Tim’s voice resonated in that same eerie tone. “There is no end. There is only eternity. A love for eternity.”
Taran swore when Emme fell against her. The events of the day hit me all at once. We hadn’t slept in more than twenty-four hours, and we’d just helped bring down a close-to-indestructible vampire chock-full of nastiness. Karma alone should have allowed me to swing by the nearest drugstore and buy the winning lottery ticket—as in the Powerball, not a master vampire for a lifelong snuggle bunny.
I buried my face in my hands. “This isn’t happening to me.”
“You’re right. It’s not.” Taran squirmed her irate butt across the length of the limo to the open chauffeur’s window. “Damn it, Tim. Unless you want to receive the deepest tan of your life via my sunshine borne of magic, you better tell us how Celia can get a quickie divorce.”
Divorce. The word echoed in my head. I’d only ever slept with one guy. How had I ended up married to a master vampire?
Tim’s demeanor turned deadly calm. “Do you realize what this means to the master? A chance to redeem his past sins and join his beloved family in heaven should he die. Until then, his beauty and youth remain. He has an opportunity none of us have. You cannot refuse him!”
Taran thought I could. “The hell she can’t. Let me spell this out for you. Celia is not birthin’ no babies with fangs.” She snapped her fingers to stimulate her fire. “I suggest you start talking, and start talking now.”
Tim pulled off to the side of the road as I hurried to yank Misha’s sweater over me. Loathing tightened his jaws when he faced me. “The only way to break the bond that you started is through death.”
Shayna jumped in her seat next to me. I couldn’t jump. I needed a pulse to jump, and my heart had stopped functioning. “Death? Did you say death? You mean one of us has to die? There’s no other way to reverse this?”
Tim turned away, took a breath, and faced me once more. “Perhaps…No, never mind, it is too dangerous.”
I hurried to move closer to him. “How can it be more dangerous than dying? Tell me how to fix this!”
Tim’s face set like a frozen tundra. “There is only one way, but it involves the darkest of magic. Demonic possession and loss of limbs may occur.”
My tongue and throat dried and I lost the ability to blink. “Demonic po-possession?”
He frowned. “Do you want to end this or not?”
“Um, yes. Yes, I do. Tell me.”
“There are many steps, and it’s rather complicated.”
Emme took out her phone and hit the “Notes” icon. “Go ahead. I’m ready.”
Tim’s slow, drawn-out breath made me believe he was sharing something he shouldn’t—and in doing so would release a chain of events no one could stop. I listened like my future depended on it. Because, God knew, it did.
“The spell must be performed on a high peak at the rise of the next full moon.”
Which meant I’d be married to Misha for a freaking month. Still, it beat eternity.
Shayna gripped my arm. “That means either Mount Whitney or Mount Williamson. They’re the tallest around.”
Emme typed feverishly. Tim ignored Shayna and continued. “You will need to gather herbs: wolfsbane, belladonna, nightshade…”
Taran tapped her ruined nails on the leather seat. “There’s an organic vitamin shop in South Tahoe that sells herbs. I bet we can find that garbage there.”
Tim’s scowl deepened. “There’s more. You need a piece of alabaster, the whitest you can find.”
Alabaster? I gave my sisters a blank stare.
Shayna pointed an excited finger at me. “Ooh—eBay. You can get anything on eBay!”
Shayna’s logic kick-started my heart. “Right, eBay. Of course. Okay, what else, Tim?”
“Last—and most important—you will need two virgins and a goat.”
My head slowly turned to meet Tim. He burst out laughing. His whole body shook with hysteria, and tears streaked down his face. I crossed my arms and glared. “You asshole!”
Emme stopped typing and exchanged confused glances with Shayna. Taran launched herself onto Tim, smacking the back of his shaved head like a set of bongo drums. Tim cackled, failing to notice. “You girls are so gullible. I was ready to sell you swampland in Jersey.”
Shayna wrinkled her brow. “So Celia’s not engaged?”
Tim continued to laugh. “Of course not, the master wants a bang, not a bride.”
I debated whether I should feel deeply disturbed that a master vampire wanted to sleep with me or deeply relieved that I didn’t have to decide on a ring bearer. Knowing Misha and I weren’t going to be picking out china made me lean toward deeply relieved. Though that didn’t stop me from punching Tim in the back of the head.