Chapter 41

I drank every drop of blood that I had stored in the case and hidden in the safe house. It wasn’t enough to make my hunger go away completely but it was enough to make me feel like I could function again.

While I ate, Alizya set up what we needed to scry for Warren. She wasn’t sure that my strategy would work but she had taken on a silent protest method because she wasn’t going to convince me to try something else.

“Do you want to call Leo before we scry?” my aunt asked.

He wouldn’t be happy about me going after Orin, but I didn’t think that I needed to tell him that part. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to tell him about what Orin had done to me yet either. If I did, I would have to do it over the phone because I was planning to go after him as soon as I had some idea of where he was. Then there was the fact that I wasn’t a bird anymore, on top of everything. I should at least tell him that much.

“I should,” I sighed. “Can I have my phone?”

My aunt nodded and went to a kitchen drawer to pull out my phone before handing it to me. “Take your time. We’ll have everything ready when you are.”
I nodded then took the phone out the door to the patio. I bit my lip, hesitating to call him. I wanted to but things were so complicated. I was afraid that hearing his voice might make me throw out the plan to go after Orin and I deserved to have that revenge. I wanted to be the one to kill Orin and make him suffer for what he did to me. Hell, maybe I could cause Warren some pain too while I was at it.

I slumped into a garden chair and held the phone between my knees, staring at the screen for a long moment before I opened it and pulled up Leo’s number.
“Who is this?” he demanded on the other end of the call.

“Leo, it’s me. I transformed,” I answered nervously.

“Raven?”

“Yeah, they got some kind of serum and I’m me again. Are you safe?”

“I’m still out tracking Kris’s brother. He has been leading us on a crazy chase through the city. Every time we think we have him, he disappears again. Then Warren is throwing a huge fit about you not being at the club to entertain Orin the other night. He’s threatening to banish me.”

“If he lays a single hand on you, I will make him wish he didn’t exist,” I growled possessively.

I could hear Leo stifle a giggle. “No one is making any moves right now except trying to catch Kris’s brother. I promise. Besides that, Warren won’t risk facing your wrath when he’s so desperate to have you entertain Orin.”

“I need to talk to you about that. I’m not going back to Warren.”

There was a pause. I held my breath, unsure of what his reaction was going to be.

“I wondered when you would finally make that decision.”

I sighed because I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I have a friend in New York City who we could go to for a while. I just wanted you to be okay with going before I suggested it.”

“Will Kris be mad at us for going?”

“Maybe for a minute but he knows what Warren does and how he treats you. Let me help catch his brother and then we will leave. One week, tops. Can you stay with Alizya that long?”

“I can’t stay but I have something that I need to do that is going to make things difficult for you. Or it might. I’m not completely sure what will happen.”

“What do you mean?” he groaned. “Are the witches making you do something for them? What’s going on?”

I swallowed, I didn’t want to tell him why I had to kill Orin over the phone. I just wanted to get it over with and cuddle into his arms. “It’s for the witches sorta but they aren’t making me do anything. I want to do this.”

“What are you doing?” he sighed.

I could imagine his hand running over his exhausted face while he waited for me to tell him my plan. He already didn’t like it and he didn’t even know what it was.
“I’m going to kill Orin. He’s with Warren so I’m tracking them with a spell. If I kill Orin, the witches are safe and maybe Kris’s brother will come out of his hiding spot because I think they’re working together.”

He tried hard not to yell and I appreciated that but I could hear the strain in his voice and felt a pang of guilt with every word he spoke. “Raven, you can’t kill Orin.”
“Why not? He’s not my sire and he’s trying to kill the witches.”

“He’s the leader of the Russian coven. His people will come after you if you kill him.”

“You don’t know that for sure. They could be stuck in the power vacuum that he leaves behind, too busy to go after me. Besides that, I won’t leave any witnesses or clues that will link it back to me. He’ll never suspect me because he thinks I’m too pretty to be dangerous.”

“What about Warren?”

“I’ll make sure that he’s not there to see it happen.”

“How are you going to do that? I don’t think you’re thinking this through, babe. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Would you rather be there to help?” I asked, being a little grumpy about it and knowing full well that he couldn’t leave the hunt for Kris’s brother right at that minute.
He sighed and was silent for a moment. “Are you going to do this tonight?”

“They are getting stuff ready to track Warren as we speak.”

“Turn the location on for your phone and don’t get close to them until I get to you. Promise?”

I smiled because I was suddenly excited for him to be with me. “I promise. I’ll do it right after I end the call. I love you Leo!”

“I love you too, babe, even when you’re being a little irrational. I’ll see you soon.”

I ended the call then turned on my phone’s location so that it was shared to Leo. Anywhere I went, he would be able to see on the map.

Then I went to the kitchen and found my aunt and Alizya waiting for me.

“You didn’t tell him everything,” Alizya commented.

“I don’t need him getting in the way or trying to do it for me. I’ll tell him when I’m ready.”

“He’s right about Warren or even Orin’s troops coming after you. Have you thought about what you’re going to do after?” my aunt asked.

I nodded. “I’m going to leave and stay hidden. Even if it means that I have to be on the run for a long time. They’ll give up on their search eventually.”

“For your sake, I you’re right. Warren can be a warlord when he wants to be. He’s been very tame since he’s had you around, so you need to be careful,” my aunt explained with a sigh before handing me two small jars. “We decided that scrying isn’t the best tool that we can give you so we’re giving you something better.”

I looked at the contents of the jars, holding them up at eye level to see them better. One looked like it had just water in it while the other was composed of dry ingredients that I couldn’t identify more than that they were herbs and crystals.

“What do I do with these?” I asked as I continued to examine the jars.

“The clear one is your tracking spell. You need to add a drop of your blood, swirl it around, then pour it over your phone,” Alizya answered.

“Will it hurt my phone? Leo is tracking me so that we can meet in the same spot.”

She shook her head. “Have the map open and you’ll get a location on it. Your aunt is getting pretty crafty with her technology friendly spells.”

“The other is to keep on you somewhere. It will give you a little extra protection against Orin. It should block him from compelling you at the very least,” my aunt added. “We all contributed to it so it holds some family power as well.”

I hugged her, then I hugged Alizya, then my cousin. “Thank you all for everything. I will try to call at the very least if I can’t come visit.”

“Keep yourself safe and remember to control your magic so that you don’t expose us all.”

“I will, grandma. Thank you for teaching me even when I wasn’t nice. I promise to keep working on control,” I replied before turning toward the door.

I was determined to do this but my heart was aching at the need to leave the family I had just found. What if I never saw them again?

My cousin took my hand and walked me to the door. There was something pressed between our two hands but she didn’t let go for me to look at what it was. She just kept walking me to the door then closed my hand around it carefully.

“I made this to keep our ancestors close. You need it now more than I do. Be safe and come back to see us before I’m old like grandma, okay?” she whispered.

I gave her a forced smile then headed out the door, running in the early dusk shadows until I was out of witch territory and in a safe hiding place to do the tracking spell. I held what she gave me in my fist until I finally stopped, not looking to see what she had given me. When I finally did look, I was glad that I had put some distance between us because I didn’t want them to see the tears that followed.

She had crafted a ring. It was a gold band, crafted to look like plant vines with a clear crystal at the center and some kind of family motto etched on the inside. I recognized it as Latin but I had no idea what it meant.

VINDICA TE TIBI

I slid it on the ring finger of my right hand, surprised that it fit perfectly, but laughing a little to myself when I realized that the vines had adjusted themselves and the crystal turned a dark red as if it had suddenly filled with blood. Of course it was magical; I should have known better than to expect an ordinary ring.

I pulled the jar of clear liquid out of my jacket pocket then zipped it closed again so that the other jar wouldn’t escape. I held it up to look at it again then sighed after a moment.

“Now or never,” I sighed before unscrewing the lid of the jar and biting the tip of my finger to get one drop of blood.

As instructed I swirled it around in the jar, watching the contents turn to smoke. Then I took my phone from my pants pocket and hesitated.

What if this potion destroyed my phone?

What if Orin wasn’t with Warren?

I shook my head and shoved the thoughts out of my brain. I couldn’t live on what if. I needed to do this to keep my family and the London witches safe. The only way to do that was to trust my aunt’s spell and kill Orin.

So I poured the smoke over my phone and waited patiently while my phone loaded a map. As soon as I had a dot on the map, I let the jar shatter on the pavement and took off running.