BETWEEN BLOODE AND WATER

Bloode—magic and blood that makes a vampire a vampire; vampires are known as those “Of the Bloode”
Blood—the substance within humans and magir on which a vampire feeds

 

1

Sunday, January 2^nd
Mercer Island, Washington

Orion had seen a lot of things in his two hundred and forty-six years of living, but the reanimated racoon racing from the reaper while also being chased by a battle cat, two obnoxious kittens, and a wolf was an all new level of weird.

“Damn it. Get back here!” the reaper commanded.

Despite his ever-present arrogance, everyone alive and dead ignored him as they raced around the basement’s main living space, hissing and barking.

Smoky, Orion’s kitten, grinned as he passed by, the little jerk never so happy as he was while annoying Orion’s kin.

The other three vampires in the house, not counting the reaper and draugr (running around in wolf form), watched with him, as did the crazy dusk elf they’d all been forced to accept.

Truly, Orion was living in momentous times. Vampires from different tribes living together, when normally they’d have killed each other by now, had to be a first. Especially since two of the idiots had mates, which normally caused vampires to act even more territorial. For sure, the apocalypse had to be right around the corner.

Even the goddess Hecate, the owner of the large house they all lived in, agreed.

Kraft, the only vampire among them to match Orion’s strength, looked at him, grinned, and in a light German accent said, “Your demonic feline taunts the reaper yet again. I’m beginning to like him.” He paused and added with deliberate menace, “Perhaps I’ll allow him a few more months of life before I eat him.”

Orion flipped him off, which had the younger vampire laughing and making lewd comments about Orion’s lineage.

Before Orion could pound the giant bastard into the floor, a deep, melodic voice accompanied the arrival of a creature no one wanted to deal with, as evidenced by them all slinking away into the shadows. Hell, even the raccoon, battle cat, and kittens darted away.

“Where did everyone go? Oh well. You, Orion. I have a job for you.” Mormo, the freaky bastard who served the goddess they’d been unwillingly pledged to, pointed at him. Neither young nor old, Mormo had long white hair, a face with delicate features more suited to the fae than to other magir or humans, and an arrogant attitude not belonging in those not vampire.

Orion and his kin considered those not Of the Bloode to be lesser beings, and as such, he thought Mormo’s conceit misplaced.

Even if the bastard had the ability to make his bloode boil, freeze, or explode on a whim.

Orion groaned. “What do you want? I’m supposed to have off tonight.”

“Says who?” Mormo arched a brow, his red eyes glowing.

They’d all speculated on what Mormo might be but hadn’t come to a consensus. So they called him a magician, which fit well enough. Who else but a magic-user could gather six vampires from different tribes to serve a goddess none of them worshipped? Without Hecate’s power and Mormo’s magic, Orion and the others would have killed each other by now. Cursed long ago to only exist in small groups, his kind were driven to kill vampires outside their own clan.

And speaking of family… “You know, you should pick one of the others for this chore. I’ve been doing a lot since Samhain. I’ve been working hard all through the holidays.”

“Which you don’t celebrate.”

“I saved Christmas from a heretic.”

Mormo sighed. “You broke Santa’s leg and managed to scare a small group of children.”

“He was an imposter ready to eat young humans!” Shouldn’t Orion have been rewarded for that?

“You mean a department store Santa plying children with candy canes to put them at ease for pictures on his lap in a special evening celebration at Nordstrom’s?”

“Monstrous!” Orion barreled on. “And creepy. Why were they on his lap? Why is his suit such a beautiful color if not to tempt the young to gather closer? Why fatten them up with sugar if not to sweeten their blood?”

Mormo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Never mind.”

“Exactly. I made an effort to celebrate stupid Christmas for Macy’s sake. And what thanks do I get? More work.”

Their only human and the clan’s Bloode Witch, Macy had recently mated their revenant, a decent vampire who acknowledged Orion’s superior strength and fighting prowess. Thanks to that pair, Orion had adopted his best fur buddy, a feline of estimable power and treachery.

He grinned, wondering who would win in a battle between his gray kitten and Kraft. Honestly, it could go either way. Smoky had the art of treachery down to a science.

“I don’t even want to know why you’re smiling.”

Orion shrugged. “Eh. Leftover cheer from your Christmas.”

“Not mine.” Mormo sniffed. “Stop changing the subject. We need you to investigate reports of a suspicious island that comes and goes. It was spotted by a few magir up north.”

“Just magir?”

“Yes.” Mormo sighed. “If the humans aren’t seeing it, that means the island has to be magical in nature, yet Hecate hasn’t gotten word of anyone claiming ownership of this new land mass. Neptune claimed a section of the waters north of the city years ago. He should know who’s trespassing but doesn’t.”

“I’ll stop you right there. Keep your gods and god friends to yourself. Just tell me what you want me to do.” He spotted Smoky peering at him from around the couch, the kitten’s brother, Nightmare, sneering before taking off again. Now that feline Kraft could devour and Orion wouldn’t mind.

The little fucker kept leaving live scorpions and venomous centipedes in his shoes. Orion had no idea where he’d been finding them.

Mormo gave him specifics for what seemed like hours yet hadn’t been more than a few minutes, the magician keen on dragging everything out, unnecessarily. Orion finally left the house for the dock in the backyard, pleased at the surprise he found. Instead of a three-person skiff, he spotted a pretty little yacht, maybe thirty-five feet in length, with a hardtop shaded cockpit and deep stateroom for hiding from the sun.

Having a goddess at their disposal had one or two good points. Money didn’t seem to be an object of contention when they needed supplies and tools. And… Well, that was pretty much all he could come up with on good points.

At least able to enjoy the outdoors away from the house, Orion pulled out of the dock and didn’t look back.

 

The temperature and weather kept most people inside, though the lateness of the hour could also be attributed to such a quiet night on the water. The dense clouds overhead let loose a flurry of snow, the cold just enough that though the white stuff wouldn’t stick, the streets would likely ice over before the sun rose. Roads would become treacherous, the freezing air making it more difficult to find prey out and about.

The snow did have a huge plus though. Orion appreciated the lack of boats around as he steered his craft through Puget Sound.

The unidentified land mass had been reported south of Whidbey Island, rumors of rogue magir fighting then disappearing on its shores. A white castle, not the good kind filled with burgers, but an actual castle giving off magic vibes, had also been sighted.

As a vampire of the vrykolakas tribe, Orion thrived in the water. His clan—his old clan—had talents in that lovely, wet, alien environment that others could only dream of possessing.

An odd homesickness struck. He missed the crisp scents and warm feel of Santorini, his birthplace. A volcanic island located between the Ios and Anafi islands in Greece, Santorini was famous for its dramatic views, in particular the town of Thira and the sunsets from Oia, which he’d often likened to flame cleansing the sky safe for his kind to thrive. Hell, he even missed the black pebble beach of Kamari, not to mention the leagues of merfolk and water-magir his kind often played with and fed on.

The spray from the Aegean sea never failed to satisfy, such a different place and feel than the dark, cold waters of the Sound.

And that made him angry. Orion didn’t do sadness. He hated, he envied, he killed. And he found joy in battle, in amusement with his new kin, typically at the expense of another. Regret was a waste of time.

Annoyed at an unwelcome melancholy, he snarled, the sound taken by the wind. He continued speeding up, uncaring of disturbing a few merfolk and water-shifters on his way who swore at him.

“Yeah, screw you too,” he shouted back.

The magir, those non-humans who lived in this plane of existence, only lived here because humans didn’t know about them. Like they didn’t know about the island that appeared out of nowhere before him. He throttled back on the engine and drifted closer.

Personally, Orion didn’t like all the secrecy. He wouldn’t have minded outing magir and the Bloode Empire especially, engaging in an all-out bloody war for supremacy with weak humans. But he’d been outvoted the many times he’d suggested the notion.

And so, as Mormo nagged earlier, in no way was Orion to gain the attention of the Magir Enforcement Command (MEC) on this assignment. MEC, the magir and witches used to enforce laws on non-humans, could be super annoying.

He’d dealt with them back in October. Though they’d been scrappy and no real threat, a bunch of them together against one of his kind might be able to do some damage.

 No one could best a vampire one on one but another vampire. Lesser beings had their place, but rarely could those not Of the Bloode best those Of the Bloode. Everyone knew vampires remained at the top of the food chain.

But in an effort to play nice with their new Bloode Witch—a member of MEC who had family also working as agents—he’d refrain from involving them.

It was too bad Orion couldn’t have at least brought Kraft with him for entertainment, because Kraft lived to brawl.

Though a younger vampire of the nachzehrer tribe, Kraft amused him. Not partial to water, nachzehrers turned into wolves at will and were known for their fighting prowess, savages in battle. Only Kraft could physically match Orion in a fight. And maybe Varu, their patriarch, but that fight would be less about brute strength and more about strigoi savagery and power.   

A longing for blood and battle descended, and Orion hoped against hope he’d find something to kill while on this boring errand.

After tying up the boat, he bounded onto the beach, his hair soon slick with snow, his sweater covered in the stuff. Dense with trees and an intriguing scent—a mix of blood, steel, and fire—the island felt magical, definitely not something a human would detect.

Uncaring of the weather and unaffected by its temperature, he moved through the falling snow and cocked his head, hearing some groans, a grunt, snarling, and then a woman’s voice.

“Please, stop,” she begged. “You’re hurting me.”

Hmm. Prey? Orion sped a short distance into the woods, following the scent of blood. He saw a few wolves torn apart, one an injured lycan trying to drag himself toward a fallen packmate. He could tell them apart because the wolves looked mundane, but the lycan was in his much larger, direwolf form, and he saturated the area around him with the scent of magic.

Orion followed the sound of weeping deeper into the trees, tracking the scent of fear and broken pine.

A dozen lycans battled amongst themselves while two of them nipped at a gorgeous woman in tattered clothing. Her pale breasts heaved and her long, muscular thighs pushed past her torn gown as she tried kicking them away.

Intrigued at the smell of her rich blood trickling from a bite at her thigh, he hurried to dispatch the lycans bothering her. As he killed the two, he noticed a large structure just behind her, past the trees. The castle loomed over them like a white mountain, stern and forbidding. Distracted by the feel of pressure on his wrist, he looked down.

A lycan was trying to rip his hand off, but Orion had tempered skin, his frame toughened by the rush of adrenaline-fueled bloode hardening beneath his epidermis. He shook the lycan free before ripping his—no, her—head off, then handled the others.

Once he’d taken care of disabling—not outright killing them all because where was the fun in not giving lesser beings the chance to try to kill him again—he followed the enthralling scent of sweet blood to the woman clutching at her dress, trying to hide her pale skin.

“You smell good,” he growled, hungry and curious, because her scent didn’t taste human on his tongue as he licked at the air.

“Did you kill them all?” Her voice shook, and though she appeared young, her eyes held the knowledge of someone far older. “They wanted to eat me.”

“A few of them are still alive.” He thought she looked annoyed, but she blinked, and the smell of fear wafted from her like a fine perfume.

“Y-you’re not like them. D-do you p-plan to eat me too?” She blinked bright blue eyes at him, her long, dark hair whispering over her shoulders, as if caught in a breeze despite the lack of wind in the trees. The snow had stopped falling, and a spear of moonlight bathed the woman in a glow, highlighting her loveliness.

He smiled, mesmerized by the strange blue light around her. “You plan to offer me a sip?” He looked her over, focusing on her neck. “Trust me, it’ll feel good.”

She blinked, her eyes wide. “You want to drink my blood?”

He stalked her, pressing her back against a nearby tree. “I do.” Ready to hypnotize her if necessary, he wasn’t prepared for her to tilt her head and close her eyes.

Supplicant, she whispered, “Then drink, vampire.”

Too bemused by the call of her blood to realize she should have been more alarmed, he leaned close and bit. A burst of power exploded in his mouth and traveled throughout his body.

So sweet. He drank more, gulping her down, and the sweet turned bitter. A choking thickness made it hard to swallow. Then fire, boiling his bloode, caused him to fall to his knees in agony.

A throaty laugh accompanied his pain, a hiss of black magic licking his bloode.

Then the world turned dark.

2

 

Three days later
Lake City (Seattle), Washington

Kaia clutched the cell phone held to her ear and did her best not to roll her eyes, but dealing with her mother made that all but impossible. “I’m not dating right now, Mom.”

“I see that, Kaia. So disrespectful.”

“What?”

“You’re rolling your eyes.”

Not yet. “Mom, we’re on the phone. You can’t see anything.”

“I know what I know.”

Kaia did roll her eyes and sighed loudly. “What did we say about you staying out of my personal life?”

“Darling, you don’t have a personal life.”

“Harsh.”

“But true.”

A loud grumble from the background distracted the conversation, and for once it wasn’t any of Kaia’s roommates, who had been working overtime on the same case at MEC, leaving her alone in the house. She continued to thank her lucky shells that she’d gotten her dream job at the repository. Dealing with books beat dealing with bad guys any day of the week.

From her mother’s end came a low moan, then swearing, something sucking, a gurgling, then more swearing before some rabid barking and snarling.

Kaia had a bad feeling. “What was that?”

Her mother gave a tinkle of a laugh. “Oh, just a few new men in my life. They’re divine.” That caused her to laugh harder. “I’m kidding. They’re not godly at all. Far from it. But I’ve one in particular who’s quite handsome.” A pause. “These three are a little long in the tooth. Almost… wolfish, you might say.” She giggled.

Sabine Belyaev never giggled unless she had someone splayed out and bound on an altar, typically on the throes of death.

Kaia hadn’t planned on visiting her mother for another few weeks at least, as long as she could manage to put off the trip. But now she’d have to make the time. The last time she’d felt uneasy about her mother, Sabine had nearly sacrificed Kaia’s ex-boyfriend to Pazuzu, a Babylonian demon.

Fortunately, her mother had seemed more interested in flirting with Pazuzu than slitting Sean’s throat. So she hadn’t been overly annoyed to find Kaia had “accidentally” sent her ex home in one piece. Just a small misunderstanding. Sure.

Still, the lecture Kaia had received about not visiting unless expressly invited hadn’t been pleasant. She’d left in tears, but at least the White Sea Witch had been appeased.

Kaia said nothing about her mother’s wolfish playthings, determined to keep the peace. The daughter of divorced parents, Kaia did her best to remain neutral. Her father made it easy. Her mother, not so much. Sabine had no problem getting nasty, so Kaia tried to remain pleasant and funny and not too confrontational.

Unless she could get away with it.

“Hey, Mom, aren’t we due for tea this week? I haven’t been to the castle in a while.” Her mother kept moving it, hiding the pocket dimension somewhere in the Sound ever since Kaia had rescued Sean.

“No, I don’t think so. In any case, I’ll be out of town until next Friday. Hold on.” Her mother muttered to herself. “I leave tomorrow, so… How about next weekend?”

“Oh, Sunday the sixteenth? That would work for me. We’re cataloguing for the book sale next Saturday.”

“Perfect. I’ll jot it down.”

Kaia waited. “Where’s the conference? I don’t remember you mentioning it.”

“I didn’t? Must have slipped my mind. It’s a national potions and elixirs conference.”

“Aren’t they the same thing?” Kaia knew better and only said that the bug her mom. The newer generations mixed the terms all the time, but old school witches and mages clung to tradition.

“Haven’t we had this talk before?” Her mother let out an exasperated sigh, which caused Kaia to chuckle. “Oh, you.” She could hear her mother’s smile. “You know very well potions are ingredients mixed to perform a function and can be—but aren’t always—infused with magic. Whereas elixirs are mixed magical liquids, thus based in magic at their foundation. I know it’s a fine line, but it’s there for a reason. The conference promises to delve into some rare recipes from a few fae and hell demesnes. I can’t wait.”

Her mother had a fixation with hells, devils, and demons. Dark magic could give much bang for the magical buck, yet it was too dangerous to handle. Kaia knew that, but her mother remained deliberately obtuse about dabbling in darker arts. Then again, her mother wasn’t just any sea witch, but the White Sea Witch. As the preeminent sea witch in all of the Pacific Northwest, she had a reputation to uphold.

“Well, I hope it’s fun. Where are you going?”

“The conference is in Vancouver, so not too far. I’m excited. It’s been a while since I mingled.”

You mean since you terrorized more than Seattle and its waters. “I’m sure you’ll have a blast.”

“Oh, I intend to.”

And didn’t that sound ominous.

They made small talk for a while longer before Kaia yawned and said good night.

But once disconnected from her mother, she felt less like sleeping and more like panic-calling for advice. She immediately dialed her sister. Technically her stepsister, but they never let genetics define their relationship.

“Hello?” Macy answered, sounding perky.

“Macy, I need some advice.”

“Who’s that?” a sexy voice in a British accent asked. The new guy Kaia had been hearing about from her parents. A vampire—a revenant, to be precise. His tribe were know for their intelligence gathering and speed and could shift into a raven at will—which all sounded right up her witchy sister’s alley. Kaia wanted to be happy for Macy but… a vampire?

“It’s my sister, Kaia,” Macy answered him.

“Oh. When do I get to meet her?”

“Never, if our dad has anything to say about it.”

Kaia warmed. Macy had taken to being her big sister ever since her mother had married Kaia’s father. She’d even assumed “Dunwich” as part of her name, officially adopted by Kaia’s dad, and never used the term “step” to describe them. They were sisters, period.

Though Kaia would feel bad after thinking it, she often wished Macy had been born her older sister, with Diana, Kaia’s stepmom, her biological mother. A witch, Diana Bishop-Dunwich performed strong, clean magic. Nothing like the suffocating malevolence Kaia’s mother enjoyed. Plus, Diana had accepted Kaia into the family from the very beginning.

No wonder Macy was so independent and resourceful. She took after Diana and Will Dunwich. Kaia did her best, but she came across as naive and weak. Always worried about everything, like disappointing her father, annoying her mother, or not living up to the Dunwich name, like Macy obviously did.

Heck, sometimes it felt like Kaia lived to make everyone but herself happy. But if she admitted that to her father, he’d worry and cast blame, likely at Sabine, which Kaia didn’t want to have to handle. 

At least with Macy now coupled up with an honest to goodness vampire, Kaia didn’t need to worry about doing anything that might have repercussions on her sister’s safety. If Macy could handle death-bringers, she truly had become the “badass witch” she’d always aspired to be. Talk about living on the wild side.

 “Kaia?”

“Oh, sorry. Do you think you could get somewhere private? It’s about my mom.”

Macy muttered under her breath, no doubt something uncomplimentary about Sabine. “Sure. Hold on.” Kaia heard a muffled, “No, Duncan, you can’t follow me. Shoo.” Another pause, and then, “Okay. Speak, freak.”

Kaia grinned. “Oh good. You’re still you. For a minute there, I thought you’d turned into vampire dinner.”

“Ha ha. Dork.”

They both laughed.

“Macy, I need a sounding board. I don’t want your help. And I don’t want any arguments about this.”

“Oh man. What did Sabine do now?”

Kaia flushed. “Nothing that I know of, but I don’t trust my gut feeling. I’m planning a scrying spell on her place in a few days while she’s at a conference.” Which actually meant—I’m telling you, my big sis, that I’m scrying from a safe distance. In reality, I’m swimming over there to check things out in person. “Am I being nosy? Out of place in my worry? Should I just ignore my feelings?”

“Seriously? You have to ask this after all the crap Sabine’s pulled and keeps pulling? And let’s not get started on how creepy it is when she casts a spell to look like you to snare men. It’s downright incestuous.”

“Ew.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Your mom has issues.”

“I know.” Kaia sighed.

“But none of that’s your fault. You know her better than I do. If you think she’s up to something, I say check it out—from a distance. I’m here if you need help, and you know Dad is there for you. Mom too.”

“I know that.” She blew out a breath. “I just needed to hear it.”

“I believe in you.”

“I believe in me too.” Or at least, Kaia was trying to feel more confident. “Okay, enough about Sabine. Tell me about you and your new kin. That’s the right word, isn’t it?” Kaia still had a lot to learn about vampires, but she’d been studying. Her job at the Alister Doctrina Repository, better known as the ADR, a magir library located in Lake City, gave her access to all kinds of information. Unfortunately, many of the books on vampires seemed permanently checked out to members of MEC.

She knew little more than what she’d gleaned from a few weeks ago, having spent time with Macy and Cho, her sister’s best friend and their pseudo-adopted brother. Cho could always be counted on to rescue her if she got into trouble. And he didn’t always tell Macy either. 

Macy said, “Yes, Duncan and the others are now my kin—which is vampire for family.”

“And the tribe you’re in—”

“It’s a clan. Vampire clans are small. Ours is the Night Bloode, and it’s only six vampires, two dusk elves, me, and Mormo. Oh, and Hecate.”

Kaia still couldn’t believe her sister talked to the actual goddess herself, but Macy had been pretty complimentary about her patron deity. Hecate, goddess of death, witchcraft, and necromancy, also looked after the crossroads connecting all the planes in existence. A threefold goddess who had three faces, she wore the mantles of maiden, mother, and crone. A most mysterious divinity, she was often associated with all manner of magic.

And Macy had shared drinks with her at an otherworldly bar.

Kaia still had a tough time understanding how much her sister had changed. Macy had always been a strong witch, though one unable to tap into her power. Now she supposedly energized using the bloode of her mate. Bloode with an “e” because a vampire’s bloode was made of more than mere blood, but magic as well as bodily fluid. Kaia didn’t have the nerve to ask if Macy drank her mate’s bloode or he drank hers, or maybe they just had vampire nooky to get strong.

Her cheeks heated. “Right. Hecate.”

“Remember, we—the Night Bloode—are a clan.” Macy sounded proud to claim them as her own. Not a typical reaction when dealing with creatures known as death-bringers and blood-drinkers, the scourge of the magir world. “We’re small. Most vampire clans are like the local upir clan in Seattle, maybe thirty to fifty strong. Several clans make up a tribe, which can be made of thousands of vampires. It’s all about units. Clans make up tribes which all add up to the Bloode Empire.”

“So what tribe are you? There are ten tribes, right?”

“Yes, but we’re made up of vampires from six different tribes. It’s unheard of. The only reason these guy haven’t gutted each other is because Hecate’s using a spell to make them think they’re kin.”

Kaia blew out a breath. “But doesn’t that scare you? That they could turn on one another at any time?” Just one vampire could decimate a small town. Dozens of them could conceivably topple a city.

“Nah. Hecate’s powerful, and this clan’s patriarch, the leader, is very levelheaded. You know how rare that is for vampires. Normally, they just want to kill everything in sight. But Varu’s mated. I think his mate calms him. I know I’m a calming influence on Duncan.”

Rustling in the background and raised male voices told Kaia she was no longer private on her call. “Thanks, Macy. For explaining and the advice. We’ll have to do dinner soon.”

“Hold on. Before you escape, catch me up. You dating anyone at the moment?”

Kaia groaned. “Not you too.”

“Sorry. Did your mom give you the inquisition already?”

“You don’t sound sorry.”

“Well, she’s got a right to worry about her virgin daughter. Damn, girl, you’re nearly twenty-five.”

“Shh. Macy,” Kaia hissed. She heard more than one male in the background perk up as the voices grew louder all at once.

“Virgin? Yum!” “I can use her in a spell. Hook me up, Macy.” “Oh, I bet she tastes sweet. Is she cute? Is she witchy like you?”

“Damn it, Kraft, that’s my sister we’re talking about,” Macy growled.

The vampire said something in German, if Kaia wasn’t mistaken, before giving a laugh that sounded like the low growl of a wolf.

“I’m hanging up now,” Kaia said, mortified. Dang it, Macy. You big blabbermouth.

“Sorry.” The noise behind Macy grew quiet again. “I wouldn’t hound you about dating if I thought you wanted to be alone. But I know you, and I know how much you want to find that special someone. You’ve been dreamy about boys forever, and I don’t mean that in a negative away.”

Because everyone knew sea nymphs were easy. Except for Kaia, a freak among freaky sea people. “I do want a boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to sleep my way through a pack of lycans or a school of mermen.” No matter what most people thought of sea nymphs, they weren’t all nymphos. And yes, Kaia heard herself saying that and wished she didn’t still find the terminology oddly funny.

“I’ve heard lycans like to share. Yum.”

Kaia cracked a laugh. “Stop it. I’ll tell Dad.”

“Please, don’t. He still thinks of you as his baby.”

Unlike her mother, who would love nothing better than to use Kaia’s loss of virginity in some enchantment to gain power. Her mother had mentioned that once, years ago, and the horror on Kaia’s face had been enough to get her to not mention it again. But Sabine never forgot anything she might use to increase her magic.

“No men, human, magir, or otherwise. Alive or dead,” she added before Macy could say something corny about vamps doing it better. Kaia couldn’t imagine anyone wanting a relationship with a vampire. Sure, they were preternaturally handsome. But that was to lure prey.

Kaia had enough issues with self-esteem that dating someone who wanted to devour her, blood and bones or both, didn’t bear thinking about.

“Well, whatever. If you change your mind, let me know. Cho and I know a few guys who might be perfect for you. And they’re non-vampire, I swear.”

“Ugh. I know what that means. No demons.” Cho was half demon.

“That’s racist.”

“I’m a water person. Demons are all about fire. Do the math.”

Macy chuckled. “Fine, fine. Anyway, good luck with Sabine. Let me know if you need help with anything.” She paused. “You are keeping your distance, right?”

“I’ll be fine. I won’t do more than scry from the safety of my own home.” She crossed her fingers.

“Good luck. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

After disconnecting, Kaia made plans. But first, she had a dinner to make and some K-Drama to stream. Danger could wait a bit. Romance and adventure couldn’t.

 

Between Bloode and Water