by R L Medina
“She would have come back for us if she hadn’t died. I know she would have. She was our sister.”
Sorrow filled me. Jesse’s conviction rang in her words, but I wasn’t so sure I could believe it so easily. Not after what I’d learned about her role in Rafael’s father’s death. That and Tío Javier. My mom betrayed everyone she loved. Everyone but Papi. Was that why she’d done it?
“When she came to me, she was lost. She needed a place to hide. Safe from the GRIMMs. Jimena promised us sanctuary.”
“Why did she need sanctuary from the GRIMMs? What did she do?”
Jesse sighed deeply, forehead creasing in worry. “Rose, what I’m about to tell you is going to hurt.”
Chills crawled up my spine. My throat turned dry. Thoughts raced in my mind, trying to piece out the puzzle.
I steeled myself. “Tell me.”
“Your mother was pregnant when she came to us.”
I frowned. “Pregnant? You mean I have… had a sibling? But then I’m not firstborn.”
Hope stirred inside me.
Pain flashed in Jesse’s eyes. “You are an only child.”
My heart plummeted. “So, she and my father… they were together when she left the GRIMMs. Is that why she left?”
“No, child. She left because…” Distress swam in her eyes, “She was pregnant with you, but the ordinaire wasn’t your father.”
Air whooshed out of my lungs. My ears rang. No. No. It couldn’t be true. Papi’s face flashed in my mind, the memory twisting in my heart like a knife.
I didn’t trust myself to speak. A tremor ran through me and I couldn’t breathe.
“Who?” My voice was hoarse.
Jesse bit her lip. “His name was Julian Peña. He was the alpha of Los Reyes.”
Rafael’s dad? No. Stunned, I couldn’t respond. My stomach rolled and my skin was flushed. Tears welled in my eyes. Hot, angry tears at this newest revelation.
Papi wasn’t my real father. My mom betrayed him just like everyone else in her life. Hatred boiled deep inside me. My fists curled and uncurled. Desperately, I wanted to get away from the pain. This couldn’t be the truth.
“But you didn’t get the gene. His gene.”
I frowned at her. “What?”
“Werewolf gene. You didn’t inherit it.”
Shock ran through me. I hadn’t even thought of that, still recovering from the first blow.
“Then I guess I should be lucky.” The bitterness in my voice echoed through.
Jesse reached out a hand and squeezed mine. I didn’t want any more information from her. Her words only brought me pain.
“I’m not telling you this to hurt you, Rose. But to understand everything, you had to know.”
I blinked back tears and glanced away. “Did… did my… did he know I wasn’t his daughter?”
Her head cocked. “Yes. He knew, but it didn’t matter. To him, you were his daughter. Before Jimena locked me up, I met him and your mother. They were happy.”
My shoulders shook as I tried to hold back the sorrow. After learning this, his death felt even more raw. Why didn’t he tell me? Was he ever going to tell me?
“It was my fault your mother even came to be here. She came to me, to join my coven, but we were so small and dying. Jimena came and promised to take us in, we pledged ourselves to her. I thought it was the better choice than our coven dying out.”
Jesse shook her head and swiped the tears from her face. “I should have let my coven die out.”
Pity filled me at her grief. “You didn’t know.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “My mother did she kill him? The werewolf.”
I couldn’t bring myself to call him father. How could I? I’d never known the man.
“No. She loved him. That’s why she ran from the GRIMMs. No one could know they broke the law.”
“But I thought she had to bring his heart to Jimena as initiation to join the coven.”
Jesse frowned. “No. She was already initiated. What happened to Julian was all Jimena.”
“She killed him?”
“Yes. He refused to give up the wizard.”
My heart skipped. “The wizard? Do you know where he is?”
Her face fell. “No. No one knows where he went.”
“But you knew him?”
“I never met him, but he was your mother’s friend. He helped her leave the GRIMMs and then he just disappeared. But Los Reyes, they might know where he went.”
I shook my head. “No. They don’t remember him.”
Her lips pursed, a hand tapping in thought. “Don’t remember him? He took their memories?”
“I guess?”
She fell quiet, her eyes staring at me, but I could tell her mind was elsewhere. Thinking about the wizard?
“Do you know his name? The wizard?”
“No.”
My heart plummeted. I was no closer to getting any answers that could actually help me—help us out of the oath.
“Why do they need us for this ritual?”
Jesse rubbed her hands together as if trying to keep herself warm. “Jimena wants to be the most powerful supreme ever. More powerful than any of the others. She wants to become the ruler of all witches. The vampires and shifters too.”
I glanced at the queen who stood facing away from us. She could hear us though and I wondered if she knew anything about what Jesse said.
“Why would the others follow her?”
“Because she promises them freedom. To take back control and destroy the GRIMMs.”
My eyes widened. “But… she can’t. The GRIMMs are too powerful.”
Ash snorted. I glanced at her and the others. They were witches. They didn’t care what happened to the GRIMMs. Fear seized me. If all the supernatural beings allied together against us…. would they win? Us? When did I start thinking of myself as one of them?
I turned back to Jesse. Her blue eyes watched me, as if waiting for me to freak out. Swallowing my fear, I met her gaze. There were still more questions that needed answers.
“How will our blood help her become more powerful?”
She nodded as if she’d anticipated my words. “It will give her strength for the transformation.”
“Transformation?”
“She’s going to become the first hybrid. Witch, wolf, and vampire. The power of all three, but the only way she could survive it would be to absorb the power of the firstborns. The newest generation of firstborns”
I digested her words carefully. Absorb the power? The words made it sound like some harmless procedure and not the terrifying, horrific, murderous thing that it was. How could the rest of the coven be okay with it? Giving up their daughters and sons… for this?
“If she succeeds, she’s going to become the most powerful extraordinaire we’ve seen… since the ancient time… or maybe ever.”
A sliver of fear slithered down my back. The picture of her in the book I’d found came to mind. “Is she immortal?”
Jesse snorted. “Not yet. The transformation will make her immortal.”
“But… I saw a photo of her in the past and she still looked the same. Why doesn’t she age?”
“She does, but very slowly. Jimena has skill in various types of magic. It gives her unnatural abilities.”
I glanced at the vampire queen and then the others. They crowded near us, listening. Some sat on the dirty ground on thin blankets and others stood. There was a bathroom, but no beds or furniture.
How long had they been kept there?
“Jimena has been waiting to bring you.”
“Where are we? Still in Los Angeles?”
“Outside of the city.”
Hope stirred within me. The GRIMMs could find us. Another question popped into my head.
“Did she know I was alive this whole time? Is she the one that killed my mother?”
Pain flashed across Jesse’s face. “Yes. She put a hex on her.”
My lip curled as I r
emembered the witch’s words. She’d been there all along. Watching and waiting. We were never safe from her.
“Why didn’t she grab me when I was a baby, then?”
Jesse shrugged. “You didn’t have your sight yet. She wanted to wait. Until she was strong enough to keep the GRIMMs away and you were ready. If she took you when you were young, she feared your uncle would send the GRIMMs after her and she couldn’t risk catching their attention… not yet.”
“Well, she has it now. All of them will be coming after her.”
“Yes, but now she has the shifters and vampires on her side.”
A scoff interrupted us. “My people would never side with that witch.”
We turned to the vampire queen. Her eyes were narrowed, daring us to argue with her.
“They already have. Some of them are here. They attacked us under her orders.” I shot back.
She continued to scowl, but anger flashed in her eyes. Not anger at me, but at the realization that she’d been betrayed by her own people.
“What is she going to do with the vampire queen? Do you know?”
The queen shot us dagger with her eyes. I flushed, feeling slightly guilty for talking about her right in front of her.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure nothing good. She’s already convinced the vampires to give their blood to the shifters and the witches. I think she’s saving the queen for herself.”
A startled look flashed on the vampire’s face, but quickly disappeared. “They would never give up their blood for that witch.”
“They already have. Jimena promised them they could elect a new monarch. Their own monarch.”
The vampire stormed toward us, her long purple dress and hair whipping out behind her. My heart leapt into my throat as she bore down on us.
“There is no monarch but me.” Her yellow eyes were lit with fury.
Jesse stared at her, unfazed while I fought the urge to cower behind the large witch. Pissing off the vampire queen was not the smartest thing I could have done.
I pushed down my fear. “Maybe if we can find a way out, you can stop her. Stop her from stealing your throne.”
Her eyes shot to mine. “My court would never allow that to happen. There is only one queen, and it is me.”
“Even your court cannot stop her now. She’s too powerful. Who takes the throne if you are killed?” Jesse asked.
“She will not kill me.”
I shook my head at her stubbornness. How could she keep denying what was already happening? A part of me felt sorry for her, but if she didn’t want to believe the truth, then we couldn’t help her, and she wouldn’t help us find a way out.
There had to be a chance to escape. If we all worked out a plan together, maybe, just maybe, we’d be able to outwit the supreme.
Giving up was not an option. My friends and family… they could still be alive and if they were, they needed me.
Jesse winced, holding a hand to her chest.
I frowned, “Are you okay?”
Her smile was sad. “I’m dying. Been trying to use magic without a conduit for too long, trying to get us out of here. I don’t recommend it.”
My heart skipped. Dying. No. Not another person. Someone who’d been part of my mom’s life and who could have been part of mine. Why did fate insist on taking everyone closest to me?
“But if we get out of here, you’ll be okay?”
“No. It’s too late to reverse the damage. The magic is eating me from the inside.”
I shuddered at the imagery.
“And the worst part is, even with the magic flowing through me, I haven’t been able to produce enough for a single chant. Not a single one.”
Her eyes darted away, shoulders slumping.
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She’d given her entire life for the witches and their coven and it didn’t matter. She would die, trapped like an animal down there with us. The unfairness of it burned a hole right through me.
No. Not another life stolen. I have to fix this. Save them all.
17
Worry gnawed at me as I paced the room. Ash and the others watched me with a mixture of boredom and annoyance.
“There’s no way out without our magic,” the young witch finally snapped at me.
I flinched at her words but continued walking the room. It was only my first day of captivity and sitting still wasn’t something I did well. But the others, they’d been there for who knew how long. Most of them had grown complacent. I could see it in their eyes—they’d already given up. Not me.
Not Ash either. There was still a fire in her eyes. She would fight to the end, same as me, but after so much time her fire was fading.
“We have to try something.” My voice bounced off the walls. I hated how desperate it sounded.
James sneered at me. “We’ve tried everything, GRIMM.”
The word was meant to be an insult, but it was beginning to lose its sting. GRIMM, witch, werewolf, or human. None of the labels mattered. Either way, I was going to be sliced open and left to die if I didn’t think of something soon.
“So, you guys are okay with dying then?”
One of the younger witches broke into sobs. Ash shot me a glare, which I deserved. My face warmed with guilt.
“We have a plan.” The witch exchanged a look with James.
Hope flared small and bright inside me. A plan. That was good.
“A fool’s plan.” Jesse clucked her tongue.
I turned to the older witch, expecting her to explain further. She wrung her shaky hands together and sank to the floor. Concern swept over me as she laid her head against the floor, curling in on herself. Her eyes clenched shut.
“Jesse?”
“Leave her. She can’t hear you.” Ash’s face fell.
“Why? What’s wrong? Is it the magic?”
She gave me an incredulous look. “Of course, it’s the magic. She’s dying.”
Her voice carried a hint of sorrow though her face remained unmoved. She’d already accepted the witch’s fate, but I couldn’t. Jesse could be the last link to my mom—the woman she’d become after the GRIMMs, and the only one who could help me find the wizard. It was a selfish reason to want her to live and the shame of it filled me. Maybe I was more like my mother than I thought.
“Is there any way to save her? If we get out?”
James snorted behind me, but I didn’t bother to look at him. I was too busy studying Ash’s face and waiting for a reply.
Her eyes stared back at me. “No. Didn’t you listen? The damage is irreversible. She was stupid to try to wield magic without a conduit.”
Fire burned in my belly. “She was trying to help you! To save you all.”
She glanced at the crumpled witch, forehead creasing in pain. “I know, but it was stupid. She couldn’t handle it, especially not by herself.”
“Why didn’t anyone else try to help? To use the magic together? Then maybe she wouldn’t be dying!”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “It doesn’t work that way. The more of us trying to summon, the greater the magic would be. It would have destroyed us all completely.”
“Right and you’d rather die on the altar for Jimena.”
Her jaw clicked, the sound breaking the tension. I shrank back from her murderous glare. Too far. I had a habit of pushing people too far with my words.
Everyone fell silent, their eyes watching us. Even the vampire queen turned her head toward us. Probably loving the show.
James rushed to stand at her side, eyes narrowed on me. “Oh no you don’t. You do not get to show up and act the royal bitch. Act like you care about any of us. You’ve had what 16? 17 years of freedom? Most of us have been here our whole lives.”
His words struck home. I glanced at the others, their faces filled with anger and anguish. A lump grew in my throat.
Ash smiled. A smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You really are Rosa’s daughter, aren’t you?”
I stumbled back
, blinking the tears threatening to spill. My chest tightened. No. I wasn’t like her.
“I’m not.” My voice was small.
She tossed her hair back and sighed. “We’re not your enemies, Rose. If I could save Jesse, I’d do it. But I can’t. I do have a plan though.” Her arm swept the room. “We have a plan.”
“When they take us to the altar to begin the ritual. That’s when we’ll fight. Call on whatever magic is available, try to find conduits if possible. We are not going silently to our grave.”
The witches murmured their agreement and guilt filled me. Maybe they hadn’t given up like I assumed. Still recovering from James’s lashing, I didn’t say anything though my mind raced through the scenario she gave.
Call on whatever magic. I didn’t know how to do that. Out of everyone in the room, I was probably the most useless one.
My eyes traveled the vampire queen. She’d turned back around, standing primly next to the bottom of the stairs. Apparently not interested in our conversation or concerns anymore. What was she waiting for? For them to open the door again?
I turned back to face Ash, feeling her gaze still on me.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
She nodded at my words. Forgiving me for what I’d said? James was unmoved. He continued glaring daggers at me, clearly not the type to easily give up a fight. I snorted. Neither was I.
“Help? What can you do to help?” He scrunched his nose at me as if I smelled.
After the night I’d had, maybe I did.
I opened my mouth to answer him but was cut off by the sound of the door swinging open. People stormed in. No, not people—shifters. Their faces were morphed, and I couldn’t tell if it was because I saw through the glamour now or because they’d dropped their shields.
They snarled as they moved toward us. There was nothing human in their eyes.
My heart leapt to my throat. Were they coming for us? No. Not now.
A dark blur raced for the top of the stairs but was struck by an invisible force. It fell in a heap of purple and black fabric against the ground. The vampire queen.
She jumped to her feet, staring daggers at the intruders.
It was the witch guy from before. He stood above us with a blank look before raising his hand. The others scattered, fear shining in their eyes. I followed.