Page 21 of Wings and Shadowthief

Her mouth fell open.

Eirikr grinned as she rose to her feet. “Never mind. I’m fine now.” She’d been cursed, as she’d thought. All would be well in the end.

“Mm. Until next time, certainly.”

She halted her retreat toward the staircase, as the first vampire stood up, deliberate and slow.

“You’re saying I’ll shift again?” She shook her head. “I’m a witch.”

“Among other things.”

She wasnothingelse.

Gwen didn’t voice her protest, but her posture must have been telling, because Eirikr pushed the issue. “Tell me, witch. Is your magic like that of your peers? Can you feel your affinity, its purpose?”

“Once.” Her voice sounded weak, even to herself. “I felt it once.”

“Yet teenagers can do so with ease. Why, do you think?”

If she had an answer, she wouldn’t be here. “I suppose you’re about to tell me.”

“Let’s talk of a lost legend you may not have heard.” Eirikr leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially.

He was disturbingly close, and his extended fangs shone in the dim lighting. “There are many names for these things. Promised. Brides. Offerings. I won’t bore you with the full list. They were created by witches long ago, to end a devastating war.”

“Created?” Gwen echoed, at a loss, sadly not for the first time today.

“If it weren’t for the moral implications, how hard would it be for witches to produce a living thing?” Eirikr asked.

Gwen took a moment to think it through. Not as hard as it sounded, actually. She couldn’t even imagine delving into such magic, but what were humans, if not for sacks of flesh held by muscles and commanded by a brain?

The brain was the tricky bit.

She must have said it out loud, because Eirikr answered. “Is it? What’s a brain but an organ? If you can build a heart, or a liver, or a set of lungs, why not a brain?”

Why not indeed?

“These things were built from the bones, if you will. Of course, the witches used blood magic and dark magic—the kind since forbidden—to achieve it. But the result was astounding. Three women, beautiful as the dawn and strong as steel. Made from magic, they could bend it to their will. Do you know what these three had in common, that may have differentiated them from any other creature in this world?”

Gwen guessed, “They couldn’t define their magic?”

There had to be a point to this story.

Eirikr waved his hand dismissively. “Who cares about magic? They were made by humans, not the gods. What could have been missing, do you think?”

She stared on. Her fear had vanished, replaced by frustration and impatience.

The vampire sighed, before taking a gulp of his not-wine.

Shewassticking to pretending it was wine, dammit.

“You lack imagination. No matter. A soul, gorgeous, sweet, powerful Gwen. They were each missing a soul.”

Gwen wasn’t overly religious, but that notion terrified her. If souls were a real thing, imagining someone—something—without it was a chilling concept. “So, they were bad?”

“Why?” Eirikr shrugged.

“I don’t know, doesn’t a soul make people…nice, or something?”

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