Page 38 of Witch's Rebirth
"My mother was a sacrifice?!" I knew she was just trying to rile me up, to get under my skin and make me careless but my temper wouldn't back down.
Diana's crazed eyes lowered and I realized I had placed one hand over my belly. An involuntary, instinctive move to protect the most innocent person in the room from the most evil one.
"Not only are you still alive, you're still carrying your demon spawn," she spat, then looked back up at me with a perverse smile. "Here's your first lesson, demon whore. Do you know what kind of blood holds the most magic?"
I didn't answer but focused all my energy on gathering the next element. My heart pounded like drums in my ears. I couldn't afford to miss. It was me and my baby or her in this moment.
"Fetal blood," she said with a snarl and a lick of her lips.
Our arms raised at the exact same time.
She hesitated for a fraction of a second.
I didn't.
Water poured out of her nose and mouth. Her eyes widened in fear and shock as she clutched at her throat. Every desperate gasp she took just sent more water into her lungs.
It was so reminiscent of the last time we spoke, a few blocks away from here at my old apartment which she also painted with blood. Only this time, I would finish what I couldn't back then.
Diana fell to her knees with warbled moans and cries pouring from her mouth. She was trying to speak, trying to beg and plead me for her life.
With my other hand I drew a gesture for Air, the final element she tried so hard to keep from me. The way she thought she would break me. I added just a touch of oxygen to her throat and lungs, not to give her any relief but to prolong her suffering.
One by one, the rest of my guys emerged from their shadows and filed into the house. They stood and watched silently in support of me as Diana began coughing up bloody water and crawled across the floor toward us. When she was about two feet away from my shoes, Raum stepped up and gave her a hard kick to the ribs.
The force sent her rolling back to the middle of the room, where she laid on her back taking in her last, desperate attempts to breathe while staring up at the ceiling.
I walked up and kneeled over where I knew she could see me. Her face and lips were blue, her eyes bloodshot and pupils constricted to pinholes when they saw me.
"My daughter will never know of your existence," I whispered. "But I want to make sure you know her name. I want her name to be the one you curse when you're suffering for all eternity in the lower circles of Hell."
My grandmother's lips and fingertips shook as I leaned down close to her ear. Even now she was trying to fight me, to move or cast something. But her body was already shutting down.
"Her name is Deidre."
I pulled away so she could see my face again. The last one she would ever see.
Then she drew her last breath.
17
DEJA
None of it felt real.
The five of us anchored home and I still felt tense, on-edge, and aggressive. It only began to melt away when we walked across the clearing surrounding our house and the magic of the earth prickled up through my feet with a gentle tingle.
Your mother is always with you. Lucifer's words returned to me as if he whispered directly into my brain. A witch's soul returns to earth, nourishing the elements and the power you draw from.
It hit me all at once and I stumbled to my knees. A sob wracked my body. The emotion, the relief, the realization that we no longer had to run or hide. We could live, love, and just be free.
"Deja!" All four guys turned immediately and surrounded me like a flock of protective hens. The sob turned into a giggle at the thought, and uncontrollable, joyous laughter bubbled up from my chest.
"It's over!" I yelled at the top of my lungs and spread my arms wide, leaning back onto someone's chest. My gaze turned skyward and the clouds were gorgeous. Fuck, when was the last time I appreciated some pretty clouds?
"It really is over." Sal's voice rumbled like a lazy thunder against my back. He sounded just as in disbelief as I felt.
"What do we do now, boys?" I asked playfully, looking up and all around to each pair of eyes staring back at me. All with a unique color and brightness, but filled with the same desire only for me. It hit me right then how I was the luckiest bitch in existence.
