Then it hit me. “Are you channeling her air magic? Is she okay with you doing that? Does she even want to be here?” I had a feeling the answer was a loud, echoing no.
The coven leader finally turned to look at me once more. “I only need her for tonight,” she said again. “Then you may have your cousin–“
“No,” I interrupted, voice tight with anger as my heart beat loudly in my throat. I wondered if I was going to throw up. “You can’t just keep my cousin here. If you do, I’ll make you regret it.” I stammered the words nervously, but I meant them.
All six preternaturals stared at me, none of them looking particularly frightened, and my shoulders fell. “You can’t do that to Aveline. And I meant what I said.”
“You wouldn’t need to if you’d agree to my proposal,” Cian broke in. “I told you I would get rid of Gavin and those who won’t follow me.”
Colette was still contemplating me with nothing more than curious scrutiny. “And I ask you, again, why I should do so? What makes you think I care for you ruling more than Gavin?”
“Because I will not make the quarter run red with the blood of witches. I will not terrorize your witches for merely living their lives, Colette.”
“But will you swear it?” Colette pressed, still not inviting him into the cemetery. “Words are cheap. Especially from an old vampire like yourself.”
“I can swear to you that I will not persecute nor show favoritism to anyone, lest they cross me.”
I had no idea what was going on here. I didn’t think a vampire could just declare themselves king of a city’s clade, but to be quite honest I knew very little about vampires save the common knowledge that everyone, even humans, knew.
“You know as well as I that declaring yourself their King is not enough. That’s not how it works. But if you think you can convince Gavin and his trusted so easily, be my guest.” Colette’s mouth pressed into a thin line. She was considering it, even though she obviously thought it impossible.
I kept silent as the witches and vampire slung half-insults and insinuations throughout their conversation. The most important thing here was Aveline, and if this little spat could get me closer to her walking out of this cemetery with me tonight, then so be it. But I doubted I should just let them go about their business without making it known that she’d be leaving with me.
“I’ll help,” I said without thinking, regrettably drawing their attention to me. “I can help,” I repeated, trying to sound more sure of myself than I actually was.
“We don’t need a witch,” Akiva sneered, the epitome of dismissiveness.
“But we’ll take her,” Cian’s voice was firm. He looked to Colette. “We’ll take the witch,” he said at last. “To show our unity with the witches of New Orleans, I will show you that I bear no ill-fated will to your kind.”
“Yes but–“ I broke off. The fact that I was not a witch of this coven seemed to be a moot point. I didn’t try to correct the mistake. “Okay,” I finished lamely. “But you promise you’ll let my cousin go when we return?” Now I turned my attention to Colette. Belatedly I realized it was the request of a child, but I couldn’t take it back now.
“Of course,” she inclined her head. “You have my word as leader of the New Orleans Coven that if you return here with Gavin’s head, I will return your cousin immediately.”
Akiva scoffed and pulled back, already walking out of the cemetery and brushing past Cian and the shifter.
“Come on, then,” Cian sighed, gesturing to me. “Unless you’re going to reconsider.”
“Not at all,” I mumbled, hightailing it out of the cemetery and following the three men.
I felt as if I’d been standing on a bridge with both ends on fire and I’d had to make the decision on which seemed less deadly. Perhaps I’d chosen wrong, but I hadn’t had much of a choice. The coven leader didn’t exactly humor my request just by me saying please. Akiva was obviously pissed at my continued nearness to him, but there was nothing I could do about that.
I tugged on the hem of my hoodie, trying to pull it down as if I could hide my fear. As if the vampire couldn’t tell already. There were reasons witches didn’t trust vampires, but here I was; following the lion into the proverbial lion’s den.
Chapter 2
“I’m not going to bite you,” Cian called over his shoulder, scowling as he saw the distance between the three of them and me. “Indra wouldn’t approve,” he flashed the shifter a quick grin that he returned easily.
“So Indra is the only thing keeping me unbitten, then?” I mused unable to keep myself from checking over my shoulder. The cemetery was long gone, but the image of the three witches whispering amongst themselves had me uneasy. They were clearly speaking about us, and me in particular. Had they been able to sense my dual nature?
Probably–hopefully–not. But more than that, where was Aveline? Was she all right? My stomach churned and I found my hands inching towards the hem of my shirt again.
“Do you think the witches will send a spell after us?” Akiva asked, amused. “So you watch our back like our very own watchdog?”
“Are you admitting to needing someone to watch your back?”I quipped, lengthening my stride to catch up with their hastened steps. His words had made me drop my hands. I didn’t want them to see how nervous I was.
“Have you ever fought a vampire?” Cian asked as I caught up to their unnaturally quick pace. I looked over to him, catching the distant look on his face.
“No.”
“Have you ever fought anything?” Akiva sneered.
“Not to death,” I said finally. “My family taught me how to protect myself with my magic.” I did not add that I’d worked with
