Released Souls (25 page)

“
You two in here?” Bakula asked.

“Glad we have locks on the door,” I whispered
, releasing Logan from my hug. “They seem really useful in our world.”

“We sure are,” Logan replied,
grabbing a pot to start the water. “I’m just making a quick dinner for us.”

Bakula fluttered around
, noticing the jewelry box.

“Where’s Dace?” I asked, kind of relieved that Dace wasn’t the official greeter of the
evening. He wasn’t always the most jovial of fairies —not that fairies were known for being jovial —we were just lucky I was part of the inner circle now.

“He’s getting everything ready. I don’t know if it happened to be the perfect combination of genes between your mother and father or what, but you’ve won the supernatural lottery
. He’s not letting a moment of planning escape him.”

“It’s not really feeling like that,” I muttered, feeling the stiffness in my joints crawl to new places.

“Not to worry, hon… once you master everything, you won’t be reminded you have these capabilities. It’s just getting you to that point.”

“So Logan’s got an idea
to get Eben alone and then we’ll pounce on him,” I told her.

She eyed the back of Logan suspiciously and then turned her attention to me.

“Hmm. How do you plan on doing that?” she asked, sitting on top of the jewelry box. She crossed one tiny leg over the other and rested her folded hands on her lap. I was amazed at how much she looked like her old self again.

“I wanted to talk to you about your mother as well.” She brought her hand to her chin and crinkled her mouth. “Is that garlic?”
She turned her attention to Logan.

He nodded. “Sorry.”

“Oh! No. Don’t be. I love garlic. Do you have any raw?” she asked, completely dropping the subject of my mom. That was the one issue with talking in depth with the fairies. They were easily distracted.

Logan shot me an apologetic glance and brought a clove over for Bakula.
“Dace might make me sleep outside tonight, but it’s worth it.” The clove looked humongous in her hands as she brought it to her mouth and began nibbling. It was good to have her back.

Logan
put the pasta and sauce on the table, and I placed the table settings since Bakula was apparently going to finish the clove before she continued telling me about my mom.

I served myself
and put extra sauce on the noodles and sat my plate in front of me, excited that I was actually hungry.

Bakula
licked each of her fingers and returned her focus back to me.

“How are you feeling after your Lara encounter?” she asked. “I should have asked first thing. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m doing really well, especially thanks to Logan. I’m pretty certain Eben was there near me. I think he had shifted into a black cat just to keep an eye on things, but he darted before anything happened. I also wonder if I saw him earlier that day in the neighborhood, pushing a stroller. But I doubt it on that one. I think I was just paranoid.”

“What were you doing wandering around anyway?” she broached.

“It won’t be happening again. There was a misunderstanding.” I flushed.

“
Now to deliver some exceptional news. According to your aunt, your mother is almost at a hundred percent. We’ve also got a few straggler fairies back there, and they agree she seems pretty spry and alert. But best of all — happy.” She had a twinkle in her eyes that told me she was genuinely excited.

“Vieta wanted me to pass on to you that your mother hasn’t been able to stop talking about how happy she is that you and Logan are together.
Ellsy and your mom are apparently keeping themselves busy thinking of all the possibilities your pairing has to offer.”

I dropped my gaze quickly to my pasta. My mom had no idea what was going on with me and what mi
ght be happening to me in only…

“Triss?” Logan’s voice was soft, concerned. He knew what I was thinking about as well.

I kept twirling my pasta as Bakula fluttered over to me.

“We need to attempt Logan’s plan. As soon as
Eben’s out of the picture, I want us to be reunited with our families. We can fight the rest of the
Praedivinus
as they come. I don’t think it will be a short process or an easy one, but given my condition I want my mom back in my life.” I braced myself to be talked out of my statement.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Bakula
replied, sticking her finger in the sauce.

“Really?” I asked shocked.

“Lara’s out of the way.” She shot Logan a grateful nod and smile. “And if we can get Eben out of command, everything else should fall into place. We do have to take into account what you’re facing personally as well. Dace might not agree, but we’ll just make it happen.” She stuck her finger in her mouth and puckered her face at the taste of the sauce. “So many flavors. How can you two even figure out what you’re eating? I just don’t understand the human palette.”

“Well, I proposed that we attempt to reveal to Eben that Triss has two gifts and that she’s interested in talking to him about his offer because of me
nagging her to consider the dark side,” Logan said.

“It does have possibilities,” she agreed. “Let’s start mapping it out tonig
ht. Have you had a chance to try out the
Circulus Desideriis
?”

“If you’re referring to the buttons then yes.” I smiled.
“I asked a couple yes or no type questions and it revealed its answ—”

“Your answers. Not its answers. Those just clarify your own thoughts. Not so much predict the future as get you to narrow in
on your own intuition,” Bakula replied full of excitement.

“Did you try?” she asked Logan.

He shook his head.

“He used mine.”

“
That’s silly. He needs to use the one engraved with the L. It won’t answer all the questions that it will for Triss, but that’s to be expected. Your
nectunt
puts your connection pretty close though. The trick is asking the right questions.”

“So it’s not
predicting the future?” I asked to clarify.

“Nope. Not at all. It’s
only making your own thoughts clearer.” She looked up at me. “And in your case it can be one in the same. In his case, not so much.”

“I asked if my father would fight against us and it said no.”

“That’s your heart speaking, dear. You knew he wouldn’t even before you went to the cemetery or you never would have gone.”

“Maybe this will stop me from w
riting any more therapy letters,” I joked.

“A therapy letter? What in the wor
ld is that?” she asked, turning to follow my stare to meet Logan’s. “Never mind.”

“Let’s hope so,” he beamed, throwing his napkin on the plate.

“So why would Eben want the
Circulus Desideriis
if it won’t work for him?” I asked.

“He doesn’t realize it won’t work,” Bakula answered. “Those were blank until your fate was realized and that’s when your initial surfaced. It will only work in your fingers.”

“And Logan?” I asked.

“When you two shared the
nectunt,
the L surfaced on his. It’s actually pretty funny that Eben is so unknowledgeable about what he thinks he needs.”

“Except that innocent people are getting killed in his path
, which is why we have to get rid of him,” I replied.

“I think we can start getting it out there to Eben that you’re interested
in meeting him,” Bakula offered.

“I want to make sure it happens outside where I’m not confined
, and I can call on things as I need them.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” she replied. “Now let’s make this happen and get your moms back home to you both.”

“I just got a text from Jenny,” I yelled to Logan, hopping
down the stairs. I had a great meal the night before. I slept well, and now I heard from my best friend. Today was starting out wonderfully.

“Thank god.”

“I know. I’m so excited. Check it out.” I shoved my phone in front of him.

A smile spread across his lips as he read Jenny’s text.

“Whoa. That’s huge. I can’t believe they’re coming out of hiding.”

“Isn’t
it fabulous? I knew this cause would inspire them to help. Trevor must’ve done an amazing job spreading the word. It sounds like most of our coven will be back in action, and that’s just ours. It sounds like this is happening everywhere.”

I texted her back quickly
letting her know how relieved and excited I was to hear from her.

I looked up at Logan
, who had managed to pull off a Starbucks run while I was in the shower earlier, as he pointed to a nonfat latte that was waiting for me in the kitchen. It only added to my perfect day.

My phone buzzed again, and I looked down quickly.

“She asked if it was true.” I scanned Logan for a reaction.

“If what was true?”

“Me being a
Trifecta
. I don’t want to lie to her, but Trevor doesn’t even know that. How would a rumor like that start?”

Logan was quiet for a minute.

“I don’t know, but that might explain the sudden willingness that everyone’s showing to stand up and fight.” He was beaming.

“Maybe I should take a picture of you with your discolored eyes and freak her out
.”

“Probably not the best idea.”
He laughed and brought me in close.

“Well, I think it’s about time I respond to her text,” I said, fe
eling the confidence build. “The weight of hiding everything is exhausting.”

“
I bet it is. I think you should tell her.”

I ty
ped in the letters Y-E-S, and hit send. I wasn’t necessarily lying about the type of witch I was. I was only omitting the plus one part of the equation to equal a
Divinus
witch.

“I’m really proud of you, babe,” he said softly. “You’re giving people courage they didn’t know they needed.”

“Well, thanks. But it was always inside them. They simply had to dig it up.” I smiled at him, and his eyes glistened with an admiration I didn’t deserve. We were all accomplishing this — not just me.

My
phone buzzed again. This time her text revealed so much more.

“Many of the families who have been caring for Released Souls are coming out of hiding too. They want to stop the people who are willing to incapacitate
or alter others’ minds,” I read aloud excitedly.

“Timing couldn’t be better,” he replied.

“By golly, I think we might make this work,” I joked.

“Okay
, so you officially can’t make fun of me any more for being corny.”

“That’s why we’re such kindred spirits, my love,” I whispered, placing my phone on the
table as I followed him into the pantry.

Logan
reached up to grab one of our relaxation teas, and I couldn’t help but notice his shirt pulling up with every movement, exposing his abs. He caught me looking as he handed me the calendula brew and smiled broadly.

“If you didn’t look so good, I wouldn’t be forced to look
at you all the time, you know.” I crinkled my nose. “It’s not fair.”

“I feel the same way,” he growled, lifting me up.

“I’m gonna squish the calendula,” I squealed as his mouth touched my exposed stomach.

“I think I’ll live,” he whispered,
his breath tickling my skin.

“You’re impossible.”

“That’s the plan,” he chided, releasing me back down to the floor.

“I love how we live in a world where we take shots of coffee to wake up and then brew a batch of tea to calm down
right after,” I laughed.

“So true,” he
agreed.

“I wonder if Trevor’s heard that
I might be a
Trifecta
? If everyone else has…”

Logan nodded his head. “I bet he’s heard and is just waiting for you to confirm.”

“I hope no one guesses anything else about my abilities.”

“I don’t think anyone will guess that you’re a
Divinus
. It just doesn’t happen. I mean a
Trifecta
is odd enough.” He looked down at me thoughtfully. “There may come a time when they’ll need to know.”

“
I know,” I replied, spinning the ring around my finger that contained the amulet.

“Wow. The fairies are fast,” I said in disbelief. “Remember how last night she said she’d take care of getting the word out to Eben about my skills?”

Logan grinned. “Guess she did one better.”