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In this picture, the witchy woman stood beside another figure, a slight woman with a familiar heart-shaped face and smokey eyes the color of sage leaf. Beneath her dress, her belly bulged slightly, and the protective hand she held over it was evidence enough.
Sky zoomed in, pointing to a spot on the woman’s neck. “Tell me you don’t see it too.”
I leaned over her knee, nearly pressing my nose to the screen. I wasn’t sure what she was referring to at first—the picture was blurry and the color slightly off, but then something on her skin caught my eye. A gasp escaped me and I met Sky’s eye in disbelief. “That’s a bite mark. A vampire did that.”
“Exactly.” Sky tapped the screen. “This woman was Alberich’s mate. This is the twins’ mother.”
Three hours later, Sky and I were standing outside the door of Ursula Zippel’s home.
The house was located in the heart of the city, with a drooping fruit tree out back that seemed out of place in the concrete jungle. My unease became apparent then, and I shifted from one foot to the other, tugging at my coat and generally fidgeting like I’d come down with a rash.
The lingering animosity between vampires and witches was something every supernatural Manhattan dweller was aware of. The witches stuck to our coven’s rules, but only so long as we vampires stayed out of the way. Walking up to this stranger and demanding answers seemed like a recipe for disaster, but Sky had been determined to make the trip, insisting that we needed to get the witches on our side.
The way I saw it, we would have more luck coaxing the boogeyman to help us out with a promise of bad dreams and beds to hide under.
When I made no move to ring the doorbell, Sky took the liberty to do it for me. “You can’t tell me you’re afraid of some teenage crystal girl.”
The door swung open almost immediately, like the witch had predicted our arrival.
“Oh!” Sky lowered her hand, donning her brightest smile as she greeted the unwelcoming stranger. “Hello. Are you Ursula?”
The girl who stood before us was no more than eighteen years old. Her wide-brimmed hat was a crimped black velvet, sitting atop shimmering purple hair. Her crystal necklace glinted in the dim light of the apartment. While she definitely matched the Facebook profile, she was far more intimidating in person, excluding the kind of cocky, bold cruelty that only teenagers could pull off.
Ursula folded her arms, scowling at me in particular. “I thought I smelled vamp. What are you doing on my doorstep, bloodsucker?”
Her eyes moved from me to Sky, her voice dripping with disdain. “And who’s the fragile human you’ve brought along. I didn’t know vampires took their contractees for walks.”
Suppressing my immediate irritation, I forced a smile, struggling to maintain some sense of civility as I spoke. “Hi, I’m Jordan. This is Sky. If you don’t mind, we have some questions we want to ask you.”
“You have questions?” the witch drawled, blocking the entrance with both arms propped up on the doorway. “A vampire and her blood bag show up unannounced and you’re the one asking questions?”
Sky’s smile faltered, as the tension grew palpable. She spoke with a hint of nervousness, trying to defuse the situation. “Um, I’m not a contractee. I’m her girlfriend. We just wanted to talk for a minute, uh, could we come in?”
Ursula stared Sky down, dropping her arm to her sides. “A human dating a vampire. There’s something you don’t see every day. Aren’t you ever afraid she might get a little peckish?”
She looked us both up and down, toying with the idea of letting us in. Sky turned up the wattage of her smile, stamping her foot on top of mine, silently urging me to do the same. I tried my best to follow suit, but the way this woman had disrespected Sky made my blood boil and the best I could manage was a grimace.
“Fine, come in.” Ursula rolled her eyes, stepping back and beckoning Sky forward. “But I have a Pilates class in ten minutes so this better be quick.”
Sky slipped past the witch and I followed in after her. Right before my foot could cross the threshold though, Ursula stepped in front of me, drawing herself up to her full height—which wasn’t very high. “I don’t want any trouble from you. You vamps may run this city but in there is my turf.”
She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, sizing me up with a steely glare. “I’m curious why a vampire would need my help, so I’ll humor you for the time being. But this doesn’t make us friends.”
“Noted.” I raised my palms in surrender. “No tricks up my sleeve. We’ll be out of your hair in a moment.”
We exchanged a searing glare that spoke volumes—doubt, skepticism, and a mutual understanding that this truce was a fragile one. Seemingly satisfied with what she saw in my eyes, Ursula stepped back and allowed me room to enter.
The inside of her small home was like something out of a Pinterest board. Drooping plants lined every shelf and tabletop, along with crystals, candles and smudge sticks. The air was thick with the aroma of incense, and a hazy cloud of fragrant smoke hung in the air.
Ursula settled onto the edge of a worn-out couch, her posture stiff and guarded.
I chose to stand, folding my arms and eyeing the witch suspiciously from my post near the door.
Sky settled on a footstool between the two of us, a tentative mediator. She narrowed eyes in my direction, mentally relaying her earlier warning; Be nice. Or else.
“So.” Ursula flicked a strand of shimmering lavender hair over her shoulder. “What was it you wanted to ask me?”
Sky and I exchanged glances. Neither of us had really expected the witch to let us through the door, and we hadn’t formulated any sort of plan barring breaking and entering to see what we could find.
