Page 16 of Witch's Betrayal
6
ASHTAROTH
The creak of the door opening yanked my attention away from my book. The sight coming through it took my breath away.
Deja gave me a shy smile, her wet hair sleek and shiny as the firelight cast a warm glow across her face.
"Busy?" she asked, holding the lapels of the terrycloth bathrobe she wore.
"For you, never." I snapped my book shut and yanked my glasses off. "Have a nice bath?"
She nodded as she stepped into my study and closed the door softly behind her. The heat from the fireplace didn't hold a candle to the fire that raged through me as she came closer.
I held my arms out to her and she accepted my embrace, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as I pulled her legs across my lap. Her kiss that followed was the sweetest thing I'd tasted all day. I held her tightly and savored her, drawing the kiss out long and slow until we had to come up for air.
"What were you reading?" she asked when our lips parted.
"The Merging of Blood and Shadow." I held up the heavy tome for her to see. "You wanted to know details about your mother's death. The answer is likely in here."
Her eyes widened. "But Raum said it most likely wasn't a demon that killed her."
"He's right. This," I set the book down on her lap. "Was written by one of the first dark witches. She invented her own brand of magic, which later came to be known as blood magic."
"Why is it called the Merging of Blood and Shadow?"
"Shadow magic is where demons source most of their power," I explained. "Some witches are skilled with it but it's incredibly difficult. The author of this book was the first known non-demon shadow master. She used it to fuel her blood magic." I gave her a look. "Your demon hunter friend is one of the few contemporary shadow masters in the witching world."
Deja scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I donotwant to talk about him right now." She pulled back the cover and began turning the ancient, weathered pages carefully. "I don't know what any of this says," she mused.
"That's because it's written in ancient Greek," I told her and closed the cover, running my finger over the author's name. "Efimia, daughter of Democedes. Do you recognize that name?"
She shook her head and I couldn't help but smile.
"She was one of our great-granddaughters, and a real bitch from everything I've read about her."
Her eyes widened again before relaxing with a soft chuckle. "That's right. I keep forgetting," she said sheepishly. "All witches have directly descended from me."
"Yes. And the beauty of it is you're reborn in a different body with the same soul. So you pass on your magic ability but different DNA to every generation."
"I never thought of that," she mused, tracing over the cover like I had. "So what are you learning from Efimia's book?"
"Well, for one thing, a blood magic spell is incredibly difficult to cast. It requires a blood sacrifice of the same species and blood type which you're casting the spell on. Casting during a blood moon increases the chances of success. And even then, Efimia only had about a fifty percent success rate." I flipped toward the back of the book and opened to where a crude chart laid out across two pages. "She practiced on stray dogs and half the time ended up killing the target's pup or littermate."
"How skilled was she in other types of magic?"
"Incredibly," I said, flipping more pages. "She was one of the most powerful witches of her time. From what I can gather, her element was fire."
"So it had to be someone at least matching her level of skill that killed my mother." She looked deep in thought, raking her fingers through my hair. "Who could that be?"
"Honestly, anyone," I said. "The spell can be cast over a great distance. It's just easier to do when in close contact because of the specific blood you need."
"But in this day and age, whoever it was could've just found out my mom's blood type somehow, then steal the matching type from a donor bank or something."
"That would definitely make it easier to cast," I agreed. "But the sacrifice is still needed and murdering humans isn't taken lightly, I hear."
Deja let out a chuckle before she sighed and leaned her temple against mine.
"Is this weird to you?" she asked.
