Page 23 of Blood from the Marrow (Lilith’s Legacy #2)
Chapter Sixteen
In the silence of her greenhouse on the penthouse balcony, Zuri’s mind raced.
She tried to soothe herself with the rhythmic scrapping of pestle against mortar.
Tried to focus on the scent of dried rosemary, but all she smelled was sulfurous black salt.
Everything she did seemed to add to the tightening knot in her stomach, the one that started growing the moment Marisol told her she was meeting Clara yesterday. Meeting her without Zuri.
It hadn’t loosened when Zuri had come home late the night before from the farm where she’d done her best to prepare the grounds. She didn’t know a witch alive who’d consecrated new earth for a coven, and so much had come from instinct. Instinct interwoven with metric-fuck-tons of doubt.
She’d crawled into bed naked after her shower because she was too tired to get dressed, only to spend what was left of the night listening to Marisol. Listening and worrying.
Clara had at least been honest about the group of Aglion.
A hope of Aglion, she thought, recalling the night a million years ago when she and Bambi and Elena had named a grouping of Marisol’s kind.
Her chest tightened and her stomach heaved.
There was nothing Zuri wouldn’t give to exchange her ability to step into people’s memories for time travel.
Their time together hadn’t felt simple at the time.
Zuri had been so stressed out trying to figure out how the hell to get Marisol’s powers to work so they could heal Elena and get the fuck out of there.
And now, all she wanted was the simplicity of the three of them together.
Unbelievably, she was once more tormented by the inability to make Elena whole.
This time in a new and even more fucking impossible way.
She worked the rosemary into fine particles and added three dried laurel leaves.
Her thoughts kept going back to every word Marisol had said the night before. No matter how hard Zuri tried to push aside her paranoia, she couldn’t help but suspect Clara’s motives. Why now? After all her years away—Bambi’s lifetime away—why had she shown up now?
The dry leaves crumbled under the pressure of the pestle, but the tension in Zuri’s chest refused to break.
She ground the question in her mind along with the herbs, but wasn’t any closer to answer when she poured the pulverized herbs into the bowl of black salt.
Protection, Zuri reminded herself. This was for protection and balance and wisdom, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were inviting danger in instead of keeping it out.
A knock at the glass door nearly made Zuri jump out of her skin. When Lib poked her head in a moment later, Zuri cursed her relief and then almost laughed. If someone had told her she’d be relieved to see the red-pupiled vampire at her door, she would have punched them in dick.
“I’ve returned.” Librada stepped into Zuri’s space with a small wooden crate and Zuri found she didn’t hate the intruder in her space.
Zuri cleaned her hands on her canvas apron before yanking it off. She tossed it on her work station and met Lib at one of the armchairs at the center of the small room. “Which one did you get?”
Lib’s face did something unprecedented when she glanced at her. With a lopsided grin, Librada inflated with pride. “All three.” She popped open the top of the container as if it hadn’t been nailed shut.
Inside, sitting in carved out spaces in a foam cube were three pieces that vibrated with age and unblemished power.
Having been cleansed by sea salt for hundreds of years, they were pristine for a witch’s purpose.
Zuri gawked at the unbelievable haul: a gold coin with a king’s cross that reminded her of a fancy wax seal with its slightly irregular shape, a piece of pottery—a perfect ceramic plate painted in an intricate blue and white pattern, and an emerald and pearl pendant.
Zuri resisted the urge to touch the pendant as she imagined gifting Elena something so beautiful in her first life. But she refused to indulge. Refused to tarnish the perfection with her energy.
“Will they suit your needs?” Librada asked, doubt slithering through her confidence.
Emotion rose in Zuri’s throat, choking her words.
She wanted to tell Librada that she couldn’t have brought her anything better.
That emeralds meant love and renewal and balance.
That pearls brought purity and protection.
That she’d brought her something incredible.
But she couldn’t make herself speak. For the first time in weeks, she felt the delusional hope of an advantage.
“They’re better than I expected,” she said because it was true even if incomplete.
Librada nodded and covered the crate. “I can deliver it to your land.” She paused. “If that is acceptable.”
The idea of Librada crossing her barriers should have made Zuri’s skin crawl. It didn’t. “I guess you need vampire strength to carry that around like it’s a shoebox.” The joke fell flat to her ears and she added, “Thank you, Librada. This is extraordinary.”
Lib’s eyes went wide as if Zuri’s sincerity was the most unbelievable thing she’d witnessed in several hundred years. Zuri was ready to throw a barb her way just so shit didn’t get weird, but Librada spoke first.
“I made contact with an old acquaintance still in The Order.” She shifted the crate in her hands. “She is willing to meet with me if I travel to Venice.”
Whiplashed, Zuri stepped into Lib’s space. “Did she know about the Aglion?”
“I couldn’t ask her a sensitive question like that over the phone.” Librada’s broad shoulders drooped. “My expectations are not high. In the time I spent in The Order, I never heard a word of it.”
“But you weren’t there that long,” Zuri said with unstoppable hope. “You know, relatively speaking for you little bloodsuckers.”
Librada tilted her head to the side in nearly imperceptible agreement.
“I’ll go with you.”
When Librada laughed, Zuri resisted the urge to step back. It was the rusty sound of a waterlogged engine trying to turn over.
“To a sacred vampire space, absolutely not—”
“You think I want to waltz into Dracula U?” Zuri rested her hands on her hips. “Fuck no, but you’re sure as fuck not going by yourself. If these people are living as rough as Bambi said, they’re definitely afraid of something. And let’s be honest, it’s probably you people.”
Librada straightened. “And what could you possibly do if—”
“The same thing I did last time I saved your skinny ass. Fuck a bitch up.” She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers. “Want me to show you what it feels like to relive the most terrifying moment of your life over and over until you’re sure you’ll never feel anything but abject fear?”
When Zuri took a step forward, Librada took a step back. The wooden crate was positioned in front of her like a shield.
Zuri grinned her satisfaction. “We’re in this shit together, and when Elena comes out of this hole she’s in, she’ll never forgive me if I let something happen to her precious baby girl.”
Instead of snapping back, Librada’s marble face flashed with something Zuri couldn’t read. She gave her a little space instead of pushing.
“Other cartel leaders,” Lib started slowly like she was testing the weight of something.
Like she was dipping her toe into confiding in Zuri.
“Many others have reached out to see Elena.” She looked at Zuri like a desperately lost child wandering the supermarket looking for her mommy.
“They want to join her against Sayah now that everyone knows what she’s done.
That she means to end our entire way of life. Our peace.”
Zuri’s chest heaved again. “And the silent treatment isn’t turning out to be a family exclusive item.”
Lib nodded with several lifetimes of regret. “I fear that…” She couldn’t bring herself to speak it out loud.
“That they’ll be forced to join that fucking sociopath if Elena doesn’t rally,” Zuri guessed.
Librada nodded again.
Mind working fast, Zuri only saw a single solution. “Can we vet them? Try to make sure there are no Trojan vamps sneaking in to do Sayah’s dirty work?”
“Only Elena is strong enough to compel vampires that powerful,” she admitted.
“But there are a few who I believe would not betray her. The ones who were enthusiastic about the cartel system and have never shown interest in the world Sayah wants. Bernice of Louisiana lost all but one child in a skirmish for territory before the new ways.”
Having spoken more words at once than Zuri had ever heard, Librada was obviously eager to join forces with other cartels. Did she feel the old human instinct of seeking safety in numbers?
“Can you take that to the farm for me now?” Zuri gestured at the crate with her gaze. “I’ll consecrate the ground and then we can leave for Venice. Maybe I can come up with a way to test the other vampires we’re not so sure about while I’m sitting on that long ass flight.”
Instead of telling Zuri to stay the fuck out of vampire business, Librada nodded once and turned toward the door. Zuri took a deep breath and felt like a cat adopting an orphaned bird.