A Little Wicked (The Bewitching Hour Book #4)(49)

Everyone looked to her and there was a moment of quiet. Sam still looked shell-shocked from what had happened with Derek, and Angela looked as if she was just unprepared to deal with any of this.

But Dante had one emotion painted clearly on his face. Rage. “This is bullshit.”

“Dante.” Claire stood.

“No. You have to die because Sam wants her boyfriend back? I don’t think so.”

“I’m not going to die,” said Claire calmly. “Sam said herself it’s only temporary.”

“Derek is dead,” he said simply. “Once you die, you’re supposed to stay dead.”

“But I’m not going to stay dead.”

“What about Derek? You think the darkness is going to bring him back in gently used condition? It wants Derek. It’s always wanted Derek.”

Sam looked away and Claire could tell that he’d hit home a bit with that point.

“This isn’t up to you,” said Claire. “If I can help bring Derek back, I will.”

Dante let out a bitter laugh. “You might die, but you’ll do it. That has to be a plus at this point, doesn’t it? It’s like that’s what you want. Is life really so bad that you’re going to run for the nearest exit?”

“That’s not true!”

“Of course it is. You have nothing at all that you want to live for?”

She knew what he was really asking, but there was nothing she could say. He wanted her to stay for him. He wanted her to fight for him. He wanted his love to be enough to keep her there.

But she couldn’t promise him anything. She couldn’t value her relationship with him over Derek’s life. She couldn’t put her relationship with him over her desire for the darkness to be stopped forever.

Suddenly she was struck with the difference between her relationship with Dante, and Sam and Derek. Sam was putting everything to the side to bring Derek back. She was working with the darkness and even delivering Claire right to her. Sam was willing to move hell and earth to get Derek back. Claire happened to agree since she loved Derek too, but would she do the same for Dante?

She couldn’t think about this right now. “What do we need to do?”

“The spell is easy. We just need supplies.” Sam stood.

“What kind of supplies? I don’t need to kill anything, do I?” Angela moved to stand between Claire and Dante.

Claire didn’t know whether the woman was doing it to lessen the tension, but it didn’t work. Dante glared at Claire as though this were all her fault, and because there was nothing she could say to make him feel better, she kept quiet.

“I have the spell at my apartment. Once I know all the ingredients, I’ll message you. But until then, there are a few herbs I know off the top of my head. Valerian, thyme, Yggdrasil tree leaves, ashes from a sacrifice....”

“Whoa, I thought you said we didn’t have to kill anything,” said Angela.

“We don’t. We get ashes from the local animal shelter,” said Sam. “That will count as a sacrifice.”

“Great. Might as well take advantage of a dead homeless dog,” muttered Angela.

“That’s what bothers you about this?” snapped Dante.

“I’ll adopt a damn dog after this!” yelled Sam. “But we’re going to get this done as fast as possible before Abigail gets suspicious, okay?”

“I’ll go with you, Sam,” said Claire. She couldn’t stay with Dante. She was too worried that they’d have to talk about their relationship. Would he be able to talk her out of helping? Would she not care about his feelings? Which option was worse?

“Angela and I will go to the shop,” said Dante. “It’s closed, but I can call in a favor.”

Knowing that he was willing to help even though he so obviously disagreed with what was happening gave Claire an extra shot of guilt.

But Sam wasn’t going to give her any time to wallow in it. “Let’s get going. We’re going to meet back here in an hour.”

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Angela stood close to Sam as she stirred the contents of the pot. The smell coming from the boiling liquid was something straight out of hell, but Angela decided it would be better to not complain. “So this is going to stop Claire’s heart?”

“Just for a little bit. We have to make sure she doesn’t drink too much, though.” Sam didn’t look up from the pot and her voice was the low, even tone that she’d been speaking in all night. A sign that she was still in shock.

In general, Angela knew people in shock shouldn’t be making decisions. When victims were interviewed at a crime scene, she told them to avoid simple things like driving. Here Sam was, about to start playing God.

On the other hand, this decision could bring Pierce back. Angela knew what she was getting into when she agreed to help Pierce with the magic problem New York seemed to have. Pierce also knew the risks he was taking. But knowing that didn’t make her feel better now that he was gone. So for the time being, she pushed aside her better judgment and went with this. Besides, she had a feeling Sam wouldn’t be open to hearing her opinion on the matter.

If you can’t beat ’em....