Amanda paced up and down the length of the room she shared with Romeo. It was just about the only place she found comfort nowadays. She was increasingly thankful that both Briana and Lucia were able to come and offer their aid. She still felt as if they were grasping at straws when it came to making solid plans to disrupt Lilith’s soul from her body. Destroying her flesh would be easy. It was the destruction of her soul Amanda knew they had to get right if they wanted to rid themselves of her forever. And that didn’t even include doing the same to Fenris. If they could get those two permanently taken care of, it’d be easy to rule over what was left of their pack.
Hopefully they’d make a nice addition to the Delta pack, helping to fill occupations that had been left empty when Fenris made his first attack. “Mama?” Sarina said, knocking on the door.
“Come in,” she answered.
“Everything okay?”
“I’m just trying to think. Nothing I’ve read or known previously speaks about the destruction of the soul. It’s always something the owner must do. Although I would think Lilith had already passed that point by now.”
“So, if her soul was to be destroyed, how did she make her way back from the depths of hell?”
Sarina looked at her mother, who was now smiling broadly. “Oh darling, you’re a genius! She is Lilith, but she’s not the same, not nearly.”
“Okay,” Sarina said, not convinced that she helped at all.
“When someone dies we usually expect one of two exits. One of light and the other darkness. Lilith obviously went to the darker side. However, I don’t think she went exactly the way we think. What if she didn’t make the entire fall, but landed somewhere in between? What if she got stuck somewhere that allowed her to climb her way back out?”
“How’d she climb out with a body then?”
“I believe, because she obviously wasn’t destroyed completely, that the body she had, the one we buried, was brought back to her. If she never truly went to hell, she wasn’t ever truly dead to begin with.”
“So she pops out of Brody’s mind into her same body that was buried twenty some odd years ago?”
“Yes,” Amanda squealed. “Which means she’s not nearly as strong as she’d like to believe. Her body is extremely weak and I’m sure it’s some sort of magic that has her looking as good as she does. We’ve all aged some, but being in a coma-like state for more than two decades had to take its toll on her body. I need some quiet time so I can reach your dad. He needs to know this. Go get Brody and everyone else together. Our first stage is complete. We need to get your dad out of there, now.”
Sarina headed upstairs, snagging Brody on the way to the living room. “What’s up?” he asked when he saw her coming.
“Mom’s figured out some things and says our first stage is complete. She’s obviously worried about Dad being discovered or worse. Eventually Lilith will realize that he’s toying with her, avoiding her, and she’ll come unglued. While that could play to our advantage, it could put Dad in jeopardy and I’m sure Mom wants to avoid that altogether.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he agreed. “Need me to make any calls?”
“Yes,” she smiled. “Can you call all my aunts and uncles? Also, see if you can get my siblings around as well. I’m going to contact the other Radiants, save Aunt Pen.”
“I’m on it,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. She felt the want of him in that fleeting moment. Lately with everything going on it’d been too crazy to do much about being together intimately. The last time had been more of an emotional need than physical, but with the twins back and things moving forward with Lilith now, Sarina found that her lips tingled whenever Brody kissed her and that her system, one that had felt asleep for too long, was waking up and turning on.
Sarina made her calls, explaining to both her Aunt Lucia and Aunt Briana what was going on. They promised to offer their aid in bringing an evil such as Lilith to her doom. “Your mother became a surrogate mother for us when we lost our mothers,” Briana said.
“That’s right,” Lucia agreed, enjoying the three-way call. “She took care of us, taught us how to use our powers, became our leader and so much more.”
“Thank you both,” Sarina said before hanging up. She came out of the family room to find Brody standing there, his dark eyes soaking her in.
“Everything okay?” asked Sarina.
“Walk with me?” countered Brody.
“Alright,” she agreed. “How are the boys?”
“Shawna’s watching them. Last I saw, they were both sleeping peacefully.”
“I owe that bitch if nothing more than for the torture she put us through. Safe and sound or not, my boys were taken from me.”
“We’ll make her pay,” Brody offered, taking her hand in his. “You can be sure of that.”
“I plan to be,” Sarina added.
“Can we take a break from war tonight?”
“Sorry,” she added. “I guess I’m just a little revved. Knowing now what we do, I’m anxious to get started. The sooner we get my dad out of there and see to her demise, the better off we’ll be.”
“I agree,” Brody added. “I also think that my wife and I need some time together.”
Sarina giggled when his hand slid up her side to cup her breast. “We just spent time together.”
“And I’m thinking it’s been too long already,” he laughed. “We haven’t been intimate nearly enough lately. Don’t you miss that passion?”
“Of course I do,” she smiled, turning into his embrace. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten my boys or the extension of my family. It’s not easy to concentrate on being together when I just got my boys back and my father is almost a prisoner to a devil woman.”
“I know,” he sighed. “That’s why we need this time. I don’t want our relationship to fall victim to this bitch along with everything else.”
“And you think not being intimate will do just that?”
“Do you remember our last time?”
“Not clearly,” she said, understanding his point.
“When was the last time we really made love? I’m not talking about filling a need, or expressing an emotional issue. I’m talking about really sinking into one another so that the whole world falls away and it’s just the two of us?”
“Probably not since Lilith kidnapped your mind.”
“Exactly,” Brody said, rubbing his thumbs over her hands. “Don’t you think we need something just between the two of us that makes us strive for more than just a mediocre marriage?”
“Lots of people have great marriages when the passion of sex has waned”
“Name one,” Brody challenged her. When she couldn’t, a giggle rose in her throat.
“Okay, okay.” Surrendering, she added, “I get where you’re coming from, I do. I’m just not sure I’m ready yet and I don’t want to disappoint you by just showing up physically.”
Sarina could tell Brody was frustrated. His whole body tensed as he took in what she was saying. “Alright,” he sighed, clearly let down. When he turned away, Sarina struggled with whether to let him go.
“Brody,” she called. When he turned around, she went to him. “I love you and I want our marriage to be incredible. I know that we need time and I know that we’ve both been extremely stressed out. Right now I just can’t make that go away. If I could just flip a switch and make it all better, I would. I’d jump you in a hot minute, but I can’t. I can’t forget that we just got the twins back, safe and sound, thank God. But my dad is still out there, trying to keep that woman content without destroying himself and his own marriage. I need to be able to put all that away before I can give all of myself to you, to this.”
Sarina sighed when she saw his pretty blue eyes soften. His hand came up to cup her cheek. “I get it,” he said, pressing a warm kiss to her lips. They walked back into the house just as Sarina’s siblings were coming downstairs.