleam in her eye.

  “NO! I just wondered if he was right. Will the jinni be able to make him mine or not?”

  “The jinni can fix everything. He’s all powerful, just wait sister. All our dreams are about to come true.”

  “Let’s get on with it then,” Indio says.

  Not if I can help it. Oh Lilith, where are you, love?

  Indio begins lighting candles and setting herbs around the pentagram and saying cleansing spells.

  I still haven’t found a way to warn Lilith and Helena about what is happening. The gods be with us.

  31 . LILITH

  Helena and I take Julian’s Mercedes and drive like we have the fires of hell at our backs. The witches’ house is falling apart, the porch sags and paint is peeling off the exterior. If you have a vampire’s sight you can see it radiates pulses of magick, the heaviest light emanates from their garage. That has to be where they’re holding Sebastian and Julian. I don’t know if Aidan has manifested yet or if he’s still in hiding. Whichever, it has to be bad.

  “Okay, Lily. How do you want to handle this?” Helena asks me.

  She’s fought her share of battles so I’m counting on her for guidance as well as guile.

  “I want to bust down the door, but I’m sure there are spells on it. Can you disable them?” I ask Helena.

  “I don’t think it will be anything special. They’re too cocky.”

  “Okay.”

  We get out of the car and climb their rickety, health code violating stairs. I am so pissed and worried I don’t have time to be scared. Which is a good thing. If I have to admit how scared I am, there won’t be enough handi-wipes in the world to calm me down.

  Helena is busy casting and the house glimmers from time to time. There are a lot of spells on it. Finally she is done and she nods at me.

  “On three. One, two, three!”

  And we both kick the door. It bursts into splinters. Someone screams and someone else lets loose a guttural growl. Without wasting time, we rush in. There are dishes lying all over the place, clothes heaped on every surface. Their magik is a thick stench. Iris and Indio run, struggling to get past each other, up out of a doorway into the kitchen.

  “You!” Indio shouts.

  “You seem surprised, bitch,” I say.

  “If it isn’t the great Helena,” Iris says. “I’m looking forward to this.”

  “Not as much as I’m looking forward to ripping your head off, Iris,” Helena says calmly.

  “Tsk, tsk, no hard feelings for Julian. I was thinking of keeping him for my lover,” Iris taunts throwing a hex at Helena.

  “Go ahead and try it, witch,” Helena says blocking the hex and hurling a spell back.

  “Your jinni won’t help you, Iris, because you will be dead before you can summon him,” I say.

  Iris looks truly surprised now. Ha! Helena throws a hex at them and I run at Indio.

  Helena and Iris are creating a firestorm of magik. Curses blast back and forth vibrating the walls. Smoke starts to fill the room making it difficult for the duelers to see each other.

  Indio fires a spell at me and I have to dodge. I go for her again and run into a small flame. Vampires are incredibly flammable. It lights my arm on fire and I have to stop, drop and roll to put it out. Indio is on top of me, furious and pulling my hair. She whispers something and I shriek as my legs burst out in boils. I roll around with her pulling my hair, blood running down my face where she’s pulled out some scalp. It stings my eyes and blurs my vision. I feel a lump in my pocket. It’s my backup hand sanitizer. I never go anywhere without it. I maneuver my fingers into my pocket and flip the lid off it. I back her off, twist around and squirt it into her eyes.

  She immediately lets go and starts shrieking and rubbing at her eyes. God bless good hygiene. I grab her by the neck and pull her up close.

  “Ahhh, so this is how it ends for you, Indio. Shall I just break your neck or do you want me to drain you?” I say between my fangs.

  “Lily, you don’t have to kill me, please, anything. Iris made me go after Sebastian. I have nothing against vampires. Maybe you could make me one of you. I could be a vampire,” she begs with running, red and raw eyes.

  “Liar. You’re dangerous as a human. Do you really think I would allow you to become sneaking, conniving, killing, and immortal? You’re insane.”

  I can’t stand the thought of her tainted witch blood. I take her head in my hands and give it a clean, quick twist. We all hear the bone breaking crack and it brings Iris and Helena to a stop. I let Indio fall to the floor as Iris looks at me dumbfounded. Helena takes advantage of this to pounce on Iris and grab her by the hair, pulling her head back, exposing her neck. As Indio dies so do her spells. My legs itch as the skin heals and becomes free from pain.

  “What have you done with Julian and Sebastian?” Helena hisses.

  “Fuck you! You bitch, Lily. You killed my sister.”

  “The same is waiting for you, Iris,” Helena whispers in her ear. “So why don’t you tell us what you’ve done.”

  Aidan pops into the room.

  “Nooooo… So close… Do my bidding djinn. Kill these two vampires,” Iris orders.

  “He’s our friend, Iris. He has been our friend all along,” I say.

  “I knew you couldn’t be that lucky. You dumb bitch!” Iris screams as she struggles against Helena’s death grip.

  In a blur Helena strikes. She drains her in no time and then twists her neck for good measure. I think she is mad enough to twist it off, like she had promised, but she is too much of a lady. She lets the body fall to the ground where it lays at her feet. Iris and Indio are no more. We look at each other with renewed fire. We must find Sebastian and Julian, God only knows what sight awaits us.

  Aidan leads us downstairs.

  I smell blood in the house. Blood and the thick tangle of magik and sweat. We run down to the garage and stop short in horror. Julian and Sebastian are motionless and appear dead. Sebastian is beaten and bleeding. Aidan stands over Sebastian blasting his chains off. Incense still scents the air. The smell is cloyingly sweet in contrast to the horrific scene before us.

  Aidan looks at me and says, “It’s about time you got here, love. I almost lost my day job.”

  32 . LILITH

  “Are they dead, Aidan?” I whisper. I hear their faint heart beats but they look dead, ashen and lifeless. I want a guarantee.

  “No,” Helena answers for him. “They’re not staked, although I can see one here, damn them. What happened, Aidan?”

  “Sebastian was tricked into drinking goat’s blood.”

  Helena gasps. I sink to my knees and hold Sebastian’s head against my chest. I can’t stop kissing his forehead, the only part of his face not covered in bruises.

  “Iris held a stake to Sebastian’s heart to coerce Julian into translating the texts,” Aidan says. He looks at the two men with pity. “Without me to tell him where to put the mistakes, he would have had to translate it correctly. They could have bound me.” He runs his hand through his hair. “There was a containment spell placed on the house. Once I popped in I couldn’t leave. You two saved their lives and my soul.” He lowers his head to us, in a small, but humble bow. “Thank you.”

  I meet his eyes. Then I return my eyes and attention to Sebastian. I can’t stop thinking how close I came to losing him.

  “Have you made your decision then?” Aidan asks hoarsely.

  “No,” I whisper. “I can’t bear to see him like this, though.”

  “I understand. Let me take him back to the manse for you.”

  “If you could just put him in the car, Aidan. I don’t want to freak him out too much.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Aidan gives me a weak smile.

  “You can joke later mister, after you help Helena.” Leave it to a djinn to lighten the situation.

  “Fine, fine. No fun after you kick ass.” Aidan transmanifests Sebastian into his car for me and I get in to drive him home. He begins to wake up.

  “Cherie, what happened?”

  “I took care of Indio and Helena handled Iris. You guys can stop teasing me about my hand sanitizer because it saved my life today, so there.”

  “You’ll have to tell me more about that later, ma petite. Right now I’m thankful you are safe. I didn’t want you involved. It was all I could do hoping you would not be killed too for my foolishness.”

  “You’re welcome,” I say as I fidget with the steering wheel.

  We get to the manse. I put an arm around his waist to help him into the house. We go slowly upstairs to his bedroom.

  “Where are all those silk pajama pants, Bast?”

  “Call Andrew,” he grunts as he sits on the bed.

  I ring for Andrew and am almost knocked over when he runs in.

  “Mr. Sebastian. Oh thank God! I’ve been so worried. Ohmygod! Look at your face! What happened? Are you going to be okay? Of course you’re going to be okay – super healing powers and all that. Those witch bitches! First you and Mr. Julian leave and don’t come back. Then Miss Helena was frantic and pacing waiting for Miss Lily to wake up. When Miss Lily woke she came running down the stairs yelling and cursing. I’ve never seen her so angry and ready to bite something. Her little fangs were out while she was pacing!” The whole time he rants he’s efficiently running around the room, turning down the bed, getting extra pillows and locating those elusive pajama bottoms.

  Sebastian tries to laugh and grunts while holding his side.

  “I would have liked to see that,” Bast says.

  “Then Miss Helena and Miss Lily were all ‘We have to do something, let’s kick some ass!’ I’ve never been so scared. I didn’t think anyone was ever coming home again. Where are the others?”

  “They should be here by now too, Andrew,” I say.

  “What did you do to the witches?”

  “End of story, they won’t be bothering anyone anymore.”

  “Cherie, you take my breath away.” Sebastian’s expression serious.

  “They took you away from me, Bast.”

  “I know, darling. I know what it feels like.”

  Quickly changing the subject I ask, “Andrew, can we get some tea for him please?”

  “Of course, Miss Lily.”

  Bast goes into the bathroom to freshen up and change. When he comes back out he looks a little better. The bruises and cuts are starting to heal. It will take a while for the internal damage from the goat’s blood to heal, though.

  I get him settled when Andrew brings in the tea.

  “Thank you, Andrew. You’ve been such a trooper through all of this. I don’t know what we’d do without you,” I say.

  Andrew blushes.

  “Just think of what I could have done if I were vampire.”

  “I will think about it, I promise. I sure don’t want to lose you to old age. Which by the way, your birthday is tomorrow isn’t?”

  “Yes, Miss Lily, the top of the hill, everything is downhill after tomorrow.”

  Sebastian rolls his eyes. Andrew leaves and I swear he pretends to limp. Sebastian pats the bed next to him.

  I’ve rarely been in Sebastian’s room. I look around. It’s so masculine, deep reds and dark woods. I stretch out on the bed next to Sebastian. He leans back on the pillows and sighs.

  “You know the effects of the blood only last a few hours.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been teasing me for a couple of weeks now. I’ve been fantasizing about you for a year. It’s not complicated.”

  “Bast, you won’t be up to anything like that! Besides you know what I said. I need some time.”

  “We will see,” he says, his eyes darkening.

  I let Sebastian rest and trundle down the hall to visit Helena and Julian. I knock gently on their door, not wanting to disturb Julian. Helena answers quickly.

  “How is he?” I ask.

  “Insisting that I let him see Sebastian. He is pretty traumatized, poor dear. He is still weak, but I guess he only had one dose of the blood and Sebastian had two.”

  “Sebastian didn’t say anything about that. He’s just focused on the fact that we are all alive. He doesn’t seem to care about anything else at the moment.”

  “Since he is in such good spirits I will let Julian go and visit him for a bit. Maybe then Jules can rest. Come in, Lily. Jules, darling, you have a visitor.”

  Helena has decorated their palatial bedroom to look like something from her youth. Very Mediterranean. It is a beautiful room with white flowing curtains around the bed and at the windows.

  “Lily, I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop them from giving him the second dose of blood. Iris was serious about using the stake. She didn’t care what Indio wanted. Indio was too cowed or too naïve to realize Iris liked killing. She was looking for an excuse.”

  “I think you’re right, Jules. You distracted them. You were able to slow them down and managed to protect Aidan in the process. I don’t know what I would have done if we’d lost any of you.”

  “You’re welcome, Lily, and thank you. Without you and ‘Lena to save us idiot men, well, as I’ve always known, we are the weaker sex.”

  “Nonsense, but it is nice to be the hero for once.” I’m content, my family is safe.

  Helena and I help Julian down the hall to Sebastian’s room. Julian complaining that he can walk by himself the whole way, but I notice he is still shaky.

  “Jules,” Sebastian yells before we can knock, “get in here. I could hear you worrying like an old woman the whole way down the hall.”

  “It’s these women, they save our lives and they think they rule us. Really, Helena! I can sit down by myself.”

  She lets him go and he falls into the chair. He gives a loud grunt and grimaces.

  “Looks like you could still use ‘Lena’s help, old man,” Sebastian says.

  “Easy for you to say, you’re still in bed,” Julian huffs.

  “I think you should be in bed too, dearest,” Helena says.

  “In a minute. I’m fine, really. Just a little weak. How about you, Sebastian?”

  “I feel fantastic. My body is a little sore and stiff and I’m weak. It will pass, though, nothing that will slow me down.”

  “You should take it easy for at least twenty - four hours, Sebastian. You had two doses, close together,” Julian says. “I’m not sure what that will do to you, but I know that it will make you very weak and you should feed if you can. We can take you out and have Helena lure someone to you later when you feel a bit better.”

  “Thanks. It’s not time for me to feed for another week but I’m famished.”

  “That’s the damage from the blood,” Julian says. “You’ll feel more energized after you feed.”

  “Let’s do it now. I have plans for tonight,” he says looking at me.

  Julian and Helena exchange glances, Julian shakes his head.

  “No my friend, you won’t be up to that tonight.”

  “I told you,” I say.

  “We will see,” Bast says.

  It’s difficult for an immortal that is practically invincible to come to terms their weakness and have to deal with its consequences. He would just have to find out the hard way. I kiss him on the forehead.

  “I’m going to go and take a shower. I feel like I’m covered in witch cooties. I’ll be right back,” I say.

  “Don’t tease the dumb animal,” he says.

  I go to my room, leaving Helena and Julian to entertain Sebastian. Tearing everything I’m wearing off, I throw it into the garbage. I turn the shower on as hot as I can stand and then climb in. As the bathroom fills with steam, the adrenaline wears off and I start to cry. I feel empty. I cry until I am nothing but a prune. I killed her. Her life was in my hands and I took it away. I tell myself she would have kept going until she succeeded in killing me or someone else in my family. I know it’s true but I still cry. God forgive me. I will have to live with this.

  I wash and get out. My eyes are swollen so I don’t bother putting makeup on. Grabbing a pair of yoga pants and a long sweater, I dress. I look worse than when I left Sebastian. I take my time returning to Bast’s room.

  “I thought you might have tried to drown in there,” he says. Then he sees my face.

  “Oh, Cherie. Come here. Come, get up in bed with me.”

  He doesn’t have to ask twice. I crawl under the blankets with him.

  “I wondered how long it would be before it would hit you. It’s not in your nature to be ruthless.”

  “She would have killed us all and Iris would have killed you. It was self-defense. I had to do it.”