Page 86 of A Shade Too Far
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Naveenand I agreed to meet at his place in the morning and go see his contact for further information about how to kill the dybbuk familiar and hopefully learn the Banim Shovavim’s name. That would give us just over twenty-four hours to stop the curse.
I helped load my family’s stuff into his sports car, Sadie squishing in next to the car seat, with Eli up front, and waved them off with a heavy heart.
My home, my sanctuary, was a siren’s call for demons. The late-night hush that often comforted me now menaced like an ominous fog hiding a deadly foe.
Throwing random shit into a suitcase, I drove to Tatiana’s place on autopilot, formulating plans to shore up my relationships and set that house of cards to right, but in my head, the deck remained maddeningly scattered.
The universe cut me a small break and I got a steady row of green lights all the way up Main Street to East 41st Avenue, leaving me free to go on autopilot.
If I didn’t ask Laurent for his blood to complete the ward, then my family’s duplex was compromised for good. I let out a bitter snort. If I hadn’t taken him through the Kefitzat Haderech in the first place, we’d never be in this position.
Damn, I was tired. Making up for a lifetime of living within the magic community and learning its mores was like playing a game of Whac-A-Mole. I’d nail one situation, only to have four more spring up.
I was swinging blind, and right now it was of little consolation that thanks to the experience I’d already amassed, these obstacles weren’t coming as quickly as they first had. It wasn’t quantity, it was quality. The deeper my road into this world led, the more dangerous the hurdles to overcome.
I cut across to the west side of town, past rows of houses put up for sale together in hopes of getting a huge buyout from a real estate developer, a large upscale mall, and cranes parked in front of half-finished condo complexes, silent and still against the night sky.
Putting aside the practicalities of finding another duplex in the same area given Vancouver’s insane housing prices, the emotional fallout of this on Eli and Sadie would be monumental. To make matters worse, any plea to Zev to reconsider giving us the Torquemada Gloves was off the table after what had transpired tonight.
Frustrated, I hit the wheel. As mad as he was, Laurent would donate his blood to protect me but that fact failed to cheer me up. I didn’t blame him for his anger. His loss of powers aside, the shifter was intensely private and a closely guarded secret about his pack and his past had been pointlessly pried out of him.
The cruel irony was that even if our friendship was miraculously preserved in the face of my request, would it be over the moment Laurent killed the Banim Shovavim?
The houses grew larger here in Shaughnessy, the silence more pronounced.
I yawned loudly and cracked my neck, running on fumes and grateful to finally turn onto Tatiana’s street. This day couldn’t end quickly enough.
Hauling my small suitcase out of my trunk, I raced up to the front door, sparing a guilty glance at the darkened windows before rapping loudly.
Emmett cracked the door open, wearing a pair of lurid orange leggings. He scratched his hairless red clay chest. “’Sup?”
“Is Tatiana awake?” I lugged my suitcase inside.
“That or she’s dead.”
I almost knocked my suitcase over. “Was she attacked? Why didn’t you call?!”
Emmett grabbed me before I could tear through the mansion looking for her. “Calm your tits. Nothing like that. The wolf phoned earlier.”
He’d checked in with his aunt like I’d requested. Tiny bubbles of hope fizzed in my chest. “Was it a good conversation?”
“Get real. They had a huge fight and she pounded back the gin and tonic big time afterward until she passed out. Probably.”
“Emmett!” The bubbles inside me popped as if someone had stomped on my chest.
“You have no sense of humor. I checked her breathing. She didn’t pull a rock star move and drown in her own vomit. The woman’s fine. Snores like a buzz saw, though.”
I scratched my arm, my magic itching at me. Laurent and his aunt were constantly sniping at each other so this fight didn’t necessarily involve Laurent’s reveal of his Banim Shovavim magic and the existence of the Kefitzat Haderech. Angry red lines marred my skin, and I dropped my hand.
The golem poked my suitcase, a sulky expression on his face. “Don’t trust me to do my job and take care of Tatiana? You moving in to check up on me?”
“I’m moving in because my home just became the Hellmouth.”
“Huh?”
I gave him the Buffy synopsis version of what had transpired with Zev. “So, yeah, demons, basically.”
