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“After you,” I said to the witch, standing back with Henry until the witches disappeared from view.
Henry beat his hand against my chest with a jovial grin. “I like her. She would make a fine female for any creature, but she suits you. Your family won’t cow her, though gods be with her when Alistair discovers your little secret.”
He strolled away, catching up with an older witch in the Coven, while I stood frozen.
I wondered, not for the first time, if I had brought more suffering to Jade’s life than I initially bargained for.
10
The faint stench of disease and decay hovered in the musky air. It seemed forever seeped in graveyard mud and the fragrant oakmoss hanging from trees in sweeping arcs. The echoes of the past still lingered in the rusted iron gates and cracked cement, unable to withstand the test of mother nature and time. This place felt haunting, yet the cemetery could not hold a candle to the ancient power flowing through the Salem Coven as they prepared for their ritual.
Leaning against a towering oak, Alexei and Henry watched the witches with aloof curiosity. My hands still buzzed with irritation over the encounter at Skipper’s and Alexei’s ridiculous flirtation with Sara.
The witch in question caught the direction of my hostility and elbowed me playfully in the side. “If you don’t want him, then I call dibs,” she giggled, adjusting her low top to better emphasize her impressive chest.
A secret, vindictive part of me wanted to yank the fire witch’s hair in my fist as I claimed Alexei as my own, but then cold reason settled in my bones. I grew vaguely horrified by my cattiness—and desire for the vampire.
Was Alexei right? Did I actuallywanthim?
Goddess knew the vampire was wickedly hot. The Slovenian accent, combined with his magnificently carved physique and glowing crimson eyes that promised carnal delights, was a temptation I had struggled to abstain from for months.
Usually, I could tamper my need with our scathing arguments and the nauseating displays of manwhoring he put on around New Orleans. But here, without my Coven’s judgment, I feared my control would slip away.
I shook my head, tucking a loose strand behind my ear. “Have at him. Though you should know, back home he’s known as the Prince of Pleasure. He’s not very discerning and will probably fuck anything that moves.”
“He sounds just my type.” She smirked before rejoining Elaine and Genevieve around the casting circle.
As I walked towards Liliane, I noticed a group of witches huddled together near the casting circle, glaring at the vampires with looks of outrage and disgust. It seemed not everyone in the Coven was tolerant of their inclusion tonight.
A ghostly presence brushed along my back, the chill more unnatural and disturbing than the simple drop in temperature in the moonless sky. Nervously, I glanced around, watching the restless spirits roaming through the plots.
“Many of the witches hung during the trials have passed to the Beyond,” Aunt Liliane whispered in my ear.
I jumped, my heart galloping wildly in my chest. “Goddess, you scared me.” With another glance around the cemetery, I asked her, “Are there always so many spirits lurking about? How do the mortals not get freaked?”
“The same wards that surround the town also cover the cemetery. We wouldn’t want chaos reigning on our humble streets now, would we?” She winked, leading me through the tombstones.
I turned to read the names of the witches who had lost their lives throughout the years and felt a blanket of sorrow rest on my shoulders.These creatures were mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and humans persecuted them simply for being themselves. There was so much loss of life simply because mortals feared what they didn’t understand.
It was a fate every Coven sought to avoid but seemed destined to repeat.
“Those who remain are mortals or creatures who refuse to move on,” she said as one such spirit wafted over us. “I’m sure you saw my great grandmother, Agnes, who likes to haunt our family home, amongst others in town.”
I cast her a surprised look. “Why would anyone choose to remain alone on Gaia with the rest of your family already in the Beyond?”
It seemed like an eternity of misery if I had to be separated from those I loved, cursed to drift alone on a plane where most wouldn’t have any knowledge of my existence.
Liliane picked up a discarded beer can as she considered my question. “We are taught to pay our respects to the Goddess and, in return, we garner power and safe passage to the Beyond, where we may live in comfort with our ancestors. Those who do not believe or have nothing waiting on the other side are less likely to jump into the unknown. Or if they feel their purpose remains on Gaia.”
“I suppose I can understand that.” My breath huffed out, sending a mist of steam around my face.
With a squeeze around my shoulders, Liliane murmured, “You and I will have plenty of time to discuss our magick and what makes it so special, but for now, let’s focus on giving these spirits a chance to enter the afterlife. I assume you have performed an exorcism before?”
I nodded. “I’ve assisted spirit witches before using my earth magick. Our Coven’s spirit witch fled New Orleans earlier this year, so we’ve been without. Grandmother wants Ember and I to master the spell so we can stop contracting outsiders to help us with simple casting.”
“Understandable,” Liliane said simply.
We fanned across the damp earth, mud sticking to the heels of my boots.
