Page 28 of Claim the Twilight
Her eyes lit up. “He spoke to you? What else did he say?”
“He called me a uh…a witch.” Padma shrugged. “He said that I did something to him and then asked me how he could be free. At least that’s what I gathered. The conversation was disjointed. He was probably confused.”
Jacqueline’s eyes narrowed. “Or…maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he can sense something that we can’t.”
“I’m not a witch,” Padma said with a soft snort of derision.
“No. You’re not. Not in this life but…maybe you were…once.”
“What?”
“In a past life,” Jacqueline clarified. “Witches are usually reborn as witches. Our souls are drawn to the same bloodlines and the power that is our heritage but…sometimes if a trauma large enough occurs, then we can be disconnected from our power.”
Padma scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s true,” Jacqueline snapped. “I can tell you that much for certain.”
Padma rolled her eyes. “No. I believe you. I just…the idea thatIwas once a witch is ridiculous.”
“About as ridiculous as you staving off a mullo infection for months,” Jacqueline said.
“You helped with that. The transfusions?—”
“Should not have worked for as long as they have. I’ve been making notes on you. You, Padma, break all the rules. You’re a mystery.Butif you were a witch in a past life, then it would explain why you’ve succeeded in fighting the infection for so long. Witchescannotbe turned into vampires or vampiric entities. Our bodies fight the infection in a way that is truly marvellous, turning us into something…in between.”
“But I’m not a witch. I mean, even if I was before, I’m not one in this life.”
“But you are…You simply do not have your power. It’s blocked for some reason, and I wager it’s somehow related to the entity.” Her eyes lit up. “But if you can get it back…”
Padma said, “I can be cured?”
“Yes.”
My gaze bounced between them, and a possibility took shape in my mind. “What about the surge? If she gets her power back, then won’t she also experience the surge?”
Jacqueline’s face froze, then the light in her eyes dimmed. “Possibly.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Padma said. “If Iama witch, and if I can be cured, then I need to try. If it goes wrong, then…” She lifted her chin and fixed her gaze on me. “If I go dark, then you’ll kill me.”
My heart sank, but I remembered my promise to her all those weeks ago in the chapel behind the chapter house. My vow to end her life if she went mullo. I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “Yes. I’ll kill you.”
“This is all speculation,” Holly said. “What we need to do is find the spirit. Trap it and make it talk.”
“And how do we do that?” Ezekiel asked.
It was Kaster who answered. “If this spirit needs to recharge, it will go to a place of power. So where in Dracul is a place like that?”
Silence fell for long seconds, and I wracked my brain for an answer. I’d come to know Dracul pretty well, but I still had a lot to learn about the territory.
“Brimswood Park!” Merry blurted. “The wards around it are extremely powerful. Fae magic. Triple layered too.”
“We’ll need a spell to trap the entity.” Holly looked to Lorenzo.
“I’m sure we can come up with something,” Lorenzo said. “Maybe if we examined the teapot, there might be a residue of magic that could provide a starting point?”
“I’ll need my bag,” Holly said. “The ingredients for my spells are in it.”
“Where is it?” Ordell asked. “I can fetch itandthe teapot.”
