by Alina Banks
“There is no truce, Ana, no matter what you might think. They attacked the leader of the coven, and that means they have to die.”
Chapter Thirteen
As Mom walked away, I stayed back. Miss Cane looked at me. “You’re worried.”
“I am. Mom’s going to do something stupid. She’s letting her emotions get in the way of making a logical choice right now, and that…” I shook my head. “I hate this thought, but I think she’s going to end up making me the other leader of the coven.”
“Probably.” She shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do about that right now. What I think we need to be doing is preparing for when that happens.” There was a moment of silence. “I’ve been thinking a lot about my position in the hospital and what that means right now. Madeline, if you’re right, isn’t going to make any moves until Lilah does. If we can stop her from doing anything for a while, then we might be okay. If we can’t…well, she’s going to throw us into a war we aren’t ready for, and there will only be two of us.”
“Honestly, part of me wishes Madeline had left it for a few days. That way, we would have had time to prepare for Mom’s temper tantrum, because she was never the person who was meant to be the coven leader for one very specific reason - she obviously can’t see the bigger picture. She should be working with you so the two of you can do what’s right for the coven, rather than making the decisions alone.”
“We both know that, and she knows that too. It’s just that her emotions getting in the way, and I hope we’ll be able to make her see that the right choice is to wait.”
“It’s more than likely that we won’t be able to. You heard what she said. She wants to take out the vampires, because that, to her, is the most important thing. Nothing about the decision is logical.” I nibbled my bottom lip. “I’m going to have to tell Damien how Mom reacted. I don’t think I can hide it from him.”
“Don’t. We need to put both of us first if Lilah really is willing to make this suicidal choice. Even if the vampires were lying to us, it would give us the time we need to be able to prepare for the fight that’s coming. We both know how hard it’s going to be to defeat them, and that’s why I’ve been working on something that might actually help make winning easier, as long as we’re careful.”
“What is it?”
“A poison that will only work on vampires. We need to know who the vampires are feeding on in order to make use of it, because we can give it to whoever they take blood from in order to weaken them. If Lilah runs headfirst into war too quickly, I won’t have a chance to do anything that will help us make this easier.”
Damien was waiting for me when I got to school. I had a feeling he would be, so I’d asked Alex to keep his distance, even though I hated doing it. Breathing in deeply, knowing I was going to need to tell Damien the truth, I tried to find the right words, at a point when I didn’t think there were any right words. Stepping over to him, I shook my head. “Mom was really angry. I don’t have any reason to believe, right now, that she’s going to be willing to listen to reason, but both Miss Cane and I are doing our best to convince her not to make the wrong choices.” I sighed. “We tried last night after the party. She wouldn’t listen. She saw Madeline’s decision to take her memories as an attack on the leader of the coven. That means there will be war.”
“For now, it does.” His eyes met with mine. “Should she attack us, we will do what we have to do, and I know that means you’re going to take her position as leader of the coven. What will you be doing?”
“Please don’t. I hate that thought, so…” I sighed. “I want to believe that Mom will come around. If she doesn’t, then you won’t have to worry about us doing anything to harm you, unless you do something to harm us first.”
He touched my shoulder. “We won’t be doing anything to harm you.” As he had done before, he gently probed my mind, hunting down thoughts, and I hated that. At the same time, I didn’t try to keep him out. “You still aren’t entirely willing to trust me, are you?”
“You’re a vampire, Damien. I don’t believe I should trust you, especially since you were transformed by a demon. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Nothing more.”
“Ana, I won’t ever do anything to harm you. If my family does, I’ll intervene. The witches were right. I know that now. Last time I was here, I couldn’t see it until I spent some real time with Violet, and she was the one who was able to make me see things the way they’ve always been. I don’t want the demon to win. If we do what he wants us to, he probably will, unless you can stop him.”
“We will do whatever we can.” I shrugged. “We’re not strong as a coven, but I am the strongest witch they’ve seen, which is probably because I’m needed.”
“That’s something I know you are right about. You are needed, more than you will ever know, and that’s why I’m not going to do anything to fight you. I never will.” His eyes met with mine, and I could see the certainty within them. “The demon has always said he wants to claim his world, but I think he wants both worlds. He wants total control. I’m not going to let that happen.”
“Only, that’s nothing more than words right now. I have to see what happens next, Damien, especially since I don’t know the rest of your family.” I raked a hand through my hair. “It’s not as though I really know you, either. We’ve spent some time together. Barely any, considering how much time I’ve spent with Sabrina and James, or Alex.” I ran my tongue over my bottom lip. “You have to know what happened to Principal Woods.”
Slowly, Damien nodded. “I know.” He breathed in deeply. “His choices were his own. Our choices are our own. You have to keep in mind we aren’t going to make the same choices he did. We didn’t choose this path. We never wanted to be vampires. Maybe there will be some way for you to give us back our mortality.” He looked down for a moment. “You can’t understand what this is like. Going through something like this…I wish I could describe it to you. I wish you could understand what it’s like to suddenly become something different. Something so different from being human. You’re a witch. You’re still mortal. You didn’t give that up for your magic.”
“No, I didn’t, but my life has been affected in different ways by the demon.” I shrugged. “A demon I didn’t even know existed until a few months ago. I’m newer to this than you realize, Damien, and I’m still learning what it means to be a witch. I know what it’s like to suddenly find yourself as an entirely different person.”
“Was telling him so much of the truth a good idea?” Alice’s eyes met with mine. “I understand the reasoning, but he now knows you don’t know as much about what it means to be a witch as someone of your age normally would.” She ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “Your priority has to be learning how to deal with the vampires as a witch.”
“Considering what happened last night, I have already decided that’s what I need to be doing.” I shrugged. “I’m certain the vampires already know how dire the situation is, otherwise the demon wouldn’t have sent them here. There are three witches in this coven. One of those witches is Mom, and that…I don’t even know if I should be saying this about her, but we both know how bad things are. She shouldn’t be the leader of this coven.” I bit down hard on my lip. “It’s not as though we have a choice, because of who she is, but…I hate it. I hate that I look at Mom and see her limitations.”
“The reason Lilah reacted the way she did is that she knows what her limitations are, and she knows that she is the weakest link right now. Going to war is the least logical decision she could have possibly made, all things considered, but she wants the vampires to pay for what they did to her. She hates that they could take advantage of how weak she is, and now, she has to show her strength. And unfortunately, even with you and Becca at her side, she still might not be strong enough. You two are much stronger, yes, but the two of you going up against four vampires is never going to work out well.”
“No, it’s not. For now, I need to keep Damien
and his family from doing anything until we’re ready, and I don’t know if we ever will be.” I raked a hand through my hair. “I also need to try to stop Mom from doing anything stupid. Damien, I’m certain, is telling me what he thinks I want to hear. The vampires are here to do what the demon wants them to, in return for their own mortality.” I looked down. “Damien, from what he said, thinks I might be able to help them, which…is that even possible? Can a witch give vampires their mortality back?”
“I don’t know, Ana. Magic is something we don’t know everything about, even now, and that might be possible, but I couldn’t tell you for certain. Experimenting might get you somewhere, but you can’t make the vampires any promises as to what it is you might be capable of doing.”
“Honestly, I think it would be better for me not to say anything right now. Not until I have had time to properly look into this. Violet’s journal might be a good starting place for me, as she, apparently, is the reason that he’s making the choices he is, and he might even be telling me the truth. I can’t know until…well, probably when this is all over.” As I looked back at Alice, I found myself thinking about what was to come. About what might happen in the next couple of months with the vampires and with the demon. “I wish this was over. I really do.”
“We’ve all been there.” She reached out to put her hand over mine, and I could feel it. I didn’t think that was possible, yet there was this warm sensation, like she was really there. It helped. “Nothing about this is easy. Being thrown into this kind of situation…I can’t imagine how hard it must be for you, but I believe in you. You will find a way to get through this, no matter how hard it might be.” She smiled. “You’re the one who’s going to be able to make this happen, no matter how hard it ends up being, because you’re the one we need here right now. You’re the one who was meant to walk this path.”
“Some days, I don’t feel like it.”
“Most people don’t.” She smiled. “If you were prepared for this, I’d be much more worried. As you aren’t…well, I can’t help thinking that’s a good sign. Maybe not the kind of good sign you’d be looking for, but…” She shrugged. “I’ve been a witch for a long time, and I know the kinds of signs I want to see. I think you’re the one who’s going to change everything.”
Chapter Fourteen
The house was silent. Neither Mom nor Dad appeared to be home, which was unusual, but not something I was too worried about. Mom should be at work. Hopefully. Not that I knew how well that was going to work out. Dad could be anywhere. Dealing with Mom and me couldn’t be easy for him, especially with how things had worked out - and how hard it had been for both of us while Mom lived with false memories.
I nibbled my bottom lip. I didn’t think their relationship would be too badly affected by what had happened. At least, I hoped it wouldn’t be, after everything they’d already been through. Breathing deeply, hoping things were going to sort themselves out, I went out to the sanctuary, needing some time to think things through.
Just stepping inside was enough. The feeling that came over me was akin to a true calm, probably because that was what witches needed when they were in there. I found my teeth were buried in my bottom lip again because I was worried, and that…I wanted to have some time to accept what I was, but it didn’t seem like it was time I was going to get. Running my tongue over my bottom lip, I thought about what we needed to do next. About how we were going to deal with the vampires.
I sat down and felt tears welling up in my eyes, which, I guess, was to be expected. I hadn’t had a chance to let my emotions out for too long, as I was so busy focusing on getting things done. I’d been so focused on dealing with a demon, and that…there were still mornings when I woke up believing that everything I’d been through was a dream. Life would be easier if it was all a dream, rather than actually finding myself dealing with so many things I could never have imagined were possible. Demons, and witches, and vampires…a tear trickled down my cheek.
One tear was enough to start the flood. I felt them streaming down my cheeks, and there was nothing I could do about it. All I could do was let them fall until they stopped on their own. Emotions I could barely understand swept through me. Sadness, and anger, and frustration, and fear…they were emotions I’d been feeling for so long. Emotions that were, I thought, relatively normal for everything I’d been through. Nothing I’d experienced was normal. Nothing I’d experienced was anything I could have imagined going through. My life before had been normal, mostly. Yes, we’d traveled a lot, but that was nothing in comparison to what my new life was like. To fighting demons and dealing with vampires.
Feeling a little more myself than I had for a couple of days, I stepped over to the journals. I knew which one I needed. Reading about Violet’s experiences with Damien was something I needed to do, if only because she might have done something to work out whether or not it was possible for a witch to help a vampire regain their mortality. I didn’t remember seeing anything in it before, but then again, I hadn’t been looking for that specifically. Touching it, I felt a tiny spark of something. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was, as I was still learning everything, but there was something about it that made me think when I did read the journal, I’d see something different. Maybe there would be a new collection of entries. With that in my head, I went back over to my chair, but before I could sit down, I heard yelling from outside the sanctuary. Running my tongue over my lips, I made the decision that I needed to see what was happening. I placed Violet’s journal on the chair and then stepped out of the room.
Mom was standing in the kitchen with Dad opposite her. “They have to pay for what they did.”
“I understand that, Lilah. I’m as angry with them as you are, but they’re vampires, and that-”
“Why is everyone arguing with me about this? Yes, they are vampires, and dealing with them isn’t going to be easy, but it is necessary. Do you really think they’ve been eating from animals during the time they’ve been here? They’re feeding on humans. Taking the life force of people around us. We have to stop that.”
Getting away from the house seemed like the logical thing to do. Listening to the tense silence was hard. I hated the fact that their relationship had changed so much in the time the vampires had been in town, but maybe that was part of the plan. Putting a wedge between Mom and Dad, then another between Mom and our tiny coven, was something I could imagine them wanting to do. At the same time, I still wanted to believe that Damien was at least being partially honest with me when he told me he didn’t want to be a part of the demon’s plans. Had I been in that position, I wouldn’t have wanted to be a part of it either. Only, I wasn’t one of the vampires. I had no idea what it was like for them or what they might be willing to do.
“You walk a lot at night.”
“I do at the moment.” I turned, and my eyes met Jessie’s. “You seem to do the same.”
“Being out here at night is easier than being out here during the day.” She sighed. “Damien told me how well Delilah is dealing with what happened to her.”
“She’s angry. In her situation, I’d be angry too.” I shrugged. “Unfortunately, due to what Madeline did, I can’t see Mom being at all willing to work with you, should that still be something you all do want.”
“Really, the best thing I can do right now is to be honest with you. Damien and I are different than our parents, not that they truly are our parents. They were older when they became vampires, and for them, it was easier to go through the transformation for reasons I don’t truly understand - and I know the demon chose vampires based on how we looked. We could pass as a family to someone who’d never met us before. He wanted us to seem as normal as possible.” She shook her head. “I hate him for that. I hate him for changing us into something we would never have been.”
“Him?”
“According to my parents, the demon is male. I don’t know if that has an effect on anything.”
“Not really. I
don’t care. All I know is that I need to make sure the demon will never be able to take over this world.” I looked down for a moment. “So, what you’re saying is that you will make different choices than your parents? You and Damien?”
“Keep in mind that Damien and I are very different too. We aren’t going to make different choices based on that. I know what he wants, and I will help him to get that, even if it’s not what I want.” She smiled. “He has become important to me.”
“Damien…” That wasn’t my voice. I spoke like it was, but it wasn’t. “I don’t know if something like that is ever going to be possible.”
“Try for me, Vi.” Of course, that was what had happened. I ran my tongue over my bottom lip as I studied him, not certain if that was me or Violet, but what I was certain of was the fact that I was Violet, and I was talking to Damien back when the two of them had been close. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you. You should never have gotten to know me in the first place because of what I am.” He sighed. “I just…this isn’t something I wanted. Becoming a vampire…it was something that was forced on me by a being I know you hate, so doing this, freeing me, is at least going to affect it. I think.”
“Like the demon is going to care. You’re nothing to it, and you should know that. It can easily replace you.”
“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” He smiled. “I’ve spoken to the man I think of now as my father about all of this, as he’s the one who understands most about what it means to be what we are. The demon used everything it had to create us after the witches defected, and now, I don’t believe it can do anything more than create weak minions like the ones you were dealing with before. Those minions mean nothing to him. We mean so much more. Being what we are means we were the last truly strong beings it managed to create, and the time will come when it understands how much I hate it.”