Page 130 of The Rebel Witch

Casey had a hand on Liv’s back, seeming to balance her. “Are you okay? Let me take you back to our room so you can rest.”

“You’re still playing the husband role?” she asked, a tired uptick of her lips.

“I’m not playing,” he vowed.

Lilith had a hand on one of the hound’s heads, scratching thoughtfully as she stared my way and then looked back to Liv. “Witch, are you ready to reclaim that piece of you he stole?”

“We don’t know where it is,” Casey replied. “We’ve been asking around about where he could have stored it.”

Lilith snorted, an oddly elegant sound. “So much knowledge has been lost on the Earth plane. You cannot force a soul into storage. He was lying about that. Or perhaps he’s delusional and truly believes he has her soul in an amulet around his neck. The soul goes where it feels safest. It cannot be destroyed. It is the truly eternal part of us. As to where Olivia’s soul is, it’s here.”

Liv frowned, her eyes turning to Casey and confusion clear on her face. “Do you have it?”

“He does not, though it’s easy to see he would have kept that piece safe for you.” Lilith sighed and looked to her son. “Seriously? No one knows?”

Tix shrugged. “Well, I do. It’s quite plain, but I also know it won’t work until the witch is ready. Shall we have some tea, Mother? You can tell me what you’ve learned about Layla.”

“You could have mentioned Lucifer is your father, Tix,” Gray said with a frown.

“Or he could tell us where Liv’s soul is,” I complained. “We’ve been running all over the Hell plane looking for it.”

Tix turned his alien eyes toward Gray, but the expression on his face was pure disgusted teen boy. “He is not my father.”

“Tix’s father was someone who I cared very much about,” Lilith confessed. “And my son is correct. The witch will figure it out when the time is right. I would worry more about the princess. There’s a darkness to her soul that I don’t think she’s ready to deal with. I think your wolf is in for some heartache.”

I worried about that, too.

“We’ll handle Evan. She’s a practical young lady,” Trent promised.

But I didn’t think Trent understood what a practical young lady could do when faced with impossible decisions. I felt a tug in my chest as they walked away. “Can’t you force Tix to tell us?”

Liv held up a hand. “Don’t. Lilith is right. Give me a day or so. I promise I won’t go anywhere.”

She was trying. I had to as well. “Then Eddie, it’s time to work your magic because I did not get the decadent buffet I was promised.”

Eddie’s fangs gleamed as he grinned. “I can handle that, my mistress.”

Chapter Twenty

Liv

“I can’t believe how hungry I am.” Dean Malone sat across from me at the big dining table. We were all sitting around it like some kind of family, and I wanted so badly to really feel this moment.

Lee shook his head as he watched the young man with the crystal eyes. He’d been the one to help Dean after he’d showered and dressed. “Well, you’ve had your insides roasted for a couple of days. I’m pretty sure that would make anyone hungry.” Lee looked my way. “Are you sure he’s okay?”

I couldn’t put into words what it meant to have Lee look at me like whatever I was about to say was meaningful and that he would believe it. It felt like I was starting to be me again. If only I could tap into that part of myself I’d lost. The truth was Lilith was right. I was afraid. I was afraid of what I would feel. There was a tiny part of me that wondered if that piece of my soul even wanted to come back, if I’d made myself unworthy of the best part of me.

But I was working on it. I knew logically what the old me would have done, and I’d checked Dean shortly after he’d awakened. I’d used all my power to ensure nothing remained that could harm him. “Yes, it was a complete healing. Not even the witch who cursed him the first time could have healed him the way Lucifer did.”

If only someone could heal me.

“Maybe you should try the roast chicken.” Casey sat beside me. He pretty much hadn’t left my side once. He let me do what I needed to do, but he wouldn’t leave me alone. We’d taken a nap while Eddie had been cooking, and then he’d been the one to inject the blood Eddie had sent. Less this time. It would take me weeks, but I was getting off the demon blood.

But the power I’d felt when I’d broken the binding spell…it hadn’t left. There was a seemingly endless well of power there to call upon. I felt like a door had opened. Despite the fact that there was a part of me that was still numb, I was hopeful for the first time in a long time. Enough that I wanted to tease my vampire. “Haven’t tasted chicken in a while, babe?”

“Well, we haven’t been close enough physically in years for the bond to share your senses with me,” he admitted. “And now that I know what your diet was like, I think it might have been a blessing.”

A Profane did not indulge.

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