Page 101 of Malice
“And how are we facilitating this, Lilypad?” Crombie asked.
“Moira will do it.”
“I’m sorry. What now?” Moira’s eyes were wide as saucers. “I will?”
“Yes, pet. Certainly you have a spell like this in your arsenal. The Belladonna coven is the most powerful witch coven in the world, isn’t it?”
Moira sat a little taller in her chair. “We are. I suppose it’s much like a basic traveling spell. We’ll just need to fine-tune it so it will take someone to the dream realm instead of the earthly plane.”
“Brilliant. Whilst Kiki attempts direct contact with Death, you take care of this spell. We’ll work double duty and get Dahlia connected with Merri so all of our—what is it you Americans like to say—bases are covered.”
As far as plans went, it wasn’t great. We were hiding in a secret fight club/bunker, hoping that the four horsemen would knock up a succubus, and relying on ghosts and dreams to help us make contact with them. But what other options were there? It wasn’t like there was anything I could do. Best to let the experts take the reins.
As for the rest of us? I guess we’d just have to wait and see.
Not seeing what else we could accomplish until then, I looked around the room and slapped my hands on my knees. “So, same time next week?”
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
MERRI
Ipushed my index finger through the Scrabble tiles in search of my final two pieces.
“Are you trying to figure out what letters they are through osmosis?” Dahlia teased.
“Maybe,” I said with a smirk as I plucked up anAand aDand then added them to the rest of my lineup. If Sin were here, he’d definitely have something to say about giving me his D.
“Well... I’m waiting.” Dahlia sat back in her chair, her gentle smile only making her prettier.
Glancing around the day room, I frowned momentarily.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s so empty. Where are the rest of the residents?”
She shrugged. “Probably off on some Blackwood-related excursion. You and I have more important things to do.”
I laid out my tiles, beginning the game. “D-A-N-D-Y,” I announced as each piece settled on the board.
“As in Yankee Doodle?” Dahlia snickered.
“As in tight pantaloons that do nothing to hide a bulge.”
“Respect,” Dahlia said, selecting her own tiles and setting them up vertically through mine.
“Soulmates?” I asked. “How did you manage to come out of the gate with that? Lucky bitch.”
“How would I know? This is your dream.”
Itwasa dream. This time it felt so real. I could even read the words we were spelling, and everyone knew you couldn’t read or taste in dreams.
“E-X-I-L-E,andit’s a triple word score. Booyah!” I pushed back from my chair, lifting my hands up and beaming with pride after getting to use thatX. And against a writer too.
Dahlia’s laughter filled the room. “Dramatic much?”
“These days, you’ve gotta take the wins where you find them.”
