Page 97 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal

Sticky notes.That was the best solution.

I walked to the kitchen to rummage through the junk drawer.The verycrammed-packeddrawer.That was my fault, not my parents’.I’d been throwing tiny item after tiny item into it because I didn’t know what else to do with them.I needed to make time to get organized.

Someone knocked on the door.Before I could check the peephole, Astrid called out, “It’s your bestest best friend.Open up!”

After I unlocked the door, Astrid sauntered in carrying a small beaded bag.

“I need thirteen drops of your blood.”

“Um.I’ve been running a little low on that lately.”

Immediately she grimaced.“Right.Sorry.I wasn’t thinking.We’ll do this another time.”

“This is for the spell?”

“Yeah.It won’t work without my blood and yours.”

I think she might have mentioned that before.I couldn’t remember, but she had said our families were close even before The Rain’s first walls were erected.Astrid’s ancestors had originally performed the null spell, and mine had been present and (mostly) protected by the treaty’s magic ever since.It made sense to need blood from both of us.

“You already have the coven here,” I said.“I don’t want to waste their time.”

“They helped with that.”She nodded toward my bandaged arm.“So it’s not a complete waste.And it’s cool with them.Really.”She set the beaded bag on the counter.“They’re grateful to have the protection of a coven that requires so little of their time.”

“I still don’t understand that.”

“That’s because you’re not a witch,” she sagely pointed out.

I snorted.Couldn’t argue with that.“Let’s just do it.I don’t want to give Canyon more time to figure out I have the token.”

She studied me.“Are you sure?It’s been, what?Five days since you found it?”

“I’m one hundred percent sure.”I’d drown in anxiety if I didn’t get this behind me.

“Okay then.I need your finger.”

Astrid set out the thirteen witch-glass vials she’d harassed out of Owen.We went over the ritual again, decided that I’d bring the token myself and that Melissa would drive to the location with me as protection.

That’s what made it real.In a few hours, the coven would cast the null spell on Garion’s token, and I’d find out if this plan had been ignorantly risky or if it had been brilliantly clever.

After she left, I sat down with Deagan’s books and a pad of sticky notes.I couldn’t focus though.My foot kept jumping nervously, and I kept getting distracted.I switched to a different activity—replying to the vampires who Sullens and I had already cleared.It only took ten minutes to respond to the four emails, but I’d checked the clock a dozen times in between every cut and paste.

I couldn’t sit anymore.I needed todosomething, so I used my phone to pull up the feeds from our security cameras.My new head of security reported that less than half of them came back online after the power was restored.They were a waste of money if they didn’t all work.Plus the way things were going, I needed every inch of my property’s perimeter covered.

A quick scan of an email from the installation company gave me a few ideas to try.I went on a search for a breaker box.Flipping switches seemed like a decent way to get out my nervous energy.

The first box I found caused more cameras to turn off and had no impact on the ones that were already not working.It made no sense.The cameras connected to the electric panel were the farthest away from it.

Maybe it wasn’t exactly a power issue.Maybe I just needed to press a restart button on the actual camera.

Christian might know what to do.He’d helped with the install.I pulled out my phone to text him but stopped halfway through the message.I hadn’t seen him since the compound, where he’d made it clear he had things he needed to do at his gym.In his life.

I slid the phone back into my pocket.I’d already consumed so much of his time and focus.I had no right to ask for more.

A part of me worried he wouldn’t be willing to give more.

Maybe I’d see him when the coven tried the spell.

I closed the breaker box.Turned.