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My mouth tried to form the words that flowed easily off the witch’s tongue with little success.
She laughed at my attempt, and it brightened her entire face, those strange black eyes glimmering with mischief. “It’s Welsh for dragon’s berry. It's a potent powder made from ground berries shipped from Dragomire. I haven’t surmised where they found the plant, but I don’t ask questions in case they pause their shipments. Expensive and rare, but worth every penny.”
“My sister is a student at Dragomire,” I mused quietly, my heart still aching. “I’ll have to ask her about what other strange plants she gets to experiment with.”?
With a flourish, she finished grinding the herbs in her mortar and dripped a few drops of moon-infused spring water along with a fragrant oil that burned my nostrils. She whispered her spell, the Latin words rolling off her tongue.?Her water magick danced in the air, teasing mine to join, but I held it back as the tincture before us fizzed, leaving behind a red, shimmering liquid.
“Ta da,” she sang, lifting a dropper of the tincture for me to inspect.?“That will drop any toddler into a lovely, dreamless sleep during nap time, so I can finish the laundry.”
I inhaled the fragrance, wondering at the beautiful alchemy I witnessed. “Amazing.”
“Thank you. My father was the earth warlock, and I’ve had to learn a lot since running the shop. This is a personal recipe of mine. Creating helps the endless tedium of the rest of my life feel more exciting.”
She bottled the tincture up and cleaned away her mess while humming under her breath.
“You should come by during your stay so I can show you some of my other creations. I don’t mind spreading my knowledge to other witches. The world would be a better place with more magick in it.”
This earthy botanical witchery was a power I had mastered, that I knew like the back of my hand. Lately, my spirit magick felt like a curse placed upon me, like I was one of the talismans I obsessed over. Something to be overcome.
“I would love to,” I answered honestly, “but my focus here is on my spirit magick. Thank you for showing me your process and the wonderful concoctions you’ve created. I’m sure I’ll see you around at Coven events.”
If Elaine was disappointed, she didn’t show it.
“Of course, Jade. You’re coming to the cemetery tonight, right?” she asked.
Nodding, I edged away from the table, feeling the overwhelming cloud of darkness settling in my chest once more. “Liliane discussed it with Tabitha and I this morning. I could use some hands-on experience with exorcisms. Other than the few I performed with our previous spirit witch and with the Houston Coven last weekend, I rarely attended the rituals in the cemeteries around NOLA.”
“You’re in for a wild night,” Elaine gushed before turning her attention back on her vials of potions. “See you later, Jade.”
I fled back to the shop to find Liliane and Tabitha hovering around the floor-to-ceiling cabinet filled to the brim with jars filled with sweet-smelling balms.?
Lillian cackled at something Tabitha said, and as she threw her head back in laughter, she caught sight of me through the crowd. “Come on, Jade,” she called, uncaring of the annoyed looks a pair of nearby mortals sent her. “There’s still so much more I want to show you girls before dinner.”
I let myself be guided away, but I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder at the green awning that once represented my hope for a bright future a final time. It faded quickly into the background, much the same as my childlike hopes for a better future than the one Grandmother had planned for me.
9
Though I considered myself a fairly progressive vampire, my oldest friend made me appear downrighttraditional. As Henry Thompson guided me inside a popular dive restaurant along the wharf for a welcome drink, I momentarily pondered the merits in abandoning our friendship due to his abominable choice of evening fare.
We had passed several passable establishments on the drive into town from Henry’s cabin in the woods, and I doubted Skipper’s offered anything passable for my tastes. The warmbloods chatted and gazed out at the dark water while drinking perspiring bottles of beer and snacking on fried food, the aromas of which lingered in the air despite the wind. The overload of smells drowned out my thirst as Henry blessedly dragged me to a quiet corner inside the run-down restaurant, away from the stench.
With a caustic look at the torn faux leather booth, I gingerly sat, dreading the damage my favorite suit would incur. “Well, now that you’ve committed to torturing me, please tell me the bartender can get me something other than stale beer,” I said petulantly.
Henry steepled his hands together on the table with undisguised amusement. “You do realize your snobbery led you into your current predicament, right? If you had secured your precious heirlooms in a safer location than your pretentious vault, you may have never had cause to pay your old friend a visit.”
“As if it were my choice,” I muttered. “The vault came with the manor house.”
“Your father and his oddities.”
The bitterness in his voice reminded me of their centuries-long history, rife with grief and betrayal. As if sensing the pity creeping through me, Henry shifted his attention to the server across the bar.
“When Silas called me, I wondered how you got around the terms of your exile. Or is this an illicit visit?” He clucked his tongue chidingly. “If I’m harboring a fugitive, it would do you well to not mock my tastes,Your Majesty.”
I rolled my eyes as the server brought over what I imagined to be Henry’s usual. The pint glasses were ebony to disguise the dark ruby blood settling through the ale. With a cautious sniff, I took a sip, noting that the beverage was far from the worst thing I had ever endured.
“Not bad,” I said diplomatically.
Henry’s chuckle rang in my ear as I continued studying the half-empty restaurant.
