Page 26 of Battle of Witches
“I wasnotforming cults and murdering people when I was a teenager. Even the mean girls at my high school were more about psychological warfare than pretending to be a god’s girlfriend and murdering people,” Ravyn said.
“Are you telling me we are dealing with a resurrected hybrid that doesn’t have a fully developed pre-frontal cortex? That’s worse. You can all see how that is worse, right?” Killian groaned.
“This is shit, but it isn’t evil mastermind, murderous teenager bad,” I said. “Every new creation is in danger. It’s not just like Lilith and her demons. Most of the time, the other gods don’t care as long as they aren’t monstrous things that are abandoned to fend for themselves and causing destruction. It’s the other people on Earth they have to worry about. Even back when the humans and supernaturals lived side by side, they were always wary of new creations.
“They all had fully formed brains. I gave them the ability to speak and understand languages when I gave them life. I did the same thing I did to Bjorn and Sleipnir when they came out of the pocket dimension. I had intended to show the hybrids the world when it was safe. I only remembered that when I saw Asfrid again, and she spoke perfect English.”
“I was wondering about that. IknewValentine didn’t teach her in that short a time. I should have remembered who created her,” Ravyn said.
“So, we have something we didn’t before,” Killian said. “Asfridcouldhave made sure there were hybrids inthiscentury if they had mated up and had children. Shecouldhave done that by making friends and ensuring the hybrid line continued. I know Loki well enough to know that’s what he would have drilled into the hybrids, and Bjorn is living proof of that.”
“Bjorn and Sleipnir are proof Loki is a good mother whether he created them from the four elements or gave birth himself. Asfrid grew up in the same house as Bjorn, then they rescued Sleipnir, butsomethingmade her different. We know she uses mind-altering potions to get people addicted to do what she wants. We knowhowshe got the other hybrids to murder for her and what she’s promising now, but not thewhy. Bjorn was also a new creation, but the Unseelie accepted him to the point that they wanted to adopt him and are notoriously suspicious of outsiders.”
“The Unseelie didn’t trust me until I had proven myself. It was more luck than anything. They barred me from entering their homes until I had a small vision that came true. It wasn’t much, but Isawthat if they started a new trade with a nearby village, they would poison the goods because they didn’t trust the Unseelie. So, they sent me away but were on their guard at the trade and realized it was true.”
“The hybridscouldhave had a moment like that,” I said. “I kept encouraging them. They made friends with a clan of bear shifters right away. The other shifters were friendly with them but not as welcoming as the bears, so they just assumed they hated them. It was very different with the witches.”
“Most witches are about free will and, aside from cursing people who have done you wrong, not using magic to hurt anyone permanently. They may have been suspicious initially, but I’ve seen the grimoire. I hate to say it, but Asfrid is clearly talented with the mage half of her DNA. If she had kept going down the path of the first part of the grimoire, the witches would have been interested in a mutually-beneficial sharing of knowledge. The only reason it's not right now is that Asfrid flounced out in a blaze of glory and came back by murdering people.”
Ah, my hybrids and the witches. I didn’t tag along like an overbearing mother every time they left the house. I knew how to find them if they were in danger. Ishouldhave handled that situation better when it was going down. I loved witches. I loved the witch and warlock I was dating right now. The trouble with the witches back then had nothing to do with my hybrids and everything to do with how Lilith made her witches. My hybridscouldhave reacted better, and that was on me.
“The witches didn’t shun the hybrids at first. On the contrary, they invited them over for meals when they had a good hunt or harvest. But you must understand that it’s a witch’s nature to want to build a powerful coven. Some of the younger witches hadn’t formed theirs yet and were very curious about five male hybrids that were coming to visit.”
Ravyn and Killian both groaned. I probably could have shortened that entire statement, and they would have gotten it.
“Power-hungry witches who try toforcea coven instead of letting it happen the way fate wanted it to are the literalworst,”Ravyn said. “I don’t even need the gory details. I’m guessing they were all over the men and tried to alienate the women.”
“It was like that back in my day, too,” Killian said. “It was horrible with high-born women.”
“And that’s natural for witches. Lilith had to leave Earth with her demons and Hellhounds to protect them, but she left her witches behind with immense power and the desire to surround themselves with other powerful supernaturals. The female hybrids took it badly, and the male hybrids sided with the females, so there was a falling out with the witches. I kept telling them to just fight back. To form their own covens with the bears and warlocks. It was like they didn’t want to share their toys, so they took them away and stopped playing with them.”
“Why didn’t they just tell them they weren’t interested in joining their coven?” Ravyn asked. “A coven isn’t everyone worshipping their witch. Everyone has a purpose and gets magical shunning if a coven fails. Like, every single member of the coven is dead to the magical community if someone walks away. It’s supposed to be a bond deeper than marriage. Packs and covens are something you don’t start unless youknowfate is on your side and you fight to keep them. It’s like that with every supernatural that is poly.”
That was how it wassupposedto be, but that wasn’t necessarily how it always was. I thought about Minerva. That wasn’t my secret to tell. I’d blabbed enough of Freya’s secrets since I saw her again. If she wanted Ravyn to know about that, she’d tell her. I was pretty confident she would. Ravyn was like her child. The Freya I knew would have been out and proud with her kinks, but she was pretending to be someone else at the moment.
“You know that, and I know that,” Killian said. “Every single witch who has ever been born knows that. Yet, some of them think they are owed things they don’t deserve and do stupid shit to try to get it. We don’t know if the witches did that to the hybrids back then.”
Just then, an alert went off on my phone. I had that alert set every time there was a new social media posting from Asfrid or Valentine. Valentine was currently in jail, so it had to be her this time. I’d never wished not to be able to poop without an audience on someone until I met Valentine. I hoped he was so backed up that he sharted himself and got his ass beat. Of course, everyone here knew what that notification meant, so they crowded around my phone.
Asfrid had recorded a video this time. I ran my program to locate her, but I already knew this was pre-recorded to save time. It would have been uploaded somewhere with public Wi-Fi, and they would have split as soon as it was done. They’d been using that method for two months to elude me.
Modern life agreed with Asfrid. She’d always been more into her potions and grimoire than she had her looks. Asfrid must have done that so no one would pay attention to her. Her hair was now styled in soft waves, and her makeup was expertly applied. She had this hippy, boho vibe going on. I would have told her she looked amazing and was so proud of her, but she’d gone batshit, and now I had to kill her.
“Friends, I need to tell you something important. The government is on to our great work here and has unconstitutionally arrested our friend Valentine. All of you have met him, and if you haven’t, you are missing out. So, I’d like to send this message out to the world.
“If you are not one of us yet, but you are tired of government overreach, demand his release. If they can arrest him, it’s only a matter of time before they roundyouup, too. They don’t care if you are innocent.
“If you are one of us, prepare for a fight because I’m giving Kaine Dragovich and the Paranormal Investigation Bureau an ultimatum. Valentine will be released to me before the next full moon, or the streets of Profane will run with blood until he’s free.
“We didn’t call ourselves the Cult of the Aether Sisters back then, but you still talk about us now. A seer prophesied we would return one day, andImade that happen by writing a necromancy spell for shifters. I’m not here to bring the untrue horror stories you all know to life. I don’t want to hurtanyoneunless you make me.
“We were never an evil witch sisterhood. There were men with us, and we weren’t even witches. We were hybrids. I’m a hybrid. We were persecuted, burned alive for being different, and turned into a horror story for you to murder any hybrids that came after us. But we were just like you.I’mjust like you.
“I was working on something when I was murdered. Valentine was the only living person brave enough to talk to our ghosts. HeknewI could make necromancy possible for shifters instead of just begging the witches. So, you see, I am part shifter, part witch.
“I had so many spells in my grimoire that wouldhelpthe magical community. I still want to help them. Unfortunately, the Museum of the Profane is holding my grimoire hostage. I happen to know for a fact that their policy is to return any items if there are people around to claim them.
“Valentine didn’t rob the Museum of the Profane. He was trying to return my property because the museum pretended they didn’t have it. Theystillhaven’t returned it. There are spells in there that could help the entire magical community. Valentine is a hero, and there’s so much we could be doing right now instead of trying to get him out of prison.
