Wicked Blood

by Emma Dean

The demon had been right. This mentioned the island of Morgana and the members of her clan who’d arrived on the mainland including their companions – raven shifters.

  She turned the page and then bared her teeth in irritation.

  Pages were missing.

  A pop and suddenly the empty chair across from her wasn’t so empty anymore.

  “Looks like someone has deliberately wiped the blood witches and any mention of them from the face of the earth,” Eisheth drawled.

  Mika rolled her eyes. “Coming to brag?”

  Eisheth just chuckled and adjusted his linen blazer. “After that fluke last full moon I’ve been researching. Seems that every book on earth has had any mention of blood witches removed. Including, it seems, your clan’s history.”

  Mika gritted her teeth and flipped the book closed. “Apparently.” She took her witch knife and dug at the ruby on the cover until it popped off into her hand. Mika tucked it into her purse and gave the demon a look, daring him to tell on her.

  His smile only widened. “Well, it seems only the witch books since, according to Hunter, he’s been lending you some from his collection.”

  “He gives me copies to own,” Mika admitted, flipping through the book again.

  Some passages were small and some were chapters long. But they got shorter and shorter the closer she got to the present.

  “That doesn’t include infernal books though.”

  Mika looked up and eyed the demon who was currently inspecting his fingernails. “Have something to share?”

  “Oh, apparently Lucifer has his own library and has been making copies of every book ever created on earth, hell, and heaven. I know for a fact he has a copy of the very book you hold in your hands.”

  She blinked and tried to comprehend exactly how many books that was, but she supposed when one had eternity…

  “And I assume you’re here to be helpful?” Mika asked. “Or are you actually just bragging?”

  The demon leaned forward with a massive grin on his face. “Would you like to pop into hell and fetch it with me?”

  Mika shuddered and shook her head. She wasn’t ready for hell just yet.

  Eisheth shrugged. “Ah well, looks like I’ll have to beg Jess to do me another favor. I’ll have it to you by midnight.” The demon blew her a kiss and then disappeared.

  Eyeing the book in her hand again, Mika shrugged and stuffed that into her purse too. Thank the Fates for massive purses being in style and Audrey’s ability to enchant everything to keep the library from noticing its absence.

  She heaved the bag over her shoulder and headed toward the parking garage where Chuck waited for her.

  Between this and the book at home maybe, just maybe, she would be able to figure out what happened to Elizabeth and her clan’s entire traditions seemingly changing overnight.

  Mika sighed and looked up at Audrey who looked just as frustrated as she did.

  “You would think something that dramatic would be listed here,” Audrey muttered as she flipped another page. “On the other hand I’m impressed your family has kept such a detailed account of their existence.”

  “You know us, so full of ourselves.” Mika was reading up on Victoria first after finding useless information regarding Elizabeth.

  The library was drenched in the setting sunlight. Callie had left for the day, declining a dinner invitation. Now it was just Mika and Audrey, just like it had been when Mika had first arrived at Morgana

  “Or proud.” Audrey shrugged. “If I’d found one of the gold mines and made use of it I would be proud too.”

  “They used magic to find it. Doesn’t really count.” Mika didn’t think it was all that impressive. “I want to know why Elizabeth was about to uncover something huge – something the Council was apparently in on, and then here it says she just married some guy and had a few kids, and then died in childbirth, losing the baby as well.”

  “Rough.” Audrey pulled the coven’s library book closer so she could read. “Says pretty much the same thing in your edition. Victoria was a hunter and it looked like Elizabeth might be as well, but then she settled down and turned the greenhouse into her life’s project.”

  “When she died, Annie took over,” Mika finished for her. “I know, but that doesn’t match what I saw at all. And blood doesn’t lie.”

  Audrey pushed the book away and leaned back in her chair, eyeing the bookshelves. “You could always just go back in and see what else is in those crystals.”

  Mika nodded, flipping through the pages but not really seeing them. What would be in the infernal edition? She’d already sped read through the one they had at home and the one she’d taken from the library.

  Victoria and many Marshall witches before her were powerful, leaders of the coven from time to time. No marriage that was recorded, but fathers of children were listed – it didn’t seem to matter if it was one male or more.

  Some stayed with the clan, some didn’t. Victoria Marshall herself had more than one ‘lover’ and three children – each with a different father. Her youngest was a son who had died at only five years old from being kicked in the head by one of their horses.

  But Eleanor and Eliza grew up and both had children of their own. Eliza had Elizabeth and Annie, who both had the same father – and Elizabeth would later birth Mika’s great-grandmother, Minnie Marshall.

  It was weird seeing how few generations there really were between her and Victoria.

  Eliza, Elizabeth, Minnie, and then her grandmother, who had just passed, Helen. Minnie was the first to survive past the age of fifty – all the other women in her family died of freak accidents or strange illnesses Mika had chalked up to the time period.

  But magic was magic.

  Victoria was a hunter – they usually died young for a witch. She was killed at the young age of sixty by a rabid, feral bear shifter.

  Eliza had died from ingesting poison, which was odd since the Marshall clan had always been so proficient with poisons. There was a note stating it was most likely an accident, but she was older than Victoria, nearly eighty. Still only mid-life for a witch.

  Then Minnie managed to make it to one hundred and twelve, and then died of heart failure. Her funeral had only been seven years ago. Mika had always loved her Grandma Minnie. She’d always whispered secrets to her as a little girl.

  Frowning, Mika flipped back to a picture of her great-grandmother as a young woman. She’d been married off to an influential up and coming clan, but thanks to some rules sticking, the male witch had joined their clan and taken their name.

  Minnie had been quite a beauty and Mika could see why she shared the true name Morganne with both her and Victoria, though for different reasons. Minnie could have been her twin.

  Another interesting bit of information was that children were less frequent after marriage was introduced – and conceiving for witches had always been difficult. In Victoria’s time three children was not very many at all.

  Though witches had always had the benefit of birth control.

  Mika tapped her long black nails on the grey oak table as she studied Minnie, trying to remember what she’d said to her – just as Helen had whispered to her from time to time.

  Had they known? Had they been trying to prepare her in their own way?

  All she could remember was how often both Helen and Minnie had told her witches were warriors once.

  “Mika?”

  “Hm?” she looked up at Audrey and blinked, realizing the sun had set.

  Audrey glanced over at the picture of Minnie and frowned. “You’ve been spaced like that for a while. I got up and peed and everything. Ms. Jenkinson just called us for dinner.”

  Mika stood and picked up the books, eyeing the best hiding places. Claire was so nosy. “Sorry, I’m having a hard time remembering anything my great-grandmother ever said to me.”

  “I’ve been working on memory charms,” Audrey told her.

  Mika shuddered as she hid the books behind a few o
thers. “After that story Kenzie told us? No thanks. I don’t feel like almost dying in a memory.”

  “That’s only because Ash nearly died in that memory, not because of the charm itself,” Audrey said with a snort. “Unless your family tried to kill you I doubt it’ll be that stressful.”

  Mika followed Audrey to the dining room, feeling apprehensive even though she agreed with her. There was a black hole in her memory, just like the missing pages in the book.

  Why couldn’t she recall?

  Stepping into the dining room Mika froze next to Audrey. They both stared at Claire who was sitting at the head of the table in an elegant dress, a glass of wine already in her hand. The look she gave Mika was so nasty she’d even say her sister had sneered at her.

  And Claire had always been so careful to be neutral if she couldn’t be positive.

  “We have guests tonight,” Claire said. “Please change into something appropriate and come back down.”

  Audrey snapped her fingers instead and suddenly they were both wearing floor-length dresses that clung to every curve, hair and makeup done. Mika didn’t want to know how she’d managed something so complex, but she wasn’t going to question it either. The girl had power.

  Claire rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. Mika noticed she was wearing the matriarch jewels to match the red dress she wore.

  Audrey had dressed herself in emerald and Mika in black – just like her soul.

  Chuck suddenly appeared and pulled out Mika’s chair first.

  Great, so this was going to be a full-fledged high society night.

  The doorbell rang and Ms. Jenkinson rushed to answer in her finest uniform – a black suit tailored to perfection.

  Audrey shared a look with Mika and Mika grimaced.

  Her sister had decided to throw a Full Moon Dinner Party.

  11

  Three girls Mika only vaguely knew from Claire’s partying and university days breezed by and Ms. Jenkinson gave Mika an apologetic look.

  Chuck sat them as well and Mika decided she needed to be careful.

  “May I be excused to the restroom for a moment?” Mika asked Claire, following the rules for now. “I didn’t have time.”

  Her sister smiled over her wine glass but nodded. “Be back soon, we have more guests coming.”

  Mika got up as gracefully as she could and headed toward the powder room on the main floor. It was massive and built like a public restroom in a hotel for events just like this.

  As soon as Claire couldn’t see her anymore Mika slipped off her heels and ducked down the hall toward the kitchen. A quick snap of her fingers and the spider charm from her boots appeared in her hand.

  “What is going on?” Mika asked as she came into the kitchen. She noticed Ms. Jenkinson’s daughters were there too, running around harried and sweaty.

  “She’s been locked in her room since last night until an hour ago when she demanded a full six course dinner party,” Ms. Jenkinson said, whipping through a baking spell better than Mika could ever hope to.

  Their housekeeper was the best kitchen witch in San Francisco.

  Chuck reappeared, helping with the food as much as he could, and Mika gritted her teeth. It was so like Claire to do something like this. Traditionally full moon dinner parties were planned a month in advance, but being able to pull one off last minute was some weird new trend all the high society families were doing.

  Well, the ones that clearly had nothing better to do.

  “She’s definitely up to something,” Chuck whispered.

  Mika decided then and there that she couldn’t risk it.

  Whirling around she ran for the library and grabbed the books she’d stashed there. Then she snuck up the stairs, utterly silent thanks to the charm.

  Who else had Claire invited? There was no way she’d ask Kenzie over, but Selene was a matriarch.

  She slid down the hall and muttered the incantation to unlock the wards around her room. Claire was not the brightest, but she was powerful. There was a chance she could break this ward if she felt like it.

  First Mika went to the suitcase with all her other books on blood magic and tossed the clan books in there. Then she went to her vanity where the rubies were locked up.

  Fates this was a pain in the ass. No doubt Claire had planned this exact response which meant Mika probably only had seconds before someone would be checking in on her – perhaps a surprise visit from a Council member.

  “You always look stunning, dove.”

  Mika gasped and looked up to see Corbin sitting in her windowsill, one foot up with an arm hanging over the knee. He was every inch the bad boy she craved. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “It’s a full moon,” he told her. “I want to see the Morrigan, remember?”

  Mika practically threw her rubies and blood crystals at Corbin. “Take these somewhere safe and hide them. This too.” She dragged the suitcase with the books over and dropped them at his feet. “I assume you’re strong enough to manage them all.”

  Corbin stared at her with an oddly satisfying look of surprise.

  “Do it fast enough and I’ll let you be my date,” Mika told him.

  The raven smirked. “You’re so crafty, dove.”

  A moment later he was a raven and flapping his wings off into the sky with the suitcase in his claws. Mika would never understand shifter strength and magic, but she also didn’t need to, to know it worked.

  With that taken care of, she checked her reflection in the mirror.

  Audrey had done fabulous. The eyeliner was sharp enough to cut and the red lipstick was as dark and rich as blood. The strapless dress clung to her breasts, looking like a strong enough breeze might make it fall. But it felt sturdy enough a tornado wouldn’t take it off.

  Maybe one determined raven…

  Shaking her head, she ran back down the stairs and ducked into the hall in front of the bathroom to slip her heels back on.

  Then the doorbell rang.

  Mika waltzed back into the dining room and gave Audrey a nod. Everything was taken care of. Claire would never find anything incriminating now.

  “Everything all right?” Claire asked, turning from her friends for just a moment.

  “Yes, thank you dear sister.” Mika smirked into her wine. As if Claire actually cared and wasn’t just being nosy as usual.

  “Hey, I’ve no idea what I’m doing,” Audrey whispered. “I’ve never been to a fancy dinner party, let alone a high society witch one. There are like six forks. What the hell am I supposed to do with six forks?”

  Chuck brought in Selene next – so Mika had been right about that assumption.

  “Here, sit next to me,” Claire said. “I apologize that you have to sit next to the human-born. She doesn’t really know our ways.”

  The room suddenly became dead quiet. But there was a roaring in Mika’s ears that drowned out everything, including common sense. Her nails dug into the table and Mika slowly turned to face Claire – unable to believe what she’d said.

  “I’m just lucky to be here,” Audrey said quietly, placing a hand over Mika’s.

  Claire needed some sense slapped into her for that disgusting statement. Mika wasn’t going to let her get away with it because Audrey didn’t want to make a scene. She ripped her hand out of Audrey’s and stood.

  Selene glanced between Claire and Mika, clearly not wanting to get in the middle.

  And Claire…she smiled up at Mika as if…

  As if she was waiting for something.

  But what?

  “You are very lucky,” Claire said, but she wasn’t looking at Audrey. She was looking at Mika. “Lucky my sister took pity on a human-born witch with no clan of her own. I almost wonder if she’s been bewitched.”

  Her blood was boiling in her veins and Mika clenched her hands into fists to keep from literally tearing her sister to pieces.

  Claire wanted her to lose control – she wanted Mika to do something in retaliation, to e
xpose herself.

  Did she somehow know what Mika was?

  “So glad I could make it in time,” Corbin said loudly. “And I appreciate you for thinking of me, dove.”

  But Corbin didn’t kiss Mika’s cheek, he kissed Audrey’s.

  Instantly Claire’s smirk turned into a frown and all her high society friends tittered at how handsome Corbin was in his all black suit – the same one he’d worn to Mika’s, grandmother’s funeral.

  Audrey blushed but she took Corbin’s hand when he offered and let him sit on her left. No one wanted to tell the assassin that he’d taken Selene’s chair, so another chair was brought out for her.

  Selene’s blue eyes twinkled as she watched Audrey and Corbin. Whether Claire knew Audrey was a lesbian or not wasn’t clear exactly, but enough witches were bisexual that a new boyfriend or girlfriend wasn’t unusual.

  “Seems he grew tired of your company,” Claire finally said as Ms. Jenkinson’s daughter, Molly, poured more wine. “Can’t say I blame him.”

  Her blood cooled and normal sounds started to filter in again. Insults thrown at her were one thing, but Audrey?

  This was exactly why Mika didn’t think Claire would make a good matriarch.

  “I don’t know, Mika has mystery,” a familiar voice said behind her.

  Her heart stopped and Corbin’s eyes flared into their ruby red glow. Mika turned to see Matthew looking as handsome as ever in a black suit and a black button-down shirt that looked nearly identical to Corbin’s but had a few personal details like his clan’s crest on the tie pin.

  “So glad you could make it, Matthew,” Claire said slyly. Her three friends giggled viciously in unison.

  Was Claire trying to get them back together? Maybe sign another contract for their engagement? Mika felt sick to her stomach as she stared at Matthew. Manners took over and she heard herself offering him the empty chair on her right.

  Claire went on to say they were waiting on a few more guests and then launched into a story about how their family practically founded San Francisco which was why they had so much land in the middle of the city – blah, blah, blah.

  But Mika only had eyes for Matthew. Her heart ached every time she saw him, and she knew it was the loss of everything she’d ever wanted all her life – until recently.