Page 53 of Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

He inclined his head and stepped out on the back deck. I watched Tex’s head snap up, and the smile on his face appeared genuine. I kind of hoped for both their sakes that tonight's ritual went in their favor. Judge stepped up behind me, his earthy scent calming me. “Did you hear all that?”

He wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder.

“Yep.”

“Do you want to run away from me and all my problems, Judge? Be honest.”

He pressed his face into my neck. “I’m afraid you are stuck with me now, Rainey Day. I’m going nowhere and neither are the rest of your men. We’ll overcome this challenge like we do every other. You’re worth all of it. You make life worth living and I have no regrets, Darlin’.”

I sighed as I sank back against his strength. I hoped he was right, otherwise I might be the black hole of trouble we all die in.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

We unanimously decided that X was going to stay home and watch the pups during tonight's ritual. One, because inexplicably the pups loved the gruff, sarcastic former Enforcer. Secondly, he couldn’t be around Miranda without wanting to murder her a little. It was definitely better for everyone if he just stayed home.

We had to leave the town's limits to do the ritual, so with a few minutes until the clock struck midnight, we all trooped to a natural circle in the forest. I held Tex’s hand, and Alexander strode out in front with the absolute self-assurance of an apex predator. Brody walked behind me, and Judge was on Tex’s left.

Walker had to work, because while the witching hour was quiet for most people, for Dark River it was the peak of the day and the middle of the lunch shift. The Immortal Cupcake was closed again until we worked everything out.

When we reached the clearing that Miranda had indicated, the witch herself was nowhere to be seen. “I can’t sense her,” Tex said in a low voice and I squeezed his hand.

“She’ll be here.”

Alexander looked over his shoulder at me. “She better, or else.”

Miranda appeared through the slit in reality. The red one. The one that looked like the birth canal. “Or else what?” she asked, an eyebrow cocked and her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at Alexander.

Most people would be embarrassed by getting caught out, but not Alexander. “I would be displeased.”

His tone insinuated that displeasing a dragon would have very unpleasant, yet lasting effects. Miranda snorted. “We wouldn’t want that, now would we, Sir?” she said sarcastically, bowing at the waist in an exaggerated manner.

Judge cleared his throat behind me, stifling a laugh. Both Miranda and Alexander gave him a sour look.

Intervention time. “Miranda. It’s good to see you again.” Look at me, I’m downright pleasant.

She raised a perfect brow. “Is it, Raine Baxter?”

I grinned. Well she was a bit of a harbinger of bad things, but I didn’t think it was her fault so much as coincidence. “Of course. It’s especially nice when I’m not the reason you're here.”

Miranda chuckled, lifting her shirt to pull some cotton bags from a belt. I watched Judge for any interest, but he was distracted by Tex.

Alexander, however, was looking at the exposed strip of her stomach like he wanted to feast on her innards. Eesh.

She pulled a bowl from a tote bag she had over her shoulder and stepped into the center of the clearing. “It’s a reasonably easy ritual, once you get all your ducks in a row. Or dragons as it would seem.” She chuckled softly at her own joke.

She put the heavy bowl on a top of a log, running a hand over it and making it glow a deep blue. She poured the contents of the bag into the bowl and chanted something softly again. “Okay, so both of you just need to bleed a little in there. Then the smoke will either turn red or black. Red means you are direct blood relations, black means you aren’t. The more vivid the red, the closer the familial connection. Just like a pregnancy test, but like twenty-odd years too late.” She smiled softly at Tex, though he couldn’t see it.

“And I have your binding word that you will not use our blood except for the express purpose discussed here tonight?”

“A witch's ethics are sacrosanct to our practice, and I resent you insinuating otherwise. However if it appeases your eminence, I vow that any blood shed here tonight will be used only for the ritual of which you demanded and nothing more. All traces will be destroyed afterwards. Happy?”

She was gritting her teeth, and Judge seemed positively gleeful. Miranda was ridiculously powerful for someone so young, and therefore when she walked into a room, people justifiably feared her. But Alexander had no fear, and apparently neither did Miranda. And the sexual tension between them? It was off the charts.

The smile Alexander gave the witch was all teeth. “Then let's get to it, shall we?”

Miranda waved Tex forward and I let go of his hand. “I just need your hand, Tex. I will cut across it with the ceremonial blade and drip it into the bowl,” she explained gently, grasping his hand when he offered it. “Ideally, we’d do this in your shifted forms, but I for one do not want to be in the presence of a pissed off dragon, wouldn’t you agree?”

Tex murmured something softly that I missed, and Miranda laughed. She really was beautiful. I definitely hated her.

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