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“Like mortals, vampires gossip and talk. Word is spreading about you, the witch who moves faster than a vampire. Druella Omeron, the great witch of the ninth.” He chuckled like it wasn’t serious. “We vampires love giving others more names.”
“My uncle wanted me to kill all of the vampires, not just four, to send a message and to strike fear into the heart of vampires so that they never came onto our lands again.”
“That would send a message. Vampires would be wary, but others would be encouraged.”
I frowned, shifting my legs so I could sit better, and turned to him. “What do you mean, encouraged?”
“Eternity is a long time. We are often left unchallenged and, therefore, bored or lonely. Either way, nothing stirs more excitement in some than news of a powerful witch or coven. Who will get the glory of saying they destroyed them in their prime?”
The look of amusement in his gray eyes sent a chill up my spine. I didn’t want to ask, but at the same time, I could not stop myself from asking, “Have you gotten this glory?”
His gaze never shifted or wavered, and there was not a speck of regret or remorse. “Many times over. So many times I’ve even forgotten a few.”
Again, I didn’t want to know, but I had to. “Has it ever been anyone in my coven?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you were truly immortal. So maybe I would kill you every time I saw you until the guilt went away?”
“How honest of you. Let me be glad then that I have not killed a witch since I came upon these lands as I was otherwise occupied, searching for you.”
My shoulders relaxed, and I was able to eat again.
“However, President Swan has asked me to destroy your coven.”
Just like that, my shoulders were back up, and my eyes widened as I looked at him. “He asked you? He wants to break the treaty.”
“No vampire ever wishes to be in a treaty with witches. It is a nuisance, and it makes us look weak. However, the Swan Republic had only just begun in 1901. All new ruling families struggle to bring other vampires under their control. It takes time, effort, and conflict. The Swans most likely did not wish to deal with your coven. But your coven leader and two other witches were very powerful. So going up against them may have cost him loyal vampires. At the same time, they could also use your growing power and influence to rally those vampires against them. He has not done so, and your little treaty no longer serves him any purpose. It only makes him look weak.”
Putting the food down, I shifted closer to him. “Is that why the vampires keep coming onto our lands? He’s sending them?”
“He has not sent anyone yet. Merely not stopping anyone. The three who appeared in front of your friend’s home were not directed by him. They came of their own accord when they figured out the home of one your coven.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I believe one of them might have been a tracker.”
“There was an attack on another Wiccan home, the Allsbrooks. Did they track—”
“It was not them.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I killed them before then.”
I froze, trying to understand his words. But it didn’t make sense. “You killed vampires?”
“I had no other choice. They knew about you and heard me order them to leave. I told you, vampires gossip. If any other vampire found out I was protecting you, they’d wonder why. And if they figured it out, you would be in danger. I could not risk that.”
My mouth parted slightly, unsure of what to say. “Taleon Swan said they were already being punished, but by that, he meant they were already dead.”
“He doesn’t know who did it. I was the one who alerted him to it. At first, he assumed it was your coven. When you kept demanding them, he realized it wasn’t but did not wish to admit they were dead.”
“So, it really wasn’t those vampires,” I whispered, my mind racing as I tried to figure out what other vampires could have gotten so close, could have killed right in the heart of our coven. “None of this makes sense.”
“Why are you so certain it was a vampire?” he asked me, which felt like a stupid question.
“Who else would kill a witch but vampire?”
