Malik's P.O.V
I blew out a hard breath, staring at the houses along the street. There were no signs of life, all the windows dark and driveways empty. Eerie. "Think this one is it?"
"Who knows?" Madam Moreau shrugged a delicate shoulder, mouth pinched in a frown as she studied the map in her hands. "Doesn't hurt to try."
I might have agreed with her if we hadn't been trying for the last two weeks. The witches were as hard to find as we had anticipated and every time we thought we had a good lead on where to find them, it turned into a dead end. By the third time, I figured we were being fed false information on purpose to throw us off the trail. We'd ended up working our way through the state of New Hampshire because that was the one thing we knew for sure: they were here, we just didn't know the exact location.
Yet, I chanted internally. It was the only thing keeping me from going Fuck it and heading back to Rigryce and Eden. My demon was starting to get pissy at the lack of contact and I wasn't far behind. A cranky vampire, especially an alpha-natured one, was a dangerous force to be reckoned with. Her blood only did so much, my demon wanting to bask in her scent and hear her laugh. Feel her warmth as we held her close to dance. He wanted to be near her, period.
From what I'd learned during our trip, witches liked to be near each other for support and often built small communities for themselves on the outskirts of regular human civilizations. They detoured outsiders from moving in using spells fed by all the members of the community as an extra precaution. Incredibly clever if it weren't such a pain in the ass to crack. On the bright side, if we were right then all the houses on this street would be home to witches and we'd just have to keep going till we found the one we were looking for. The head of the coven, their Matriarch.
If we didn't find her, she'd find us to keep the other members safe. As if we'd want to harm them. The concept had me rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of it. Vampires and witches had never been ones to mix and somewhere down the line, they had developed some rather bizarre notions on how we acted. Or refused to accept that we were no longer that way. I wouldn't deny that at one point we were mindless, blood-sucking beasts but we had moved beyond that into a civilized species that only took what was needed or was freely offered.
"Do you feel that?" Madam Moreau suddenly asked, yanking me out of my sour thoughts. Her head was tilted, eyes closed as she tried to hone in on what she found.
Blinking, I focused my energy and spread it out further to see what she was talking about. On the faintest corner of my awareness, I felt a weird thrumming that had the hair on my arms prickling. "What is that?" I asked, frowning in concentration. It wasn't an awful sensation. Just different.
"That, my dear boy, is magic." Madam Moreau sounded genuinely excited and without waiting for me, starting marching down the street in the direction of the thrums. For someone wearing spiky high heels, she moved with a fair amount of grace and speed.
I hurried to follow, curious about what we would find. The neighborhood we were in was part of a small town that was a good deal off the trodden path. We had spent several days searching around the area, possibly due to those protection spells Landon had warned us about. There must have been some sort of warning signal tied into it because we hadn't felt any other presence since walking around. I doubted the place was deserted, the houses and lawns too well maintained to have been abandoned for any period of time.
"Are you sure it's safe?" I asked, wary that we might willingly be walking into a trap.
"Don't tell me the big, bad vampire is scared?" She taunted without stopping. I shot a dark scowl at her back in reply, irritated she found my concerns a joke. It didn't matter what we found if we ended up dead in the process. She might not have anything worth going back to but I did. "It doesn't matter at this point. We don't have any other choice but to check it out. It's the first good sign we've had. Unless you want to continue searching?"
She knew I was just as tired of searching for the needle in the haystack as she was. "No," I grumbled, resigned. "Let's hope this doesn't end badly."
"I doubt it. For all their magic, witches are timid creatures." She turned her head to look over her shoulder, features set in determination. "Try not to come off too threatening. The last thing we want is to scare them off before getting what we came for."
"I'll try," I said doubtfully. Two strange vampires wandering onto their land were going to come off as dangerous no matter what we did. Not to mention it was still up in the air on how far their abilities extended. If they could sense the power of our auras then we were completely screwed.
"We knew it was going to be hard. As gifted as Landon is with technology, he still had trouble finding anything."
"I've heard of off the grid," I mused out loud. "But this is ridiculous."
"Funny what a hundred years will do," Madam Moreau said. "We used to live just like this." Sorrow laced her words as she thought back to that period in time.
The Reveal happened before I was born so I could only imagine what it was like, having to hide in the shadows and live half a life. People like the headmistress or my parents that had been around before rarely talked about it, citing that they wanted to focus on the brighter future they were working towards. There was no point in reliving a past we had no intentions of revisiting.
Even the humans seemed eager to forget that year of war and bloodshed.
Knowing I was treading a tender area, I turned back to the topic at hand. "It's getting stronger."
She hummed in agreement. "Get ready."
In the center of the small town was a little park where parents could take their children to play. A jungle gym, slide, and swings were scattered around along with some picnic benches. A fountain bubbled from its spot at the entrance, spray misting in the cool air. It would have been a charming sight if there wasn't a group of roughly thirty people blocking the gate, watching us silently.
The hairs on my arms prickled in warning.
"Looks like we found the welcoming committee," I muttered sarcastically.
"Shhh," Madam Moreau hissed, coming to a stop roughly a yard away. If I had been close enough, she might have smacked me. "Let me do the talking."
"Wasn't that the plan anyway?"
This close, the thrumming became almost painful as my aura picked up each individual trace of magic. They were like bee stings; one or two were fine but they started to add up after a while. My system, unused to such stimuli, was being bombarded on all sides by the force of it. Despite the pain, however, I found it fascinating how each set of magic had its unique print under the pulse that told me it was magic in the first place. Given enough time, I could probably be able to identify which belonged to each person based on feeling alone.
I had to grit my teeth to prevent showing just how bad I was doing. I didn't want to appear threatening but looking weak wasn't an option either. That made it all the more insulting when I glanced over at Madam Moreau and saw her standing there coolly, seemingly unaffected. She raised a brow as she studied the crowd, most of which had their heads covered by cloaks that concealed their entire bodies. No one said anything, choosing instead to continue watching in silence. I stayed back, figuring it would come off friendlier that way.
"I have been hearing of a group of vampires that are searching for us," A voice rang out from the large body of people. Because their features were concealed, it was hard to tell exactly where it was coming from. "I didn't want to believe it."
Clearing her throat, overly loud after so much silence, Madam Moreau began introductions. "My name is Helen Moreau, headmistress of Rigryce Academy. The boy behind me is one of my students, Malik Stavros." I bristled at being referred to as merely a boy, my hard body and chiseled features telling a different story, but wisely kept my mouth shut. "I've come to talk to your Matriarch about a few things if that is oka-"
"We don't have anything to say to you, vampire." A figure spoke up, stepping forward and pulling her hood down at the same time to reveal a silver head of hair and a face lined with wrinkles. From the way she took charge, it wasn't a hard guess that she was the leader.
Unlike classic depictions of witches that showed them with hunched backs, crooked teeth, and more warts than you could count, the woman before us had aged with grace and must have been a beauty in her prime. She stood tall and regal as she regarded the headmistress, unfazed by the power Madam Moreau couldn't fully leash. Madam Moreau tilted her head, observing the other woman with the same amount of interest. "Are you the Matriarch?"
"What's it to you?" She was blunt, I'd give her that. She already earned respect for not cowering down to the headmistress. "We aren't telling you anything so you might as well leave the way you came."
"We don't mean to cause any trouble if that's what you are worried about. We simply have a few questions."
The other woman scoffed, shaking her head. "Vampires are always causing trouble and dragging other people into it. Well, we want no part of it. This is the last time I'm going to tell you to leave."
I could see the faintest tick forming in the headmistress's jaw and the next time she spoke, she sounded on the verge of being pissed off. "We've spent a lot of time trying to track your people down. Do you honestly think we would do that if it wasn't important? The least you can do is hear us out."
The witch stepped forward, a hand pressed to her bony waist as she glared at the both of us in contempt. "And whose fault is that? We went into hiding for a reason and you filthy bloodsuckers can never take no for an answer. You did it when you chose to show yourselves and you're doing it again now. We want nothing to do with the likes of ya so go back where ya came from!"
While she was talking, I noticed something behind her. One of the hooded figures was slowly inching its way along the edge of the group as if to get a better look at the strange, new visitors without getting caught. Lips twitching in amusement, I narrowed my eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the face hidden under the folds but the cover was too good for even my enhanced eyesight to penetrate. Because of the bulky fabric of the cloak, I couldn't even tell if they were male or female.
"Not until I get what I came for!" Madam Moreau closed the distance between them, staring directly into the old woman's eyes. The other group shifted uncomfortably, ready to come to their leader's defense if needed. "I knew coming here would be difficult. I knew working with you would be damn near impossible. I did it anyway because I'm after something that doesn't affect only me but the girls at my school. They are training to be Pets and I doubt you've heard of the group targeting them-"
"I don't care," The older woman cut in with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The problems of vampires and those that choose to associate with them do not concern me or mine. All we want is to be left alone. With that, I think we are done here."
She turned and headed back for the park. As if responding to some unspoken cue, the group behind her followed, cloaks billowing in the winter breeze. Madam Moreau stood there in frozen shock for several seconds, mouth popped open in surprise. No one in the vampire community would have dismissed her so readily, like swatting away an annoying fly. Pulling herself back together, she hustled after the group with a burst of vampiric speed. "Not yet we aren't," She snarled, coming up behind the old woman and reaching out an arm to grab her shoulder-
And slammed into an invisible barrier. There was no other way to describe it. One minute she was right on the tail of the leader and the next she was banging her fist on the magically created barricade, swearing up a storm as the group disappeared from sight, taking the prickly sensation with them. As troubling as the situation was, I noticed that the same figure I had been watching before hung back a little, waiting until the others filed past to drop something on the ground and follow suit.
Weird.
"Damn her," Madam Moreau was growling under her breath, shoving at the barrier like she could break through with sheer force alone. I admittedly knew next to nothing about magic but I doubted it worked that way. "Bunch of cowards."
"I'd say it went fairly well," I observed casually, stepping forward to get a feel myself. The barrier was cool and smooth to the touch like glass, slightly giving way when I pushed on it, reminding me of a balloon. There was the faintest shift in color when the light hit it just right, the only sign that there was anything there. The only reason I could probably see it was because of my enhanced eyesight. "No one got hurt."
"She won't get rid of us that easily. We're not leaving until we get what we came for. If that means hounding her day and night until she gives in, then we'll do it." Madam Moreau didn't seem to hear me or better yet, didn't care. She was off in her own world, dark determination in her tone as she glared at the spot we'd last seen them. Now it was more than just business. The Matriarch had wounded her pride.
I was about to ask if she thought the barrier would be a permanent fixture when I felt it give way beneath my palm, popping like a bubble. Stumbling at the sudden loss of support, I would have fallen if the headmistress hadn't snagged the back of my shirt and pulled me upright. Clearly, it was a spell only used long enough so they could make a clean getaway.
Madam Moreau gave me a chastising look I ignored as she picked back up where she left off. "We've had enough for today, don't you think? I wasn't expecting them to show themselves so soon. I thought we'd have to search around some more. Now that they know we're here, we'll give them time to think over what I said. Show them we aren't a threat."
"The crone was expecting us," I said, thinking out loud. "Someone tipped her off."
Madam Moreau let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through her hair. "I'm not surprised. Witches don't trust easily but the different covens stick together. Doesn't help our cause but one day at a time. At least we know we're in the right place."
"Maybe it won't take that long," I muttered, crossing through the gate and wandering over to the dropped piece of paper. It had gotten caught in the exposed roots of a tree and if I hadn't seen her let it go, it would have easily been overlooked.
"What is it?" She asked, following me. I read over the words, feeling her gaze over my shoulder.
"I'm guessing the solution to our problem."
"You aren't planning on going, are you? We have no idea who this person is." She raised an inquisitive brow. "At least I assume you don't know."
"Don't tell me the big, bad vampire is scared," I mocked, using her words from earlier. Her pursed lips had me turning away, realizing I had gone a little far. She treated me as an equal most of the time but I had to remember we weren't. At least not yet.
"We are not at Rigryce at the moment but I am still your headmistress and you will respect me. Understood?"
"Apologies, Madam." Licking my lips, I fiddled with the paper in my hands. "I was watching the one that dropped this while you were talking to the crone. They were trying not to be noticed. Like they knew what they were doing would get them in trouble."
"I still don't trust it, especially after how their Matriarch acted."
"Do we have much of a choice? This could be the breakthrough we need to go back home."
"Fine," She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'm ready to get back to my school. I trust the professors but I am scared to see the state it's in."
I'd blocked the worry, for the most part, knowing I would be useless otherwise, but both of us knew Rigryce was incredibly vulnerable with the headmistress there. Her power swayed anyone from doing anything stupid on the grounds and while she made sure to tell only the necessary people, I couldn't stop the fear that word would get out and Eden and everyone else would be in danger without two of Rigryce's most powerful vampires there to stop it.
Enough, I chided myself, clenching a fist to pull myself back to the present. They'll be fine for a little while longer. They have to be.
Madam Moreau watched me curiously. I must have been out of it for longer than I thought. "Sounds like a plan." Taking another moment to study the words scrawled in neat print, I shoved the paper into a pocket and stood up.
Midnight
4346 Grasselli Street
Make sure you are not followed
All we had left to do was figuring out how to waste time until we met up with our unknown person. Glancing up at the sky, there was still a few hours until sundown and I had to force the excitement down. We'd spent weeks leading up to this moment. A few more hours wouldn't hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~~🌸~~~~~~~~~
The house was like all the others on the street: single story and a dull beige that didn't appeal to anyone. The only thing that let it stick out was the small patch of flowers by the front door, stubbornly clinging to life in the cold weather. No windows glowed with light behind the drawn curtains and I couldn't hear anything coming from inside. It might as well have been a toy house inside a toy town for all the life it displayed.
We set up camp right outside of the town in the small car we had borrowed from one of Landon's associates. Sure, we could travel great distances with relative ease due to our speed but Madam Moreau has wanted something we could stay in if we ended up having to go further off the grid than we anticipated. A good thing too since I lost track of where the nearest human settlement was, our hunt taking us deep into the mountains and surrounding forests.
We waited on the sidewalk, the second's hand on my watch inching closer to that elusive hour. Madam Moreau didn't bother to look at me, red eyes focused on the building in front of us. "Well, are you going to knock? This is your plan so you are taking charge."
AKA, if it all went wrong, I would be the only one to blame. Under other circumstances, the obvious ploy might have gotten under my skin but I knew I was right this time. Whoever the hooded figure had been, they wanted to talk to us despite their leader's thoughts on the matter. They must have been planning it since the coven got word of our search. There were good odds we could end up helping each other out.
We would never know unless we tried.
I kept quiet, waiting for it to officially be midnight before doing anything. Something told me that was important and I didn't fight instinct. At least, when it wasn't coming from my demon. Seeing the clock strike twelve, I took a deep breath to center myself then confidently strolled up the pavement to the door, giving it a few hard raps. It was so silent that whoever was inside was bound to hear it no matter where they were.
After a long pause and no one answering, I frowned and tried again with the same results. Had I been wrong? I'd never live it down if I was. I could hear Madam Moreau shuffling around behind me, as if preparing to leave, when she called out, "It was worth a try. Better luck-"
Whatever she'd been about to say got cut off by the distinctive sound of the door unlocking, catching my full attention again. I waited with bated breath as it opened enough for a dark brown eye to peer out and scan me from head to toe. "Are you alone?" A whisper-soft voice asked from the darkness.
I blinked in surprise before making it a point to turn and glance around me. Madam Moreau had made her way up the steps and was studying what little she could see curiously. I couldn't fault them for wanting to be careful. The deadness of it all had me on the edge of my seat. "Looks like it's just us."
I couldn't be sure but they seemed to nod their head in satisfaction. "Give me a moment," was followed by the clicking of several other locks being disengaged. Damn. Madam Moreau and I shared a raised brow, keeping our opinions to ourselves. There was precaution but that strayed from careful into obsessive.
I stepped back, avoiding the headmistress, when the door swung open, revealing the small figure of a girl no older than sixteen standing there, wringing her hands nervously. The faintest thrum of magic danced across my skin at her presence, barely noticeable unlike earlier but defiantly marking her as a witch. She took a glance up and down the street before ushering us inside, gently closing the door behind us. Her dark hair was tied in a loose ponytail and she was dressed in a tee-shirt and leggings- a stark contrast to the outfit from earlier.
She pressed her back against the door, chewing her bottom lip as we stared at one another without saying anything. Possibly debating if this had been a good idea or not. Madam Moreau huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest. The girl winced at having her full attention, her back pressing harder against the wood for support. I couldn't blame her; the headmistress was intimidating on a good day. "You asked us here, girl. Why?"
She froze like a deer caught in headlights before forcibly making her tense muscles relax. I applauded her for fighting through her natural fear. I could only imagine what our power felt like to her. "Would you like to sit down first? Want anything to drink?" She babbled as she skittered around us, leaving a wide berth, and led the way into the adjoining kitchen, not giving us any other choice but to follow. She flicked lights on as she went, bathing the room in a soft glow.
"We're fine, thanks." I dropped into one of the wooden chairs around the table without invitation, watching her go about making a pot of tea. The room had a unique charm to it, the cabinets painted a cheery yellow and herbs hung from the ceiling to dry, basil and mint teasing my nose. Exactly how I imagined a witch's kitchen to be. "Can I know your name?"
Her shoulders tensed and I could tell she was trying to control her reaction when she dropped a teabag into her mug and made it to her liking, the spicy notes of chai mixing with the herbs. "Nadia," She finally admitted, turning around and taking her seat at the other end of the table. She swirled the contents of her cup, debating something before glancing up at me, her eyes full of sincerity. "I want to apologize for how my grandma acted earlier. She's a good person... just protective of the coven."
Ah. Now that she mentioned it, the resemblance was there. Her face was softer though, not yet toughened by stress and adulthood. She still had a naive trust in the world. "It's fine," I said with a smile, trying to get her to relax. I wouldn't be the one to wake her up to the cruel realities waiting for her. "We can't blame her. She doesn't know you set this up, does she?"
Nadia gave a jerky shake of the head. "I overheard her talking about it with a few Elders."
"So why risk it?" Madam Moreau intervened. "You don't know us from Eve."
"It's going to sound crazy."
"You're talking to vampires. Try us."
Nadia sighed, gripping her cup like it was a lifeline as she stared at its murky contents. "I'm sure you know that witches aren't doing well."
"Mmm," Madam Moreau hummed in the back of her throat. "Word has gotten around." She didn't say more, the topic a tender spot for the girl in front of us as she shifted around in her seat.
"We're struggling to do things that were easy for us a few generations ago. Like that blocking spell from earlier today. A single witch could cast it and maintain it for hours. Now it takes several witches and we can't hold it for more than a few minutes."
"Explains the welcoming committee," I muttered to Madam Moreau and she nodded in agreement.
"And why they only used it long enough to get away."
"It wouldn't be so bad if we had contact with the European covens," Nadia went on, unaware of what we had said or choosing to ignore it. "We could infuse more bloodlines into the coven. Make it stronger. But there hadn't been communication for more than a hundred years. As it is, most of the older members are obsessed with witches only marrying other witches so our magic doesn't dilute any further." There was sharp bitterness in her tone, her mouth pursed into a tight frown. It was the most animated I had seen her.
"You don't agree?" I asked, curious where she stood.
Nadia shrugged a shoulder, eyebrows pulling down as she thought about it. "Our magic is already weak from breeding with humans for so long. I don't think there's any way to change that or reverse the damage." She paused, debating something. "Staying within too small a pool will only lead us to further disaster eventually."
I understood what she meant. If they were only having children with other witches then almost all of them had to be related on a distant level some way or another since witches had such a small population, to begin with. It said a lot when vampires outnumbered you by a decent amount. That must be why she wanted to reconnect with their European cousins.
"As fascinating as all this is, what does it have to do with us?" Madam Moreau asked, tapping her fingers on the worn wood of the table to bring the focus to her.
"Witches have a connection to the gods," Nadia said, keeping her face blank as she observed our stunned expressions. That, I don't think even the headmistress knew. It must have been a closely guarded secret. "They help guide us and lend us the power to cast the more difficult spells. As our magic has weakened, it's become harder and harder to hear them and we've lost contact with some gods altogether." She seemed saddened by the fact, more proof that her people were dying out and losing what made them special.
"Gods," I whispered in awe. "They are real."
There had been whispers of greater powers in the paranormal community for as far back as memory could go. Mentions of beings from other worlds that helped shape us or created us entirely from scratch. We couldn't have magically appeared out of anywhere. If humans could have a belief in a creator, why not us too? There was no real way to confirm it. If they did exist, they left us to our own devices. Having this wisp of a girl talk about them like she would the weather? It was jarring, to say the least.
"As real as you think they are," Nadia said flatly. "I've never had a strong connection to them but one night a few weeks ago... A god I had never seen before visited me in my dreams. He told me things, said I would meet a couple of travelers and help them. I assume he meant you."
Madam Moreau said, "What kind of things?" at the same time I asked, "You didn't mention it to your grandma?"
Nadia frowned, debating who to answer first. She settled on Madam Moreau. "It was kinda confusing. Something about change and a new era. How he needed to make his presence known again. That's all I can really remember." She shrugged helplessly in apology.
"Hmm. How odd," the headmistress murmured, rubbing at her chin in thought. "Something I need to look into."
Nadia turned to me next, wringing her hands. Must have been a habit. "I can't tell my grandmother. Communicating with an unknown god? The coven will mark me corrupted and cast me out."
"Really?" I asked, stunned they could be so callous to one of their own. "Even if the god isn't evil?"
"The only gods we don't know the names of are the dark ones," she explained. "The ones that rule over the darker parts of life and human nature. You only connect with them if you're going to dabble in black magic." Her eyes darkened in terror just talking about them. "He didn't feel evil," she murmured more to herself, attempting to soothe away the worry. "Dark and dangerous but not evil."
"You saw him?" I was curious to know what such powerful beings looked like, though I doubted they would show themselves so easily.
"No," she said, disappointed. If I didn't know any better, I would think she had a crush on her mystery god. Whatever she'd seen had left an impact. "All I saw was the outline of someone tall and muscular. He didn't even really talk to me. More like inserted his thoughts into my head. Oh, and I think he had horns too."
"Horns?"
"Yeah, I saw these two big things curled on both sides of his head." She gestured to indicate how they wrapped around the back of his head to curl up under his ears.
"Weird," I said. "And you didn't get any bad vibes from him?" From her description, he sounded more like the stuff of nightmares than some type of god. And I doubted that had been his actual form. Didn't legend have it that mortals couldn't handle the full force of gods?
"Nope. I could tell he was powerful but he didn't do anything to harm or scare me. Was actually really gentle in a way." A faint blush worked its way up to her cheeks as she recalled it and any suspicions I had were confirmed.
"A dark being that isn't evil," Madam Moreau muttered. I hadn't been sure she was paying attention anymore. Should have known better than to doubt her and her attention to detail. "Sounds a bit... fishy, doesn't it?"
Nadia bristled at the implied accusation, leaning across the table to nail us with a hard glare. It was hard to keep a straight face, my lips involuntarily twitching. Her ire was nothing compared to what I had seen in the past. "Look at you. Vampires are top predators yet you're sitting here talking with me and haven't tried to take a bite yet. What does that say?"
"Point taken."
Nadia grinned in satisfaction, dropping back into her seat. "I don't think you are all evil, by the way. I think you can be good, bad, and every shade in between like everything else."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I replied dryly.
"I wonder why he got a hold of you," Madam Moreau said, thinking out loud, "instead of contacting one of us directly."
"I dunno," Nadia said, confused. "You guys don't have a spiritual connection to anyone, right?"
"Correct," the headmistress agreed with a short nod. "There aren't any vampire exclusive religions or beliefs. At least, not that I know of."
"That might be why. He had no way to get a hold of you and make that connection."
"Hmm, perhaps." Madam Moreau tilted her head, red eyes sharp as she gazed at the young witch. Now it was time to get down to why we came. "Did anyone ever come around asking for your services?"
"Like the covens?"
The headmistress nodded.
Nadia took a sip of her now cold tea, thinking. "Now that you mention it- a few months ago we had a group of humans come by and ask if we'd be willing to do a few spells for 'em. Offered a good chunk of money for it too. I don't know how they found out about magic or knew where to find us. Anyway, Grandma turned them away, the risks too big and demanding."
"What type of spells were they after?"
"Umm, I think they wanted a few camouflage spells along with erasure spells. Pretty complicated and would have taken months of planning." She snorted. "They wanted us ready in two weeks. Morons."
I turned to Madam Moreau with a raised eyebrow. "The Lancers?"
"Sounds like it."
Nadia glanced between the two of us. "You know them?"
"We know of them." Madam Moreau stressed the point. Neither of us would ever want to be associated with such pure evil. "They are posing an incredible danger to the vampire world. We're trying to find a way to stop them."
"That's right. You said something about being a headmistress." Nadia sounded intrigued at the notion. Madam Moreau was an odd mix of caring and tough that made it hard to pin down if she fit the position or not until you understood her better.
"Yes, at Rigryce Academy where Pets are trained."
"Pets?"
"Humans that bond themselves to vampires," I supplied.
"That sorta thing exists?" Her eyes widened in shock and awe.
It wasn't surprising she didn't know if her grandma was as anti-vampire as I thought she was. Didn't want little Nadia to get any ideas. The woman sounded so over-controlling I'd bet she even had who the girl would marry mapped out in her head. Her whole world was defined by being a witch with no room for anything else. It was a sad way to live and I hoped the young girl in front of me didn't become a victim of the mindset. She deserved to live her life her way, magic or not.
"Of course," Madam Moreau said in her usual cool tone. "They supply their Master with blood and companionship and get taken care of for the rest of their life in return. Of course, they get strict training at the academy to make sure they're suitable. That's where I come in." A fire lit up in her eyes, making the red gleam like freshly polished rubies and we got a hint of fang when her lips pulled back. "Those bastards you met... we think they're part of a group trying to hurt my girls. Hurt Pets in general."
Nadia watched in fascination as the headmistress lost her calm for a moment and revealed the beast within. It was a beautiful sight in a dark sort of way. We had gotten so good at playing human over the years that I think some of us had forgotten what it meant to be vampire. There was a time when people like me, with a more pronounced demon, were highly regarded and respected. Now, we were looked at with fear and in some cases, disgust, because we didn't fit the civilized box they tried to cram us into. Seeing someone like Madam Moreau lose it, even for a moment, made me feel a little better.
"So you think they wanted those spells to hurt Pets?" Nadia pulled herself back into the conversation, appalled.
"Not only hurt. Kill." I leveled her with my stare, conveying how serious the situation was. "They've done it before.
"Gods," She breathed. "That's awful. And you don't know where they're at?"
"No," Madam Moreau said, suddenly sounding exhausting. "We have been trying to track them down but we think a few vampires are helping them. It has been difficult, to put it lightly."
"I might have an idea," Nadia spoke up slowly, tapping long fingers on the table. "I'm not too good at it but I can try and scry their location."
"What's that?" I asked, the word sounding faintly familiar.
"It's when you look into a reflective surface- the object varies depending on the witch- to see the unknown. In this case, the location of your mystery men."
The more I learned about witches, the more fascinating they became. They were not as physically strong as vampires but they had a wide range of skills that suited their needs all the same. If they were awe-inspiring now, what were they like at the height of their power?
"You would do that?" Madam Moreau asked with a raised brow, expecting a catch. Nadia didn't seem the type, her eyes an open book, but it was in the headmistress's nature to be wary. You didn't get to the places she'd been without a strong sense of self-preservation.
"Sure." She shrugged her shoulders then glanced over at me thoughtfully. "You don't happen to have an object of theirs, do you?"
I bit my tongue to keep from remarking on what a stupid question that was. Of course not. That would mean I'd been close enough to touch one of the bastards. Instead, I shook my head. "Unfortunately not. Why?"
"It would make the search more targeted. It isn't impossible without it, just harder to pinpoint."
"Can you handle it, though?" Madam Moreou's face was carefully blank. "You've all but admitted to being on the weaker side."
Nadia blinked then took another swig from her cup. "Doesn't hurt to try."
Tonight's mantra, apparently.
"So when do you want to do this?" Madam Moreau leaned back in her seat, both hands folded on the table, accepting the uncertain answer with grace.
"Give me a few days to gather some materials and I'll be good to go." Nadia's eyes were narrowed and I could tell she was already making a mental checklist.
"Excellent." Madam Moreau pulled away from the table and stood up, giving the girl a polite nod. "We've taken up enough of your time for tonight so I think it's time we leave. Come, Malik."
Knowing better than to argue, I followed suit.
"Let me walk you to the door," Nadia scrambled to her own feet and followed us out onto the patio. She flashed a tentative smile at me when I turned around to say goodbye and thank her for everything.
"See you in a few days."
"Yep. Hope I can help." Crossing her arms, she rubbed at her biceps, a sign her nerves were coming through.
"I'm sure you will," Madam Moreau encouraged. "If it doesn't work out, no real harm done."
Nadia nodded, face still uncertain. Giving us one last wave goodbye, she disappeared back inside and we made our way back to the sidewalk.
"Well, that was interesting," I commented, noting how dark the street was. Dark enough for the stars to show in the sky like paint splatters on a canvas.
"At least we're getting somewhere." Madam Moreau was a few steps ahead of me, her dark dress swaying in the cool breeze.
I took another look up at the night sky, wondering if Eden was doing the same. My gut clenched with the desire to see her face. Feel her against me. Soon, I promised into the night. Just a little bit longer.
A/N: Big twenty, whooo! So if the converter I use is right, then I've written a little over 256 pages. My mind is a little blown. Never thought I could write that much.
So what did you think? I won't lie, witches have to be one of my least favorite supernatural creatures. I usually don't like writing about them because of it. I find them boring but I got an idea to include them so I went with it. Another reason I don't tend to touch them is because they're hard to do right. You normally have to venture into Wiccan/Pagan territory which I know little to nothing about.
What are some of your favorite supernatural creatures? Mine are vamps (obviously) with demons running a close second. Something about them bad boys, ya know?🙄