Teach us now so we mayshare.
Help us draw more intoyourcare.
Wind, Water, Earth,andFire,
Hear my voice, obey mydesire.
Connie Jones heeds yourcommand.
And I, Jewel, with herstand.”
As she chanted the spell,the wind picked up, and she could smell the coming rain. The once clear sky was now covered in huge thunderclouds as the elements responded to her power. Within a matter of seconds, Jewel began to see images of Connie’s life. She felt herself connect to the woman’s soul. It still felt so invasive and cruel to see everything, all of her thoughts, memories, and feelings laid bare. Jewel tried her best to direct the magic, to use it to create rather than destroy. But once the connection was made, Volcan’s magic took over, and there was nothing she could do. A minute later, Connie Jones slumped to theground.
Jewel’s breathing was hard, and her heart felt as though it was going to beat right out of her chest. Her mind was filled with chaos as she tried to process, once again, taking another woman’s life. As the sounds around her began to break through the focus she’d had on Connie, she realized that she didn’t have time to process it. Everything was riding on her ability to make witches. Her life, Anna’s life, the warlocks lives and their loved one. Volcan would rip them all apart if he didn’t get what he wanted or if he didn’t at least see some progress. She had to keeptrying.
She knelt down and brushed the woman’s hair to the side and gently closed her blank eyes. “An apology would almost be cruel, but I amsorry.”
She flashed from the alley, leaving yet another life taken by her hands. Jewel reappeared at another bar and entered just as she had before. She scoped the place, letting her eyes scan over the females that occupied it. She was looking for someone who wouldn’t be missed, someone who needed something that they could never quite put theirfingeron.
Target found, she began her walk of shame, because that’s what it felt like to walk toward a person you would most likely kill in a matter ofmoments.
Introductions made, Jewel had to talk to Shelly for a little longer before the woman finally decided to follow her. It wasn’t until Jewel started talking about having the ability to do anything, take anything you wanted, that the woman really gotinterested.
She went through the now familiar process. The brief storm from earlier had died down, but now it once again began to electrify because of her magic. As Jewel connected with Shelly, she felt something different than she had with the others. Jewel felt an oily film of evil leaking from the woman’s soul. The things in Shelly’s mind were not ones Jewel wanted to know. The woman who’d seemed so good-natured was revealing to Jewel—thought not of her own accord—just how twisted she was. The magic seemed to dance with Shelly’s soul and, for a moment, Jewel thought that the spell was going to work this time. Then, with a huge jolt, the magic pulled back, and Shelly Ash’s life was snuffed out as quickly as a candle’sflame.
Another dead body at her feet and another failed attempt. She looked down at the woman and took a step back. Jewel couldn’t bring herself to care that this victim hadn’t made it. She’d been a predator, someone who sought out the weak to extort them with no remorse. The world wasn’t losing anything precious when Shellyleftit.
Jewel flashed again in search of her next attempt. She refused to think of them as victims because that made them people, and she couldn’t think of them as people. Not anymore. They were a means to an end. With that thought, she felt another part of herself be taken over by the darkness. The compassion that once filled her so readily was fading intoindifference.
She continued her pursuit, hopping from seedy bar to seedy voodoo shops and even to a seedy strip club. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, after all. One woman after another dropped at her feet like dead worshippers of a deity that they hadn’t realized cared nothing for them. Her focus was single minded, and nothing was going to stand inherway.
Chapter18
“I leave for four months, four stinking months, and I’ve got mated wolves fighting unmated wolves, a bored djinn, a pixie with an ego complex, and a mate in a remarkably calm state, which might be the thing that irritated me the most. Let it be known I don’t approve of calmness in my mate when everyone around us is stupidthings.” ~Peri
Ember watchedas the gypsy healer’s second victim fell to the ground. She was confused. How and why was a gypsy healer using dark magic to murder women? And how on earth was she able to flash in the way of Ember’s ownspecies?
She waited until the healer flashed away, and then Ember herself flashed to where the dead woman lay. She could feel the taint of the evil that was a part of the dead woman’s natural essence, and then she could feel the evil residue the healer had left behind. Ember recoiled and took a step back as she stared with wide eyes at thelifelessbody.
“It can’t be,” she whispered to herself. “It can’t.” But despite her protests, the magic was unmistakable. She’d felt that same magic centuries ago, and it was the reason she’d fled her realm and her people. She’d been living in the human realm ever since, blending in and changing her appearance when needed. The high fae council knew of her decision at the time, and they’d allowed her to go. She wondered if they’d forgotten about her in the intervening centuries. Regardless of how she felt about Volcan, she couldn’t ignore what was happening. Perizada and the council needed to know a rogue healer was on the loose, wielding the ancient evil fae’s magic. She flashed, remembering Perizada’s home in her mind. When she reappeared in the high fae’s living room, she was met with a round of snarls and a slew ofcursing.
“What now?” asked a young woman to no one in particular. A large male sitting beside her jumped up and assumed a defensive posture. Ember could sense this one was a werewolf. “Instead of just gasping, why not tell the blind chick what’sgoing?”
Another woman spoke up. She was sitting next to another large male and werewolf, also standing to defend her. “An unknown fae just flashed into a room full of on-edge werewolves. Nothing exciting has happened yet,Heather.”
The woman called Heather sighed. “Fine. But you better tell me the second it does.” Her head turned just a tad when she spoke again. “And Stella, don’t think I didn’t notice that you kept your trap shut, you excitementhoarder.”
Stella’s face scrunched together. “Did you seriously just call me an excitementhoarder?”
“I am so sorry to interrupt what I’m sure is to be a riveting conversation,” Perizada interrupted the women. “But considering a fae that I have not seen in centuries has just popped into my home uninvited, I imagine what she has to say must be quiteurgent.”
Ember continued to look around the room, feeling out the magic of its occupants. Her eyes widened as she turned back to Perizada. “All three arehealers?”
Perizada smiled. “They are. Times are changing,Ember.”
“So it would seem,” she said, but her voice quickly lost its tone of wonderment when she remembered what she had to tell the high fae councilmember.
“I have been living in the human realm in a city called New Orleans,” she began, speaking quickly, sure that time was of the essence. “There’s enough supernatural presence there that I can maintain my magic undetected. But tonight I came across a supernatural being that I haven’t seen in a very long time. She was a healer, like them.” She pointed to the three women whose mouths had dropped open. All of a sudden, two males jumped to their feet. Perizada immediately threw up her hand, and theyfroze.
