Page 119 of Locke

Abuela wanted us to have happily ever afters. She was a romantic. She didn’t have a great one, and neither did her son, which ultimately destroyed him. I thought her little ceremony was a way to say, ‘I’ve done everything I could.’ I wasn’t sure if she thought it would involve supernaturals in the beginning. Surely, she didn’t mean to put us in the middle of all this danger.

Tajah explained, that after the death of Abuela’s husband, she had to shop at second-hand stores for my father’s clothing. While looking, she found a book that ‘spoke’ to her and it ended up being a spell book, just tossed into a bin.

Luckily, most of it was English, which Abuela knew very well. She read a spell about unlocking the power of oneself, and the rest was history. Somewhere along our bloodline there was magic. It was just a matter of unlocking it with a simple incantation, and Abuela had opened it.

Tajah said she was Wiccan because she taught herself. Other Wiccans could help and teach each other. You could only gain witch or sorceress status if you were an apprentice or were taught in a witchery school.

Wiccans could do basic spells, nothing overly powerful. However, Tajah said that Abuela was one of the more powerful Wiccans she had ever come in contact with.

Of course she was.

Abuela did everything possible to get her hands on every spell book she could. Oftentimes they were counterfeits. Humans trying to profit off of dark art enthusiasts. As the years went on, she practiced and she became strong for a Wiccan. Once my mother died, Abuela moved in to take care of my sister and me.

I didn’t realize how much I hadn’t remembered a lot of my childhood, and that included my father; because of her. Tajah said my father truly was evil, and the only reason I remembered my father when I turned eighteen was because I needed to run.

And like an impending storm, lightning crossed through the vision of my past. The night I was promised to be the head of the cartel’s son’s bride; to pay off the debt my father had.

Throughout the entire explanation, Locke was growling in my ear and his claws were digging into my hips. I hadn’t had the time to explain everything about my past, but he knew enough now, I supposed.

The son who was to inherit the cartel was dead, because of me. I went through with the wedding, and the night of the consummation I plunged a knife in the bastard’s heart.

My first kill.

And I didn’t regret it.

I’ll never forget hearing the knife crack through his chest and watching the blood soak through the white-collared shirt. The once dark eyes that bore into mine with desire, thinking he was about to take some eighteen-year-old’s virginity, became lifeless. Being the son of the cartel, the next in line, you’d think he would be in his twenties. But no, he was a forty-year-old pervert.

Ever since then, I’ve been on the run.

How my father was still alive, I wasn’t sure. Still working off a debt?

I licked my lips, trying to catch the warm semi-cooked blood that gathered at the corner. Locke beat me to it and sucked the side of my cheek.

“It might make me sound like a vampire, but I’d love to suck some blood off of you.”

My nipples tightened against my bra and my ass wiggled in his hold. He was hard, he always was, but I could feel his knot expanding beneath my pussy as I leaned more on the bar.

“Aw, fuck, Emm.” His fingers dug into my hips and gave them a squeeze.

“I’m sensing that you have a lot on your mind.” Tajah took another sip of her water and gazed at Beretta.

Beretta was playing another game with Luis, one where, hopefully, they wouldn’t have pieces all over the floor.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, someone placed two Pina Coladas in front of Locke and me. My eyebrows raised at Surkash, who had taken Anaki’s spot, and he shrugged his shoulders.

“Anaki called, said you guys needed it. He also wanted me to let Emm know that a Pina Colada is Locke’s favorite drink.”

Locke scoffed and shook his head. “Asshole.”

Locke accepted the drink, raising it to his lips with a slight hesitation. When he finally finished, his chilled lips brushed against my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. The contrast between his cool touch and the warmth of my neck created an electrifying sensation, intensifying my arousal.

Tajah shook her head. “I’ve given you as much knowledge as I have about how your grandmother got her magic. Any other sort of secrets she has, ask your sister. I only knew your grandmother for a short time.”

I pushed Locke back with my ass. His groan was loud enough to draw attention. I grabbed Tajah by the arm, and tried to push the arousal away that would soon take over.

“But, what about her? Did Abuela dance, and pray for the Goddess too?”

My grandmother chanted late into the night, dancing around a fire until my sister and I fell asleep in the tent. Now I know she really was getting soulmates for my sister and I, but did she try and get one for her too? Did she give up her soulmate for us?

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