Page 56 of A Bloodline Redeemed

I stared at the fae’s outstretched hand from inside the illusion of safety that my protective shield offered.She was brimming with the same kind of amped up, ancient magic that the rest of them carried.It was more subtle, but just as strong, once you really looked for it.“What am I supposed to be promising?”I demanded.

She gave me a slow, feral smile, revealing her sharp canines and complete lack of humor.“That you will take control of the magical police force that watches over the Magea realm and do your best to ensure corruption of this scale never happens again.”

I swallowed hard.That was quite a hefty promise.“And if I fail?If I try my best and I still fail?”

Her feral smile grew wider, and more dangerous.“I would suggest you make it well known that should you fail, you will call on us and we will act with total authority and no promises of mercy to any who would abuse or endanger others.Making that well known from the start should help prevent you from ever having to call on us.”

“Hell,” I muttered on a sigh, running a hand through my hair and making the short strands stick straight up off my head.“Why me?”

“Because you’ve proven yourself,” the angel said from where he loomed protectively over the Lovell witch, the magic in him stirring my soul and making me want to clutch my hands over my chest to keep my soul spark right where it belonged.The other angels had a haughty golden-boy power vibe going on that made you understand where people might buy into their “messengers of god,” rhetoric.But this one… this was the real deal.Soul magic.Tinged with death magic.I had no doubt he could effortlessly remove the soul from my body in an instant, if he wanted to.

“Fuck me,” I muttered again.I didn’t seem to be able to find anything meaningful to say anymore, just exclamations of shock and horror.

“Well?”Oleander said, nodding toward the fae’s still outstretched hand.“Can we get this show on the road?I’d like to go home and take a nice, long bath and ingest some herbs that will make me forget today ever happened.”

I shook my head at her.Taking a deep breath, I forced myself past my fear and dropped the protective barrier around me and the others.Then I reached out and grasped the fae’s hand.“I promise I’ll do my best to uphold the SA’s end of the bargain,” I said, trying to make sure I had at leastsomewiggle room here.“But are you sure you want me to tell the world about you?”

Oleander Lovell rolled her shoulders back and cracked her neck, as if she was settling into her body for the first time, donning a new suit of clothes.“Yes,” she said softly, glancing aside, to where someone had laid out her sister’s body.“Tell the world that if they misbehave, they’ll have us to answer to.”Then she lifted her eyes to meet my gaze again.“But so help me, Jacki, if you bother me again for anything other than the threat of multi-realm war or mass murder, I will fucking end you.I’m tired of this bullshit.I never signed up for any of it.I just want to live a normal, boring life in my stupid, creepy old house with my new family.”

I nodded in complete agreement.I’dalsorather I never had to speak to her ever again, now that she could end me with a thought.So we were on the same page there.“Understood.”

“Good.”She turned to go, but then halted, her head turning side to side as she glanced from the gargoyle to the weaver, each of whom were holding a tiny witch in their arms.“You should give them to Jacki,” she said slowly.“That would be for the best.”

The water weaver stared at her with the most expression I’d ever seen on their usually tranquil face.“What?”

She sighed, waving her hands as she talked—which made me flinch, since I now knew she could do deadly magic that way.“Hasumi.We are going back to a…” she paused to glance my way, then continued.“Well, we’re going somewhere that isn’t great for kids.And besides, you can’t justtakeany stray witch kids you find.I’m sure they have family somewhere.There’s a whole… process,” she waved her hands again and I tensed, waiting for an accidental discharge.But nothing happened.

Except she looked to me for backup.And I wasnotgoing to get myself involved in a disagreement with people who could literally rip my soul from my body, flood my lungs with water, or level this entire city with a thought.I held up my hands in a clear gesture that this wasn’t my battle.

“I ask for so little,” the water weaver said smoothly, and a wave of emotions hit me so hard I swayed under the onslaught.I wasn’t even part of their little…whatever it was.And yet, I understood with crystal clarity how much the water weaver did for them every day, how they held this group together, tended their emotional wounds, and healed their bruised hearts just by existing.

Andy groaned.“Oh, fine!We’ll talk about it later.”

Then, with a final nod and a glance around the town square, she waved a hand, opening a portal so seamlessly I almost sighed at the display.For a moment there, I thought,wow, that would be a handy power to have.

Then Oleander and her group stepped through the portal and it closed behind them, leaving hundreds of now un-animated corpses to drop to the ground with a collectivethump, unmoving and once again unalive.And I decided maybe I’d rather keep my own mediocre portal skills and skipeverythingthat came with being Oleander Fucking Lovell.

Chapter 32

Andy

Goddess’sfuckingsteamyturds,my damned head hurt.

And of course, the second I thought that, the magic inside me swelled, washing through and over me, erasing the mild annoyance of my throbbing head.

Oh, that couldn’t be good.No matter how much I wanted to applaud.Could the magic cure my diabetes?Rid me of the curse that was tied into my DNA?I didn’t need to know that… because then I’d wonder if it was worth the risk to my life to be rid of my susceptibility to human diseases… and just, no.Not right now.I’d had enough craziness to last a lifetime.

“Look, I know we’re best buds now,” I said to the terrifyingly powerful living magic inside me.“But I’m not sure I trust you messing with my body that way.”For all I knew, the wild magic was just as likely blow me up as heal me.

The forces inside me calmed a little and I realized everyone was standing around staring at me.“Oh,” I said stupidly.“Private conversation.”I waved that away and looked around me.What I wanted more than anything in the world right now was to retreat to my bedroom, curl up in a blanket burrito, and have the mental breakdown I justknewwas lurking around the corner.But as usual, there was more important shit to do.

First things first.I walked over to where Hasumi stood, one small child in each of the water weaver’s arms now, since Zhong’s kid had abandoned him the second we landed, to glom onto Hasumi.“Hi there,” I said awkwardly, trying to make my voice calm and pleasant, when what I really wanted to do was scream and pull my own hair out.“Are you okay, little buddies?”

Little buddies?Goddess, I was no good with kids.I had never spent much time around them as an adult, and I had never really thought I’d ever have kids of my own, so I hadn’t given much thought to how to interact with them.

The twins just stared at me with wide eyes and snuggled in closer to Hasumi’s chest.It was ridiculous.The lithe, slender weaver barely had room to hold them both against their chest.But Hasumi was stronger than they looked.“Right,” I said on a sigh, holding my hands up in defeat.“Scary stranger.My bad.”I looked to Hasumi for help, and they gave me a wry half-smile.

“Oleander is an immensely powerful witch,” they told the kids in a smooth, serious voice.“But she would never harm you.None of the people in this room will ever hurt you,” they promised, turning a bit to ensure the kids got a good look at all the grownups, now that there wasn’t a battle raging around them.“We will be your family.You are safe now.You will never be alone again.”

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