Titus was still glaring at Kaippa, but Raven grinned from ear to ear.
Ami raised a fist. “We’re going to kick that monster’s ass!”
The crowd whooped in agreement, and the tension in me drained out like someone had pulled my plug. Lucus’s arms enveloped me, and I gripped him tight before turning back to the gathering.
“It gets better,” I said, really hoping they’d agree this next bit was a good thing. “You all get to do magic too.” I started to mention using Hekla’s shifter blood and all of that, but a voice stopped me.
Perhaps you should introduce the specifics gradually, the dark unicorn said.
He was right. “Ami, can you put everyone in groups, then send one group up here each hour?”
She snapped her gum so loudly that I could hear it on the hill. “You got it, boss lady!”
And with that, my army was born.
24 Coren
Group by group, we showed the willing how to coat their hands in Hekla’s blood and work the spell that drove the sampling of demon flesh into the wall of the casting chamber. It didn’t work every time. Seemed a matter of will or confidence.
When Titus’s group walked into the courtyard, Hekla and I were there to greet him. We’d just seen the dark unicorn off. He had business elsewhere, something about ancient bonds and other things we didn’t understand, and he’d informed me that he would be cut off from communication for a time. I assured him we were grateful and had things under control for the time being.
Hekla and I had also made sure Kaippa was busy in the recesses of the castle so Titus wouldn’t have to see him. It was just Hekla and me running the show for now.
Leaving Titus, Oliver ran to Hekla, then jumped into her arms and hugged her like he’d known her forever. She wiped tears from her eyes and spun him around like a real Hallmark movie moment. It was awesome. I wished Lucus was here to see it, but he was currently in the large oak at the center of the courtyard’s small forest, taking a break and easing his grief.
Titus brushed a hand over Hekla’s arm kindly, then gave me a quick hug. “Look,” he said, his eyes sincere, “I need to know why you are okay with the vampire and what the”—he glanced at Oliver—“heck is up with allowing him to live. He is a monster as much as the demon.”
The group Titus had come in with wandered around the courtyard, pointing to the sapphire flowers blooming along the vines that crawled the archways. I needed to take them to the casting chamber and show them what was expected of them when we came up against the demon, but for now, I had to help Titus accept this super-less-than-ideal situation.
My throat tightened, and I began to pace the cobblestones. The Yew Bow was safely on my back again, and its magical hum fortified me. “Remember that boa constrictor you had back when you expanded your gym into the cleaners’ spot beside you?”
“Yeah. Where is this going, Coren? I’m trying to wrap my head around the crazy stuff, but I need more than jokes from you right now.”
“I get it. I do.” I took his wrist and made him look me in the eye. “The boa ate tiny, cute, adorable baby mice, and you were fine with it. Well, Kaippa is a boa and humans are his cute, delicious baby mice.”
Titus huffed and looked away. “Humans are not on the same level as mice.”
Hekla looked up from Oliver’s handful of red autumn leaves. “Says the human.”
“You eat those barbecue potatoes from Stroud’s just as often as I do, so don’t get all high and mighty on me,” he spat back.
Hekla chuckled. “Oh, those things are divine.”
“They really are,” Titus agreed.
“I’m just saying, he can’t help what he was born to enjoy eating,” I said.
“Was he born that way?”
“Yes, I think so. But some vampires are created. I’m not sure. We’ll have to ask him, but anyway, he’s trying to alter his diet.”
“I saw three chicks leave here an hour ago, all with bite marks on their necks.”
Hekla lowered Oliver to the ground and took a slow, deep breath.
“Yes,” I said, “but how did they seem to feel about it?”
Titus shrugged. “They were smiling, but still.”
“He has been hunting deer. He is weaning himself off human blood. It will take time,” I said.
“Fine.” Titus’s scowl didn’t match his agreement. “I’ll lay off him, but tell him to stay away from me. I don’t want to turn a corner here and see his pasty-ass face.”
“Language.” Hekla pointed down at Oliver, who was digging a worm out of the dirt between the cobbles.
“You seem awfully cozy with the vampire, Hekla? Want to explain that?”
“I’m an arctic fox sometimes.”
“That explains nothing.”
“My life is a circus act.”
“Still not an explanation.”
Lucus emerged from the forest, and Hekla whispered to Oliver. The boy walked to Lucus, dragging his little feet a bit but obedient. Lucus knelt and asked him quiet questions about the leaves he still held in his hand.
Hekla came closer. “Look, Titus. The demon is no joke, and neither is the Mage Duke who will be showing up soon. We can’t be picky about who we allow to fight on our side.”
“It looks to me like you aren’t just tolerating him.”
“We fight constantly.”
“I’ve known you long enough to know that’s how you are when you’re into someone.”
I shook my head. “Hekla is not getting involved with Kaippa.”
Hekla opened her mouth and eyed me before focusing again on Titus. “She’s right. I’m not.”
Yeah, well, she appeared to be trying to convince herself of that truth. “See, Titus? We’re doing what we have to here. And honestly, how Hekla feels about Kaippa isn’t your department.”
“Normally, it’s not. But right now? How do I know you won’t suddenly switch
