protection from the spirit bottle. But there are only six stones, and each one will only work once.”
Beau looked ready to interrupt, but I pushed on, “More importantly, none of us here really knows what a coven of young witches from disparate backgrounds is actually capable of accomplishing.”
Beau’s eyes filled with understanding. “And we can’t ask Tallulah, because Whitney is likely helping Odessa,” he said slowly.
“Right.”
Tobias’s head jerked up, and without a word he raced toward the window next to the front door. In a blink, Milburn stood beside him, and they both stared out the window. “Who is that?” Milburn asked. Without waiting for an answer, he called back to Beau and me, “There’s a car.”
Tobias leaned forward to look hard, and when he turned to face us, a grin was spreading over his face. He practically bounced toward the front door. “I think your witch problem is solved,” he said happily, swinging the door open and bounding outside.
Beau, Milburn, and I all exchanged a baffled look, and then I grabbed my IV pole. Refusing Beau’s proffered arm, I wheeled it toward the door, where the front doors of a dark gray sedan were just opening.
The passenger hopped out and practically skipped toward me without bothering to close the car door.
“Lily!” I cried.
She grinned, and Simon’s head appeared by the driver’s-side door. “Hey, Griffin,” Lily sang. She gave me a mock salute as she ran up the steps. “Phoenix and Flower Child, reporting for duty.”
Chapter 37
They came.
They came even though I hadn’t been able to save Hazel, and even though things had been weird between us. They came for me.
I was so overwhelmed that my eyes welled up, and I couldn’t speak as Lily enveloped me in a careful hug. “What’s with the IV?” she asked, without letting go.
“Is it from the honey?” Simon slammed his car door and followed his sister, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “We got the update when we got off the plane. I can’t believe she poisoned you with mad honey.” He sounded . . . slightly impressed.
I sniffed and let go of Lily so I could hug Simon. He wrapped his arms around me, and I breathed in his familiar smell: wool, patchouli, and chalk dust. He smelled like home.
“Good evening.” Beau’s voice rang out over my shoulder. “I would welcome you to my city, but I’m afraid I have no idea who you are.”
Right. I pulled back from Simon and swiped quickly at my eyes before gesturing to Lily. “Beau, this is Lily Pellar, the clan leader for all of Colorado’s witches, and her brother, Dr. Simon Pellar, who’s also a witch. They’re my friends.”
“Ah, I see.” Beau did the little head-bow of acknowledgment that vampires seemed to favor. Simon was busy dealing with Tobias’s very enthusiastic handshake, but Lily stepped forward.
“Hi,” she said, waving her hand and ruining any sense of formality I might have created with that introduction. “I know who you are, and I mean no disrespect, but what the fuck have you done to my best friend?” She jabbed her finger in my direction.
“Lily!” I hissed.
“Hey, that speech has come a long way since we got on the plane,” Simon said under his breath.
“Yeah, I said ‘no disrespect’ and everything,” Lily added, though her eyes were still narrowed at Beau.
Lucky for us, the vampire’s face broke into a smile. “It’s a rather fair question, I’m afraid,” he said ruefully. “Please do come inside.”
We all began filing indoors, but just inside the foyer, Beau’s pocket buzzed, and he pulled out his cell phone, glancing at the screen. Behind us, Milburn’s phone was buzzing too. Simon gave me an inquiring look, but I just shrugged.
“Excuse me a moment,” Beau said, frowning and stepping a few feet away. He touched the screen a couple of times, and tinny sounds played on his phone. It just sounded like ambient crowd noise to me, but Beau began to curse, using words that definitely hadn’t been popular in this century. He looked up and met my eyes. “You’d better come look at this,” he said soberly.
I went over to him, with Simon and Lily right beside me. Beau turned the screen around so we could see. To my surprise, it was a video on YouTube, shot with poor lighting and very little audio. It looked like a crowd milling around at a party. I didn’t understand the big deal until I recognized the Confederate uniform of one of the men, who threw