Pretty When She Kills (Pretty When She Dies #2)(73)

“The Summoner is dead. I killed him. The ring is somewhere in a graveyard, buried forever,” Amaliya said confidently.

“Oh, f*ck,” Alexia gasped. “That’s why they’re digging up his remains! To get the ring! Not to turn Amaliya back to mortal!”

“This isn’t good,” Benchley said nervously. “This isn’t good at all.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Amaliya said sharply.

“Ethan Logan is with Pete Talbert, Sergio, and Innocente out in Fenton digging up the pieces of The Summoner,” Benchley blurted out. “Cynthia called Jeff today when she couldn’t get a hold of Sergio. Jeff and Samantha drove out there earlier to see what was really going on. Ethan told all of them he has a ritual to restore Amaliya to mortal, but that he needed The Summoner’s remains!”

“The distraction!” Cian roared the words, anger flooding him. “Rachon is after the ring! She hired Ethan Logan! She never wanted us to begin with. She just wanted us distracted while they used Amaliya’s family to get to the ring!”

Amaliya shoved past the group and broke into a sprint.

“Amaliya!” Cian called after her.

“I have to get to my family!” Amaliya disappeared into the trees.

“They’re in Fenton! You can’t run there!” Benchley shouted after her.

“Who does she think she is? Wonder Woman?” Cass scoffed.

“If they’re in the cemetery right now digging up his remains, they’ll have the ring soon, if they don’t already. Those rings are dangerous,” Aimee exclaimed, gripping Cassandra’s arm.

“It’ll take a couple of hours to get there,” Benchley exclaimed.

“So why don’t you fly!” Cassandra flung up her hands at Cian.

“I can fly, but not that far,” he answered defensively.

“I can get us there,” Aimee said in somber tone.

“Babe,” Cass said, worried.

“I can do it. It’ll severely drain me, but I can do it.” The witch raised her chin confidently.

“We need to get Amaliya back here.” Cian wondered how far she had gotten and just what she was planning on doing. Running there? Stealing a car?

“I’ll go get her,” Eduardo volunteered.

“Do it,” Cian ordered.

The coyote dashed after the female vampire, looking a little too gleeful.

“Get my stuff, Cass” Aimee said to Cassandra.

Cass squeezed her hand, then dashed off.

“We are parked near here,” Aimee explained. She rubbed her hands together nervously.

“What happened to the ring you stole?” Cian asked.

“We hid it when we realized what it could do. We didn’t want to hold onto it any longer than we had to.” Aimee pulled her bronze colored hair back from her face, wrapping it into a bun and tucking the ends under to secure it. “A ring that can rip the veil is dangerous, but now there appears to be more than one.”

Cassandra rushed up with two big bags and handed one off to the witch. “I got the energy bars, too.”

“I’ll need them,” Aimee said glumly. “Sorry I won’t be much help when we get there.”

“Just do it. We’ll handle the rest,” Cass assured her.

Aimee smiled as Cass kissed her lips lightly, then stepped away to let her do her task. The witch immediately started digging through her bag for the items she needed. “I’ll open a portal between here and the cemetery. I’ll need someone to help me focus the spell. Someone who has been there.”

“I can do it,” Cian assured her, squatting down to watch her work.

“Once the portal opens, everyone needs to get through as fast as possible. Cass, you need to drag my ass through. I’ll only be able to stay conscious around five seconds,” Aimee instructed.

“I’ll get you through,” Cassandra promised.

“I think we shouldn’t go straight to the cemetery, but the hotel nearby,” Cian suggested. “They probably shouldn’t see us coming.”

“Agreed.” Cass opened up the second bag and started to strap on weapons. “Need some, Dad?”

Cian narrowed his eyes at her and she gave him a delighted grin. “I have what I need, Cassandra.”

“He already sounds like a dad,” Aimee noted with a slight smile.

Cassandra lifted her eyes. “Great.”

“Got her!” Eduardo said triumphantly, dragging Amaliya behind him.

“I need to get a car and get out there!” Amaliya protested angrily. “Cian, I have to go!”

“We have it covered, Amaliya. The witch—”

“Aimee,” Cassandra cut in tersely.

“—will open a portal directly to the cemetery,” Cian explained.

“Very World of Warcraft,” Benchley said, grinning.

Alexia knelt next to Aimee helping her sort her magical items. “Shut up, Benchley.”

“Are you sure?” Amaliya asked, worried.

Aimee lifted her head, gave her a lopsided grin. “Oh, yeah. I’m sure. I’m pretty impressive, if I say so myself.”

Cian wrapped his arm around Amaliya’s waist and gazed into her frightened eyes. “It’ll be fine.”