Free Blood and Kisses by Karin Shah

getting a picture of another woman. Lily is stepping back and bringing your mother through.”
    Thalia caught her breath. “My mother?” Her eyes went to Gideon. He met her gaze without expression, the lines of his face giving no clue to his thoughts.
    Ursula continued after a tiny pause, as if listening. “She’s asking me to warn you. Something about a prophecy? Does that make sense?”
    Thalia scanned her memory. Prophecy? She shook her head. The world of magic was full of future portents, predictions, prophecies and omens, but her mother had never mentioned any specific prophecy. Then she remembered her mother’s final words. Was this prophecy the reason her mother had wanted her to seek out Gideon?
    Ursula gave a sudden wheeze of surprise and her body stiffened. “Thalia?” The voice emanating from Ursula was low and mature, clearly not hers, and both familiar and infinitely precious to Thalia.
    “Mom?” Thalia’s voice was little more than a whisper.
    “I don’t have much time. I’m taking too much energy from this body,” her mother said. “Go to my book. You’ll find the prophecy there. You’re in grave danger. Keep Gideon with you, and don’t forget to rely on Spirit. Most of all, believe in yourself. Remember we love you.” Her mother’s tender voice faded, Ursula’s face grew slack, and Thalia knew her mother was gone.
    Tears stung her eyes. It was too much and far too little. There was so much more she wanted to know. To bathe in the warmth of her mother’s presence for such a brief moment in time, only to have her slip away before she could absorb the reality of it, was like losing her all over again.
    Ursula slumped, a marionette discarded by an absent puppeteer. She raised her other hand slowly to her head, and Thalia could tell the other woman fought a headache. “That’s never happened before.” Beneath her light film of make-up, her face was paper-white. “And I hope it never happens again.”
    Thalia stood. “I’m so sorry.”
    Ursula waved away her apology with a weak hand and shook her head. “Despite what you see in the movies, that never happens. It’s clear that whatever is going on is more than just a simple rogue vampire. I got a feeling of intense dread, a sense of foreboding so deep it made it hard to breathe. We’re all in great danger. As for me, I think for the time being, I’ll stay away from the Bell, Book, and Candle.”
     
    Kill them now. So much anger and hatred wracked his body, he was surprised the Butcher couldn’t sense it. Gods, he wanted to end it, to see his enemy broken and destroyed.
    He could do it now. It would be so easy to kill them. Gideon was so obsessed with fighting his attraction to the little witch, no doubt he could have stood before him in his true form and the Butcher wouldn’t bat an eye. The aching, burning sensation began in his fingertips as claws transformed his fingernails. He hid his hands behind his back and took a breath, mastering his rage.
    No. Killing them now would ruin everything. He had to keep to the plan.
    He escorted them out the door and watched as they sped away. There was no need to follow. He knew where they were going. He’d planned a little welcome home party for the witch. Soon, he promised himself, soon.
     
    Gideon pressed his lips into a grim line as he tore into Thalia’s narrow driveway, and braked, the car’s front tires spitting loose stones. “Get the book and pack some more things.” This whole situation just kept getting better and better.
    Thalia’s soft mouth opened and closed without a sound. She studied him for a moment, raking him with worried eyes, then nodded and disappeared into the house.
    He drilled the steering wheel with his fingers as he waited. How could he protect her? He’d already proven he couldn’t be trusted around her.
    But who was he to argue with the other side?
    Is that the reason you want her near, the monster scoffed, to protect her?
    He remembered again the feel of