Chapter Fourteen – Octavia

“Maybe I didn’t want to hear it,” Locke said, as he sat with his head in his hands. “The bastard had a son?”

“Seems that way,” Cade said. “The question we face now is what do we do about it? Do we let them come, and hope we can stop the degetty, or do we try to track them down and end it?”

Locke shook his head. “You said the degetty is not getting close. It will be hard to find. The only way you will track it is if you are constantly on your guard.” He glanced up at Octavia, a pained look in his eyes. “We can take it in turns. We will keep you safe, Octavia.”

“Thank you,” Octavia said. “I feel so helpless.”

“That’s because you are a human,” Tally said, with no malice in her voice.

“An ordinary, worthless human,” Octavia said.

“I would not say worthless,” Cade said with a smile.

“It feels that way. You two can shift, and Tally has magic.”

“Cade could always…” Tally was cut off mid-sentence by a savage look from Cade.

“What? Cade could always what?” Octavia asked.

“Could always lend you a knife,” Tally said sullenly.

“Cade?” Octavia asked. “Tell me?”

“It’s nothing, we can talk about it later,” Cade said with a false smile, before glaring at Tally again.

Tally scowled at him and looked mutinous, before saying, “Well, if we need backup, and Lucas is too scared to bind a demon, why don’t I bind Zinan?”

“No,” Locke and Cade said in unison.

“Why not?”

“I am not going to let you get in that degetty’s sights. Look how he went after my mom. After all this time he still thirsts for blood.”

“I don’t have to ask him to fight for us.” She nodded thoughtfully. “We can ask him for information.”

“Information? What is he, Google?” Cade asked bitterly.

“No,” Tally persisted. “But he might know who this other demon is. And if he does, we will know what we are up against. A whole lot easier than guarding your princess 24/7.”

“She might be right,” Locke said.

“No,” Cade said sternly.

“Look, Cade, you are not my babysitter, or my mother.” Tally sounded more confident now she had Locke on her side. “If I bind him, and don’t use him to hurt anyone, then he will have nothing against me.”

“We need to know what we are up against,” Locke agreed. “We need to know if we have any chance of sending this thing back to the Underworld without druid help.”

“Or,” Tally said, “if we can shut it in the Druid Box.” Her voice rose in excitement. “That would be the perfect plan: empty the Druid Box of Zinan and then put the one hunting Octavia in it.”

“I can’t have you risking yourself for me,” Octavia said. She had sat quietly listening to the discussion going on around her, feeling out of place and useless still.

“It’s not your choice,” Tally said hotly. “It’s my choice.”

“I’m squad leader, you have to do as I say,” Cade reminded Tally.

“Not if I quit. You can ask one of the other coven members to ride shotgun with you,” Tally said.

Cade put his head in his hands, and shook it. “This is not going to end well.”

“And will it end any better if we do nothing?” Tally asked.

“This is all my fault, if I had never gone to that stupid fortuneteller…”

“And if I had never retrieved the Dragon’s Tear, twenty-odd years ago, you would not have been in this position,” Eva said, from behind Octavia. “Don’t live with guilt that is not yours. I know how that feels, and it leads nowhere good.”

“So we’re settled?” Tally asked. “I release Zinan, and then bind him.”

“No,” Cade said. “What if you can’t bind him? What if he hurts Eva?”

“We have to try, Cade.” Eva walked over to her son, and put her arm around his shoulders. “I am fed up with waiting. We need to be proactive. This degetty hunting Octavia came to us last night. It was drawn to you, or maybe it sensed Zinan, I’m not sure. But why not see if Zinan can help us. It will make something good out of the wretched thing’s existence on this plane. And then we send him back to the Underworld and be rid of him.”

“That’s the deal,” Cade said. “We get what we can from him, and then we send him back.”

“We’re going to need a druid to send him back,” Tally said. “Or the rest of my coven. If they will help me. I’m sure they would be just as pleased if Zinan took me with him to the Underworld.”

“You don’t mean that, Tally,” Eva said.

“Yes, I do,” She stirred the potion that had been simmering, neglected, over the fire. “Too young, too weak, too short, too loud. You name it, one of them thinks it’s a reason for me not to be the head of the coven.”

“The Elementals chose you.”

Tally looked toward the house. “The rest of the coven think it’s because I’ll be the easiest one for the Elementals to get rid of when my mom gets back to normal.” Tally looked into her small cauldron. “And they are right, if my mom got better tomorrow, I would gladly hand it all over. Whereas the others would put up a fight to remain in control.”

Eva went to Tally and hugged her. “Once this is over, we are going to figure out what is wrong with your mom.”

“Good luck with that,” Tally said. “Locke and I have tried everything.”

“I bet you haven’t tried a druid?” Eva said. “We’ll drag one over to work on unbinding her.”

“Tried it,” Tally said despondently.

“Maybe you need a more powerful druid,” Cade said.

“More powerful than the leader of the Council?” Locke asked, his voice tight.

“Lucas? He actually tried to help?” Eva asked, shocked.

“Yes, for old times’ sake,” Tally asked. “Whatever that means.”

“He was friends with us all once,” Eva said. “At least he has some loyalty to Helena.” Eva rubbed Tally’s back. “I’m sorry it didn’t work.”

“Me too.” Tally moved away from the cauldron, and looked up at the sky. “When the moon shines on this tonight, it will be ready.” There was barely any hope in Tally’s voice, and it reminded Octavia of going through the motions with her own mom, trying one remedy after another, knowing that there was no use, but not willing to give up.

“Is there anything I can do to help you, Tally?” Octavia asked, moving toward the young witch, and ignoring the hostile stance Tally took. Did she see Octavia as a threat?

“No. There’s nothing anyone can do.”

“Except go home and eat,” Cade said, getting up and breaking the tension between Tally and Octavia.

“Does that mean the discussion is over?” Tally said.

“No, Tally, it means I need to think about it,” Cade said.

“You need to think about it?” Tally asked fiercely. “You don’t rule us.”

“I’m squad leader,” Cade said. “That makes it my decision.”

“Just like it makes it your decision whether or not Octavia gets to be turned?” Tally accused.

“Turned?” Octavia asked, a chill creeping into her bones. “What do you mean turned? Like a vampire?”

“Like a shifter,” Tally said, as if Octavia was stupid.

“You can make me a shifter?” Octavia asked, part horrified, part fascinated by the thought.

“Tally, enough,” Eva said, as Tally opened her mouth to speak.

Cade moved to stand next to Octavia, his expression pained. “We can talk about it after we get rid of the degetty.”

“And what if I want to talk about it now?” Octavia asked.

“Octavia, honey, this is a conversation for you two alone.” Eva gave Cade an apologetic look. “Let’s go eat, and then you two can talk.” Eva rounded on Tally. “And you need to promise me that you will not do anything stupid.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Tally asked.

“It means I do not want to be scraping your hide off the floor if you release Zinan alone,” Eva said.

Tally shook her head. “I wouldn’t.”

“I know you, Tally,” Eva said.

Tally’s eyes misted up. “Not as well as you think,” Tally said. “Because if you did, you would know I wouldn’t let Zinan out on my own. Because if I can’t bind him, and he gets loose, it puts you in danger. And I would never do that.”

Eva’s body language softened, and she hugged the teenage girl for a long time. “I’m sorry. I should never have doubted you.” She kissed the top of Tally’s head. “It’s all gotten mixed up. But I promise when it’s done, and it will get done...” She looked across to Cade. “That we will figure out your mom.”

“Thanks,” Tally said, sounding like a scared teenager, something Octavia could relate to.

“And I’ll do whatever I can to help too,” Octavia said. “Whether I am a plain human, or a shifter.” She gave Cade a meaningful look, which he chose to ignore, finding something fascinating to look at in the other direction.

“Thanks, Octavia,” Tally said.

“Come on, Tally,” Locke said, coming getting up off his tree stump. “We should eat too. I’ll fix you something.”

“I think Helena is fixing you all lunch,” Eva said. “At least, she was when I left her.”

“Really?” Tally asked.

“You don’t sound pleased,” Eva said.

“Mac and cheese,” Tally said. “If my mom cooks, it will be mac and cheese.”

“Every time,” Locke agreed.

“Mac and cheese, no magic needed,” Tally said brightly.

“Oh, Tally, we had no idea.” She shrugged, and Cade closed in on her and pulled her into a big bear hug. “We’ll fix this.”

“I don’t know,” Tally said, her voice breaking. “How do we fix something when we don’t know exactly what is broken?”

“We will find a way,” Eva said, joining the hug.

Octavia stepped back, leaving them together in this moment. They were family. A family she wanted to be part of. It didn’t take blood to hold a family together; all it needed was love.

And she had all of her love to give. Because, right now, it belonged with no one. Octavia had never been so aware of the aloneness, which had filled her soul before she came here. Cade’s family and friends were beginning to shine a light into the darkest corners of her soul, and she was going to walk into it, and embrace it.

Being in Cade’s physical embrace wouldn’t be so bad either. Wouldn’t be so bad at all.