“Is the coast clear?” they heard Barb call from downstairs, and Yuri clasped Aurora about the waist again, dragging her to him, and took her with vampire speed to the bottom of the stairs.
There, Barb, Ruby, and one of the other remaining members of their sisterhood stood. The other witch was bent to the last survivor, who was unconscious on the floor of the foyer.
“Okay, that didn’t go too good,” Ruby muttered.
Yuri kept Aurora clamped tight to his side as he took in Ruby, then slowly turned his infuriated gaze to Aurora’s mother.
“Were you aware they were that formidable?” he asked.
She had the good grace to look abashed before she answered, “I had an inkling.”
He let that go and noted with false calm, “According to the intelligence you reported to me last night regarding their numbers, the entire coven was here.”
“Apparently, they were having a party,” Barb shared.
Yuri gritted his teeth.
“That was good,” Barb noted. “They were involved in that, which meant we could get their protections down so you could get in and help.”
“Indeed. You achieved that, leading your daughter to it and your sisters to slaughter,” he grated.
“And our other option was what?” she snapped back.
“Gather more intelligence and hit them when their numbers were fewer,” Yuri returned.
“We can’t sit on this house. They’d know,” she retorted. “We had to go with what we had and hope for the element of surprise. The Sacred Triumvirate has been united. There was no time to waste and we both know that.”
He couldn’t argue that, but that didn’t mean he was done.
“Regardless of popular culture saying otherwise, I do not relish taking the lives of twelve living beings,” he bit off. “And you lost eight.”
“I’m standing,” she shot back. “That doesn’t mean my heart isn’t bleeding.”
Yuri snapped his mouth shut.
Tense moments passed before Aurora asked quietly, “What do we do now?”
Yuri took in Barb and Ruby and noted the other one was helping her now-conscious sister to her feet.
“You four, find the implements and secure them,” he ordered. “I’ll call The Vampire Council and have them send someone to deal with the carnage.”
“Witches require a pyre,” Ruby told him.
“That will be arranged,” Yuri replied, “for all of them.” He looked back to Barb. “How is this going to read on your witch vine?”
“The quieter we can keep it, the better it will be,” she answered.
Yuri pulled in a breath before deducing, “They have allies.”
“Pretty much everyone is scared of them, but a vampire taking out a coven isn’t gonna go over too great, even if the true story is told and nobody much liked this coven,” Barb shared.
“Fuck,” he murmured and felt Aurora’s small hand curl around his.
“We should finish the mission,” she said gently. “Get this done. Cover our sisters, do a blessing over them, get the implements safe, and get home.”
Finally, she said something smart.
Yuri gently pulled his hand from hers and shoved it in his pocket to retrieve his phone. “Go. See to the implements. I’ll call The Council.”
A call he did not relish making. His father would be pleased the implements were secured. He would not be the same about the bloodbath.
He’d engaged his phone but had not pushed any buttons when he felt a light hand on his arm.
He looked down at Aurora even as he sensed her mother and the others moving to search for the implements.
“Thank you for saving Mom,” she whispered. “And me. And well…” She squeezed his arm. “All the rest.” Her voice turned melancholy. “What’s left of us, that is.”
He regarded her and took his time doing it, before he lifted a hand and trailed the tip of his middle finger from her temple, along the apple of her cheek, to the side of her lip. Once he made that destination, he dropped his hand but dipped his face close to hers.
“You should be aware, Aurora, that when I’m angry at you, being sweet will do much to tame that emotion,” he told her quietly.
She nodded, drawing in breath through her nose, and he easily read she was relieved.
“However, when I’m furious at you,” he continued, “being sweet will only fan that flame.”
She bit her lip and he watched her do it, therefore, he had more to say.
“And being adorable will make it worse,” he carried on.
“Maybe I should leave you to your phone call,” she suggested.
“I would run with that,” he agreed.
She nodded, removed her hand from his arm, and swiftly moved away from him.
With iron control, Yuri didn’t watch her go but turned his attention to his phone.
This didn’t last a second before he heard Aurora call, “Yuri?”
He lifted his eyes to see her—her black clothing, her ridiculous knit cap, and her utterly preposterous black smudges—standing halfway up the steps, looking down at him.
“I know you’re mad, but my thank-you still stands. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t…I mean, it doesn’t bear…” She trailed off and he sensed the sorrow saturating her soul because he could smell it in his nostrils and taste it down his throat.
Therefore, within half a second, he was one step below her. As she gasped at his sudden proximity, he laid his hands gentle on her cheeks and pulled her to him. He bent and kissed one glistening eye, then moved and kissed the next.