“That may be, but I still want to apologize for doubting your judgment.”
“Apology accepted, and thank you for always watching out for me. Vance and I would’ve never made it this far if it hadn’t been for what you’ve taught me. I’m sorry if it seemed as though I was always throwing the things you were telling me back into your face. I was listening, but he’s always been the most important priority of mine.”
“That’s what always made me afraid for you, girl, and it still does. I don’t want to see you lose yourself because you’re trying to save him.” Hex frowned.
I lowered my head and began rubbing a non-existent spot on the chalice. “There is no me without him,” I stated flatly.
“I’m not going to argue with you, especially when I’ve just tried to square things away with Vance. But you need to learn to stand on your own and be yourself. No one should ever have to rely on someone else to find happiness.”
I stood to face him. “I have stood on my own without him. It was the loneliest and most terrifying place I’ve ever been, and I don’t ever want to have to do it again—I won’t do it again!” I turned and marched into the house, slamming the door, only to have Hex pop in front me, barring my way.
“Portia, I’m sorry. I was just trying to tell you what I see.”
“Well, see something else then. I’m not changing. This is my life, and he is what I want.” I folded my arms and glared at him.
“That’s your choice, and I will do my best to respect it.”
I sighed and slumped into a chair at the dining table. “I’m tired, Hex. I’m tired of all the conflict—all the fighting. I’ve had to fight with everyone about wanting to stay with Vance. I’ve had to fight against Damien to try to keep us safe and together, and I’ve had to fight with Vance through everything he’s going through. Not to mention fighting to save Krista, and now trying to find a way to help my dad. I can’t do it anymore. It’s too much. Either people can accept me the way I am, or they can leave. I won’t take the emotional criticism anymore. I’m done.”
The door opened, and I didn’t need to look to know it was Vance.
“Is everything okay in here,” he asked solemnly.
There was a moment of silence before Hex spoke. “It’s fine. Portia just needed to set me straight on a few things. I’m leaving now to tell the others they can come back.” He disappeared, leaving me alone with Vance.
“Hey, baby,” he said, his arms coming around me from behind. “You alright?”
“I don’t know,” I said, leaning my head against him. I sighed heavily. “I’m just so tired ... of everything.”
“Come on. Let’s go put you to bed.”
“I can’t. I need to get things ready for the others to come back and put some dinner on to cook.”
“Portia,” he said, tilting my face to his. “I’ll take care of all that. Humor me one more time and get some rest before everyone gets here.”
He slipped his fingers into mine and towed me up the stairs behind him to the bedroom. He pulled back the covers and tucked me inside, bending to kiss me lightly on the forehead.
“Get some sleep, baby, and let me take care of you for a change.”
“All right,” I mumbled, too tired to care about anything else, and I drifted off to sleep.
The smell of food and sounds of laughter woke me up later on, and I sat up slowly, dragging my fingers through my hair as I looked around. I realized the others must be back and wondered what they sounded so jovial about.
I quietly made my way to the stairs, sitting on one of the steps so I could observe them unnoticed for a minute. The sight that greeted me was an amusing, pleasant one, and I found myself drinking it in.
Vance was moving back and forth between the stove and the table, serving everyone the dinner he made. It looked like a stew and homemade bread, which shocked me. He had a bright, red checkered apron on, which went perfectly with the red t-shirt and jeans he was wearing today.
Hex was ribbing him heartily about how domesticated he’d become between the cooking and matching of his accessories to his outfit.
Vance was taking it all quite good naturedly, telling Hex to shut up and eat his food or he could starve, as he continued to dish into the other’s bowls.
Hex laughed and took a bite, only to have his eyes widen in surprise.
“This is delicious,” he said. “I was worried it might be a secret assassination attempt to kill us all. I stand corrected.”
Vance grinned. “Nobody ever said a poisoning had to taste bad. I wanted to make sure you enjoyed your last meal.”
Everyone laughed again.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” my mom said, reaching out to pat his hand when Vance set a plate with a slice of bread on it down next to her. “I know things have been difficult for you.”
Vance turned his hand so he was grasping hers. The grin slid from his face, and he looked at her seriously. “It hasn’t been easy. Thankfully your daughter helped me to adjust my attitude which brought things back into perspective for me. I can’t promise you I’ll always feel this way, but I can promise I will try. It’s the least I can do to help the family who has given up so much for me.” He bent down and kissed my mom on the cheek, moving to squeeze her shoulders. “I will do my best to get him back for you, Stacey. I’m so sorry I brought all of this to your family.”
My mom wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his shoulder. Vance held her in his arms, letting her cry.
“None of this is your fault,” she whispered. “Stop taking the blame.”
He didn’t reply, only hugged her tighter, and the tears leaked from my eyes as I witnessed the tender moment between them.
Everyone else in the room was quiet now, not really making eye contact as they slowly picked at their food.
Vance lifted his head and saw me sitting on the stairs. He stared at me for several long moments, as he continued to comfort my mom.
When she released him, he cleared his throat and began untying his apron. “I better go wake Portia up and see if she wants to eat too.”
I left my perch, going back into the bedroom. I heard his footfalls on the steps as he climbed. I waited by the door, and when he entered he closed it behind him.
“I love you,” I said, moving to bury my head into his shoulder, letting the tears fall. “Thank you for supporting her. I miss my dad. I’m afraid for him.”
He didn’t reply, instead stroking my hair while he held me. He didn’t tell me to stop, offered no words of encouragement—he only held me and let me cry. When I didn’t stop he picked me up and carried me back to the bed.
I couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t know why, I just couldn’t. It was like the flood gates had broken releasing the dam of welled up emotion inside me. I just sobbed in his arms. I cried for him—for me—for us, for those who had already perished in this fight, and for the ones whose lives still hung precariously in the balance.
We were all victims in this, giving everything we had to try to stop an evil we didn’t know how to control, allowing ourselves to be picked off one by one in this game of manipulation. Even those who weren’t magical weren’t safe. They’d been targeted by association. Something needed to be done to stop this madness.
I didn’t convey these thoughts to Vance, but he heard them loud and clear, sharing them with me.
“It’s time to go on the offensive,” I said softly. “We need to take ourselves out of the role of victims and being the ones who are trying to keep up. We need to be the aggressors. I know I wanted you to move past your revenge, but we need to fix this before someone else dies.”
He kissed the top of my head, clasping me tighter. “I agree,” he replied, letting out a large sigh. “We’re sitting here waiting for him to make a move and nothing is happening. I think it should be me who goes, though. I won’t subject anyone else to this anymore. You’ve all given up too much already.”
I didn’t want to argue, but I couldn?
??t let him leave alone. I pushed away, opening my mouth to tell him exactly how I felt, and he lifted a finger, placing it over my lips.
“Before you start yelling at me, you should listen to what I have to say. I won’t leave you behind because I know you’ll just follow after me. But I think we should try to make a plan between ourselves and keep the others out of it for the time being. Let’s see what we can find out without involving them anymore, and try to find a way to rescue your dad.”
I hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Vance.” I felt relief coursing through me, knowing we were going to at least try to get something done.
“Portia, I feel the need to warn you. I’m positive your dad is going to be in a bad state. I know Damien, and I’m sure he’s tortured him. There are a thousand ways he can drive Sean crazy. It would be a way for him to get even with Sean for his involvement and a way to release his anger toward the rest of us. I don’t know if there will be any hope left for him.”
My tears started fresh at his words. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t pushed us to escape when we did, perhaps I could’ve rescued him too. I should’ve waited.”
“No, baby. He was already being manipulated. There was nothing you could’ve done to help him. He was pawn in the game long before we were aware Damien had him. Please, don’t second guess yourself. It won’t help anything. Let’s just try to make a plan for now and take charge of what we can control.”
“Okay,” I whispered, moving to search out his lips. I kissed him briefly before staring into his eyes. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, baby. I love you.” He kissed me again and embraced me tightly one more time before he released me. “You stay here. I’ll go tell everyone you’re too tired to come down to dinner, and I’ll bring a tray up.”
“Vance,” I called when he reached the door, and he looked at me in question. “Will you stay and eat with me?”
“If you want me too.”
“I always want you,” I replied, and he grinned widely, winking at me.
“Then I’ll be sure to hurry.”
Chapter 25
It was the middle of the night when the sound of a soft knock filled the air, waking us.
“Yeah,” Vance spoke groggily, untangling himself from me, sitting up as the door opened. “Come in.”
“Hey, sorry to bother you,” Brad’s voice spoke from the darkness.
“You aren’t,” Vance replied, reaching over to flip on the lamp. “What’s up?”
“Shelly had another vision and wants to talk to you both.”
“Okay. We’ll be right down,” I said. “Is she with Grandma?”
“She’s in my room. No one else knows. She’s been sleeping with me ever since she started having her visions. It scares her to be alone when they happen.”
“You don’t need to explain,” Vance said, getting out of the bed at the same time as me. “Do you need us to wake the others?”
“No, she says this is for the two of you exclusively.”
I combed through my tangled hair before reaching over to intertwine my fingers with Vance’s, and we followed Brad down the stairs into the basement.
Shelly was sitting on the bed with her arms wrapped around her knees when we entered, but she quickly scooted up against the headboard and motioned for us to join her.
“I know what you’re doing,” she said once we were settled.
“What do you mean?” I asked, puzzled.
“I know the two of you have decided to go on the offensive—you’re going after Damien and Sean.”
Vance sighed. “It seems the wisest course of action, unless you have a new direction to point us to.”
“No. I don’t really, but I do have some new information for you.”
“Okay. What do you know?”
“Damien has been furious Portia was able to get Krista out of there. He’s taken precautions against that happening again, and he’s placed crystals in various places around the mansion and the property. They won’t allow her to use her jinn powers which would trap you both on the property.”
“So we need to have an escape route planned then,” I added.
Shelly nodded. “According to my vision there are areas where the crystals aren’t as strong, but Damien has also heavily warded the property so he will be aware of any unexpected arrivals. He’s not taking any chances here. He’s determined to get what he’s after and to keep you from thwarting his plans.”
“Which is what exactly?” Vance ran a hand through his hair in a frustrated fashion. “How can we stop him if we don’t know what the heck he’s trying to do?”
“I’m trying to help the best I can, Vance,” Shelly replied. “I don’t know what else I to do. Sometimes my visions are very limited.”
He touched her arm. “I’m not complaining against you, Shelly. I appreciate all you’ve done. I’m just annoyed with the whole situation and the lack of information in general.”
“Was there anything else you can tell us?” I interrupted. “Anything at all? I don’t care how mundane it seemed.”
Shelly took a deep breath. “When my vision started I could see the property like I was hovering over it. It was nearly dark, and everything was laid out like it was on a grid of some sort. I could see the placement of the crystals and wards because they all glowed with a blue light. I remember thinking it looked like something from a Mission Impossible movie.”
“Great,” Vance chuckled wryly. “Just what we needed.”
“The vision shifted at that point, and I was in a large office that had multiple books piled on the desk, as well as what looked like a couple of maps.”
“Could you see the maps? That could be a vital clue,” I prodded her.
She closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating on whatever was moving through her mind. “No, the maps are rolled up. I can only see the gridlines bleeding through the papers a bit.” Her eyes popped open. “The books are very ancient looking, but there’s a more modern one sitting next to them. The title is Deciphering Ancient Rituals of Necromancy.”
“Necromancy?” I asked.
“It’s a form of magic used to raise spirits of the dead,” Vance supplied for me.
“You can do that?” I blurted out, feeling shocked.
Vance stood and began pacing. “Well, I’ve never tried it obviously, but magical history would suggest there’s some merit behind it. Apparently he must feel there is some truth to it if he’s researching it.”
“We need to tell Grandma and Hex, then. This could be the information they’ve needed to find out what he’s trying to do.”
“I agree,” Vance said. “At the very least it gives us a direction to go in.”
Brad pushed away from where he was leaning against the wall and came to sit next to Shelly. He placed his arm around her and pulled her to him.
“Way to go, sugar. You’re awesome. You know that, right?”
Shelly smiled and wrapped her arms around him. “Only because you’re here to get me through all this.”
I smiled as I watched them sharing their tender moment together. They were very well matched, and I was glad to have them in my life.
“Thanks for everything you both continue to do for us,” I said, patting Shelly on the knee. “I know this has been difficult for you.”
“We love you,” Shelly said, her gaze flitting back and forth between us. “We want you to have the opportunity for a happy life too. We want that for all of us.”
“The friendship and help you’ve offered is a gift we can never repay,” Vance replied. “I hope you both know how much you’re valued.”
“We do,” Brad spoke up. “And we’re happy to be involved, for no other reason than being able to help you.”
“There’s one more thing I need to tell you, Vance,” Shelly said, sitting up straighter.
“More to the vision?” he asked.
“Not exactly, well, sort of.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whe
n I have a vision, usually I just see things that give me impressions or tell me information, but this time something was different. I had a very strong intuition that was not related to anything I saw in the dream, but I hesitated to tell you about it after all you’ve been through recently.”
I felt nervous suddenly, worried she was about to drop a bomb on us.
“You can tell me whatever you need to, Shelly,” Vance encouraged, and I could feel the tension building in him as well. “I need all the information you can give.”
“I had the distinct feeling you were going to need blood—lots of it. You need to feed frequently so you’ll be at full strength for whatever is coming.”
He hadn’t spoken much since we came back upstairs. He just crawled back into bed and pulled me into his arms, stroking his hand over my hair as we lay together in the darkness.
I was too keyed up mentally to try to sleep, with a million different scenarios and questions dancing around unanswered in my head. But he was hung up on one particular issue and that was the blood.
I could feel the war waging inside of him. The demon part he’d been denying was rejoicing over the idea of resuming the drinking. But Vance, the real Vance, who’s soul had struggled so hard to try and beat this—he had doubts. He longed to be just himself, to love me without having to worry about strange repercussions from his actions. He wanted to be normal—at least as normal as he could be.
Frankly, I thought it was a true testament to his character he could still separate the two halves of himself enough to think rationally. He was purposely trying to make decisions based on the desires of his heart and not out of raging bloodlust. He was still in control, most of the time, a feat which few, if any, demons had ever accomplished. I certainly knew that none of his demonic family could say the same. They were evil to the core, despite their cultured sophistication.
“We need to find another blood source,” he stated calmly with a sigh. “I can’t keep weakening you. If there’s a need for me to be strong, there’s a need for you to be strong as well. I need to keep feeding from you down to a minimum.”