“If her parents were witches… why wouldn’t the coven have taken her in? Why was she left all alone?” My mind has been trying to make sense of the situation, but so far all I’ve done is come up with more questions.
Seth shakes his head once before leaning his hips forward to reach into his pocket. “The better question is why two people who were very probably paranormals pulled off the road and waited to die.” He pulls out a sleek phone and slides it open, “and whythe fuckthey’re trying to make contact with your girl now.” The steely tone of his voice sends goosebumps over my arms and I blink.
My eyes widen in shock, “Fuck.” The situation takes on a much more ominous lens with that last unanswered question hanging heavy in the air.
Seth’s mouth is a grim line as he nods in agreement. He types on his phone for a minute before scrolling and looking up at me, “What’s her surname?”
“Wilde. Trissa Wilde… I don’t know her parents na—”
“Willa and Sam Wilde. Died in an unsanctioned car accident twelve years ago.” Seth’s eyes flash a shocking bright blue and his mouth stretches into a thin line.
“What? What is it?” My trepidation grows when his eyes flick back to Trissa’s unconscious face.
“Their souls were tied to blood debts.”
I watch, helplessness weighing down my shoulders, as he scrolls again. Blood magic…fuck.
“It looks like she comes from a line of witches who weren’t afraid to use blood magic,” Seth frowns as he puts his phone down. “I don’t like this, Cian.”
I grunt, “I don’t particularly like the situation either.”
“No, I mean this.” I blink when I realize my friend is gesturing at me and Trissa. I can feel my hackles rising as he clarifies, “think about it, man. You’re blood bound to a witch who, by your account, disappeared uncharacteristically.”
“Lee wasn’t a blood witch though, not really.” I don’t know why I feel the need to defend her, but the Leona I knew never used blood magic… not until that night.
“Just go with it for a minute,” Seth sits back on his heels and I nod begrudgingly before he continues, “Your friend disappears and leaves you out to dry, your girls’ parents commit diviner suicide knowing they’re leaving their kid behind with no one… and they all lived inthistown, which means they probably all belonged to the same coven. Not many covens condone blood magic…” He trails off, but I can fill in the gaps—and he’s right, something’s off. There’s no way Leona was involved in the type of coven that would endorse carnal sacrifice and murder. Aside from divination she mostly worked with herbs and tonics. Which means she had to have been in the kind of coven who would look down on her use of blood magic, possibly even dole out punitive action over it.
“Do you think the coven is punishing blood magic users?” It seems extreme, although I can’t pretend to know much about the intricacies of coven law.
Seth shrugs, “Punishing, sure… but homicide seems a tad excessive… doesn’t really fit their ‘harm none’ vibe.”
I nod, but my shoulders slump with defeat. If we can’t figure this out, I have no hope of keeping my new found happiness safe. I look down at Trissa and my throat clogs up, my eyes burning with unshed frustration.
Seth purses his dark lips for a moment before his usual levity settles over his countenance and he smirks, “You know what this means, right?”
I take a steadying breath and shake my head, lines forming between my brows as I clarify, “I have zero inclination as to what this means.”
His voice rings with triumph as he declares, “I get to plan another coffee date—with a witch!”
I stare blankly, still not sure how he got from point A to B, but his change in mood is somehow helping to ease my own anxiety.
“The only way to find out what happened is to ask around.” He shrugs and moves to stand up, “her whole line before her was registered to the same coven. I think I’ll pay them a visit and try to figure out what we’re up against.”
Emotion lodges in my throat as I watch Seth slide off the bed. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as instantly loyal as him, and I’ve done nothing to deserve it. I clear my throat. “Seth…”
He glances back at me, “Hmm?”
“Thank you. I… I should probably tell you not to risk it. And if it was just me, I would.” I lean down and press a kiss in Trissa’s hair before continuing, “Be careful, yeah? If these witches are killing off their own…”
Seth’s eyes soften almost imperceptivity and his mouth quirks, but he says nothing. He looks down at Trissa quickly, then back at me with determination shining in his swirling blue eyes. “We’ll figure it out, buddy.” He nods, as if trying to reassure himself as much as me, before murmuring, “I’ll keep you both safe.” And with that, he disappears into shadow.
I stare at the space he vacated for a few minutes before letting my eyes trail down to the beautiful, sleeping woman in my arms. This is the longest I’ve been corporeal, and it seems like my emotional and physical responses to things have started to regulate a bit better over time. Still, I feel like someone punched me in the gut after everything that’s come to light in the past hour or so. My heart aches with the possibility that something nefarious might have happened to Leona because of me—because she meddled with blood magic to try to save me from whatever tragic fate she saw when she looked into my future.
And Trissa’s parents… when she had first mentioned that dream some minor alarm bells had gone off in my head, but I’m not exactly an expert on these types of things. I mostly just know basics and whatever secondhand knowledge I gleaned from Leeover the years. I wasn’t a part of the paranormal community in life, just adjacent to it thanks to my friendship with Leona.
Seth has mentioned the use of glamours for the more conspicuous beings, like Oliver, are common practice now. It’s hard to imagine that Para-owned businesses have integrated into the human world—like Oliver’s coffee shop, where Seth met up with that necromancer. Lee would have loved how ‘out’ paranormals could be now, even if they were still technically hiding in plain sight. I’ll never see anything like that myself, unless we can figure this ritual stuff out. As refreshing as it would be to see the world outside these walls again, the biggest draw is still the possibility of being able to exist in Trissa’s life more tangibly.
I run a hand through her hair, carefully de-tangling it as I go. She might be able to free me. My eyes caress the soft contours of her face and my heart squeezes almost painfully. Gods, this feels so fucking good. The sex is on another level, of course… but this… just sitting here with her, watching her sleep and being able to feel the gentle rise and fall of her chest against mine. I absolutely love this. Love her.
