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CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

FRANKIE

“I don’t feel confident that this isn’t a trap.” Cooper grimaced as everyone turned to stare at him. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.”

Willow raised her hand. “Did he say trap or am I projecting my own fears into other people’s mouths? Lip-reading is hard.”

Royce closed his eyes and shook his head. Then he lifted his hand and signed, “ T-R-A-P.”

Tegan put her hand on Willow’s shoulder. “ Sorry, Willow, I was distracted. Yes, he said he does not feel confident this isn’t a trap,” she spoke out loud, but I knew by the way Willow nodded and the magic billowed beneath Tegan’s hand that she’d said it into Willow’s mind as well.

Thiago spun around to face us, his back to the front door. “Hold up. Cooper, this was your dream. You’re the reason we’re even going, and you don’t feel confident?”

“It definitely feels like a trap.”

Everyone grumbled and groaned their agreement. Well, except Tegan, Tenn, and Bentley, who all wore matching scowls as they stared at the ground. It was afternoon, still hours from sunset, but Cooper had woken from his nap with a note from his dreams. Apparently, he’d had a dream about New Orleans where he saw Sweyn walking into a lower-level door in a building near Jackson Square. He’d relayed this dream to all of us, then reminded us about his dream encounter with Braison a few days ago where he’d informed us Sweyn was turning humans into vampires in that very same spot.

“Obviously we trust Braison,” Jackson said while adjusting the strap of his holster on his back that held his sword. “And we trust Cooper.”

“Right, but whose dream was he seeing?” I turned to Savannah. “What do you think?”

She rolled her eyes. “That y’all ain’t gon’ let me sleep on my own anymore. Savannah ain’t no dream-walker. Savannah wasn’t cut out for that creepy shit. And I like creepy.”

“They weren’t creepy until you started joining me. Maybe you lured the creep?—-”

“ Boy, I will put you in the ground.” Her accent was nice and thick this afternoon, just the comedic relief we all needed to keep this moment less terrifying. She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, looking away from him while also casting sideways glances full of sass. “Play wit’ ya momma, boy. Don’t play wit’ me.”

“His momma would retaliate.” Hunter grinned and stretched his arms out. “So, yeah, I concur. That would be fun.”

Tim pinched the bridge of his nose. “Good God, please no.”

“Please yes.” Tegan cackled.

Jackson nodded and looked to Tenn. “Worried about that?”

“Twenty-four-seven, yes.” Tenn pulled his hair up into a messy bun. “Just assume that answer is always yes.”

Jackson pursed his lips and pointed to Cooper. “And that dream? Your thoughts?”

Tegan snorted. “It’s almost definitely a trap.”

Everyone shouted. Tenn just closed his eyes in defeat. Bentley snort-laughed.

“Tegan. What the hell?” Tim grumbled. “Elaborate. Now.”

“Look, rock and a hard place and all that jazz.” She gestured to her elder brother. “Truth is, we have no idea whose dream he saw. For all we know it could’ve been Valathame or one of the other angels who sent it. Could’ve been King Lucy sneaking one in for us. I feel very confident in the fact that, trap or not, we’re going to find Sweyn right where that dream says we will.”

“I don’t like that answer,” Warner whispered. “Keep talking.”

“If Coop’s dream wasn’t a trap, then someone thinks this could be our chance to kill the bitch?—”

“And if it was a trap?” I gripped the hilts of my sais strapped to my thighs. “Then what?”

“Then we need to know his dreams are being infiltrated. Knowledge is power. If it’s a trap, then I need to figure out some extra safety measures for his mind so Lilith can’t sneak in.” At that, Tegan shuddered but she shook it off. “I’ve notified Thorne, Sage, and Saffie about the dream and that we’re going. They didn’t respond, but I trust if it’s a trap, they’ll sense it?—”

“Because it’s daylight, which means if the Unseelie are out, they’re on the fey lines.” I cursed. “Because the fey lines run rampant through New Orleans.”

“You got it, Franks.” Tegan pursed her lips. “But maybe go see if Everest is awake? I don’t want to disturb his rest but just try? Leave a note if he is?”

“On it.” I slid around Lennox and hurried up the stairs to my room.

Tegan told me not to wake him, that he needed his rest—-and he really did need to rest. He’d used a lot of magic and strength in the Land of the Lore and then last night in Central Park. Without him we may not have all walked out of those battles. The weakness in him when I’d found him in my bathroom trying not to feed from me was alarming. But I had a really bad feeling about this plan of ours. It was a trap. It had to be. We all suspected it. I didn’t know if that made us going more or less reckless. Tegan had made good points about needing to know one way or another. Perhaps that was why we were going through with it. Then again, she’d just sent me up here to see if Everest was awake so that spoke volumes about her concerns.

When I pushed my door open and his cinnamon scent washed over me, I knew I had to tell him. Awake or not. If he went knowingly into a trap where he could be injured and didn’t tell me in advance, I’d be pissed. I took a deep breath to steady my racing heart. No need to add to his alarm. The quiet stillness of our room made me cringe with guilt. If he’d been awake, he would’ve already known something was wrong. I pushed the door shut and hurried over to the bed where I found him knocked the fuck out. I sighed and sat on the bed beside him, resting my palm on his bare back. I’d never seen Everest so passed out. He was stretched out on his stomach with one arm dangling off the side of the bed and his face under the pillow. His long white hair was draped over his shoulder, mostly covering his face as it too dangled off the bed.

Dammit. He’s so asleep. He needs this, I don’t want to wake him. But I had to try. I leaned forward and ran my fingers through the long silky white strands of his hair, brushing it to the other side of his head. His eyes were closed, his mouth parted slightly. I cursed. His breathing was steady and calm. Get it over with, Frankie. He’ll be more upset if you don’t wake him.

“Everest?” I brushed my fingertips over his cheekbone. “Everest, I need you to wake up.”

Nothing. Just the steady beat of his heart.

“Everest?” I pressed my hands to his back and arm and pushed gently. When he didn’t wake, I shook him a little. “Everest?”

He licked his lips but did not wake.

I leaned forward and pressed my mouth to his ear. “Everest. Wake up.”

He growled.

“Really? What are you? A puppy?” I shook him harder. “Everest, I really need you to wake up right now. I need to talk to you.”

A low growl rolled through his body, vibrating the muscles in his back.

“Fine. You leave me no choice.” I dropped to my knees on the floor right by his face, then carefully reached up with my pointer finger and sliced the tip of it on the bottom of his fang. Blood bubbled up to the surface of my skin. I smiled and pressed my now bloodied finger to his tongue.

His eyes flew open instantly. His mouth closed on my finger. Those royal blue pupils shot right at me. He looked a little like I’d woken a hungry tiger from his sleep. He was awake, but I was not sure how awake he was.

I smiled. “I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

He narrowed his eyes and growled low in his throat.

“Look, Cooper had a dream about Sweyn in New Orleans. He saw her hideout location. It was in the same place Braison had been in his dream. We think it’s probably a trap, but Tegan says we have to go anyways, that if it’s a trap we need to know who sent that dream and how.” When he said nothing, I leaned forward. “Everest, did you hear me?”

He nodded but only gave me another little growl.

“I need you to say it . . . out loud.” I grinned. It was my turn to use that line on him.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“Out loud, Everest.”

“Dream sent to Cooper. Sweyn in New Orleans,” he mumbled, half-asleep. “Going even though it’s a trap.”

“Oh. Yeah, that’s . . . that’s right. You heard me.”

“Mmhhmm.”

“Okay . . . well . . . we’re going now.” I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”

A soft snore rumbled through him. I chuckled and shook my head as I pushed back to my feet. He’d heard me, he’d repeated what I’d said perfectly. I still wasn’t sure he’d processed it, but they were waiting on me downstairs. We had to get moving. Besides, the sun was still shining so it wasn’t like Everest could come with us.

I paused at the door and glanced back at my soulmate, but he was sound asleep. With a shrug, I slipped back out and hurried down the stairs to where my Coven-mates stood waiting. When their expectant eyes met mine, I quickly relayed what had just transpired. They chuckled, then turned to Tegan. Our High Priestess narrowed her eyes on Bentley. Those orange crescents flashed in his eyes as he nodded.

Tegan shrugged. “Let’s go get trapped.”

She snapped her fingers, and a white box opened up.

“Hold on.” Tenn slid in front of the portal, stopping everyone from going through. He arched one eyebrow at his soulmate and the portal vanished. “First, I want your heads on fucking swivels, got it? If this is a trap, expect an ambush from any angle. Keep your eyes on the humans?—”

“Where’s Deacon?”

I glanced toward Libby, then did a double take. “Hey, it’s daylight?—”

“I’m a witch, not a vampire.” She winked at me, then turned serious eyes to Cooper and pointed to her faded gray Devil Mark. “He can sleep when he’s dead?—”

“I’m still getting used to that part of my magic. I will summon him when we get there.” Cooper sighed. “But I’d like to focus Deacon on getting the humans out .”

Tenn nodded. “Libby, you and D worked beautifully together.”

“Devils always do.” She wagged her eyebrows. “We’ll handle the humans and warn you if we feel anything headed our way.”

Emersyn whimpered. “Guys, I think I should stay home. I can’t see. I don’t want—-I can’t handle the idea someone gets hurt because I can’t see.”

Hunter hugged her. “I’m sure crazy pants is already scheming a workaround?—”

“I am. I just need more time.” Tegan growled. “But since this is probably a trap, that’s a smart idea. Constance, don’t even think about joining us.”

“Same goes for Mei-Ling and Tai.” Tenn cocked his head to the side. “Landreia, by any chance are you familiar with the fey lines?—”

“You know that I am.” She grinned and held her hands up to show that she was holding wands like they were Wolverine’s claws. “Happy to lend a hand.”

“Excellent. I need you and Lennox to focus on the fey lines. See if you can try blocking them from passing through.”

Lennox scoffed. “Sure, I’ll paint their toenails while I’m at it.”

Savannah snort-laughed.

I frowned. “Is there any way they could get here ?”

“ Ma’am. No. ” Savannah shuddered. I loved when her accent dragged that one syllable into like five. “That’s it. I’m staying here. If Singer sewing machine rolls up, me and Em will hold the fort.”

“Singer sewing machine?” I whispered.

“I can’t say her name!” Savannah huffed. “My mouth don’t make that sound.”

“Savannah, I don’t think you should stay here?—”

“Women are told we catch more flies with honey, but I can catch plenty with your hollowed-out carcass.” She put her scarred hands on her hips. “So, this can go either way.”

“Savannah—”

“No.” Tenn put his hand on Cooper’s shoulder, interrupting him. “Darkling has a point. We can’t assume Eden is safe.”

Savannah pulled Emersyn to her side, then hooked her arm around hers. “Darkling and the dark twin. We got this. Now git.”

Tenn pointed to me. “You. Benched?—”

“ What? ”

“You’re not to fight unless I tell you. I want you at my side. I’m not ready to suffer the wrath of Everest if you get hurt in this trap.” I must’ve made a face because he held his hands up. “I’m benching myself too. I’m not taking his warnings lightly, either. Babe, that goes for you as well.”

“Tenn, Frankie, and I will huddle together and only step in if we really have to.” She snapped her fingers and the portal opened. “No one goes into a vampire lair until I tell them to, got it?”

Everyone nodded.

“Let’s go.”

The second we emerged from Tegan’s portal, I knew this was a trap. There wasn’t a single human in sight. On a Thursday afternoon in March. That was not right.

“The roads are barricaded,” Deacon said as he appeared in front of us as an astral projection. “Magic is being used on the humans to make them steer clear of this area.”

“ Tegan and Bentley, I don’t like this. Perhaps we should abort, ” Tenn said into our minds.

“NO. I need to know WHO lured us here,” Tegan said back telepathically. “ We need them to think we really fell for it. Let them play their cards.”

Lennox cleared her throat and skipped forward like this wasn’t a tense moment. She pointed her wand at the ground and hummed. “Landreia?”

I didn’t know much about Landreia yet, other than that she was my relative’s soulmate and that she was a witch who lived in Salem. She wore all black, her long skirt twirling around her ankles with every step. She held her Wolverine-wands out and flicked them as if she were a conductor at an orchestra.

“Interesting.” Landreia turned toward us. “No fey lines here. They are a few blocks away, so no Unseelies will be popping up at our feet.”

“This is the spot though.” Cooper pushed forward and pointed to the building in front of us. “That’s where I saw Sweyn in my dream. That’s the spot.”

I frowned. Cooper was being awfully obvious with the pointing. Which meant he was doing it for show. I held my hand over my forehead to shield my eyes from the sun and inspected the building in question. It was a three-story with one of those fancy iron railings all the way around the second-floor balcony. All the windows on the upper floors were closed with either thick curtains or boards covering them on the inside. The first-floor storefront had its curtains closed.

Libby moved to stand beside Cooper. She pointed at the building. “Those doors there. They lead to her lair. She had us here a few days ago.”

“So let’s yank the doors open and let some light in.” Bentley rubbed his injured shoulder. “I’d love to get in there and retaliate a little.”

“ Jackson, if he’s lying, please scratch your jaw, ” Tenn requested in our minds.

Jackson scratched his jaw, and I had to appreciate his skill at being so subtle. “If our psychic says to go in, who are we to argue?”

“Babe, got any devious plans for us?”

She smirked and it was menacing. “ I just need a little more time,” she said into our minds.

“ Okay, we’re here. What are they doing? Where’s the trap ? —”

Tenn’s telepathic questions were cut off by a breeze that carried the thick scent of maple syrup. We barely had time to get into a battle formation before a sea of demons poured around the corner. Some ran on four legs, some ran on two, but even more flew on wings. There were dozens of them. They rounded that corner row after row.

It was a stampede made for one thing.

Death.