have me as her daughter-in-law, the Gadawnoin sounded terrifying. Once again, I forced myself to think of Herne, and of what I would be gaining. Because if it wasn’t for him, there was no way in hell I would subject myself to what loomed ahead.
Chapter Seven
Morgana glanced at the clock. “We need to be at Marilee’s by eight. I’ll meet you there. I have an errand to run first.” She gathered her purse—a Louis Vuitton clutch—and paused to give me an awkward hug. She had never really hugged me before and it felt odd.
“My dear, don’t worry too much. Cernunnos and I have both been hoping for this. You’re a stabilizing influence on Herne, and we think you can keep him grounded. You make him more empathetic. Plus, we like you—a great deal. You’ll make a fine addition to our family.” She swept out the door after blowing Angel a kiss and another thank-you for the dinner.
I helped Angel carry the dishes to the counter. “Well, I knew the crap Saílle and Névé were feeding me was just that. I’ll be on my guard, that’s for certain.”
“How do we dress tonight?” Angel asked. “Lughnasadh is the festival of sacrifice, and the first harvest, right? So I assume formal robes?”
Marilee had been pushing us to buy magickal regalia. She insisted that as our training progressed, we’d need it. We finally had broken down and I bought a gown as black as the night sky with silver stars embroidered on it. Angel had bought a black gown with gold embroidery. Both were easy to move in, flowing but not so much that we would chance getting the sleeves caught in a bonfire. I had a silver belt and Angel had a gold one. We felt a little matchy-matchy, but that was all right.
“Yeah, I think she’ll be pissed if we don’t give the holiday that honor—” I paused as my phone rang. “That’s probably Marilee now, wondering when we’re going to get over there. We did agree to help her set up.” I pulled out my phone, but saw that it was Herne.
“Hello?” I held the phone to my ear as I finished putting the leftover parmesan bread in a zip-bag.
“Ember, you and Angel need to meet us at the Faraday Cemetery over in the Worchester District. The Lughnasadh ritual will have to wait. We’ve got vrykos coming out of our ears. Or rather, swarming out of the graves. The chief of police called me, begging for help. The cops can’t contain them, and they’re not sure where to turn.” Herne’s voice was rough.
“Crap. What do we need to bring?”
“Dress for battle, bring weapons. Tell Angel to bring a bag of first-aid supplies. I know Marilee has been teaching her some healing magic and chances are we’re going to need every hand on deck.” He paused, talking to someone in the background.
I motioned to Angel. “Everything’s on hold. Get the leftovers in the fridge and forget the dishes.”
“Ember? I was just talking to Talia, who’s on the phone with the mayor. Three cops have been killed. The rest are falling back. They tried using a flamethrower on one of the creatures but the flames weren’t strong enough and it just kept coming at them, burning so brightly that it started a small fire when it passed through a patch of dried brush. The rain managed to put out the flames, but the vrykos just kept coming. They’ve ordered people in the surrounding neighborhoods to stay in their homes, but they’re afraid that the creatures will break through the windows.”
My stomach clenched. It sounded gruesome. “What kind of weapons should I bring? My bow? Sword?”
“Whatever you have at hand. We’re bringing an arsenal. Can you call Marilee and make our apologies? I’m afraid this is one Sabbat that we’re going to have to miss.” He ended the call, texting me the address of the cemetery.
I turned to Angel who was leaning on the counter, waiting. “We have an emergency. Everybody on board. You’ll need whatever magical energy you have and gather up first-aid supplies. We’re heading into a nasty fight and Herne wants all hands on deck.” As we dashed upstairs to change into battle gear, I told her what had happened.
Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the cordoned-off side street leading to the Faraday Cemetery. It was on the outskirts of the Worchester District.
Angel and I had driven over together, the back seat filled with first-aid supplies and whatever weapons we could