Page 14 of Taken By the Blood God

“I can’t remember,” I answered, wincing as I lied again.

This was why I hated lies of any sort, even small fibs. Once you told one, you would have to tell another to cover that one. And another to cover that one. Honesty was much simpler. Even if it felt like a pain in the ass at the time.

“You weren’t having a vision?” she asked.

I shook my head before I realized she couldn’t see me and answered aloud. “No, I still haven’t had a vision. Not since the day you freed Talant from the mountain.”

“Have you ever gone this long without having a vision before?” she asked.

“Yes.” I didn’t expound. When her parents died, I’d been without visions for nearly a month, and it taken another coupleof months after their death before my precognitive abilities gradually returned.

“My destiny is enmeshed right now, and my magic is suppressing my view. I don’t know if it’s a defense mechanism or Fate’s way of keeping me from changing my future, but the only thing I see when I look to the future is a gray cloud.”

“I don’t like this,” Ally replied.

“I don’t like it any more than you do, but there’s nothing I can do.”

She didn’t say anything else, and we sat in silence for a few moments.

“Was this the reason you called?” I finally asked, tired of waiting for her to get to the point.

“What? Oh, no. I was calling about the store. I wanted to let you know that I talked to Sela Harper, and she’s interested in working at the shop part-time. I’ve also talked to a couple of other people around town, and they’re willing to pitch in as well. So, I’m going to start training at least two of them this week while you’re out of town. The shorter hours will make it easier to walk them through the processes of opening and closing the store and all the duties that come with the shop.”

I blinked several times, surprised that she’d done all of that in less than a day.

I must have been silent too long because Ally said, “Unless you’d prefer I didn’t do any of that.”

I shook my head. Shit. I really was off balance because I kept doing that even though she couldn’t see me. “No, no…I mean, yes, I’m fine with your plan. I’ve needed more help at the shop for a while now. I just haven’t taken the time to arrange it. I appreciate that you’re taking care of it for me. I was surprised at how quickly you seemed to have arranged it, that’s all.”

“Well, you’re leaving today for an undetermined amount of time. I thought the sooner this was handled, the better.”

I had to smile. My niece was a planner. She liked to know what was going to happen and when. If she had her way nothing would be left to chance.

While that characteristic was handy in this instance, I worried that she would miss out on some of the best experiences in life because she avoided spontaneity like the plague.

“You’re not wrong,” I replied.

“Do you…” She cleared her throat. “Want to approve my list of candidates?”

“No, no. I trust you. You’ve been in Devil Springs and working at the store with me long enough to know who will be a good fit for the job and who won’t. Your choices will probably be better than mine.”

“Okay. Great. Well, I guess I’ll take care of that this morning. Are you leaving town today or tomorrow?”

I stared at the closed door, trying not to envision the arrogant blood god who was driving me crazy. “Talant will probably want to leave today, but I’m going to try to talk him into waiting until tomorrow. He expended a great deal of power the night before last and spent the last twenty-four hours sleeping it off. The last thing I need is for him to collapse on me in the middle of this insane prison break attempt.”

“Minnie, maybe you shouldn’t do this,” Ally said.

No, I shouldn’t have run off at the mouth like that. Ally was fully grown now, but I knew she still worried about losing me. About losing every member of her family.

Considering the same fears plagued me, I understood.

“I have to do this, Ally, but I promise I will do everything in my power to make it as safe as possible.”

“Please be careful, MinMin.”

“I will, sweet girl. Now, go enjoy the morning with your mate. I’ll text you when we leave.”

After she disconnected, I rested my head against the headboard and stared at the ceiling. While I’d done everything I could to reassure my niece, I had a bad feeling about this endeavor.

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