Page 10 of A Bloodline Redeemed

“Oh, shut up,” I muttered, earning a weird look from Elijah.“Not you.The wraith.”

Elijah just chuckled again.“Let me guess; Sunny thinks we’re both silly mortals for having ridiculous doubts and fears.”

I sighed.“At the very least.He wanted to fuck you the second you had a body.Who knew ancient evil entities were so obsessed with sex?”

The angel gave me a lopsided smirk that would have looked more at home on a devil.“Poor Sunny.”He winked.“I know what it’s like to be trapped in an incorporeal form for a couple hundred years.”

I snorted a laugh, then we both slowly sobered, sitting in silence as the levity faded.I wasn’t sure what to say now.I had revealed my twisted heart to him, and he hadn’t run away screaming or voiced any understandable second thoughts.But the weight of loss was settling in again, reminding us both that it was probably the wrong time for emotional revelations or jokes about horny evil entities.

I am not evil.Anymore.You simply have some very limited mortal ideas about nebulous concepts like “right” and “wrong.”

Sure,I said silently.If you say so, wraith.

Thankfully, Ambrose and Niamh returned right about then with a tray of snacks and more tea.

“All sorted?”Ambrose asked as he passed around the food, not a single hint of judgement in his upper crust tone.

I met his red-and-black eyes and nodded, earning a slow, soft smile in return.I really was ridiculously blessed, for a possessed husk of a man.

I stayed on the couch with Elijah, our hands still linked, as the others settled in around us and conversation drifted to Hasumi.We had all formed fond memories of the water weaver in our short time together, and it felt right to relive them now.Among lovers and friends.Family.

My heart still ached at the loss of such a beautiful presence in my life.And at the thought of the potential relationship I hadn’t gotten to explore.But I was thankful to have known Hasumi at all.They—along with the others—had quite literally saved me from myself.Led me toknowmyself.And I would forever be grateful for that.

“To a bright soul who led us through dark times,” Elijah said at one point, holding up a tumbler of whiskey in toast.“May they rest in light and peace.”

No sooner had we finished the toast, than a wave of elemental magic filled the room.

Aahil materialized in a shower of sparks.His golden eyes flicked over me and Elijah, who was currently lying with his head in my lap and his long legs dangling over the end of the couch as I petted his hair.

The jinn’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but he turned away in the next instant, speaking to Niamh and Ambrose as if he hadn’t just been glaring at me with a look of pure hatred.Typical.

“Andy asked me to tell you all you’ve been summoned to the back courtyard,” he said, his silky voice full of disdain.“The dumb cat has something to say.”

Then, with one last sideways glance at me, he disappeared in a completely unnecessary shower of sparks.I ignored Sunny’s commentary on the possible reasons for the tiny terror’s glaring.Surely he wasn’t jealous of Elijah just because of that one weird passing encounter we’d had… Goddess.Maybe he wanted Elijah?Or maybe he had indigestion.Anything was possible, with Aahil.

“I wonder what River’s up to,” Ambrose said easily, as if our mourning hadn’t just been interrupted by the rudest messenger ever.“Shall we go see?”

Elijah heaved a put-upon sigh, but he eventually took Ambrose’s outstretched hand and let the boogey man pull him away from my lap and to his feet.I gave him an amused look, even though I also didn’t want to move from my warm place on the couch.With the angel.

Niamh rolled her eyes at us as she strode by.“Anything’s better than watching you bumble around with your harem of weirdos,” she muttered to me in passing.

Myharem.Funny.I lifted my middle finger at her back, but I was pretty sure I saw her smile when she turned down the hallway.

My amusement faded as fast as it had come, as the reminder of Hasumi’s loss hit me yet again.How could everything be so right and so wrong all at once?

I will miss them as well,Sunshine commented in my mind.The water weaver made far more sense than the rest of you silly mortals.Even if theyweretoo concerned with everyone else’s wellbeing.

Chapter 7

Somewhere in Magea

“Deargoddess,”Moonwhisperedas she knelt in the straw, her hands pressed to her forehead and heart the way her gran had taught her.Her knees hurt where they rested on the rough ground, right on the bruises and scrapes she’d gotten from falling down earlier when the big people said to“Hurry up, useless child.”

“I know you’re real busy, and we’re not supposed to ask you for stuff unless it’s super important,” she prayed.“Momma always said we’re supposed to try to find a sol-solution by ourselves before we ask for he-help.”She sniffed, trying to hold back her tears.She wasn’t a baby anymore, she was a big girl.Bigger than Sky, anyway, by at least three whole minutes.That made her the big sister.So she couldn’t act like a baby.“It’s only, we tried real hard by ourselves already,” she whispered into the rapidly cooling night.“And it only gets us yelled at and beat.”

There was still a little bit of faint light coming through the dusty old window in the shed, enough for her to make out shapes.She looked at her brother, who was curled up in the corner under the blanket the adults had given them, his thumb in his mouth, and his eyes squinched shut as he made sucky noises in his sleep.See, Sky still sucked his thumb like a baby.So she was the big sister.It was her job to take care of them now.

She knew Sky was still hungry, so she had saved half of her half of the bread for him for breakfast tomorrow.They didn’t get much because they were small, and because they had to earn their keep.And Moon and Sky couldn’t do the scary spell they had to do to earn their keep today, so they only got one blanket, and one piece of bread to share.Because they were bad.It must be.They were bad kids, but she hoped the goddess would help them anyway.Just this once.

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