“Yeah, we’re good. Listen, I need you to meet me at the airport when we land. We won’t have time to drive back to the condo, even though this jet is faster than a regular passenger plane.”
“I’ll be there. Do you need me to bring anything from the condo?” I asked.
“Yes,” Adrian said, then he gave the list of ingredients and objects necessary for the spell I needed to gather. “Were… were you able to get that last ingredient?”
“Of course. I’ll see you in about two and a half hours.”
“Thank you,” was all Adrian said in relation to the heart of the griezel.
“Stay safe,” I replied, then ended the call. As corny as it would be, I kind of wanted to blow him a kiss through the phone, but no way in hell would I be that fucking cheesy. I looked at Shi. “Well, you heard that.” She and Nadia had walked through the door about ten minutes before Adrian called, having dealt with Tom, sending him off. I had been home for about thirty minutes after getting rid of the body. Shi’s car was now being cleaned out to remove any scent of the corpse from her trunk and the interior. I’d also taken care of Yolanda, as she had woken up needing my blood. We talked a little and she was now with Nadia heading toward Salino’s home for training.
“Well, let’s get everything together then,” she said. “I’m glad everyone survived.”
“Me too. I was worried.” I gathered everything Adrian wanted me to bring, packing it all in a suitcase, then Shi and I took my Bentley and headed to the private airport.
We stopped to get something to eat, for Shi more than me. I could eat, but food wasn’t really what I had a hankering for at the moment. The thirst for blood wasn’t intense, but I knew I’d have to feed at some point tonight. It was weird for me still, having to get used to this new hunger and how much I enjoyed feeding it. How much pleasure I took from it. I actually looked forward to sinking my fangs into someone’s neck. I felt the tip of my fangs protrude a little and had to calm myself down. Control. Shi grabbed two double cheeseburgers with large fries. I just wanted an order of fries, then we headed off toward the hanger with at least forty-five minutes to spare. Shi and I chatted about business and nonsense until I saw the lights of my private jet coming closer in the distance. A jolt of excitement flashed through me knowing Adrian would once again be near me. I couldn’t wait.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The flight was about two and a half hours long. Thanks to James telling his driver to drive like the devil and the pilots already being prepared for take-off, we might just pull this spell off. We were all buckled in as the plane began to land on the tarmac. I had been keeping a watchful eye on the time throughout the entire journey. I didn’t know if the freeze spell would work twice, but I didn’t want to take the chance of it not working with us thousands of feet in the air and no vampire or werewolf help like last time. Best to not push the luck we’d had so far.
As soon as the plane landed, I was up out of my seat and scooping Lacey’s little body into my arms. The door was opened, and standing on the other side was Sage and I literally felt my heart swell as well as a huge sigh of relief wash over me. Like everything was going to be okay. Was that what he made me feel, even when I had doubts? That everything would be all right? That was a hell of a lot of mojo he possessed. Either that, or I had that much confidence in him… in us… now that we were together, that this would work. Still, best not to get too ahead of ourselves.
“I’m glad to see you,” Sage said as he stepped forward. He reached behind my head, fingers entangling themselves in my hair as he pulled me forward for a kiss that nearly made me weak in the knees. Sweet Jesus on a biscuit, this man was sex on two legs in a ten-thousand-dollar outfit. It wasn’t a suit, but I was sure it was expensive, nonetheless, and he looked delicious in it.
“I missed you, too,” I said once our lips had regretfully parted. “You have everything?”
Sage nodded. “Everything. Let’s do it on the plane.”
Well, that did make more sense. I walked back to the lounge area of the plane and placed Lacey’s frozen-in-time body on the sofa. “We need to draw a seal on the floor to create a container for the demonic spirit when we finally get it out of her so it doesn’t try to escape or jump into another body.”
“How do we do that?” Xavier asked.
“You don’t. From this moment on, it’s all on Sage and me,” I said. I pulled the grimoire out, flipping to the page with the spell. “Please tell me you can see this spell too?” I asked Sage, only realizing he may not have seen this spell himself.
Sage looked at the page. “Espiritus Daemonitus Eviticus?” he looked up at me. “That one?”
I nodded and released a sigh of relief. It would be easier to work this spell knowing he could see it too. “It’s a combined spell.”
“Yeah, I know. I was able to read it when I had time to look through the book. Okay, I have to draw my side of the seal as you draw yours. We have to use our blood,” Sage said.
“How much blood are we talking?” Xavier asked as he watched Sage remove the charmed chalices from his suitcase. One for me and one for him. One for dark magic and one for light.
“Just a few drops, the rest of the potion will be made of holy water and the Fishel, which means Tears of the Rose,” I said, informing Sage. I helped him remove the ingredients and artifacts from the suitcase that we were going to need. “Where is the heart?” I asked.
Sage held a container that had ice in it as well as the heart of the griezel he’d killed for me. He didn’t really say how he’d gotten it, and I didn’t outright ask, but I knew. I just hoped the griezel wasn’t one who was trying to live a decent life. For some reason, I thought Sage would have made the distinction and that was why I didn’t press him for answers. “Okay, we’ll need that, too.”
I picked up the bottle of Fishel and poured a few drops into both of our chalices. The liquid itself was clear, but it sparkled as if it was filled with diamonds. Olga puts the liquid into glass balls and sells them as mystic paperweights to people just dabbling in the magical arts, or those who just want something cool to look at. By itself, Fishel is harmless from what I’d learned. But when mixed with any other liquid, it absorbed the magical element in the liquid and multiplied it to fill any container. That was why it only took a few drops of our blood to fill the chalice.
Sage pulled out his own knife, a fancy one with an onyx and pearl handle shaped like a dragon with a ruby for the eye. He cut his finger and let the drops of blood drip into the chalice. I took out my knife. It wasn’t fancy, just a simple switchblade. I cut my finger, winced a little, and let the blood flow into my own chalice. To tell the truth, this spell had me on edge. I was hoping it would work, but it was also the first spell Sage and I would be working together. I could feel our connection growing stronger the more we were near each other.
“Magic will always creep me out and amaze me,” Jewel said. She stood beside Lacey’s body, but made sure to stay out of our way.
“Yeah, me too, and I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Xavier said.
“That’s because I never had the ability to do anything like this before,” I reminded him.
