Cherish (Crave #6)

by Tracy Wolff

“I already told you, I’m the guy who’s lucky enough to have his girl fall in love with him twice. I don’t feel bad about that.”

“The only way I will ever give you up, Grace, is if you ask me.” His voice is as rough as sandpaper. “Are you asking me to leave?”

REMY: You can find what you’re looking for in Alexandria, Egypt

But then Tiola turns around and crows, “Meet Baby Smokey!” She’s so excited that she practically screams the umbra’s name as she thrusts her toward Hudson.

“I want to unfold for you, Grace. I want to tell you everything in my head. But I just can’t yet, no matter how much I want to.”

So yes, I rush ahead to Noromar’s town square, determined to prove to myself that the statue of the gargoyle and the dragon that was in it the whole time I lived here is actually gone. And it is.

“I’m going to bring him on out. But you’ve got to do me a favor. From this point on, you need to refer to my little, tiny, baby brother only as…”

“Jaxon ‘the Hair’ Vega! Come on, everyone, give a real Vegaville cheer for ‘the Hair’!”

This—this moment right here—is what this song is about. More, it’s what Jaxon and Hudson are about. These two kids who’d been to hell and back before they’d even learned to read. Tortured by their parents, forsaken by their people, separated from each other until all they heard was the lonely echo inside of them.

“I didn’t involve your daughters,” I snap at her, my own fury welling up inside me. “You did, a thousand years ago. And your tunnel vision nearly killed an entire species. So don’t you dare stand there and try to take the moral high ground with me.”

So I tamp down the fury scraping away at my insides and say, “I know how to separate your daughters’ souls, which is something you—for all your power—can’t do. So I’ll give you one more chance to make a bargain with me that will sever them in exchange for my friend’s life. All you have to do is decide if you want to take it or leave it.”

I can see the other statues from where I’m standing, but I’m too far away to get a good look at them. I make a mental note to tour the gardens later if I’ve got time—Calliope has always been my favorite muse, and I can’t wait to see how the Curator has had her depicted.

Is the curater Calliope?

The Curator jolts. “Cliassandra wants to try again?” She shakes her head. “I suppose hope springs eternal.” “Cliassandra?” I repeat. “The Shadow Queen’s name is Cliassandra?”

She responds without missing a beat “1966. That’s when Frank Sinatra’s cover of ‘Yes Sir, That’s My Baby’ came out. Have you ever heard it?” She’s looking straight at me when she says it, which I’m pretty sure means she already knows the answer. “My father used to sing me the chorus when I was little.”

Hudson looks back up from his phone, surprised. Which must mean that somehow he never ran across that memory when he was in my head.

“Yes, well, South America is quite large. If you want a more precise location, you’ll come along. I don’t have a lot of time to waste. I have waited eons for today.”

“How do you think I record history all over the world?” she asks, brows raised. “I can’t be everywhere at once.”

REMY: I’ll be there I tap out a text back. ME: Where? When? What? He answers right away with a thumbs-up emoji, followed by, When you need me most, cher.

And unlike with Hudson, I totally understand why he prefers to be vague and mysterious. He explained to me once back at the Witch Court that the future can always change. The more he’s able to not influence it, the better he can see it—and help when I need it most.

Melpemone is dressed like the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera,

I spend a few minutes looking for Kleo—my other favorite muse and one I thought would have a special place of honor here—but she’s nowhere to be found.

I can’t help but notice a statue of the muse of history sitting at an ornate desk in front of a rainbow glass globe, scribbling away in a giant book.

And while I noticed the giant globe—even walked up to it to see my reflection in it—I didn’t notice Kleo at all. She must have been there—statues don’t exactly move around under their own power—but somehow, I missed her.

“The absolute worst, I-don’t-know-if-we-can-move-past-this thing about loving a Vega, Grace, is they think they’re the only ones who ever have the right to sacrifice anything.” He lifts his gaze to mine, his warm amber eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I just hope it doesn’t break you like it’s breaking me.”

“I will have you know that I am the God of History, and it is my responsibility to record every historic event—of which your shower was not.”

“I told you this morning. Kleo spells me a few hours every day. She was in here while I was with all of you earlier.

“She’s not. A friend of mine charmed her for me years ago, so I could have an occasional break. But the charm only works for a few hours at a time. Once she’s back in statue form, she can’t take human form again until the sun sets and rises.”

He breaks off as a portal opens in the center of the dining room, and all six foot four inches of Remy Villanova steps out, dressed in a white T-shirt, worn jeans, and a kick-ass pair of Dr. Martens.

“Use the bond,” her mother urges. “You are a wraith, which means the shadow poison will not hurt you. Use the mating bond to pull it inside you and free Mekhi from its insidious grip once and for all.”

“When I was trapped in that shithole for months and years, I dreamed you up. A woman so powerful and kind and strong that she’d be able to save the world, because if she could do that, then maybe she could save me, too.”

“It’s right for us,” he tells me with the utmost certainty. “I have a plan for the Vampire Court, but it does not include Jaxon or me. I haven’t shared it because I haven’t figured out if it’s even feasible yet, but I think it is. And I think it will work. You just have to trust me, Grace.”

Descent powers,” he says with a grin. “Now that I’m healed, I realize I can do some pretty fancy shit. Most notably, turning shadows three-dimensional. Which means they can exist outside of the Shadow Realm. Or, at least, one particular umbra can.”