Page 111 of Magic and Muffins

Shaking in her outrage, she stood in front of Cross. His eyes were black and filled with revulsion as he stared back at her.

She lifted her taloned hand to hit him, but Vivian’s voice stopped her.

“Ah-ah-ah! That’s not the vampire blood you swore to spill if I helped you feed on Shepard. It’s time to fulfill your vow, Effora. The trap has set, and Orphia is coming. It’s kill or be killed.”

The phone went black.

Cross sighed and picked up a piece of her clothing to wipe his hand dry. “I did what needed to be done to free Everly.”

I saw the moment she realized Cross was missing his ring, too.

“You fool! You haven’t saved your human; you’ve been condemned to a life of hell. Without the fae and wolves to maintain the balance, the vampires will overrun this world and bleed every human dry.”

While her back was turned, Shepard partially shifted and ripped free of his ropes.

“Which is why we need to stop her,” Shepard said, returning to his human form.

Effora turned to watch Shepard pick up his pants.

“We all know she won’t arrive alone,” Shepard said. “She hasn’t been building her numbers to fight for the food source. Her army is for now.”

Her army…

My stomach churned sickeningly as I realized what he meant to do. He wanted the three of them to stand against hundreds, maybe thousands, of vampires. At night. Without the stones that enhanced their abilities.

“If Orphia wins,” he continued, “and I’m thrown into the fae realm with you, I promise that I will use every breath I have left to make you pay for what you did at your house and what you attempted to do to me just now.

“If by some miracle we win, know that you have broken the treaty between our races, and I will hold you accountable.”

He angrily pulled his pants on and strode over to the portal to press his hand to it. “Cross didn’t let her take what’s yours. I’m sorry I allowed her to touch me.”

“You should be sorry that he threw her ring in here instead of finding another way,” I said.

“What I’m most sorry for is letting you out of my sight. That won’t ever happen again.”

“I’ve texted the location to Doc and Hugh,” Cross said, “but I have a feeling it will be too late before anyone can get here.”

While Shepard turned to look at Cross, I moved away from the portal to look at Grandma and Grandpa Hunter.

“We have to find a way to destroy the relic.”

“We’ve tried everything,” Grandma Hunter said.

“Show me.”

She led me to where they had their backpacks. “Barnaby, get out the climbing pick and shovel.”

“We’ve used those before,” he said. “It didn’t even make a scratch.”

“Take them out anyway,” I said. “Everything you have. We need to stop this from going any further before Orphia and her people arrive. Once she’s here, it’ll only be a matter of time before she reaches this portal with the last stone.”

They both began dumping things out of their bags in a hurry. A campfire pot and pan. A rubber hammer to pound in tent stakes. Climbing picks. Utensils. Sleeping bags.

Their supplies quickly covered the yellow flowers and purple-blue grass, with the relic in the center of the empty packs.

I picked up a climbing pick to try first, hoping my rage and fear would give me enough strength to do some kind of damage.

“Be careful,” Grandma Hunter warned. “It has some kick to it.”

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