was costing him.
After a moment he reached down and pulled Odessa to her feet. “I’ve already spoken to Tallulah Finch, right after I finished cleaning up the mess you made with that video,” he told her. “Your accomplices are in the process of turning on you in exchange for clemency.” He glanced at me and added, “When I can get a specialist here, their magic will be bound forever. They will be allowed to live human lives.”
I nodded. I knew witches well enough to understand how serious that was. And I didn’t think any of them had been involved in Becca’s death. It was a fair punishment.
“They’ve given us the location of your remaining spirit bottles,” he continued to Odessa. “And no one in Georgia will ever help you with magic again. The moment you’re released from prison, in twenty or thirty years, those tattoos are coming off. You’re done. And if you’re not, I will let Lex have you.”
Odessa flinched, and Beau looked at me. “Is all that acceptable to you?”
“Yes. But, Beau . . . she destroyed the bodies at the cemetery. I fed the Unsettled a bit of my blood, but I think they’re going to fade.”
His already heavy expression seemed to sink further into worry. “I’d consider it a great kindness if you went back and did anything you can for them,” Beau replied. I nodded. “I will take my niece to the police station.”
“I’ll do it,” Milburn volunteered. “You should go see about Asa.”
I thought maybe Milburn was also a little worried that Odessa could talk Beau out of turning her in. It was a neat solution.
“Thank you, Erasmus.”
The other vampire nodded and slowly released me. I immediately had trouble keeping myself upright, but Tobias ducked under my shoulder and wrapped his arms around me like a hug. “Thanks,” I whispered, glad it was him and not Beau.
Before Milburn could speed away with her, I said, “Odessa?”
She glanced over, her face sullen. “Don’t forget what I said,” I reminded her. “If you don’t do your time, I will come for you. You have my word on that.”
Odessa gave Beau a shocked look, but he shrugged, doing his best to appear uncaring. He didn’t know how I’d threatened Odessa, but he trusted that it was justified. I appreciated that.
Beau gave Odessa a last, aggrieved look and turned to me. “I’ll go on ahead to the Unsettled,” he said, and vanished backward into the shadows.
Milburn dragged Odessa off in the other direction, toward where they’d probably parked. Feeling just how much of my weight needed to be supported, Tobias looked worried. “Lex! Are you okay?”
“To be completely honest . . . no,” I told him. “But that was a great tackle.”
He brightened, adjusting my arm over his shoulders and taking hold of my waist in his no-boundaries, Tobias way. I didn’t mind. “Thanks! I tried to land on the bottom ’cause I figured if anyone was gonna hurt her, you’d want to do it yourself.”
I wanted to laugh, but I was too weak to do more than smile at him. We began our slog back to the Confederate section.
“And, oh my God, Lily was awesome,” Tobias added, as though he’d made a mental note to tell me, and was thrilled that he’d remembered. “Like, these baby witches were all in her face, and she zapped them, and then one of them tried to shoot her, but I knocked him down—”
“Maybe you could tell me later,” I mumbled, trying not to completely deflate him.
“I could pick you up,” he offered.
“Don’t you dare.” I wanted to finish this night on my own two feet. Literally.
We hadn’t run as far as I’d thought, so it didn’t take long to get back to the asphalt path separating the memorial flag area from the cemetery. I’d expected Beau to be standing there waiting, but instead I found Simon with Emmaline. Her wrists and ankles had been zip-tied, and she was sitting on the ground pouting. I didn’t have the breath for questions, so I raised my eyebrows at Simon. “My new friend here helped me break the outer circle,” he explained, “so Beau could get in.”
I nodded, ignoring the sullen young woman, and we kept going. With both circles now broken, the fog had cleared away, and for the first time I could see more of the grounds. The Unsettled were crowded in the nearest corner, up a tiny set of stairs. Beau stood in their midst, staring at them as they