Page 37 of Witch's Rebirth
Really, it was the magic compacted into the small room that fascinated me. It felt like Seth. Just the faintest whiff of his aura once set my teeth on edge but now I wanted to sit and bask in it. His magic was dark with deep shadows, much like mine. But it was also soft, gentle, maybe even a bit skittish like a stray animal. I wanted to sit in the middle of his circle of candles and just let his magic wash over me like a gentle breeze.
"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from me as if embarrassed. "I was traveling with the hunter's guild all the time and didn't see the point in putting down roots anywhere. This was always more of a crash pad than anything else."
"This was where I saw you in my dream." I walked toward his circle of candles. "When you warned me that the hunters were coming, and told me to capture air with my lungs instead of my hands."
"Yeah," he repeated, looking even more uncomfortable. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. About everything." His stormy eyes were full of pain. "I wish I never hurt you. Or allowed them to hurt you."
"It's okay, babe." I wound my fingers in his dark hair and pressed my forehead to his. "I know why you did it. And you know what? You were fucking right."
"Was I?" His arms went around me protectively.
"Yes," I insisted. "Youdidmake me stronger. You pushed me to endure because you knew I could. You believed in me when I wanted to give up. The others had no idea what to do but you did." I pressed a kiss to his forehead and allowed my lips to linger there. "I'm sorry, too. For how I treated you. How we all treated you."
"You didn't trust me then," he answered. "And you had every reason not to. I knew I would have to earn your trust." He brought my fingers to his lips. "And I'll keep doing my part to earn it for as long as you keep me with you."
I kissed him through the smile I couldn't hold back. "I'm ready to put that all behind us and start a new chapter. Are you?"
"Hell yes," he grinned back, sending my heart fluttering. I could get used to seeing him happy and relaxing, finally free with no double-agent burdens and no one to control him. He was free to be himself and while I didn't know him as well as my other guys, my feelings were growing by the minute and I was crushing hard.
It was wonderful and liberating to not fight my feelings anymore.
"Is there anything you want to take from here before we go?" I asked.
He picked up the heavy grimoire and pressed his hands into the front and back covers. Then his palms made a soft clap sound as they hit each other, the journal between them gone.
"Anchored it back to the house," he said, flashing me another smile. "We'll have plenty of time to dive into some magic later."
My body hummed as he brushed past me to the door. The only magic on my mind was what we did at the boulder when I came back.
When we stepped out onto the busy San Francisco street, picking up Diana's trail was remarkably easy. Like all other magic, blood magic left a trail of energy behind. It made me feel dirty and not in the fun way, but like I hadn't taken a shower in a week. It left a grimy feeling on my skin and made me desperately want to wash my hands. It felt like someone who was too far gone in their own insanity to even take care of their basic needs.
A sickening thought hit me. How many blood sacrifices did she do to become this powerful, this consumed by an addiction?
Sal confirmed our trail, complaining the whole time that it smelled like old, dried blood to him. I spotted him a block ahead of us and Ash across the street, both cloaked in shadows. They spread out rather than crowded around us so as to not confuse any humans walking past us. Running straight into an invisible man's chest would definitely make someone question their sanity.
We're going into a seedy area, Raum warned us from the sky.Be vigilant.
The dirty feeling amped up as we followed the trail of blood magic to a small, run-down apartment complex. The noises of the main street faded away to eerie silence. Not even drug addicts and homeless people hung around here, the energy was absolutely repulsive.
"She's in there," I muttered, steeling myself.
We're in position. Ready whenever you are, love.Ash's warmth and encouragement came through his mental voice and gave me strength.
"I'm right behind you, sweetheart," Seth said. "You got this."
I nodded and placed one foot in front of the other, moving toward the feeling of decay and dried blood under my fingernails despite every instinct in my body urging me to stay back. Gathering up all my defensive magic in my center, I reached toward the door that repelled me the strongest. My fingertips barely tapped the peeling paint before it swung open violently as if by a gust of wind.
She immediately threw a hard, offensive spell but I was ready for it.
A wall of fire flashed in front of me, immediately consuming the blood energy she threw in our direction. Seth took a step back and shielded his face but I didn't flinch. My fire would never burn us.
"Where'd you learn that fancy trick?"
Diana stood across the living room from me, if you could even call it that. With every inch of the floor and walls plastered in dried or drying blood, it looked more like a house from a horror movie. Despite the grotesque state of the apartment, Diana looked young, clean, and flawless as ever. We looked like sisters, as much as the thought disgusted me.
"The first time you tried to kill me, incidentally," I told her. "When I burned up that heart in your hands and should've finished drowning you. Do you remember?" I paused for a moment to think. "Actually, I'm wrong. That was the second time. The first time you tried to kill me, you killed my mother instead."
"Oh, Deja," she cackled with a shake of her head. "You'll never understand the magic of a good blood sacrifice. The power, the beauty!" Her eyebrows raised excitedly, her golden eyes wild and crazed. "I'll teach you more power than you can ever dream of. You're in your prime now, my dear! Leave your wretched demons! Come with me and you'll never age another day!"
