Moon-marked 3: Quintessence

Chapter 4

Last update until December! Finishing this will be my first NaNoWriMo goal.

When Seth had bought his house, he hadn't been looking for a mansion. There wouldn't have been a lot to choose from in Iowa anyway, but he wanted something that reminded him of his mother, his grandparents—something that felt like home. When Becky was there, it felt even better, fuller. Even having Paige there wasn't all bad; her attempts at being human were at least good for a laugh. As soon as Becky had arranged a video call with Finn, though, and they hooked her phone up to the television so the three of them weren't huddled around her tiny phone screen, Seth bristled. Maybe it was because he was a werewolf now, but there was something about the demon's piercing gaze that made him tense.

"Maybe the blue moon is like... Y2K or whatever," Paige said, gesturing wildly and making Becky lean closer to Seth. Originally, Paige had been sitting in the middle of the trio, claiming it was safer since Becky shouldn't be having any of Seth's blood. But then she realized she could be on the biting end of Becky's new fangs and she quickly changed her mind; she had barely slept the night before, which in turn put Seth and Becky on edge, hearing her toss and turn. "You know, how everyone freaked out because all the computers were going to crash, but nothing really bad happened." Then Paige paused. "Did it? I can't really remember, to be honest."

Finn grimaced in way that made him look all too human. "I don't think so. Demon magic has been going off-kilter all over the world for over a week now."

"All ov—" Seth stopped himself. After learning that Becky was a werewolf and Paige was a vampire, the presence of other supernaturals didn't really surprise him. That didn't mean he wanted to know how many demons there were, however.

Finn wasn't going to let him off the hook, though. "There aren't many demons on the surface, no. Don't worry. Generally it's the rejects and the hopeless cases. And no, I won't say which I am." He rubbed his eyes and sighed. "The blue moon might have triggered it," he allowed at last, "but it still doesn't make sense. I would understand if the spell just... stopped working—if Becky had tried using Seth's blood to suppress her wolf and it didn't work. But to completely switch forms...."

Seth felt Becky slump beside him, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She wasn't dependent on Finn by any means, but he thought—and could admit it was tinged with jealousy—that Becky could be guilty of assuming Finn had all the answers. "How do we fix it?" Becky asked, voice bleak as she reached up to squeeze Seth's fingers. "I'm no good as a vampire, Finn. I can't bite people to feed."

Glancing pointedly at Seth, Finn raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you'll have a problem with the biting. It's the blood that's an acquired taste. Don't worry. I'm looking into it. I've got a flight booked for tomorrow and I'll bring some amulets for all of you and a few grimoires to study—"

"A few grimoires?" Becky stiffened under Seth's arm. "I thought each demon made and curated their own. You told me to burn yours if anything... happened to you. How did you get more than one?"

Finn leaned back in his chair, and the tinge of jealousy Seth felt softened into something almost like empathy. The worry in the demon's eyes was stark and Seth recognized it all too well. To be Becky's friend—or better, her lover, her partner—was an amazing thing, but it also meant worrying a lot simply because she didn't seem to worry enough about herself. "Don't worry about that," he replied crisply, his gaze going steely once more. "I'm the one who cast the spell, so it's my problem to fix."

Becky leaned forward, making Seth's arm slide down. "No," she insisted. "Finn, it's bad enough that I didn't even know you were a demon until...." She trailed off with a huff, not wanting to relive their last rift. "Now you're going against one of the few tenets you've shared with me and—"