Page 84 of Redeeming the Angel

“Sylvis’s dad was an avid hunter, and since she and Xochitl were inseparable, he taught them both.From then on, she killed a deer for us every fall.Grouse too.”Her mouth screwed up in a frown.“Processing meat is awful.But the freezer full of meat was always a relief.”

“What did you think of Sylvis being related to me?”

“It was a shock at first, but then I remembered that you’d never had anything to do with the Earth Jagwolfes, so I thought less of you and more of the fact that my daughter’s first friend had luminite blood.At first, I assumed that’s what Del meant when he said I had to raise Xochitl in Coeur d’Alene.But that was only a small part of it, though the lessons in hunting, martial arts, and guitar that Sylvis’s parents provided all helped toward the Prophecy.”

“Then she made two other friends with luminite blood.”

Kerainne nodded.“That’s when I knew that Xochitl and Sylvis blistering their fingers learning to play the guitars we’d found at a yard sale was more significant than just a luminite’s love of creativity.When they brought Beau and Aurora to my home for the first of many sleepovers when they were fourteen, with a drumkit and bass and amp in tow, I heard them play and felt the magic they generated together.So I did everything I could to encourage that music.There were many meetings with all their parents as we came up with schedules and ways to accommodate their band practice without driving ourselves or the neighbors crazy.But then I started to get sick.”

My heart clenched as Kerainne described her slow death from Earth’s lack of magic.How her exhaustion worsened until she collapsed on the couch as soon as she got home from work and how Xochitl was frantic with worry as she tried to take care of her.

“She tried to get me to see a doctor, which of course I couldn’t do.It was so hard to not be able to tell her the truth.But to stay hidden, she needed to believe she was human.”Kerainne wiped a tear from her eye.“When I reached my last days, I let her skip school so she could be with me.I knew that I wouldn’t be able to come down and see her for at least a couple years so I wouldn’t be recognized.On my final night, I called her to my side and told her I was sorry I couldn’t make it until she was eighteen and made her promise she’d stick with her friends and keep making her music.”

She paused again to wipe her eyes and I pulled her into my arms as she continued on in a choked voice.“I held her as long as I could while she cried.Then death’s dark veil enveloped me and I awoke in Luminista, fully restored physically, but completely empty inside.Silvara and her guards seized me and locked me away immediately for birthing ‘an abomination.’”She sniffed in derision.“I would have been hurt if I wasn’t overcome with worry about my daughter.I begged for a scrying sphere so I could find out if she was okay.”

“And that was all my fault.”

Kerainne’s snort of laughter startled me.“Don’t be so arrogant.Silvara wouldn’t be influenced by the likes of you or anyone younger than her.Even if you hadn’t told her about my baby, she would have found out on her own and still arrested me.She wasn’treallypunishing me for being impregnated by the Evil One.She was punishing me for the loss of her daughter because I was the only one she could reach.”

“But—”

“I’m not finished.”Kerainne released me and plopped back in her chair, taking another big gulp of her drink.“It took three years for Gabriel to smuggle a scrying sphere into my cell.It was wonderful to see Xochitl and Rage of Angels having fulfilled their dream.But I didn’t find out what happened in the years I was gone until after she’d gone into a coma after killing Zareth’s half-brother.That’s when Gabriel, and you managed to free me.”

“Oh, fates, that’s right,” I breathed.“I’d known your daughter was in a coma and in danger of dying when I helped distract the guards so Gabe could get you out, but I didn’t know it was because she’d killed a person until a few months ago.”

Kerainne nodded.“Those months of keeping her alive and waiting for her to wake up were agony.But eventually she did and we were able to catch up.”

“So what happened to her after you died?”I found myself worried about that girl who’d thought her mother was gone for good and empathized.

“I’d left papers for her to be emancipated, but of course, the state didn’t listen.Instead, they put her in a group home, where she met Akasha, then she was given to some horrific foster parents.”Kerainne finished the last of her drink and continued.“I’d thanked the Lord Vampire of Coeur d’Alene more than once, but we have yet to have a full conversation about those dark years that would have been darker for Xochitl.Del had instructed him to watch over Xochitl when he’d become Akasha’s guardian.Of course Silas is so kind, I think he would have done so without it being an order.Then in one swoop, Xochitl had protection and a place for her band to grow.”

I shook my head with mingled awe and new understanding.“I’d wondered why you liked the vampires so much in spite of everything that had happened with your sister.”

She smiled.“I may have liked them sooner, but Nik ironically helped them more.Did you know that she spent centuries taking out rogue vampires and turning them in to the Elders?”

“No.Why did she do that?”

“To tweak Del’s nose.”

I laughed.“That sounds like her.”

Kerainne laughed with me, then hiccupped.“I love Jägermeister, but I think I loved it too much tonight.Could you help me upstairs?”

When I helped her to her suite, every cell of my being wanted to follow her inside and hold her again.Instead, I politely bade her goodnight.

The next few weeks made me regret that decision.Though the remaining Leonine and Jagwolfe matriarchs departed the following morning, Silvara’s declaration that she would no longer forbid any of her subjects from joining the war yielded immediate results.A dozen luminites from both clans arrived mere hours later.

“That makes nineteen,” Del had said in a tone that said we still needed more.

However, the rest of us were grateful to not be overwhelmed with an entire army.Zareth arranged housing for them and tasked Nikkita and me with teaching them to fight.Kerainne and Artavian gave them lessons in healing, making our schedules so tight that we barely saw each other.

Akasha and the vampires both decided that it was time for some of them to reside in Aisthanesthai permanently.Shen Li, Silas’s sullen enforcer was selected to become the new Lord Vampire of Niji, though he would of course answer ultimately to Xochitl.

Razvan’s enforcer, Sarah, was dubbed the Lord of Raijin.Each vampire was assigned ten subordinates for the beginning.Though Sarah’s people wouldn’t be leaving for Raijin right away.All new Aisthanesthai vampires would stay in the castle with the new luminite recruits and train beside them in battle and culture.

In the meantime, Xochitl and Zareth would work to prepare the regular townsfolk for having vampires from Earth living among them.Aurora called it a “PR campaign,” which made most of us laugh, though they had to explain it to me before I caught on with the humor.All the blood houses in Aisthanesthai were contacted, requesting they temporarily relocate to Niji while the vampire army was being trained.They would be well compensated as Zareth intended to pay for their meals.

As for Earth, Silas, Razvan, and Del monitored the activity there.While there’d been no further attacks in either of our worlds and the rate of mage disappearances slowed, the number of vampires and humans joining the Order of Eternal Night continued to rise.

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