Chapter 73

"Woman, don't be an idiot, of course, I was." Now he was offended. Like he WOULDN'T worry? Snorting, Mark stood, taking her with him and carted her to the bed, planting her on it. "You are the love of my sometimes-insane life, the mother of my asshole child, and the only person who overlooks all those overbearing, emotionless ways of mine… of COURSE, I was worried."

She couldn't help smiling at his words and reached out to caress his face with her hand. "Well, I had to make sure, you know, being overemotional and all…" His growl made her giggle softly, which was quickly cut off by a heated kiss that stole her breath away. "And I wouldn't have you any other way."

Claira had indeed been an asshole lately with all of her insanely stupid mistakes and decisions. This was the time to prove herself that she was an adult and Claira had failed greatly. There was no way she'd survive going out on her own, not at this rate! Once all of this was over and everyone was safe, Claira was getting shoved from the nest. There was no way he was going to spend another 18 years looking out for her when she was well aware of what was acceptable and what was not. She would have to learn to stop making stupid choices right quick or she would have a miserable, overwhelming life. Her parents weren't going to be around forever to mop things up either. If she didn't learn from this experience, she was screwed.

"Were we like that do you think?" Probably not. Brooklynn had been reclusive, he had been a bastard, but one who knew what he was doing.

"I was too busy trying to figure out how to deal with my gift and crossing spirits over, along with my studies. I was never in a life-threatening situation like Claira though. I was quiet and reserved, kept to myself." It was nice lying in bed and just talking sometimes with Mark instead of getting down and dirty. "What about you? How were you at her age? Were you put in situations like this or was it pretty quiet for you too?" For some reason, Brooklynn had a dark cloud that always followed her around and her family paid the price, all because of the blood that ran through her and Claira's veins.

"At her age, Taker was dominant… I raised a lot of hell, but I was also trained and knew my limits. It was a matter of choosing to recognize them. Which, as Taker, I didn't. I was arrogant, spiteful…" Mark considered it, rifling through those memories. "I was a cocksucker. But no life or death experiences, not targeting me anyway."

They really were complete opposites and it seemed as though Claira took after her father a lot more than her mother. It was a good and a bad thing. Mark had great qualities and then jackass qualities. It made Brooklynn wonder how they wound up together, even after splitting up for over a year and divorcing.

"You're still splitting the two of you up as if you're not merged." She pointed out amusedly, unable to help herself and gasped when he poked her in the side before pulling her closer. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised she defied me when I told her Dean could only stay over for an hour, and she let him stay the entire night. I just hope she realizes there are consequences to every action she makes in life, both good and bad. Try as we might, we can't protect her forever and I have to come to terms with that."

"What happened before the merging happened because of them. It feels stupid to say me because I wasn't me back then. It's complicated and strange, and I will strangle you if you don't stop laughing, Lynn." Mark was only half-joking, grumbling. "You know, she didn't pull that shit when you were gone. I wonder… she must think you're going to let her slide with things because of how long you were gone." Or Claira was just retesting boundaries, not a good idea when she lived at home.

"Maybe she does and she's wrong. I'm not going to let her slide on shit just because I was gone. I wasn't entirely gone out of her life. She's the one who chose to stay away from me and lived her life that way. My door was always open for her, even if I was depressed and not much fun to be around." Brooklynn refused to take responsibility for Claira's actions because each person made their own decisions and walked their own path. Claira was no different. "I never once stopped being her mother, Mark, not for a second. Just because I didn't live under the same roof, as her, doesn't mean I wasn't her mother. I never told her to stay away from me or told her not to come by to visit. She chose not to, she made those decisions, just like she made the decision to make that deal with Seth to protect Dean and others." That hadn't worked out well since Seth had killed Roman, one of their closest friends. "I feel guilty enough for leaving you guys in the first place, but I won't let her use that to her advantage either."

Brooklynn had retreated into herself and nobody had wanted to be around her because that kind of atmosphere was toxic. It seeped into one's own pores and Claira had a lot of issues with her mother, when she had gone to see her, only to be ignored or half-heartedly spoken too. However… that did not excuse her behavior right now. She was doing things irrationally and sneaking a boy in… not happening. Yes, they had basically given the pair permission to fuck like bunnies if they wished, but he had also said not in his house. That also included sleepovers.

"We'll talk to her in the morning." Or strangle her.

Nodding, silence fell between them for a little while, both enjoying the tranquility of the moment as well as being together again. Brooklynn was terrified of what was to come, of the dimension opening and Nemesis's return to their world. What if they were making a mistake by letting Claira open that dimension? What if the world died because they couldn't let their daughter die for her own choice? Brooklynn shut her eyes, knowing she was a horrible parent for thinking that way, but at the same time, they were going against everything the circle stood for. Protecting the balance between life and death…protecting the world from evil. They were about to let it be unleashed on this world with a half-cocked plan nobody knew would work.

"Mark, we should…draw something up in case we don't make it. I don't have any family and I don't know yours, but…we have to be prepared in case we don't survive this." Claira would because she'd fulfill her part of the blood oath, but there was a very real possibility her parents perished at the hands of Nemesis.

"Darlin', if we don't make it, you can bet your ass it won't be long after that everything else starts to fall as well." Mark pointed out, tightening his arm around her. "Other people will band together, sure, but they'll fall just like us. You do know, we're one of the most powerful Covens on the continent, right? Besides, I don't really have family outside of you and Claira. She'd get everything anyway."

"I'm really scared." She whispered softly, looking up into his emerald eyes and scooted up a little more, resting her forehead against his. "I just got you back. We haven't had enough time together…" Maybe they should've had more children instead of just Claira. Brooklynn had let fear overrun her all her life, even when she was with Mark and instead, she should've overcome it. "Tell me honestly, do you think we'll survive this? Or do you think it's hopeless and we're all going to die?" Would the plan work? Or were they walking right into their deaths?

"Honestly, I don't know, Lynn." He admitted to the nagging thought that had been plaguing him. "The time window between releasing Nemesis, and him exiting that portal, is when we have to get Seth and that's going to be a very narrow window." Taking a bone out of someone, half-Demon and weak or not, then quickly fashioning it into something sharp and pointy… it wasn't going to be a cakewalk.

"Damn it, I wish there was a way to break that blood oath she made with Seth." Brooklynn whispered, truly fearful for her daughter's life, as well as their own, not knowing what the future held.

"So, I did some research last night." Glenn was bored out of his skull and had to pass the time somehow, not wanting to worry himself into an early grave. "I know it might be a longshot, but…I found a descendant of Nemesis and, according to my resource, the body was buried shortly after he was burned alive. It was his sister. Apparently, she wasn't witchcraft, so they didn't burn her alive like him. She's buried, get this, in Houston." It wouldn't take long to get to Houston from Dallas. "Nemesis never knew she existed; her mother adopted her right out the gate to a family in Dallas. How fucking weird is that?"

"Was it the same adoption agency that Seth went through as a baby?"

"BINGO! The very same." Glenn snapped his fingers, turning the laptop screen to show Brooklynn the results. "So, instead of waiting for the dimension to open and trying to get that bone from Seth, why don't we already have one ready?"

Glenn Jacobs was a bonafide genius!

"Glenn, you and I are making a visit to a graveyard tonight." By car, that'd be about a 4-hour drive… they'd have to do it at night. So, they'd leave around 6 this evening, be back… fairly late. He eyeballed the others. "I'd invite the rest of you, but I don't need Lynn or Claira getting ambushed by spirits or a bunch of people in a graveyard." It'd look suspicious as hell and, since Houston was a major city, he wouldn't be surprised at all if there weren't cameras and security in its graveyards.

Everyone else just nodded, leaving the dirty work to Mark when it came to digging up graves.

"Yeah, you have fun with that." Mickie remembered the last time they did something like this and had tossed her cookies all over the place. She was pregnant at the time, but a dead body would make almost anyone's stomach roll.

"I can disable the cameras once we're there with my tablet." Glenn had gotten even techier as the years passed and kept in tune with today's technology.

"Maybe it would be a good idea if you wore masks of some kind. You are big mother fuckers and, if you don't think you won't be spotted, without using a disguise or some kind of magic, think again."

"I'm sure they'll use a cloaking spell, although if someone walks up to the grave and sees dirt being shoveled out of it, without being able to see anyone actually doing it…" Mickie started laughing at the image that popped in her head.

"Remember, Seth is out there too, and he can project himself anywhere." Brooklynn shuddered at the memory of him in their car on the ride back from Roman's funeral. "A disguise and possibly even cloaking yourselves would be a good idea the entire time if you can." If Seth found out what they were planning, he would beat them to the punch and make sure the bones were destroyed before they arrived.

"I can give you a talisman that'll help conserve your magic and it won't take as much out of you as it normally does."

Mark snorted at that, shaking his head. "I've got this." Since merging, he had become a lot better with anything involving his magic, including energy conservation. Cloaking themselves was a simple glamour charm and those didn't involve much energy, period. "Someone else gets to turn it into a blade though." He grinned when Mickie looked uneasy, eyes glinting wickedly.

"You're such an ass… we'll figure that out. We also need to sort out how this blood part is going to work. Just a little bit or do we need to coat the entire thing?" Mickie eyeballed Brooklynn.

"Coat the whole thing. We're not taking any chances with this and…It shouldn't take too much blood to coat a long bone." Brooklynn reasoned, feeling Mark take her hand to lace their fingers together.

"Good idea, as much as I don't want you shedding blood for that bastard, it is better safe than sorry." Randy added supportively, hoping this didn't blow up in their faces.

"So, here's my next question…" Melina spoke up, looking at Brooklynn and Mark. "Do we even know where this is going down at? Where the dimension has to be opened?"

"No, but it will be somewhere in Dallas or else Seth would've told Claira where to meet. They need the full moon for power, apparently." Claira had told her mother everything regarding her meeting with Seth, after Roman outed her with the blood oath.

"We should contact Trish and Steve and get them over here, see if she's had any visions about this. I'd like to scout out the location before the time actually comes to do this."

"Agreed."

"I gotta admit, that's not a bad idea."

"It's been three days and we haven't heard anything, Beth." Brooklynn sighed heavily, leaning against Mark. "I don't think they're coming back…"

"Time to go pay them a visit then." Mickie refused to let that slide, folding her arms in front of her chest with narrowed eyes. "If we have to drag them back here kicking and screaming, so be it. They are part of the circle, just like us, and abandoning us isn't an option right now. Not with the world at stake."

"While Glenn and Mark are out tonight, we should go pay the Austin's a visit and find out where they stand."

"I'll stay here with Claira and John to keep an eye on things and keep the warding since Mark will be gone." Having one Witch/Warlock in the house was essential to their safety and security right now. "Beth, Brooklynn, Melina and Randy can go talk some sense into them."

"Great, just leave me with all the estrogen, why don't you?"

"If Trish had had a vision, they would have been in touch." That had been a bad deal all the way around. "She's mad, not a complete bitch." She had just as much to lose as the rest of them and finding out that her husband was fixed, on top of everything else wasn't easy to swallow either. Not that Mark approved of the crap she had spewed about Claira, but… he was hoping this taught her to let Steve have his balls back.