by Martha Woods
* * *
The glare in his eyes was festered with loathing and bitterness as he sat across from them, his arms crossed and held tightly against his chest. “What makes you think I would want to help you after you kidnapped me?” Benjamin questioned, his deep voice laced with venom. Before Kristian could reply, Benjamin stuck up a hand, “And please, save your petty threats of violence. If you want to kill me, go ahead and kill me. See where that gets you in this cockamamie plan of yours.”
Tessa’s hand slipped into Kristian’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze so that he didn’t blister with anger. She understood Kristian’s preexisting hatred for Benjamin. After all, it was the man that Tessa had been dating when away from Kristian. Tessa held some of her own resentment toward him, considering he had been well aware of what Bethany had been doing. He had claimed he cared for Tessa, but then kept his lips sealed until after the fact. However, Tessa understood that he was required to stay loyal to the Calder High Priestess, or closest thing to it, so she tried her best to remember that he wasn’t all bad. She could feel Kristian’s anger prickling right under the surface. Tessa took the lead, looking over to Benjamin, “What is it that you want?”
“What do you think? I want to be let go.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Kristian instantly snorted.
“Kristian…” Tessa murmured, wishing he wouldn’t be so impulsive with his anger. His emerald eyes slid to look at her, and a huff escaped his lips. Tessa looked at Benjamin. “You have to understand why we are hesitant to do that… But if you help us find someone and stay with us through the process, in case we need you for something else… I don’t see why we couldn’t let you go.”
“I do,” Kristian chirped. “He could go back to the Calder and tell them about the child, Tess.”
“Do you think I’m just some heartless fuck? I wouldn’t put an innocent child in danger like that,” Benjamin rebutted. His posture shuffled and he did his best to keep himself composed. “I don’t know how to convince you that I wouldn’t do that.”
Silence fell over the room, all of them realizing that he was right about that—and if that was the price he was demanding to help them, then Tessa didn’t see how they were going to get around that. To just give in would be risking their potential child’s life. “I have a compromise,” Kristian suddenly stated. All eyes were on him then. “We will let you go once the child is born… But, there will be a transition period, where you go off with one of our vampires watching over you. That way if you do tell the Calder, my family is far gone and well hidden by the time you can tell them.”
Benjamin’s fingers drummed against his arms as he thought over Kristian’s words. “Would this transition happen before or after the child is born?” he questioned.
“After.”
Benjamin’s eyes narrowed, clearly not happy about that. “How long would this last?”
Kristian shifted his head side to side. “Two or three months. That way we can make sure our tracks are covered efficiently, and have been gone long enough for any hint of a trail to go cold.”
“So I’m going to be here for potentially a full year?” Benjamin scoffed. Nine months for a pregnancy, then up to three months on watch.
“Would you rather stay with us forever and always?”
Benjamin went quiet, his jaw setting in place and he fixated his eyes on a spot on the wall behind Kristian. He was irritated by the terms, but realized that it was possibly as good as he was going to get. “Fine. It’s a deal.”
“Thank you, Benjamin,” Tessa chimed in finally, trying to ease the tension between the two men. Ben glanced over to her, his expression softening the slightest bit, and nodded once.
“Now, help us find someone to help turn Tessa human,” Kristian ordered.
Benjamin glared over to him. “Well, no lowly Calder witch can pull something like that off. You need an elder…” his voice trailed off as he wracked his brain for details. “I actually know of one. She was actually a council member back when Leticia was in power. Her name is Edna.”
“Why would she be willing to help us?” Tessa asked curiously.
Benjamin let out a sigh, “Edna actually left the clan when the council decided to try and find you as a baby. She didn’t like them trying to use an innocent life as a power play. She’s very, very old, and was part of the generation of witches that were more about the sisterhood and keeping one another protected. If there was anyone you should seek help from, it is her.”
Tessa was stunned by the news that a witch had left her clan because of them trying to kidnap Tessa. Benjamin was right, if there was any witch that could help them, if would be the one he described. “How do you contact her?”
He scratched his chin and let out a heavy sigh, “I’ll actually need your help with that. It’ll take a small ritual.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to,” Tessa nodded. “What do we need for the ritual?”
Benjamin listed off the items using his fingers to count, “A goblet or bowl, human blood, and then some minerals and powders I’m sure that witch of yours will have.”
“Her name is Calla,” Tessa responded right away. Even though Tessa was sure she wasn’t Calla’s favorite person by any measure, Tessa still cared about her and wanted her to have the respect she deserved.
“Does it matter?” Benjamin snorted before reaching onto the side table to grab a notepad and pen. He wasn’t even a witch and yet he had the mentality of one. Tessa had to resist rolling her eyes. “You’ll have to be the one to do the spell, of course. I’ll talk you through it.” After scribbling down a list, he ripped the paper from its bind and held it up between two fingers for Tessa to take; a smirk on his face.
Tessa nodded and let her gaze shift to Kristian before standing and taking the list from him. Without saying anything else to Benjamin, the two of them exited the room hand-in-hand and headed for the stairs. The conversation with Benjamin was already replaying in her mind, as though it had it on a tape recorder. She was glad that Kristian and Benjamin were able to come to an agreement, so that they could move forward in the process. The next step, however, had her stomach twisting into knots already. Asking Calla for supplies.
It took force to swallow the lump that had built up in her throat. Tessa knew it was going to be a painful, as well as forced, interaction. From how much time she and Kristian had been spending together, Tessa hadn’t even begun to make things right with Calla. Calla had pledged her loyalty to her and put her life on the line for Tessa’s on so, so many occasions. She had abandoned Calla without a word, just as she had Kristian. Only, it didn’t just result in hurt feelings, but Calla being once again cast out of her clan. It had meant so much to her when the Firehaven had reopened that door when they were training Tessa, and Tessa had ruined that for her. While she knew that Calla was an understanding and loving person, and would eventually forgive her, Jared was who she was most frighten of at that point. He was protective over Calla, and rightfully so. She was an antelope in a lion’s den. Then for Tessa to constantly call on her to put herself in danger and to be at her beckon call? Granted, Tessa hadn’t been a tyrant by any means, but knew that she and Kristian had asked a lot of her—and too much at times.
Kristian’s thumb rubbed into the back of her icy hand. It must have been clear on her face that she was nervous about confronting them “It’ll be fine. It may be a little awkward, but they are still around, and are for a reason. You know?”
Tessa gave a sharp nod. He was right about that. If they were fed up, they would have left by then—Jared had made that very clear. Making their way up to the bedrooms, Tessa remembered Jared had wanted them to have their own cabin, but with the newborns nearby, feared that one would get away and try to ambush them. There was always strength in numbers, especially when dealing with newborns.
They approached Jared’s door, and Kristian gave it a quick tap before stepping back. After just a moment, the door opened. Jared stood in the door frame, and j
ust behind him, Tessa could see Calla sitting in the floor with her pet rabbit. Upon seeing who it was, Jared closed the door more, to make sure he was the only one in view. “Yes?” he questioned. What a warm welcome.
“Hey, we’re working on something and in need of some supplies from Calla,” Kristian told him simply, clearly wanting to keep vague about what it was that they were doing. “May we step in for a minute?”
Jared’s eerily beautiful blue eyes scanned them up and down, assessing their threat level. He then extended his hand, his way of asking for the list. Tessa handed it over, producing a small, polite smile. He noticed it, but his facial expression didn’t change at all. Jared merely glanced at the list before opening the door wide enough to gesture that they could come in. Turning on his heel, he walked over to Calla and handed her the piece of paper before leaning against the nearby dresser.
“Hey, Calla,” Tessa called over meekly, the same polite smile on her lips as she and Kristian walked into the room.
“Hi,” she responded, her voice even quieter than Tessa’s own. Calla stood with the bunny in her arms, moving to the expansive home that Jared had put together for the fuzzy little thing when they moved to the cabin.
As she put him away, Tessa spoke again, “What’s her name?”
“His name is Lestat,” Calla responded, correcting the fact she had called it a girl.
Kristian snorted lightly next to her, “Really? Lestat?”
Tessa elbowed his side, already feeling the slight annoyance coming from Jared. “I think it’s cute to name him after a vampire. Makes him fit in with the family,” she commented, her eyes sliding from Kristian to Calla.
“I thought so too,” Calla responded, latching the cage shut. She then moved over to an armoire, keeping the list in one hand while digging through the various drawers with the other. She sat small vials and little velvet bags on top of the wardrobe. The room was unnervingly quiet as she did, no one having anything to say to anyone else. The clinking and clanking of the glass containers she shifted through was the only noise in the room, making it seem so much louder than it was. Tessa racked her brain for something to say, but feared that small talk would only make the situation more awkward and tense. Nothing felt right but a sincere apology, and she knew that right then wasn’t the time.
Once she was done collecting the materials, Calla placed them inside a small wooden box and walked over. “I take it Benjamin wrote this list. Just make sure he knows that I have very limited supplies. What I have is all that I have until I can figure out how to get more. Also, let him know that he isn’t funny at all.”
Tessa’s brows came together at her finishing comment. What did she mean by that? Calla handed her the box with the list on top. Looking down at the paper, Tessa read through the ingredients, and realized the last thing on it was “one rabbit’s foot”. “Oh my god,” Tessa groaned. “I’m sorry about that. He really isn’t funny. Thank you for the supplies, though.”
“He is Calder. So I’m sure he’s trying to be a prick. Rivalry never ends between the clans, even when you’re displaced,” Calla explained without looking Tessa in the eye before joining Jared’s side. His strong arms wrapped around her, and the two couples stared at one another awkwardly. They had all once gotten along fairly well, but where there had once been a sisterly and brotherly bond, there was tension and hurt. She could feel it in the air between them. Tessa was determined to make things right, however, and would as soon as the chaos of trying to get pregnant subsided—a notion that still felt foreign and strange to think about. Without words exchanged, Kristian and Tessa headed for the door. “Tessa,” Calla called, giving the two of them pause. She turned her cheek to look back at her. “I’m not sure what exactly you guys are doing with that spell… But be careful and wise. Just because he isn’t a witch, doesn’t mean he isn’t going to trick you.”
Tessa studied Calla’s face, and focused on the emotions that she was giving off. It wasn’t out of malice or disdain that Calla was saying it, but concern and worry. For herself and the others, but mostly Tessa. It warmed Tessa’s heart and gave her some tangible hope that things between the two of them could actually be repaired. However, she kept her calm and gave a simple nod. “Thank you, Calla. We’re being as careful as we can,” she responded to her. “Enjoy your evening.”
As they walked down the hall, Kristian’s warm touch appeared on her back. “That wasn’t too awful, was it?” he questioned.
“No, I suppose not… Still awkward as hell, though,” she sighed.
They walked back down to where they had parted ways with Benjamin to find him in standing at a dining table, a silver serving bowl and a bag of human blood from the refrigerator in front of him. His icy eyes slid over to them when they approached. “I’m not sure if old blood will work, but it’s worth a try so that we don’t have to go hunt one down just to bleed.”
Tessa nodded and sat the box on the table next to the bowl. “Calla wanted to let you know that these are very limited materials. So, in other words, don’t fuck it up because there are only so many chances you can have.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Benjamin grumbled, opening the box and began looking through the materials.
“How exactly do you know this spell, if you’re not a witch?” Tessa asked. She knew that Kristian and herself needed to be more pointed and cautious with Benjamin. He was still enemy blood, even if Tessa technically was too. They didn’t know him well enough to trust him—even if he had been kind enough to
“You pick things up when you’re around so many witches. Besides, my grandmother’s hands had given out on her due to arthritis, so I helped her put together her spells when it was too much for her,” Benjamin explained, already beginning to pour the blood into the bowl.
“Why wouldn’t she just use a spell to heal her hands?” Tessa questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.
Benjamin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, “Maybe it was her way of spending time with her grandchildren. Who’s to say?”
Damn, that was a sweet sentiment and one that Tessa didn’t have the grounds to argue with. While Tessa had obtained a great deal of power through the rituals she went through with Bethany, but there was no substance to it. She could do things just by thinking about them. Her knowledge of magic that actually used materials was limited to just what she had learned from the Firehaven witches. Tessa was thankful for the instinctual understanding of Calder magic she had gained, knowing that she would be able to figure out if Benjamin was trying to pull one over on them when it came to the incantation of the spell itself.
Benjamin then stepped to the side, and gestured for Tessa to stand at the bowl. “Alright, her name is Edna Worthington. She is around three hundred years old. Wispy white hair, deep wrinkles around her mouth and down her neck. Her eyes are the same Calder blue as mine, but have started to cloud with age. I’m telling you this because you have to keep her in mind when you do the spell, or else it won’t work.” Tessa nodded in response. “I wrote down the spell on that paper there. Read one line at a time, and I’ll add the ingredients to the concoction. Go ahead and clear your mind and get into the mindset. Try your best to keep your identity hidden. Say you are a hybrid witch, and are seeking guidance. You may mention me—my last name is Edwards. This woman was an old friend of my grandmother.”
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she began sucking in deep breaths. The task was easier said than done, considering how much she had on her mind these days. There was so much up in the air and so much planning to do if things did work out in favor of having a child. Oh, she was working in reverse. Tessa did her best to distance herself from such thoughts, knowing her mind needed to be uncluttered. Once she found her center, she nodded to Benjamin and opened her eyes.
“Good, now go ahead and read the first line,” Benjamin instructed as he carefully poured in drops of a peculiar gray liquid.
Tessa looked to the paper that was next to the bowl, clearing her throat befor
e speaking in the archaic language. “Sister Edna Worthington, lying somewhere in the land, perhaps far or wide—prithee, do you hear me?” Benjamin reached for a small jar of coarse black powder, and sprinkled it in. A low bubbling noise began in the dish, though no movement was noticeable. “I reach for you, through the abilities of my mothers of yesteryear. I beseech you for your guidance, knowledge, and wisdom.” Benjamin then placed in a single, delicate white feather. The faint ripples moved to the sides of the bowl, but then traveled back inward—again, and again, in slow, even rhythm. “Call to me sister! Just as I have called to you. Make your presence known. Grace me with the sound of your voice. Can you hear me sister?”
The crests of the ripples grew taller suddenly and the troughs deepened. The speed then increased, the waves moving back and forth rapidly, yet in a strangely calm manner. It wasn’t a violent push and pull of liquid, but just fast and strong. Not once did it splash out of the bowl. Then, as though it were far, far in the distance, Tessa could hear a shaky, soft voice, “Who is this?”
Tessa looked up to Benjamin, whose crystal blue eyes were burning into her as he watched her attentively. “I think I hear her… She’s asking who it is.”
“Reiterate that you’re a hybrid and mention myself,” he instructed firmly.
Tessa nodded and closed her eyes to focus on where the voice had come from, “I’m a hybrid witch. I’m here with Benjamin Edwards. We wish to meet with you.”
“What for?” the same disembodied voice called.
“A matter that I would be more comfortable with discussing in person.”
There was a long pause. Tessa bit her lip in nervousness, worried that the witch wouldn’t be willing to meet with them without knowing who Tessa was—but at the same time, wouldn’t meet with them if she knew who Tessa was, either. “If Benjamin is really there with you… Tell me his grandmother’s name.”
A big wave of relief crashed over Tessa at the sound of Edna responding. “What’s your grandmother’s name?” Tessa rapidly shot at Benjamin. “She’s asking to prove you are here with me.”