I’d help her gather herbs in the forest. We’d spend all night making tonics and tinctures to cure the sick and comfort the dying. I wanted to be just like her. Jane said magic had to be awakened. I begged her to awaken mine, but she claimed I wasn’t ready. She turned me into a Dhampir before that day could ever come.
The thirst for blood was unlike anything I’d ever felt. It spread through me like a disease. I was erratic and unpredictable. Killing for survival soon turned to sport. I relished it. I became a monster.
Many years later, Valentina and Dragos found me and showed me how to control it. How to live with it. It was because of them I was able to hold onto the last shred of humanity I had left. But I had not forgotten the old ways. They were still a part of me.
“I need to consult the cards.”
Valentina looked as if I slapped her in the face. “Please tell me you’re joking. You know how I feel about all that Witchy stuff.”
I paced as she gawked. Magic was not something I could tap into, but tarot cards were a conduit for messages from beyond the veil. I had to try.
“It’s a part of me, Val, and we need answers. The gods will guide us.”
She groaned, rolling her eyes. “Fine. What do you need me to do?”
A burst of energy moved through me. “Make a circle of candles in the center of the room. I’ll get the cards.”
Valentina huffed as I ran upstairs. I hadn’t looked at my cards in years. I never needed to. I got them in Italy, a gift from a one-eyed gypsy. She told me that someday, they would serve a purpose. I shrugged it off then, but now I thought she may have been right.
Once inside the circle, I closed my eyes and shuffled the cards. I blocked out all thoughts except one. Revenge. Valentina scowled as I fanned seven cards out in front of me.
The first card was the two of cups. A picture of a man and woman, each holding a golden cup. He was reaching out to her.
The second card was of the High Priestess. “Pythia.”
Valentina nodded, now intrigued.
Next, the card of Temperance, an angel pouring liquid from one cup to another. Goosebumps covered my flesh. The cups were the same two from the first image.
The three of swords came after. The swords were piercing a beating heart while a storm raged behind it. Three swords, three enemies.
The fifth card was the Hermit. Valentina gasped. Recognition flickered in her eyes. She shuddered and looked away.
Then, the card of Strength, an image of a woman taming a lion. Above her head was a figure eight, the symbol for infinity. A chill ran through me. The Consilium wore this symbol like a coat of arms.
Finally, the last card, the Tower. My stomach turned. The tower burned while figures fell out of it and the sky rained down fire.
I held her gaze. I knew what I had to do. “I have to awaken my magic. Then you and I can link, and we’ll be as strong as they are.”
Valentina crinkled her brow. “I don’t know, Gray. Do we want to be like them? To become hybrids?”
My heart raced. “Yes. It’s clear from the cards. The cups pouring into one another is a symbol of the linking ceremony. Tame the lion, burn the tower. We have to. It’s the one thing they won’t see coming.”
Minutes turned into hours while Valentina weighed my words. I could almost see the wheels spinning inside her head. She let out a deep breath. “Okay. I’m in. I guess this means we have to go back to the bayou.”
I clapped my hands, delighted. Yes, we would have to go back to the bayou. Only a Witch could awaken another Witch’s magic. Currently, Josephine was the only Witch we knew.
We waited till morning to venture out. The Wolf and Crescent wasn’t as lively in the light of day. After our cold welcome, I must have been mad to return, but after four hundred years of chasing ghosts, I had nothing left to lose except my patience.
The air was calm and quiet as we approached. No traces of last night’s debauchery. No drunken humans strewn about. It was as if the party had never taken place. We crept into the bar with weapons drawn.
Keeping my eyes peeled for Samuel, I scanned the room for any sign of movement. Nothing. The place was empty. Not that Josephine needed protection, but I assumed someone would be standing guard.
Making my way over to the stairs, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A deep snarl filled the room. We both froze. The white wolf glared down at us from the top of the stairs, dripping saliva all over the floorboards.
Valentina leaned in and whispered. “Shit. He doesn’t look like he’s in a good mood.”
I stiffened. “Don’t move. He thinks we’re trespassing.”
Valentina’s eyes widened. “Uh, we kind of are.”
The wolf’s ears snapped back and his snarl turned into a low, guttural growl. His eyes glowed, gold like the sun. Watching him watching us, it hit me.
I cleared my throat and sheathed my sword. “We just need to speak with her.”
Valentina gasped. “Gray, have you lost your mind? It can’t understand you. You’re going to get us killed.”
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t figured it out before. “Relax. He’s a shape shifter. Half man, half wolf. A Lupi.”
She gripped my arm. “He just looks hungry to me.”
I swallowed hard, hoping she was wrong. “An ordinary wolf would have attacked us by now. Trust me, he understood every word I said.”
The door to the study opened. Josephine emerged and placed a hand on the wolf’s head, subduing him instantly. Valentina let out a sigh of relief.
Josephine chuckled. “You’re very brave to come back here. Did I not answer all your questions last night?”
I let out a deep breath. “I need you to awaken my magic.”
Josephine’s eyes lit up like fireflies. “How interesting. Magic comes with a price, Gray. For you and for me.”
I swallowed hard. I should have known there would be strings attached. “What do you want in return?”
Her eyes darkened as she mulled it over. “A favor. To be determined…later.” Her words lingered in the air like smoke billowing between us.
Valentina shook her head. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
“We’re running out of options. This is the only way.” I looked back at Josephine, who was stroking the Lupi like a pet. “We have a deal.”
Her eyes flickered. “Wait outside. I’ll join you when I have everything I need for the ceremony.”
Valentina paced back and forth in front of the Wolf and Crescent, making me even more anxious. What if she was right? This could be a very bad idea. I didn’t know Josephine at all, and her connection to Jane made me uneasy.
It was dusk when she emerged. She had changed into a plain, white dress that flowed down to her bare feet. Around her neck was a crescent moon necklace, a source of power that held a Witch’s connection to the earth. She tossed a burlap sack over her shoulder and motioned for us to follow her into the swamps.
It was dark out there, even in daylight. The paths were hard to discern, despite being lined with black gum trees and swamp maples. Dripping in Spanish moss, each tree ran into the next. There were swamps as far as the eye could see. The water was murky, yet decorated with delicate lily pads and marsh grass. Alligators lurked just below the surface.
Valentina was not fond of the bayou. She shivered and gasped at every twig that snapped underneath her feet. She wasn’t afraid of much, but this place was getting to her. It was getting to me too. Ashen trees swayed in the southern breeze, mocking us as we passed.
A mile in, we stopped at a clearing. A flat, wide-open field surrounded by brush and walls of branches. On the ground was a perfect circle of stones.
Josephine emptied out the contents of her sack. She placed seven tea light candles along the inside of the circle. She worked meticulously as she laid out a chalice and a dagger, both engraved with a crescent moon. Next, she set down a canister containing a mixture of bark and bay leaves.
“Gray, step into the circle.” J
osephine followed me in. She lit the candles and turned to face me while crushing the bark and bay leaves into the chalice. Valentina watched with intent.
I shivered. A cool breeze tickled my skin.
She grabbed my wrist, made a tiny incision with the dagger, and squeezed. My blood dripped into the chalice. I winced as it stung and pinched my flesh. Within seconds the wound began to heal.
Josephine raised the chalice to the sky. “I offer to Diana bark from a sacred oak tree and bay leaves blessed with the blood wishes from one of our own.” Chanting in Latin, she swayed back and forth as the wind howled and picked up speed.
My hair whipped around me with the force of a hurricane. I locked my knees as the ground shook. Her magic pulled at every fiber of my being. It pounded at me, like invisible hands reaching into my head and shaking my brain. The world blurred around me.
My lungs tightened, gasping for air. Her words rang out, distorting in my ears. The world went black. Panic, rose in my chest.
Josephine screamed. “Exitare…exitare…exitare.” Awaken.
The candles blew out. The wind vanished. Everything was still. Silent.
I collapsed on my knees. Valentina rushed over to me and dragged me out of the circle.
“Gray, are you okay?”
Breathless and dizzy, I stumbled onto my feet. My teeth chattered. The wind was still in my bones. “Did it work?”
Josephine recoiled in horror. Her hands shook, holding the remnants of the chalice.
Valentina’s eyes turned red. “What did you do to her?”
Josephine shook her head, burying it into her hands. “Nothing…absolutely nothing.”
My heart raced. “I don’t understand. What just happened?”
Her lips quivered. “You don’t have any magic to awaken.”
Like a punch to the gut, knocking the air out of me, I keeled over. No magic to awaken? Impossible. It was my birthright. The one thing about my life I knew to be true. Since the beginning of time, Witches passed down their magic through blood.
They stood, speechless, staring at me like I was a wounded animal. Pity spread across their faces. No one wanted to say it out loud. I felt like an orphan all over again. If I didn’t have any magic to awaken, then Jane could not be my mother.
“It seems she didn’t share all her secrets with you,” I snapped. Bitterness tinged my tongue like rotten fruit.
The color drained from Josephine’s face. “I…I don’t understand. I saw you as a baby in her visions. She let me believe you were hers.”
I snapped, “That’s because she’s a liar. Now do you understand why I despise her?” My blood was boiling.
Jane let me think I was like her. That I had magic in my veins. I didn’t know what I was anymore.
Josephine darted around, cleaning up what was left of the ceremony and avoiding my gaze. “I better get back before my coven sends out a search party.” Her voice shook with unease.
Something was troubling her, and it wasn’t the revelation of my parentage. “What else did you see…inside me?”
Josephine shuddered, hesitating before looking me in the eye. “Darkness. Faint, but it grows in you... I really must be getting back.”
She gathered the rest of her supplies and sprinted back toward the Wolf and Crescent, leaving us alone in the bayou without a glance back.
The trek back to the Quarter was a quiet one. Valentina watched me like a hawk. Exhausted and covered in filth, I avoided eye contact. With twigs in my hair and dirt on my cheeks, I headed straight for the shower, standing under the hot water until it ran cold. I wanted to block out everything. The swamp. The ceremony. Jane.
I dried off, taking my time. The mundane act of putting on clothes somewhat eased my nerves. The repetition was calming. After stashing two daggers inside my boots and two more in my belt, I pulled on a black fitted sweater and marched downstairs.
Valentina had freshened up as well. Wearing black leather pants and a tight green tank top, she looked like a fashion model. I drew in a sharp breath at the sight of her. Her hair was piled up on top of her head in a mass of crimson curls and her skin glowed with an iridescent sheen. Her brightness was a stark contrast to the dark shadows that lingered under my eyes.
Her brow furrowed. “We should talk about what happened in the bayou. Maybe Josephine was wrong.”
I shook my head. “No. It all makes sense. She abandoned me because I’m not her child. She never loved me. At least I know the truth now. Josephine did me a favor.”
“Gray, don’t say that. There has to be a good explanation for this.” Her voice cracked in desperation.
My heart ached. I had been angry with Jane, but a part of me had imagined forgiving her someday. That fantasy was gone. I knew Valentina was trying to make me feel better, but I wasn’t in the mood for sympathy.
I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it, Val. I’m going for a walk. I need to clear my head.”
I headed toward the front door with Valentina at my heels. I spun around. “Alone.”
She nodded and backed away. Her face twisted in agony. I didn’t care. I should have stayed in that coma. At least in there, I was oblivious. With my eyes wide open, there was nothing but darkness ahead of me.
Stepping out into the street, I took a deep breath and swallowed a fragrant gulp of Louisiana air. I needed a distraction. Turning away from our house and toward the Quarter, my spine tingled.
Let’s see what kind of trouble I can get into tonight.
Four
The air was warm and sticky. Scents of sugar and bourbon wafted past my nose. Nights like these made it hard to remember what an English winter felt like. I was happy to forget.
I found myself on Pirate’s Alley, in search of a stiff drink. A busy street lined with trinket shops, cafés, and bars, it bustled with Witches and humans alike. They poured out from every corner, stumbling and laughing amongst each other. A pang of envy twisted in my gut. The weight of our existence was on my shoulders, but they didn’t have a care in the world.
Voices echoed from miles away. I heard everything. Not just train whistles and car engines, but conversations. Heartbeats. Whispers. A blessing and a curse. I could switch it on and off whenever I wanted, but tonight I let it roar. I welcomed any noise that could drown out my own thoughts.
Time escaped me as I wandered, exploring the Quarter. The night grew more desolate the further I walked. Shopkeepers pulled in their wares and cafés piled chairs on top of tables. The voices were becoming more and more distant.
It was hopeless. The night was over, and I felt worse than I had when I first ventured out. There was nothing here for me. I let out a sigh and turned around toward home.
My ears prickled. Voices again, muffled as they filtered in and out over an arrangement of music.
I followed the sound to a building, completely dark with boarded up windows. An out-of-service laundromat. A “closed” sign hung on the door. I could swear the music was coming from inside, though. I reached for the door just as it swung open.
Music blasted out like a symphony. A young couple, deep in conversation, lingered in the doorway. I cleared my throat. The man looked up, startled.
“Pardon me, ma’am. Didn’t see ya there.” He and his female companion smiled and moved to the side to let me pass.
I paused. Noticing the puzzled look on my face, the woman chuckled. “You goin’ in? The Green Fairy is playin’ tonight.”
My ears buzzed. There was magic here.
“Yes, I think I am.”
The couple giggled, staggering off down the street holding hands and whispering. That familiar pang of envy returned.
Stepping inside, my mouth fell to the floor. I was standing in a bar, fully packed with people. Plush velvet couches and mahogany tables were scattered around the room. The lighting was muted, casting a glow of rose gold across the cream-colored walls.
The bar itself was twelve feet long and carved from antique wood. On the wall behind it hung
a sign that read “Three Blind Mice est. 1920.” That was the year prohibition began. Excitement tingled through me. This was a speakeasy, a secret bar originating back to when alcohol was illegal. If only these walls could talk.
A pretty blond bartender approached. “What can I get ya, darlin’?” Her charm was as thick as her drawl.
“Whiskey, neat.”
She winked. “You got it, doll face.”
Scanning the room, I noticed several pairs of male eyes on me, leering and licking their lips. I chuckled. I wondered how fast they would run if they knew what I was.
The bartender returned minutes later with my drink. “This one’s on the house tonight, darlin’.”
I cocked my head to the side, puzzled. “Thanks, but…why?”
She batted her lashes. “Owner’s rules. One free drink a night to whomever strikes my fancy.”
It took me a minute to get it. “Oh…ohh. Well, I’ll drink to that.” This was turning into a lovely evening after all. Just the distraction I needed.
I learned that the bartender’s name was Jenna. She was quite chatty and knew a lot about the city. I enjoyed listening to her go on and on about its history and legends. We chatted about the Three Blind Mice and how it was the oldest speakeasy in New Orleans. Her grandfather bartended here when it opened in 1920. Every detail captivated me.
“Tell me, Jenna, who owns the bar now?” I was warm from my third whiskey and enchanted by her stories.
Jenna lit up. Her face was animated as she spoke. “It’s been passed down through the generations. The owners were bootleggers. Aldric is their grandson. He’s kept it just as they left it.”
“What’s Aldric like? I bet he has some great stories.” I was fascinated.
Jenna smirked. “Aldric is cool. He’s a ladies’ man. Good lookin’, rich, the king of southern charm.” We both giggled.
I raised my glass. “I’ll drink to that. Cheers to the King of New Orleans.”
Jenna giggled again, pouring herself a shot. “Hear, hear. All hail Aldric Bannister.”
Blood and Magic (Blood and Darkness Book 1) Page 3