Page 66 of Transfiguration

Bryar pulled them through another slice in the veil, and Con absorbed the play of lines, seeing a pattern before they popped out into Seiran’s kitchen.

“Strawberry cream,” Kaine said. He broke his hold on Con to go to the fridge and pull out the cake. “Want some cake, Uncle Con? Bad things don’t always feel so bad when Daddy makes treats.”

“Thanks, peanut. Maybe cut a slice and save it for Luca for me?”

Sadness crossed Kaine’s face, but he nodded.

Gabe waited near the basement door that led down into the vampire protected underground. Con looked at him. “Will they come back?”

“Sam for sure,” Gabe offered.

“And Luca?”

“I wish I had more answers. I can feel something of him. But he’s always had a touch of death magic running through him. I’d like to say yes, he’ll return. It might take longer. And he may not be himself. It’s hard to tell with any new vampire. Him being a dhampir may completely change everything.”

Seiran crossed the space and wrapped his arms around Gabe. He was trembling. When had that happened? Weren’t they all supposed to keep the earth witch in check? Con sighed, too tired to manage anyone else, but his head still racing.

“There are no reports of the dead Pillar,” Gabe said as he wrapped Seiran in a tight hug.

“What?” Con demanded.

“I had some of my people check the area. There was no body. The police only found the burnt vehicle. And a giant crater, like they were digging for something.”

“I found a finger bone beneath her. Maybe they were looking for that?” Con said.

“She was dead. Nothing but a shell. Magic drained, and they had released her soul, like I do for witches before an execution…” Seiran said, holding Gabe tight.

“I’ve got Mike trying to find all the Pillars and do a status check. But most of them aren’t exactly on speed dial,” Gabe said.

“Do you think Wind is dead too?” Seiran asked. He looked at Con.

“I’m not accepting wind. I get a choice, right? Sam’s in the ground, which means he can’t accept fire.” Con reasoned.

Seiran shook his head. “The elements don’t really give us those choices. Kelly never made the choice to accept water. He just was. I accepted earth, but it was that or die…”

“And the question is why kill the Pillar? Do they need someone else in their place? Or are they doing something with that power?” Gabe asked. “Does it mean they have light and dark Pillars? The Dominion has no records of them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

“Wait, you know about light and dark, too?” Seiran glared.

Gabe pointed to himself. “Dark witch.”

Seiran growled. “Someday we are going to talk about you keeping that from me.”

“Right, ‘cause you wouldn’t have run the second you found out I was born with dark magic?” Gabe scoffed. “The Dominion has been poisoning witches against each other for centuries. I didn’t ask for this power any more than you did. And I buried it as long as I could to be normal for the rest of the world. I refuse to hide what is part of me, and if that’s an issue…”

“It’s not,” Seiran said. “I just wish you trusted me more.”

“I do.” Gabe cupped Seiran’s face and kissed him on the tip of the nose. “It was more your mother I didn’t trust. And the whole TriMega thing.”

Con flinched at their intimacy. If his guys were there, he’d be snuggling with them too, so he couldn’t begrudge them the comfort. His stomach hurt when he looked out at the arboretum. He wanted to lie down in the dirt to be close to them. He swallowed back bile and turned to Seiran. “You promised me some sleep, Rou. Any chance you can do a dreamless sleep? The last thing I need is a replay of the past few days.” And Luca’s death.

“Rune off?” Seiran inquired.

Con mentally ran through his list of runes, turning off all the anti-magic things that kept anyone from hurling spells his way. It was a strange sensation of being naked, vulnerable. “Done. You have about twenty minutes before they auto on.”

Seiran raised his hand, and the spell hit Con like a mallet between the eyes, and he felt his eyelids go heavy. He slumped, trying to catch himself.

“Could have waited until I was in bed,” he slurred as sleep yanked him down. Strong arms wrapped around him from behind, the roll of wild magic telling him it was Bryar who eased him to the ground. Con fought sleep for a few more seconds, blinking as the world narrowed, and praying for a few hours in a void of dreamless sleep. Would it be like what Sam and Luca were experiencing? Maybe he could find them there and hold them one last time.