“Well, there’s no way I’m in the goddamn Book, since I was just made. And the demons can’t have anything on me yet,” Ray interrupted, pushing himself off the wall where he’d been standing. “So I’ll go.”
I shot him a look of surprise.
Tally sized him up with a skeptical eye.
“Ray,” I said. “I appreciate your willingness to fight demons on my behalf, but there’s no way you’re strong enough—”
“He’s in,” Tally said, her voice resigned. “It’s perfect, really. He’s a reaper and a vampire. A supernatural who technically should never have been created. He will muddle their monitors naturally, and the fact that he’s a reaper can only help you. His signature also feels strong enough—in fact, it feels a lot like yours.” Her eyes were shrewd. “But we won’t know until we test him fully.” She addressed Ray. “Vampire, can you suck the absence of a soul from a demon?”
His eyebrows shot up. “How the hell should I know?” he answered. “I just figured out I was a reaper two hours ago.”
Tally tapped her foot patiently. “Not all reapers are created the same. Some are tailored especially for certain jobs. It depends on your genetic line. What did the Demon Lord look like to you?”
“Its skin was made of smooth shiny scales and it had an ugly face, like some kind of serpent man,” Ray said.
My eyebrows shot to my forehead. The demon’s glamour hadn’t worked on Ray. I’d seen a few snippets of its reptilian side, too, so I knew he was telling the truth.
“Good.” Tally nodded. “You saw its true nature. That’s promising. Very few are able to do such a thing.”
I shook my head. “If Ray is willing to come on his own free will, that’s fine.” My eyes found Rourke. “But I’m not willing to risk anyone else I love accompanying me. Tyler being taken overwhelms me on all levels and I refuse to let someone else I care about be lost to the demons.”
“Jessica,” Rourke said, turning toward me. “You have to be reasonable. Letting you go alone, with only a new vampire to aid you, is insanity.”
“We won’t be alone,” I assured him. “And Tally will prepare us the best she can. If we have a chance to take the best tactical attack, we need to use it—I agree with that.” My voice was strong. “Please don’t ask me to abandon my brother.”
“Of course I’m not asking you to do that,” he reasoned. “But there have to be other ways around this we can discuss.”
His fear and uncertainty rang inside me. Letting me go to the Underworld without him would be the hardest thing he’d have to do in our short time together.
But I had something that would help.
“How about I make you a promise I won’t go unless I can fortify the odds in our favor?” I told him.
“How are you possibly going to do that?” Rourke asked. “A brand-new vamp who has no idea how to work his powers and who else? Who is strong enough to aid you?”
I paused, taking my time with the announcement.
It had to have the desired effect.
“Eudoxia.”
There was an audible gasp from everyone in the room.
Rourke’s face flashed surprise, my father blew out a long breath, and the Queen’s voice tinkled with laughter. “You are delusional, as usual,” she almost purred. “I just finished explaining why it would never work, Little Wolf Girl. But let me try again because it’s clear your brain has been jarred from all the heavy lifting: If I go to the Underworld, the demons will swarm us the minute we arrive.” Her face elongated and her fangs snapped down. “But, even if they didn’t”—her eyes went dead black—“there is no way I would go to hell for you.”
“I saved your life out there,” I said, pacing forward, “again. That makes it twice in one day.”
She hissed, her face still cruel.
“This is it, Eudoxia. It’s your chance. Once we come back, all debts are wiped clean. You are the only one strong enough to give us the best odds of getting Tyler back, and your power combined with mine is lethal. It managed to wipe out even the Prince of Hell’s magic. Together we can defeat anything down there.”
Her power jumped out before her, pressing against me. It licked at my face and pushed at my chest. But I was ready, my power wrapped up inside me like a coat of armor.
Molding my power had become second nature and it felt good to master it.
“You’re as foolish as you look,” she snapped. “Even if I owed you another favor, which I do not, I would never agree to accompany you to the Underworld.” Her face slid even farther, her control slipping. “My debt to you has been paid. The ward went up and, as an extra token, one for you taking the demon magic—which would not have killed me—I gave you my power freely. It was not my fault the opposition was too strong.”
My father walked toward me. “Jessica, I don’t know what you’re getting at, but taking the Queen won’t work because of everything we’ve outlined so far. If she’s the one you pick, you can take your mate or me just as easily.” His voice was wary. “We need to think of someone else.”
“He’s right,” Tally agreed. “I’m not sure why you picked her, but the Vamp Queen will sound the alarms. She’ll be like a lighthouse flashing a signal in the darkness.”
“No, she won’t,” I said confidently.
Tally inclined her head at me in question, clearly thinking I was presumptuous, but smart enough to hear me out.
“Are you calling me a liar?” The Queen’s fury radiated outward. “I should’ve ended you when I had the chance! You are nothing but a nuisance.” Her hands fisted at her sides. “Just like the Prince of Hell stated in front of us all. You are a blister on the heel of every supernatural ever created.”
“But you didn’t kill me, did you?” I said as I took a bold step toward her. “You could’ve killed me when the Prince threw his power at me, but there was a reason you aided me.” I leaned forward and whispered, “It’s because I have something you desperately want and without it you will be stuck here to rot for a thousand more years.”
“You’re wrong. I want nothing from you,” the Queen spat, her face barely contained.
“You’re not fooling anyone. You need my blood. And I want my brother. Sounds like a fair trade to me.”
She hissed. “Your blood will never be worth what you ask of me!”
“It’s worth it and you know it.” My irises jumped to violet. “You’re just hoping you can acquire it for free, sometime down the road. But your seer has left for good. There won’t be any other opportunities, because once I leave here I will make sure our paths don’t cross.”
The Queen was one outburst away from losing her mind.
I had a strong feeling this was what Alana had alluded to in the storage room.
I was in a position to force the Queen to act—to do one last task to prove her worth. It had to be this. And I had to think that meant we would be successful getting my brother back. The two had to be tied.
The Queen’s power continued to rocket around the room and the witches started fiddling with their guns and the wolves started to pace.
“Why would I ever risk the Underworld for you?” the Queen countered. “Even for a precious drink of your blood?”
Tally had lost her patience with our pissing match. “I hate to break it to you both, but we need to get moving. I want my witches in a safe place before nightfall. The sorcerers were patsies this time around, bound by their agreement with the demons, but when they come again, they will bring their artillery. They are inferior in strength to us, but they will pack a punch in numbers, and I don’t have time to summon witches from all over the U.S.”
I faced Tally, essentially turning my back on the Queen. The timing had to be right if I was going to make this work. I waited a few beats and then I played my ace in the hole. “If the Vampire Queen drinks my blood, her signature will change. She’ll be under the demon radar, and she’s an asset because … she’ll be infinitely more powerful.”
Everyone in the room went crazy, talking at once.
“Leave us!” the Queen yelled. The vamps froze at her words, but hesitated. “I said go.”
“Meet me outside, everyone, but keep up the vigil,” Tally told her witches.
“Escort them out,” my father told his wolves, including Danny and Nick. “Find any others who were left on the outside. Daniel Walker, coordinate the move north.” James and Marcy walked over. My father nodded curtly once to his second. “We will speak. I will be out shortly.”
James nodded, putting his arm around Marcy’s waist as he led her out.
When everyone except Rourke, Tally, and my father left the room, my father turned to me and said, “What are you talking about, Jessica? How do you know what your blood will do to a vampire?” He knew no real details about Naomi or Ray. He also had no idea my blood had changed Danny’s connection to him so fully I feared it might be permanent.
The Queen stalked to the massive double doors and slammed them shut. Then she turned to Tally. “Spell the room, witch. No word spoken here leaves.”
Tally was about to give her grief but thought better of it. She knew whatever was coming was big. Her fingers moved as she incanted a spell.
I wished for a moment it were only my father and me in this room. It would be so much easier to do this alone. Revealing your secrets to other Sects made you weak. But I had no choice. Tyler’s life was worth it and I was willing to do anything it took.
“My blood breaks bonds.” I cleared my throat. “It severed Naomi’s bond between her and her Queen, which Eudoxia figured out fairly quickly. My blood also changed Danny’s connection to you.” I nodded toward my father. “But what you don’t know is he smelled like me after we had exchanged a very small amount. My blood also connected Tyler and me on a different level. He said it had something to do with our close genetic bond.” I wished my brother were here to explain it. He did it so much better. My heart clenched. “If the Queen drinks from me, I believe it will alter her signature enough, and significantly change any samples they may have on record, so she won’t set off their alarms.”