We’re here. It’s okay.
The women’s voices echoed inside her head and she stood taller. Ella shook her head, willing the voices to quiet down as she spooned another mouthful into Nate’s open mouth.
Isabella stepped to her side and pressed her hand on her shoulder. “Did you ask Marcus?”
Ella frowned and slid her head sideways. “No—he has enough to handle right now, but I will.”
The witch’s eyes glowed and Ella reached for her hand as she made to walk away. “Don’t play with me. I know you have at times reduced my tension or helped me relax, but that’s not the answer I need right now.”
Isabella snapped her hand away as if stung by her words and Ella jerked back herself at the growing distrust for her so-called friend.
“I can’t,” Isabella said softly.
Ella didn’t like to keep pushing, but she couldn’t stop either. “Why?” She wiped Nate’s mouth and lifted him out of the high chair to hold him against her hip, marching close to Isabella, who visibly paled at her approach. Ella pressed her baby into her friend’s chest and kept him there wriggling until the witch had no alternative but to reach out and accept the squirming toddler.
“I’m not good with babies.”
Ella frowned and readjusted Isabella’s hold before standing back. “Of course you are. Now, explain what happened or so help me, I will go to Raine.”
“You can’t.”
“I’m tired of hearing I can’t. Why?”
“Raine is with Steel. She’s trying to figure out what’s wrong with him. They have a history together.”
Wow. Ella licked her lips. She remembered the way the witch looked at Steel the other day at the gathering, an obvious attraction between the two.
“Okay, so explain why you can’t tell me. You’re my friend. I tell you everything, and I’m always here for you.”
The witch dipped her head and rubbed her nose over Nate’s plump pink cheek. “He forced my hand, and I had no choice. He said he would tell Roman about the kiss with Jake.”
A shock rippled through her. She knew who the “he” was, but asked anyway. “Marcus?”
Isabella lifted her head and nodded as watery tears filled her eyes. “Your husband is very persuasive. I have no doubt he lied about telling Roman. He would never put Jake in danger, but he’s ruthless when he wants something, and I couldn’t take the risk.”
Ella gasped. A sense of betrayal hit her square in the belly. She wanted to scream at Izzie, and be angry, but nothing came. She knew exactly how Marcus could be. The question uppermost in her mind was what did Marcus want so badly, that he would resort to blackmail? With her best friend? The room shrunk and she couldn’t breathe. A flicker of a memory scratched beneath the surface: an argument she had with Marcus at his mother’s funeral months ago.
“Where is the Liber Sanguinis?”
Isabella’s eyes narrowed, but she had no escape and they were past further lies. “The Book of Blood is so named because every otherworldly creature’s blood is woven by magic in the pages. The book itself is magic. No one knows who the author is, but the pages are filled with the history of every being you can imagine. Like I said to Marcus, if you call to it, the book will reveal itself, but only if you have pure intentions.”
Ella lifted the sleepy infant from the witch’s arms. “Don’t move. I’m going to put Nate down, but I haven’t finished—yet.”
Isabella didn’t say another word. She clamped her arms around her waist and stared at her before nodding in agreement.
Ella walked away, feeling adrift. She still didn’t understand what Marcus had done, or why he wanted the book so much that he had forced Isabella to get hold of it. Her belly twisted at the thought that her husband—the father of her child, the man she adored—would betray her, but this sickening sensation rang inside her head, telling her he had. As for Isabella’s part, she didn’t know how to feel other than let down.
After placing Nate in his crib in the room next to hers, she sauntered toward the dresser and lifted his brown teddy bear. Months ago, this soft toy had caused an argument when she caught Isabella and Jake clearing out the room. It had been the day of the funeral. A day she would never forget. They had buried Kate, a baby they now knew wasn’t theirs. The twisted scheme the professor and the Elusti had plotted. Names that made her shudder. She clutched the teddy to her chest and forced back tears. Making her way down to Isabella, a hardness rose. Once, she wouldn’t have trusted a living soul, her survival always her first priority. Upon entering the kitchen, she grabbed a mug and filled it to the brim with strong coffee, taking a hefty sip to wake her up.
“How do I call for this book, Isabella?”
The witch blew out a long breath and rubbed her hands down her hips, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Good. She wanted to scream and shake her, but needed to focus on the bigger picture.
“What is it that you seek from the book?”
Ella studied her friend over the brim of the steaming mug. “Knowledge. I want to know the truth. I know this book contains spells as well as the history of our kind. You mentioned it once when we talked about the balance of power between mates. Do you remember?”
If Ella knew one thing about her friend, she couldn’t lie and as she suspected, Isabella flinched.
“Yes—I remember. And I warned you both then of the consequences of messing with the balance of power between you. But whatever Marcus
