I tucked the Jade under my shirt, obscuring it from view. The green pendant clashed with my blue eyes. Vladimir stood at my side, hands clasped in the front, straight backed and on hyper-alert. Although he didn't appear any differently than normal, I could feel that he was nervous. His anxiety put me on edge. Vladimir was quiet, a silent sentinel as the cool breeze brushed my hair into my face. I buttoned the top of my black coat and stuffed my hands into the pockets.
The sun was dawning on the horizon. The golden light bounced off the surface of the Mississippi, and the cool breeze was a foreshadowing of a storm that was brewing. The skies may be clear, but I knew better. The air was too cold off the ocean and the pressure too low.
He and I both turned as though we could feel another's presence on the bridge. The bridge was for pedestrians across the Mississippi. It was a wide sidewalk and mostly vacant.
"Here we go." I whispered, walking to the middle of the walkway as the witch approached us. I tilted my chin up slightly, and clasped my gloved hands behind my back. Vladimir stood slightly behind me and to the side, chin tilted down in a much more calculating manner. I felt the breeze still, and I watched the woman approach. Her black hair hung down her back, and her features were sharpened by hatred.
Her dress was elegant and something that a businesswoman would wear on such a cool day. The turtleneck hid her runes from sight. The Clan Hela witch was a deathly beautiful sight. Her expression was perfectly neutral, but her eyes were laced with contempt for me. She only saw me as the woman who screwed her over on more than one account. She saw me as the tribrid who defied nature, just as my grandmother had.
"Maria Ravenson." I greeted curtly. She stopped several feet away from me. An uncomfortable distance to have a conversation but neither of us wanted to be closer to one another.
"It has been a long time, Alice." She replied.
"We can bypass the small talk." I decided firmly. "You asked me here. For the sake of curiosity, I've indulged you. Say your piece." I demanded with the authority one would expect from the leader of Clan Onyx.
"I told you to come alone." Her eyes didn't deviate from mine, but I knew she was referring to the vampire at my side.
"No one gives me demands." My tone was borderline hostile. It was a hint of a threat. Maria, after a few seconds of consideration, decided to drop the subject. Unlike me, the retired witch catcher had come alone.
"I know my son is in hiding with you." She deadpans. "He cannot be tracked, even by invoking Hel." Maria explains, and there was the part that she didn't have to say out loud laced in her words. I'm the only one who could possibly use Clan Hela magic and Kramer marks to hide warlocks and witches from the goddess. I didn't feel the need to internally gloat over that fact.
"I do not hide." I respond neutrally. "I wait." Maria blinked and nodded slightly, recognizing the truth in my words. "If you want Aleksandr, then I will deliver him to you." I decided. Maria's lips parted in slight surprise. "He's more of a burden than anything." I deadpanned. I could see the glimmer of hope flash across her face. But a second later, her own thoughts had crushed it.
"As long as he has a soul bond to you, he cannot return to Clan Hela." Maria's expression hardened. "They will try any means necessary to kill him."
"Even if he shed the soul bond today, he wouldn't be welcomed back. He killed one of your own. The murder of a Clan Hela member is not taken lightly. He would face trial. If he's lucky, he'd have his runes stripped from him and exiled from the Clan. If not, he'll be burned at the stake." I watched as the witch goes through stages of grief before me. She had already known this to be true, but hearing it out loud, from me, was different than having a vague idea.
