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When I began to ask those who served me, I was introduced to one woman, an immortal voodoo priestess who might be able to see to my needs. Her name was Tituba. I was escorted to her home, where she operated her own shop selling magical wares, potions, and all manner of things I had yet to understand.
“It is an honor to meet you,” she drawled with a heavy accent.
“You as well,” I responded carefully. The very air crackled with ancient power and for the first time, I felt as though I had found the one person in the Hellmouth that might have control of as much magic as I did.
I had heard of her name before, but I hadn’t realized that she was an immortal. She’d walked on Earth once a very long time ago and went by the same name. She was the very first woman to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. After confessing her guilt, she proceeded to accuse several other women of witchcraft. Her actions helped create a formidable site of magical power rising from the agonizing deaths of humans and actual witches alike. Today, it was a mecca for newly discovered witches and the place of a great many academies teaching young women how to harness their magic.
I should be wary of her.
“You have a problem, I’ve heard,” she started, a distinctive judgmental tone on her tongue.
“I do. I’ve been told you might be able to help,” I answered carefully.
“Tell me more about the one who made you,” she replied.
“His name is Cain,” I said, all while watching her expression with much reservation. Her brow ticked and her lips tensed. Then her face went calm.
“I have heard of him. He had a great deal of power that has never been properly collared,” Tituba said, her tone giving no indication of her true feelings. Telling her more might be similar to releasing a wild tiger from its cage, but I had no choice. I had to figure out a way to weaken Cain in order to prevent him from coming for me and right now, she was my only option even if she was a dangerous one.
“What do you mean?”
“You know much about the demon world, yes?”
“I do,” I answered.
“Tell me, there are a great number of witches on Earth’s surface, yes?”
“There are,” I replied. What was she getting at?
“And how many wizards or warlocks?” she answered.
“Those are a myth. There aren’t any in existence,” I replied.
“Why do you think that is?” she questioned.
I paused. I had literally never thought about it before. Witches were universally female. Wizards and warlocks were popularized in the movies and in literature, but there was no evidence that any had actually existed since the beginning of time. Male witches just weren’t a thing.
“It’s the magic. The powers of the Earth are distinctly feminine. The trees, the very air we breathe, the flowers blooming beneath our feet are all a product of Mother Nature and so is the magic that pumps in your and my veins. Cain wasn’t gifted his magic as you and I were. He was granted it through improper means,” she explained.
“How?”
“He made a deal with the devil, but he had to pay a very high price for it,” she continued.
“Which was what?” I pressed.
“He had to kill his brother,” she replied.
I swallowed heavily, finally grasping at her meaning.
Abel.
“By killing him, he was cursed with an eternal life of pointless wandering, but he was blessed with magic from the devil. Regardless of all that though, he gained his power through unnatural means and that makes him vulnerable,” she explained.
“How?” I asked. I hadn’t thought he had a weakness but if Tituba would help me to exploit it, I would do whatever it took.
She stood and opened a drawer. Tentatively, she pulled out a silver ring. It was a metal collar.
“I can weave a spell through the steel; the only thing you’d have to do would be to lock it around his throat yourself,” she suggested.
