Ascended (War of the Covens 3)

It took a good few minutes to calm him down and explain it all to him, and all the while, Reuben grumbled that he had to add another layer to Vil’s trace to mask his knowledge of Marion’s existence.

“You can’t tell anyone about me,” Marion insisted sternly.

Vil nodded. “I promise, Marion.”

“You better,” Reuben warned. “Or I will take care of the problem.”

“Reuben,” Caia warned.

He ignored her and continued to unsettle Vil with his glare.

“Vil, what are you doing here?”

The magik tried unsuccessfully to ignore the evil looks Reuben was shooting him. “I … uh … I’m here because Lucien is looking for you.”

She gripped his arm, her features a mask of anxiety. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. I mean, well, something. I mean, Lucien knows all about”—his eyes flicked with reluctance to the vampyre—“Reuben’s blackmail. He wants you to come home to the pack.”

So he’s sorry now, Caia thought numbly. “I can’t,” she whispered, and then glanced up at Vil’s sound of confusion. “I didn’t kill the Septum. I couldn’t,” she explained. “But I made a blood oath to the Council that if they give me the Daylight trace once Marita’s dead, then I will ask the gods to take both the Midnight and Daylight trace back, freeing us all from it. I have to leave now to kill Marita.” She couldn’t keep the despair out of her voice.

Reuben groaned. “Hades, save me from emotional women. Fine,” he snapped. “It can wait a little while longer. Go tell the Council about your lead and then we’ll get back to the pack to assure them you’re okay. Saffron, take Marion to your place for now. I’ll contact you when we need you. Vil.” He grinned swiftly at the magik, showing his fangs. “You’re leaving now. Go back to the pack and tell your Alpha that Caia will return shortly.”

Vil immediately disappeared. Caia threw Reuben a disparaging look. “I don’t know why people are so afraid of you.”

His answer was a smug cocking of his eyebrow.

Someone really needed to put that guy in his place. She shared a look with the witch, and Caia knew Marion was thinking the same thing.

She felt a rush of pure happiness that the magik was back in her life.

23

Fences

“I’ve never done a communication spell with another person holding on to me before,” Caia snapped at Reuben as they stood facing each other in her suite, both mirror images of each other with their impatient sneers and defiant arms akimbo. “Are you really sure it’s necessary?”

Reuben shook his head, his expression that of someone who felt they were dealing with a person of little intelligence. “No, it isn’t necessary. However, I think it’s time you tried it, and you can since you’ve been to the hotel before.”

“If I kill you, this will be all your fault.”

“Caia, you won’t kill me,” he reassured her. “We really must work on your confidence if you’re to have any hope of taking on Marita and winning.”

“As much as I enjoy your pep talks, can we maybe get going?”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one stalling.”

Caia took a deep breath. Sometimes it felt like she was dealing with an obnoxious teenager. Bracing herself, she held a tentative hand out toward the vampyre and he gripped her tightly, her hand mostly disappearing in his large one. Butterflies erupted in her belly at the thought of seeing Lucien again after all these weeks and the bad terms they’d left one another on.

The Council hadn’t been too pleased with her decision to go after Marita with only Reuben and Saffron for help, but they soon realized the method in the madness, considering how difficult it’d been so far to track her with her using the trace to escape all the time. Thus, they were letting Caia go, although she was unnerved by Benedict De Jong’s goodbye, the smug asshole waving her off as if sure it would be the last time he ever laid eyes on her. Goddess, she hoped he was wrong.

“Caia, let’s go.” Reuben squeezed her hand. At his insistence, she closed her eyes and tightened her energy around them both, visualizing the front entrance of the hotel.

An immediate lethargy crashed over her body, and she felt a tug on her hand suggesting Reuben was holding her up. Taking a deep breath, Caia opened her eyes and forced her legs to straighten, demanding strength rush back into them.

She and Reuben stood in the empty foyer of the hotel, Reuben grinning at her.

“If you say I told you so, I will kill you,” she snapped.

“Caia!”

She jerked around at the sound of her name and only caught a brief glimpse of Magnus running through the dining hall door before she was crushed in his arms like a little girl. She held on tight, breathing in the scent of her favorite lykan. “Uncle Magnus.” She grinned and pressed a kiss to his cheek, watching as he glowed under her affection.