Page 55 of A Bloodline Redeemed

But just then, a group of powerful, but absolutely fuckingstupidSA agents surged out from the SA building.Apparently, they had somehow managed to hide themselves from the curse that turned the rest of their staff into mindless zombies.And now that the fighting had stopped, they were here to claim victory, in typical SA fashion.

Except, anyone with half a braincell could sense that this wasn’t an opponent you took on without an entire army at your back.And even then, you’d probably be fucked.

Oleander rolled her eyes and flicked a dismissive hand at the SA agents.Every one of them immediately fell the ground, unmoving.

Fuck me.

“Well,” I said, as if I was bored with the whole afternoon.“That was fun.Let’s pack up and get out of here, shall we?”

She frowned.Which set off all sorts of alarm bells inside my head.“No.We are not done here.”

Adrenaline shot through my chest, and I swallowed the scream that wanted to escape.But before I could decide what to say or what to do to defend myself and everyone who was counting on me to keep them alive, the water weaver appeared out of nowhere.

If I’d thought them beautiful and ethereal before, they weregodlikenow.An elemental being sent to this plane from the afterlife to influence mortals.They made the nearby angels look downright boring and utilitarian by comparison.

“Andy?”the weaver’s siren-like voice slid into my ears and through my brain like magic, bringing with it an overwhelming sense of calm.But a deadly calm.Like the sea right before it pulled back from the shore to deliver a tsunami.“I would like to return home now.”

It was only then that my spinning brain registered the small red-headed child the weaver held in their arms.They handed the wide-eyed boy to the gargoyle who followed Andy, and disappeared, reappearing only a second later with an identical girl child in their arms.

I blinked.Okay.Weird.But I needed to focus on more important things here.“The cult is defeated.The SA is in shambles with most of the corrupt assholes dead.We’ve freed the people the cult enslaved.”I waved a hand to encompass the huddled masses currently cowering behind me and my crew.“My crew is trustworthy.We can handle the rest of the cleanup and fallout.There’s nothing more to do here.Go.I’ll make sure the refugees get to a safe place and any loose ends are hunted down.”

I was desperately hoping that was all there was to it.The creepy Lovell anomaly and her group would disappear to wherever the hell they’d been hiding the past year or so, and I could breathe a sigh of relief for a single goddess damned moment.

But no.Oleander Lovell just sighed and shook her head.“It’s not that simple.”

I snorted.Simple?Nothinghad been simple for the last five years of my life.I didn’t exactly expect the fallout of a small war to be any different.“What do you mean?”

I did cross my arms now, tossing my grimy sword at my feet and planting my feet wide in a sort of impatient parade rest.If this woman wanted to kill us, we’d be dead in the blink of an eye.The sword and potions were hardly going to make a difference.

She shuddered and closed her eyes, and I felt the magic in and around her surge and ebb, like a dark wave.Hell.She was in control of all that magic… wasn’t she?

The water weaver put a hand on her shoulder, still holding the child with their other arm.The jinn moved to her side, glaring.And some sort of …undead angel… stood close at her back, his wings curled up and over her protectively.Fuck, fuck, fuck.If that silent show of support and comfort was needed, what did that mean for the rest of us right now?

“Spit it out,” I muttered.Because I had a death wish, I guess.I was so far into the “fake it” part by this point that there was no going back now.

She just raised an eyebrow at me and quirked a wry, half-amused look my way.“This can’t happen again,” she said firmly, her voice rich and echoing with power that was nearly a compulsion.“It won’t.”

I nodded in agreement.She didn’t need magic to make me agree with that statement of the obvious.

“And you are going to make sure of it,” she said evenly.

I gaped at her incredulously.“Me?”

She nodded.“You.The corruption in the SA has been weeded out—through your efforts, and now through…” she looked around the at the carnage in the square and the patiently waiting corpse army that surrounded us, “other means.”

“As much as corruption can ever be completely eliminated,” I replied, ignoring the corpses.For now.Fake it ‘til you make it.Fake it ‘til you make it…

The necromancer spoke, and the deep, ancient layers of his voice made me start, then try to cover up a full body shiver.“If this ever happens again, there will be consequences, mortal.Know that we are still holding back.You do not wish to know what is possible were we not showing restraint this day.”

And that was almost the end of my ability to bluster and keep up a calm front.Because… goddess fuck.These people weremonsters.Not a single one of them should exist, or possess such power.But all of them combined?They could, quite literally, take over the entire world.

“Message received,” I managed to mutter with a dry mouth and a tight throat.

Oleander nodded.“Good.Then you can spread the word as you rebuild the Supernatural Alliance.”

I just stared.

“It’s a strategically sound decision,” the fae woman said from off to Oleander’s left.And evensheseemed more intimidating than usual, every fae sense honed and sharpened, and focused directly on me.She was a hunter and a fae—so plotting, hunting, and far-reaching retribution were in her DNA.But as she stepped forward and held out a strong, graceful hand toward me, I recalled just what else her people excelled in.Bargains.Promises that were magically binding in ways most didn’t truly understand.

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