He laughed. “So you do.”
“She used it to kill my grandmother. I would like to use it to kill her,” I said.
“Bloodthirsty little American,” he said, but smiled.
“Yeah, so tell me, if she projected herself from another locale, whatever came with her would be real?”
“I’m not sure,” Jeremy answered. “We are going to have to do some research.”
“I wished I had killed her when she was here,” I said quietly.
“Nae, lass…killing changes a person, and I like ye the way ye are. Get me out of here, and I’ll be the one doing the killing.”
Jeremy inspected the sword and stepped back, horror on his face. “This is the sword that killed my sister.” His voice was hoarse with feeling.
“And my grandmother.”
“How did you get it away from her?”
“It reached for me—Jeremy, I saw my grandmother’s murder…my magic showed me the past. She knew—my grandmother knew a moment before Allora killed her and she transferred her magic to the sword. The sword showed me how my grandmother was taken by surprise, but in that moment, when she realized what was going to happen, she transferred her magic to the sword and also spelled it to react to her bloodline. My grandmother must have hoped her bloodline through my mother would prosper and one of her descendants would return here to free Devin.”
“Put the sword away. Put the filthy thing away!” Devin shouted.
I realized what a visual this was for him. It had killed his new bride. It had killed the only witch that could have saved him from eternal banishment.
I couldn’t speak as I saw the anguish on his face.
“We need to store the sword where Allora can’t get it should she return,” Jeremy said quietly.
“I don’t think she can use it any longer. The sword has attached itself to me. I can feel my grandmother’s magic actually purring all around me, and that purr…is coming from this blade.” I touched it. “But just in case…there is something I can do,” I said. “My Aunt Elle taught me a trick many earthly witches know. They store their wands in the atmosphere, ever-ready to be called on when needed, but out of the way—so glans can’t see them.” I wiggled my brows and got ready to use Aunt Elle’s wand spell. “I guess I can do the same with a sword.” As I silently said the word the sword vanished, but I could feel it nearby, ready to be taken by me. Well, that was one for our side.
I turned to look at Devin, who was frowning darkly. “Coom back here, lass. Now. I want ye on this side where Allora cannae get to ye.”
“I can’t do that, Devin. There is so much to be done and I have to figure out what spell my grandmother used to imprison you. I have to see this through. Allora will soon find out who I am…who Jeremy is, and when she comes back here, she will come to destroy us. Jeremy and I need to figure out a way to finish her before that happens.”
“Mad? Are ye mad? Ye aren’t strong enough to take on the likes of Allora,” Devin yelled as he ran his hand through his hair. “I wouldna have ye hurt!”
“I told you not so long ago, I am an independent woman…I make my own decisions,” I said softly.
“Och aye, ye cannae see, ye dinnae know. I will wither without ye, Bobbie lass…have ye nae care for that?”
Jeremy’s eyes opened wide and he looked at me and then at Devin before releasing a slow whistle. “Well,” he said, “that is a new development.”
I went to the invisible wall and put my palm against it. He immediately matched mine with his large one pressed to the divider. A tingling sensation swept th
rough the glass…to me. Our eyes met. In that moment, an emotion as sure as the air we breathed, as potent as the power created from rushing water, took us on that eternal journey I like to think of as love.
“I care and I won’t let that happen. Trust me,” I told him.
He closed his eyes and didn’t speak for a moment, and then his voice was as fierce as his expression. “The first sign of daylight, ye and Jeremy immediately take to action and Blood Ward the grounds and all around the exterior. At least her vampires wouldna be able to roam around outside at will. The thought of that makes me wild with worry.”
“Yes, and we might get lucky. There is a chance she won’t be able to get through a Druid Blood Ward, even though she was given an invite,” Jeremy offered.
That made me chew my lip.
Devin said, “I think she can get through. That invitation trumps the ward. There is only a slight chance she wouldna be able to get past the Blood Ward, so we prepare for the worst.”
“What if we specifically warded the place against her…against Allora Brently?” I asked.