Pretty When She Destroys (Pretty When She Dies #3)(10)

“About the time that The Summoner was holed up in some Mayan temples in the Yucatán Peninsula,” Cian muttered to Amaliya significantly.

“That was when he kidnapped Etzli.” Rachoń gave a slight shake of her head. Amaliya knew that Rachoń and The Summoner had been lovers for a very long time. Cian had said she was The Summoner’s favorite. The Summoner, however, had mocked Rachoń’s devotion to her human family and taken Etzli to be his cohort. If that hadn’t happened, Amaliya couldn’t help but wonder if Rachoń would still be on his side or theirs.

“She’s been in on it all along,” Cian said, his hazel eyes gazing into Amaliya’s.

Amaliya nodded in agreement. She’d never liked Etzli. The tiny woman had taken way too much pleasure out of her brother Santos torturing Amaliya when she’d been dumped in their territory by Cian’s duplicitous ex-mortal servant, Roberto.

Jeff straightened up the files on the table and cleared his throat. Amaliya wanted to shout at him to get on with it.

At last, Jeff concluded, “So, uh, well, lots of different hunter groups have been tracking down the individual rings over the years, but no one knew they were all connected. Not until now. The rings all ended up with different names and different legends, but when Cass and Aimee stole the ring from the Master of Dallas and then connected it to The Summoner, it all became clear.”

“He wants the rings. All of them!” Amaliya said, trying to urge Jeff to hurry the hell up.

Cian’s hand rubbed her knee affectionately and he leaned toward her to whisper, “Let Jeff have his moment.”

Lowering her own voice, Amaliya answered, “I’m about to lose it here.”

The gentle squeeze of Cian’s cool hand only made her more impatient. Now she wanted to go home, f*ck Cian, and then practice her powers with Samantha.

Returning her attention to the conversation, Amaliya heard Benchley exclaim, “What if that date is significant for another reason? What if it has to do with these rings that used to be a sword? Think about it. What if the Mayans figured out that on that date if the sword is used properly, it could bring destruction down on us?”

Amaliya was so sick and tired of all the end of the world talk about 2012. People were so paranoid. “But why destroy the world? What does The Summoner get out of that? He seems real intent on living.”

Cian’s grip tightened a bit on her leg, and she felt the tension within him ratcheting up. “He has always been thwarted by the sun. Always. From the beginning of his existence as a vampire, he has always been confined to the night. Maybe he wants to eliminate his ultimate enemy – the sun.”

Rachoń lifted her eyes, fear filling them. “Rip open the veil to the abyss and darkness consumes the earth.”

“But he’ll let out all the demons, the monsters of the pit...” Alexia sunk lower in her chair, looking overwhelmed by the idea. “Of course, he’d love that.”

Cassandra finally spoke up. “So he wants to destroy the world. Great.”

“So we stop him,” the witch beside her said in a calm, determined tone.

“But how?” Sergio asked. “We’re just a bunch of...uh...”

“Fuck ups? Rejects?” Amaliya grinned, lifting her eyebrows.

Eduardo frowned. “Speak for yourself. I’m pretty awesome.”

Rachoń dismissed Eduardo’s comment with the flick of her hand. “Some vampires will help him, you know.”

“And you?” Cian’s question was sharp. Amaliya knew Cian didn’t trust her.

“I love my family, he was right about that. And some members of my family aren’t vampires. I don’t want them to die.” Rachoń met Cian’s gaze evenly and defiantly.

Sergio leaned his big body over the table to confront Cian. “What about you? Do you want an eternal night?”

“No.” Cian gave Amaliya a furtive look. It was unreadable, but somehow she got the gist of it. The idea of an eternal night was alluring, but Cian would not sacrifice those he loved to obtain it.

Cassandra pounded the table with a clenched hand. “I say we send out what we know to the hunters and get a coalition going. We need to track down these rings and keep them from him.”

Amaliya raked her fingers through her long hair, leaning back in her chair with exasperation and nervousness. “If we do that he’ll know that we figured out what he’s up to. He’ll come for us.”

Beside her, Samantha reached out to touch Amaliya’s shoulder. “He’s going to come for you anyway. At some point, he’ll come for you, because it’s obvious he tried to make you and Bianca for a reason. Now that he’s in her body, he’s going to try to claim you.”

“What do you mean?” Amaliya narrowed her eyes at the blonde, nervous that she was right.

“He must need another necromancer to help him pull off whatever he means to do.” Samantha gave her arm a gentle squeeze.

Jeff nodded and shut the book he’d been reading from earlier. “She’s right. Why else would he have tried to make you and Bianca? It makes perfect sense that he needs you.”

Cian took Amaliya’s hand. “So we have pieces of his puzzle that he will come for.”

“Yeah.” Jeff winced.

“Then we’ll be ready for him.” Cian’s hand tightened around Amaliya’s.