Trapped inside the council headquarters wasn’t as much of a punishment as Harrison thought. In fact, being in the mansion gave me more leverage. It also allowed me to get closer to the crazy SOB and distract him from finding all the pieces to the spell.
“Killing the hybrids isn’t the answer.” I rounded on Harrison as he entered the game room and advanced to me. He continued behind the bar and met my gaze.
Harrison snarled and his face colored with anger. “The hybrids are unstable and dangerous. The whole program was a mistake.”
Counting to three, I breathed in and exhaled slowly. The man was an idiot. “We’ve made progress. I was so close to finding the cure. Plus, we are all hybrids in a way. There are no pure-blooded paras anymore. We’ve all mixed with either humans or other paras.”
That was the problem with the mutations. The illnesses, like the one killing me slowly. There wasn’t a name for it because I was the second para with the condition. My mother being the first. However, I’d witnessed others with deformities and illnesses due to their mixed heritages.
The Hybrid Project was supposed to give us a chance to study para DNA further and find cures for the abnormalities.
“You can’t protect your daughters forever.” Harrison pour him a glass of bourbon, changing the subject. “I know you’re sick. Your clock is about out of time.”
I almost laughed out loud. Harrison didn’t know that I had already saved my girls. The tri-species, Beth, was the first witch/demon/vampire hybrid we created. She was the key to a cure. At least for my illness. She was immune to the cancerous cells killing me. I had infused her DNA with Brooke’s and Cassia’s to keep my girls from getting sick like I was. From their blood, I could create a vaccine to help others. Although Harrison didn’t know what I did. I never got a chance to do more studies of Beth’s DNA before Harrison killed her, claiming she went crazy and murdered his wife and daughter. I wasn’t so sure I believed him.
If only there was another tri-species. One that was born naturally. That would be a miracle from the gods, because there weren’t any that would have a pure enough family bloodline.
“Once I have the relics in my possession and the spell complete, I will be more powerful than the hybrids.” Harrison was rambling. More like bragging about how insane he’d become.
I frowned. He was crazier than I gave him credit for. The spell he sought was not an immortality spell nor would it make him more powerful. It was created by Carlyn, the goddess of witches and fae. She saw the fall of the paras in a vision. Knowing she couldn’t protect them all before she and her brothers died, she told her brothers to leave their blood behind. Hers was hidden in the Rose Lake Coven. The shifter’s blood was hidden with the Carter Moon Pack. The vampire’s blood was hidden somewhere in the council mansion. The relics used to create the spell were scattered and most had been misplaced over the centuries.
I wasn’t sure what the spell would do. The Original Three trusted one family to the secrets of the spell and the locations of the relics. Then trusted another to stay in power of the council.
My family had always been the leaders of the council. I failed the paras when I trusted Harrison and brought him into the council. That was a mistake I was going to correct before I died.
I grabbed the bottle of bourbon and refilled my glass. “Are you sure the spell is what you say it is? You know the gods are cryptic in their gifts.”
I used the term gift because that was what Harrison called the Sleeping Stone. The one Harrison gave to Salrus and then told everyone the demon stole it. I wasn’t sure why other than to kill Reese. That didn’t work out as Harrison planned. I lifted my gaze to Harrison and studied him. “What about Reese? She isn’t going to let you get away with the kill order.”
“Reese is dead.” Harrison snapped his gaze to mine. A light of power rippled in his eyes, telling me Reese scared the council leader. Was it because she was half demon? Or that her mother was a pure blood witch, the last one before Salrus killed her?
My heart ached. Maxine was my dear friend. She was there for me when I lost my Emma and had to put my girls in hiding. I downed my bourbon and slammed the glass on the bar.
Harrison believed Reese was dead. I brought up her name to see if he still believed it. My next statement was to add fuel to his fear of Reese. “She is a hedge witch/demon hybrid. Are you sure she’s dead?”
Reese would be pissed for calling her out and putting Harrison’s attention on her again. However, I needed the distraction to take control over the council once again. Plus, the mention of Reese threw Harrison off his game.
Harrison stared at me for several moments, let out a low growl, and then left the room.
When I stood and turned, I saw Colton, the tiger shifter council member, standing in the door way to the billiard room. I sat back down, knowing Colt was waiting for Harrison to get out of earshot.
After another minute, Colt sat on the barstool next to me. “What’s next?”
“The candle. I need to get a message to Cassia.” I pulled out a flash drive from my pants pocket and placed it on the bar counter in front of him.
Colt picked up the flash drive and stood. “Consider it done.” After throwing back a shot of bourbon, Colt left.
I just hoped Cassia could get the candle before Harrison’s Hunters did.