Page 6 of White Charms and Dark Secrets

“Because you tried to pin me for a murder I didn’t commit. You even stalked me, following me everywhere. You were almost obsessive in your hunt to find any evidence you could use against me,” I retort, not quite able to keep the bite out of my words. Although he helped me with reanimating Jay, he was a persistent pain in my ass and made my life ridiculously complicated in the process.

“Could I come in? This is probably best explained somewhere private, rather than out on the street,” he says, gesturing around us. I unlock the door and step inside, indicating for him to follow.

I shut the door behind him, making sure to lock it, and lead him into the living room. He grabs the seat I normally prefer, which bugs me a little, but I keep my mouth shut. I sit on the sofa instead so that I can face him.

“Do you want something to drink?” I ask.Other than me, considering I’m already running low on the good stuff.I choke on a laugh at the thought, mentally scolding myself that my dark sense of humour isn’t appropriate right now. He shakes his head and looks absently at the wall for a moment. “So?” I prompt, after he sits in silence for a while. He exhales a deep sigh, the sound exhausted. He gazes at me like he both wants to tell me but doesn’t at the same time.

“I never thought you were guilty, Kayla. I just knew you would lead me to the person who was,” he begins, his speech slow and cautious.

“How could you be so sure?” I demand. I refused to accept his previous excuse of gut instinct.

“Because I saw it. I possess the gift of sight. I know it’s not always one hundred percent reliable, and the visions are sometimes confusing, but I knew that you would lead me to the killer,” he explains. “The only way I could justify trailing you everywhere, was to make you the main suspect. The higher ups don’t trust a witch’s sight. Even though they should.” He goes quiet, as if giving me some time to process his explanation.

“Only white witches receive sight usually.” I give him a pointed look, demanding an answer to my unasked question. The goddess that white witches worship holds the gifts of sight, healing, love, and a few others too. Those who follow the other goddess’ path were rarely blessed with these gifts.

“My mother was a white witch, and I lived with her until I was thirteen. I’ve had the gift of sight since then. My full powers came in while I still lived with her, but shortly afterwards she died, and then I moved in with my father, a black witch. He brought me into the black coven, where I’ve remained ever since.” His response sounds detached and monotonous.

“Why didn’t you choose to come back when you turned twenty-one?” I wonder aloud. Every witch is brought up in their parent’s coven, but at the age of twenty-one, you are permitted to choose another. For an entire year a witch has the opportunity to switch sides and discover the right place for them. Most stick to their family lines, but there are always a few black sheep.

“I couldn’t. He wouldn’t allow me to switch back; he thought it would be bad for his image if his only son chose to leave his coven.” He taps his fingers on his knees, a nervous habit by the looks of it, as he repeats the motion a few times, until he catches me watching.

“Your father is your coven leader?” I ask.

“He was,” Kier answers tightly. “Not anymore.”

“How did he stop you?” I question, not understanding how he could have done so, short of locking Kier away for a whole year.

“He made me what I am now,” he explains, his voice sounding bitter.

“Wait, he’s the one who made you a hybrid?” I ask incredulously. Turning of any kind should always be consensual, and from the sound of it, this one wasn’t.

“He turned me so I wouldn’t have a choice. No white coven would take a witch that had allowed themselves to become something so dark, so unnatural. Did you know that the first vampire was a witch?” he rambles, and I nod my head.

Every witch knows story of the first vampire, Lamia. The story told to children explained that the witch Lamia wanted to become immortal, so that she would be equal to the god who she loved so dearly. In a jealous rage, his wife tricked her. She gave her a way to become immortal, but in doing so, would forever plunge Lamia’s soul into darkness, so that it could never join with the god’s light.

The wife told Lamia in order to become an immortal being, she needed to kill three innocents. Lamia searched high and low for innocents to sacrifice, but none of her offerings were accepted. Eventually, she discerned that the only truly innocent humans alive were infants. She sacrificed three new-born babies to achieve her immortality. She drank every drop of their blood, and then left their bodies to turn into ash beneath the sun’s rays, while she retreated into the darkness. She gained her immortality, but the act left her tainted by its evil. The god she adored rejected her, calling what she became an abomination. His wife then cursed Lamia with the inability to sleep, so she would never have rest from her crimes.

It was a charming story to tell children, but I’m not sure how much truth it contains, if any. Other than the fact a witch became the first vampire by sacrificing three innocents and drinking their blood to achieve immortality, that is.

Lamia went on to turn numerous others, and forever needed to feast on blood to survive. Only humans and witches possessed the ability to be turned, through an exchanging of blood. They then needed to drink the blood of a human to complete the transformation. Witches risk losing their powers in the process, however most do keep them. Only black witches become vampires. A white witch would be immediately rejected from their coven if one ever dared. It’s no wonder that Kier remained trapped in a black coven. They would never accept him in a white, even if the transformation was made against his will.

“They say that Lamia hailed from a white coven, and that all covens were white back then. All witches respected the balance of life, and they all lived in harmony with each other,” Kier lectures, pulling me out of my thoughts. “But her crimes were so great, and her new powers so twisted and unnatural, she was shunned. She formed the first black coven, and witches were lured to her side over time.”

“That’s a myth,” I scoff, rolling my eyes.

“There’s some truth in every myth, Kayla,” he admonishes, his tone completely serious.

“I’m sorry that he turned you without your consent. Did you move to another black coven?” I pull the conversation back to the present rather than debating ancient myths. “I mean, you said he wasn’t your coven leader anymore,” I add, when I see the confusion in his eyes.

“I’m in the same coven, but he’s spending the rest of his very long existence locked away in The Tomb,” Kier answers, a hint of a dark smile curving his lip.

“What did he do to end up in there?” I ask, even though I know it’s none of my business. My curiosity is a curse as much as the bad luck with which I’m burdened. I can never resist asking a question even if I know I probably shouldn’t.

“He killed my mother, likely numerous others too,” he answers coldly.

“I’m so sorry.” I feel horrible for asking now. I don’t even want to think about all the bad memories our conversation likely dredged up for him.

“Don’t be sorry. It was a long time ago, and he can’t hurt innocents anymore.” Kier stands up. “Look, it’s late, and I should go. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain. I knew you would lead me to the real killer, but I didn’t think about the difficulty it would create in your life as a result. I apologize if my pursuit of you as a suspect caused you problems before you were proven innocent. I regret what happened with your job in particular.”

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