Page 145 of Cold Curses

For more than a decade, as long as I’d felt monster’s existence, I’d worked to keep it hidden. I’d pushed it down, and that had required energy. A lot of it. A lot of power that I hadn’t even known—not consciously—that I’d been using. That I’d been capable of using.

“What are you talking about?” Connor asked.

“Elisa has more power than we knew. Thansheknew,” Lulu said quietly. “She’d just been unconsciously using it to keep monster in check.”

Nodding, I rose to my feet, my heart racing. But that wasn’t magic; that was just emotional adjustment.

Connor stepped forward now, offered a hand. I took it, squeezed.

I could feel his magic now surrounding me, that bit of bright power he’d added to my aura. It was beautiful. And it was love.

Connor’s eyes widened. “Damn, Lis.”

But there was no horror or concern in his eyes. There was only awe and love and a hint of excitement.

“You can tell?”

“Yeah. You feel less…constrained.” He tilted his head. “Maybe that’s why you were so bratty?”

“Ha,” I said, and had to work not to giggle. I was feeling giddy and, yeah, a little more free than I had before. I didn’t doubt some of that would fade as I adjusted, but for now, I felt amazing.

“Maybe you’ll need less caffeine,” Lulu said.

“How dare you.”

“Same old Lis,” she said with a smile.

“Hey,” Alexei said. “The sword.”

We all looked over at it.

It was no longer vibrating. It was nowhoveringa good six inches over the table, its silvery magic rippling the air above it.

“Careful,” Connor and Lulu said simultaneously as I put a hand over the metal—and felt its brilliance even from inches away.

“Hello,” I said, smiling at the sheer joy that seemed to emanate from the blade. The Egregore was whole, happy, and aware. And knew I wasn’t its enemy.

I felt its answering smile, and then it literally jumped into my hand. Magic flowed through us like a loop. Like a continuum. Like a circuit finally closed. She made the offer; I could wield her if I wished. We would fight together against Chicago’s enemies.

Yes,I said, and the world rippled again, and this time the sound was as clear as striking crystal.

I felt the word—the name—as much as heard it.

Bloodletter.

It was the name Claudia had given vampires, had called me and my parents. And it was the name the sword now chose for itself.

For you,monster had said the night it had pushed me into the armory against my will. Had it known then what would happen?

I felt its warm, satisfied smugness all the way to the handle.

“I’m not sure if a semisentient sword is an improvement,” I murmured, and felt its answering flash of humor.

I also wasn’t sure how I felt about communicating with a semisentient sword. I could have asked Lulu’s dad, but that would have required me to tell more of the tale, and I wasn’t up for that. It seemed needless to expose the family, extended and otherwise,to a pain that had, at least for now, been soothed. I had no doubt we’d find new trouble together.

For now, there was one more step. I didn’t know all the details of tempering a sword, of solidifying that bond between fighter and steel. I lifted my free hand, sliced the blade across my palm. The pain was bright but overshadowed by the blade’s ripple and shimmer and the warmth that blossomed through my chest.

“Bloodletter,” I said quietly.