“At the next full moon,” she continued, “I gathered up my supplies and headed out into the woods just before midnight, looking for the fabled place where two paths crossed—a dark, ominous part of the forest where most witches in my circle had never dared to venture. Once I knew I was in the right spot, I performed the ritual, spilling blood to call forth the demon servant who’d carry my plea to his master.
“Imagine my surprise when the master himself showed up. Oh, he was quite charming back then—in a different vessel entirely, mind you—and he knew exactly what to say to wrap me around his finger. I made my first deal that very night.”
“You sold your soul?” I asked.
“Not then, no. Sebastian doesn’t always trade in souls. There are other favors, other promises, other bits of knowledge and sacred information a witch might offer, and there were many things Sebastian wanted to know about my family. As I said, they were influential in the community, and my mother was a prominent witch from an even more prominent family. So Sebastian and I continued on in this way for years, meeting at the crossroads in the woods, making deals. We used to joke that I’d signed my name in blood so many times I could’ve fed an entire vampire coven for a year.” At this, she glanced at me briefly, but didn’t have the courage to hold my gaze.
“Why are you telling us all of this?” I asked.
“I want you all to understand that Sebastian and I knew each other very well by the time you girls came into my life. Call me a fool for trusting the Prince of Hell, but he’d never betrayed me, which was more than I could say for my own family.”
She paused to sip her tea, and I took a moment to process all of this. I didn’t want to feel sorry for her—not at all. But I also knew what it was like to finally find the one person you could trust after all the people in your life—the people you weresupposedto be able to trust—had shit on you.
But my empathy could only go so far. I knew the ending of this story, and the person who’d gotten shit on this time wasn’t Deirdre. It was me.
“Fast forward to the night your mother tried to kill you,” Deirdre said. “By then I had a solid coven, backed by the power of Sebastian, who we’d been working with as a group for some time. After we succeeded in removing you four from your mother’s home, we did a binding ritual on you.”
“Why the hell would you do that?” Addie blurted out. It was the first she’d spoken since Deirdre had begun this story, and though she was initially eager to meet our grandmother, her demeanor toward her had flipped like a switch, as had Haley’s. The three of us now sat close together on one side of the table, shoulders practically touching, staring down our grandmother on the other side, like some kind of tribunal. We were in this together now—three out of the four witches of prophecy, united after more than two decades, never to be torn apart again.
“We thought binding your powers would allow you to blend into human society more seamlessly,” Deirdre explained. “But it didn’t work. Already you were all too strong—even Georgie, who was only a baby then. I knew it was only a matter of time before you were truly discovered—before people in the larger magical and supernatural communities learned the truth about your legacy. We knew the witches chosen to adopt you into their care would do their best to shield you, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. I didn’t… I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Sounds exactly like the kind of desperation Sebastian thrives on,” I said, draining the last of my tea. I’d added a little too much hawthorn, and now I felt it working its way into my bloodstream, quickly mellowing me out.
It was probably for the best. All that anger, all that bitterness was making it hard to think, and now that Deirdre had started weaving the full tapestry of this story, I realized Ididwant to know.
Every last detail.
“In exchange for your eternal protection, I offered him my own soul, my own blood. I’m no Silversbane, but as I said, my line is powerful in its own right, highly coveted by demon lords.”
“What demon lords?” Haley asked. “I thought Sebastian was the boss.”
“He has been in power a long time, Serena—”
“It’s Haley now.”
“Of course. Haley. But like all men in positions of power, he knows his is not guaranteed. There will always be challengers—someone hungrier, dirtier, more desperate, more willing to do whatever it takes to secure that ultimate power.”
“So you thought having access to your magic and your blood could somehow help keep him in power?” I asked.
“That was part of it, yes. But more than my powerful blood, I knew I had another advantage: In all those deals, over all those clandestine meetings at the crossroads, Sebastian had fallen in love with me.”
“Holy shit,” Addie said. “Are you saying Sebastian is our—”
“No. Your grandfather was human, I assure you. With all the same weaknesses and frailties as the rest.” Deirdre shook her head, the muscle in her jaw ticking. “He was long gone by the time your four came into the picture. In any case, I knew as well as Sebastian that my offer meant I’d become his—body, magic, and soul. There was no way he’d turn it down.”
“Well, apparently prostituting yourself to the Prince of Hell wasn’t enough after all, was it?” I asked. Under the table, I felt the touch of Addie’s hand on my thigh, offering a gentle squeeze.
Deirdre shook her head, her eyes glistening with fresh tears. “Nothing is simple when it comes to Sebastian, and this deal was no different. He had conditions, the first being that I allow him to make me immortal.”
Haley gasped. “You’re immortal?”
Nodding, she said, “My soul would always be his regardless, but he wanted my body, too—and not just for however many years or even decades I had left. He wanted to be sure that I was well and truly his possession—for eternity. So yes, I’m immortal, but it’s not the gift you might think. I was sixty-three when he turned me, so sixty-three I am cursed to remain.”
“You agreed to this?” I asked, a flicker of warmth suddenly worming its way back into my heart for her. An immortal existence as Sebastian’s lover sounded like a special kind of hell. “You traded your eternal freedom just so he’d protect us?”
She looked up at me again, a faint smile crossing her lips. In a soft voice full of pain and regret, she said, “Understand, child. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do, even today, if I thought it would help keep you four girls safe. I truly believed that by sacrificing my eternity to Sebastian, you and your sisters might have a chance at living yourownlives, far away from the legacy and all who’d seek to use it against you.”
“How exactly was he supposed to protect us?” Addie asked.
