Blue-Blooded Vamp (35 page)

I shook my head at him. “Unbelievable.”

“How… why?” Nyx stammered.

“I owe Asclepius a favor and he asked me to hunt you down.” I held up my hands to show her I meant her no harm. “That was before I knew you personally.”

Nyx’s fangs flashed. “Try it, murderer.”

“Hey!” I said, wounded.

“Calm down,” Giguhl said. “If Sabina had wanted you dead, you’d already be a pile of ash. She had a chance last night and didn’t take it. Right, Red?”

Adam closed his eyes like he was praying for patience. “You’re not helping, Giguhl.”

Tristan’s eyes narrowed as the implication of the demon’s comment sank in. I rushed ahead to try and do some damage control. “That’s what I was going to tell you. Asclepius appeared in my dreams two nights ago. He figured out that I’ve located Nyx and wanted to know why she was still alive. I convinced him I still intended to go through with it.”

Nyx bared her fangs again and tensed.

“He gave me seventy-two hours to make good on my promise. But that was”—I looked at the clock on the wall—“almost forty-three hours ago.” Sighing, I braced myself. “He said if I didn’t prove I’d killed her by then, he’s going to tell Cain where we’re hiding out.”

“Godsdammit!” Tristan yelled.

My mouth snapped shut. It was the first time I’d heard my father curse.

“Sabina,” Rhea said, “you should have told us this yesterday.”

I threw up my hands. “I know! But I was worried if I did
that Tristan would kick us out before I had a chance to convince him to help us stop Cain.”

“What makes you think he’s not going to do that now?” Nyx said with a raised brow.

“Because,” Rhea retorted, “you need Sabina as much as she needs you.”

Nyx snapped her mouth shut. Tristan stood with his arms crossed, glaring at all of us. Rhea’s words hung in the air like smoke.

“Look,” I said finally. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. But I’ve thought about it and realized we can still make this work. We just have to go into Irkalla earlier.”

Rhea shook her head. “Asclepius resides in the Liminal. If you try to get to Irkalla through the in-between, he’ll know you’re trying to screw him over.”

My stomach dipped. Shit, I hadn’t thought of that.

Tristan blew out a frustrated breath and sank into a chair. “We’re defeated before we even got a chance to begin.” He shot me an accusing look. “I knew I should have trusted my instincts about you.”

My chest tightened painfully. His words were like a dagger that hit too close to the mark.

“Actually,” Valva said, “the Liminal isn’t the only way into the Infernal Lands.”

We all swung our shocked gazes to the demon. “What do you mean?” Rhea asked.

Valva shrugged. “Some of the gods created back-door entrances so they wouldn’t have to deal with going through the Liminal.”

Hope bloomed in my chest, easing the ache of Tristan’s disappointment. “Where?”

“The closest one is in southern Italy. There’s a cave that
used to belong to the Oracle Sybil. One of the goddesses has an entrance there.”

Tristan stood slowly. “So if we can convince the goddess to allow Sabina entrance—”

“We could avoid Asclepius altogether,” Rhea finished.

Valva nodded.

I looked at Valva. “Which goddess?”

“Hekate.”

I nearly swooned with relief. Because I was a Chthonic mage, Hekate was the goddess I called upon for aid most often. I’d never met her personally, but it had to be a good sign that she’d lent me her powers several times in the past.

“Good gods, it just might work,” Rhea said.

I looked at Adam, who smiled. “Miracle number three.”

A
kitchen was the last place I expected to spend my last night before rushing off to meet my fate. But once Rhea found out that I’d have to summon Hekate in the flesh in order to gain entrance to Irkalla, she’d announced that we had some baking to do.

She and I stood on either side of a large wooden island in the middle of the room. The wood was smooth and dark from years of use.

“Tell me why you suddenly got an urge to make baked goods?” I asked.

She opened the stainless-steel fridge and started gathering ingredients while she explained. “Summoning a god involves bribery. Remember how we used those honey cakes to sweeten Asclepius when we asked for help?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but can’t you just summon whatever we’ll need?”

She peeked her head from inside the fridge to shoot me a look. “Sabina, what was the first thing I taught you about magic?”

I pursed my lips. “That it should be used judiciously.”

She nodded. “Right. I also told you that taking the easy way out decreases the potency of the plea. You have to work for a god’s favor.”

“Okay, so we’re making honey cakes?”

She placed a bottle of milk, a few eggs, butter, a couple of lemons, and a container of ricotta on the butcher block. “No, we’re making cheesecake.” She turned and disappeared into the small pantry. When she continued, her voice was muffled. “In ancient times, the Greeks would leave offerings called Hekate Suppers at crossroads. They usually included things like fish, eggs, and garlic. But there was also a sacred cake called
amphiphon
that was ringed with candles, like our modern birthday cakes.”

“And this
amphiphon
was a cheesecake?”

“Of sorts.” She came back out carrying flower, cinnamon sticks, almonds, and a large jar of honey. “The recipe has been passed down through my family since all the women in my line were priestesses. We make them for every event sacred to Hekate.”

“Um, Rhea?” I said.

She was busy pulling out bowls and utensils. “Yes?”

“I’ve never really cooked before. Like ever.”

She waved a hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll walk you through it. It’s not so different from when I taught you potions in my workroom.”

I wiped my suddenly-moist hands on my jeans. “Okay, what’s first?”

She put me in charge of cracking eggs into a glass bowl while she measured out the dry ingredients. I managed to get more shell than yolk in the bowl on my first effort, but soon got the hang of it. We fell silent for a few moments as we worked.

In truth, it wasn’t so hard, this cooking stuff. But part of
me wished I were with Adam. After the meeting with Tristan, we’d all split up. Adam and Nyx had headed into town to gather some supplies, Giguhl and Valva had been sent to scout for plants and herbs for amulets and potions, and Tristan went to fill Calyx and Horus in on the plan. We’d decided to send the vampire and the faery ahead to Lake Averno to scout the area. The next day, we’d join them at sundown to proceed with the summoning ritual.

While I knew we all had important jobs to take care of, I longed to be doing something more productive than baking. But if Rhea was right—and she always was—these cakes would help gain Hekate’s favor, and the fact I was making them myself would earn me extra brownie points.

After I’d finished cracking the eggs, Rhea instructed me to beat them to form stiff peaks, whatever that meant. I went to work frothing the eggs, but after a few moments, I couldn’t stand the silence.

“Hey, Rhea?”

“Hmm?” she said, taking a pull from the brandy she’d used to marinate the raisins.

“Do you thing this is going to work?”

She looked up. “Put a little more wrist into it.”

I paused, realizing she was referring to my whisking technique. “No. I mean, do you think our plan will work?”

“Yeah, I knew what you meant.” She sighed. “Honestly? I don’t know.”

My stomach dipped. If there was any time I needed her to lie to me, now was it. But one of the things I loved most about my mentor was her no-bullshit attitude. “You don’t know if we’ll be able to convince Hekate to help or you don’t know if I’ll be able to prove that I’m the Chosen?”

“Stir faster.” Once I sped up, she answered my question.
“I don’t know about any of it. Do I think it’s possible to convince Hekate to help? Yes. Do I think it’s possible you’re the Chosen? Definitely. But at this point there’s no way to know what fate has planned.”

I glared at the foamy eggs. “Fate.”

“I know you have this prejudice about fate, but at a certain point you just have to leap off the cliff and trust that things will work out as they’re supposed to.”

By this point, the eggs were thick and creamy. “Good?” I asked.

She took the whisk from me and tested the consistency. “A little more.”

I started stirring again, keeping my eyes intent on the task because I couldn’t look at her when I asked my next question. “But what if fate’s plan means we’re all going to die?”

Rhea put a hand on my wrist. I stopped stirring and looked up.

“Sooner or later, everyone dies.”

“Vampires don’t.”

She raised a brow. “In theory, but how many vampires have you known who are no longer on this earth?”

I paused and thought about it. Besides Alexis and my old friend Ewan, I thought about all the vampires I’d killed personally. Not to mention all three of the Dominae were dead and they were supposed to be the strongest vampires on earth. Looked like immortality wasn’t the guarantee against death I’d always believed it to be. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am.” She patted my wrist and sat back with her arms crossed. “But my point is that few beings get to choose their last acts. Too many die by accident or as a result of poor choices or simply because they consorted
with the wrong friends. But if fate decides that you’ll die tomorrow, at least you’ll go out fighting the good fight.”

I fell silent as I pondered these words. Hadn’t I argued pretty much the same thing when Erron urged me to give up and run? Still, it was one thing to face my own demise. Something else entirely to realize that if I failed, everyone I loved would die, too.

“Look,” she said after a moment. “I know what you’re thinking and you need to stop. We all know what’s at stake. We all know how it could end. And we haven’t left you yet.”

I smiled at her despite the strange stinging sensation behind my eyes. “That just proves none of you can be trusted to make healthy decisions.”

Rhea looked me in the eye. “No, it proves that we trust you. That we believe in you. You’re ready, Sabina, and we’ll be by your side until the end, be it bitter or sweet.”

I cleared my throat to dislodge the gravelly emotion that choked me. “Are my peaks stiff enough now?”

Rhea smiled a wobbly smile. She didn’t bother even looking at the eggs before she answered. “I’m proud of you, Sabina.”

I shifted my eyes away. “They’re just eggs, Rhea.”

“Look at me.”

I sighed and raised my gaze to her face. “More than anything, I wish I could be there for the moment you claim your birthright.” We’d all decided it was safest for her to go back to New York and make sure the mages were on red alert in case the plan went south and Cain took retaliatory action. The sincerity in her gaze almost made me lose it. “But since I won’t, I’ll say this now. You have every tool you need to succeed inside you. Believe that. You’re ready for this.”

I swallowed hard and tipped my chin in a jerky motion.
But before I could say something dumb and ruin the moment, she nudged me out of the way with her hip.

“Now, enough of that.” She wiped at her eye with a dish towel. “Grab that ricotta and honey. I’m gonna show you how to make a cake so good, Hekate will worship at
your
feet.”

A
couple of hours later, my stomach was full and warm from the cakes Rhea and I had sampled. Once we’d declared the batch fit for a goddess, I’d left Rhea to go check in with Tristan to go over any last-minute details. I didn’t expect a long discussion since the mission was fairly straightforward and his people had proven to be efficient and well prepared, but I also wanted a chance to study the map of Irkalla some more.

When I knocked on the door to his basement room, he didn’t respond. I tried the knob and was surprised to find it unlocked. I opened it slowly, rapping quickly on the panels again. “Tristan?” I called. Again no answer.

I let myself in, figuring I’d just study the map of Irkalla and Nyx’s notes while I waited for him to come back.