Page 22 of Witch's Rebirth
Iwoke up refreshed from a deep, restful sleep. With a smile I stretched out in the long, king-sized bed, enjoying the late afternoon sunlight filtering beautiful and golden through the windows. Never again would I take peaceful sleep for granted.
Nona was back. Raum was alive and well. Ash wasn't mad at me. I had to remember to appreciate the small things in this crazy lifetime.
Of course my smile couldn't last as I came downstairs and was met with three sexy, but grim faces.
"How'd you sleep, baby?" Only Raum's mouth ticked up into an amused smirk. With my bird's nest hair and rumpled clothes I slept in, I bet he was trying not to laugh.
"Amazing, thank you." I blew him a kiss as he passed me a steaming mug of tea. "So what're the rest of you looking so grim for?"
"We're making a move on Diana." Ever the leader, Ash straightened up taller, his face stony. "If my plan works, we just might be able to end this."
"What?!" I nearly dropped my mug. "Tell me everything, angel. I have to be the one to kill her. You know that, right?"
"I figured you would be." Now his sexy mouth gave the barest hint of a smirk before dropping quickly. "But you have to do exactly as I say. No running out like last time, no matter what happens. Do you understand?"
My lips pressed into a thin, tight line. Already I didn't like this at all.
"I can't promise that if one of you is in danger," I answered honestly.
"And we can't afford to lose you." Sal walked up behind me with feline stealth. My breath hitched at his heartbeat on my back, his arms moving around my waist protectively.
"If I lose one of you the way we almost lost Raum, I might as well be dead too," I said. "So let's make sureno onegets in the line of fire."
"Here's the thing." Ash's eyebrow twitched. "It's not one of us taking the biggest risk. It's Seth."
Silence dropped all around us. I turned to him slowly. His sharp icy eyes watched me, studying every reaction from the pattern in my breath to the color in my face. Fuck, they wereallwatching me for a reaction. They wanted to see what Seth really meant to me. My anger sparked at this little trick but at the same time, I understood. I couldn't get out of my own head sometimes and still couldn't articulate my feelings for him. Maybe outside observations of my body language would be more telling.
But despite my feelings or lack of, that didn't mean I agreed to this plan.
"Why would you do that?" I demanded. "I don't want anyone dying for me."
"It was the only way to draw Diana out," Ash replied calmly. "She'll want revenge for being betrayed by him, and when she finds out he's with us, she'll want to hit two birds with one stone."
Raum shuddered from where he leaned on the counter.
"Triggered," he muttered but shot me a wink to show he was joking.
"But it'swrongto use him like that," I protested. "He's basically our bait. After everything he's been through, he doesn't want to be a pawn in someone else's plan anymore."
"I realize that," Ash nodded. "That's why I asked him and gave him the option to refuse. He insisted that he wanted to do this."
I blinked, trying to wrap my head around this information. I still wasn't convinced that Seth evenlikedme. Why would he volunteer in this mission for me?
"Why?" I repeated the question in my head to Ash.
He shrugged. "I'm not a mind reader, love. If he gets out of this alive, you'll have to ask him yourself."
I narrowed my eyes. His face let on more than he was telling me. And I was all too aware of how my body reacted when he saidifSeth got out of there alive. My stomach clenched, my pulse shot up and my heart skipped a beat.
I cared about him enough to not let him die. If it were one of Astrid's mates or someone else I barely knew that was still on our side, I'd feel the same way. It didn't mean I elevated him to the same importance as my three demons.
We knew what Diana was capable of. She almost killed me back in San Francisco, the blood magic somehow making my demons powerless to stop her. It wasn't until I was losing consciousness and unlocked the hidden elemental magic of water and fire that stopped her.
Only Lucifer knew how much I would enjoy finishing her off this time. I wouldn't stop watching her drown on my magic until her last breath was her most painful one. I'd relish in every second of it for those she would no longer be able to hurt, manipulate, or kill. Not just for me, my mother, and Raum, but also Juno. I'd never forget my own responsibility in that but if it weren't for Diana, Juno never would've had to die.
"So what's the plan?" I folded my arms across my chest.
"Seth has already reached out to Diana through shadows and they're meeting at a neutral location." Ash just got started and my skin already prickled with discomfort. I didn't like this plan at all. "They've agreed to be alone but we're prepared for Diana to come with hunters or blood magic tricks up her sleeve. We have shifters standing by on guard, including Nona. Sal and Raum will be shifted and on guard as well. You and me will be cloaked, love."
