Victoria’s nod was amused. “As in menstrual cycles. It varies, but typically a witch has bled enough to develop powers around her twenty-first birthday. Those who don’t bleed on a regular basis might never earn powers during the average human lifespan—unless something else activates them.”
Ah. So that’s why male witches weren’t common. But what did she mean by that last remark? “Something like…?”
Victoria’s dark eyes pointedly sank to my neck. “Like turning into a vampire. How many times has he tried?”
“Twice; three times if you count the two bites on the second attempt. We couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t turning.”
She connected the dots. “Until you did some digging into your family tree. What did you learn?”
That I’m descended from witches, obviously. I didn’t say it out loud. Wordlessly, I dug into my pocket and handed over thepiece of paper I’d found in the album, sliding it across the table along with the spellbook. Victoria’s eyes widened when they landed on the highlighted name.
“Which side of the family is this?”
“Maternal.”
“What is it?” I asked. “Do you know the name?”
“Oh, yeah. Most witches do. This woman wasverypowerful.” Victoria handed the clipping back and rose from her seat, leaving the book where it sat. “Wait here.”
Chapter 15
I watchedas Victoria sashayed across the room to that marked door, pressing her palm to the wood before easing it open. I sipped my coffee, and it couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes before she emerged with a larger book in her hands. The leather was cracked, the pages yellow and nearly falling out, so Victoria handled it with care.
She placed her book on the table between us, opening it to a red-stained pentagram that spanned both pages. Hand-written phrases faded in and out of the symbol, but I didn’t understand them. They looked to be written in Latin.
“Your ancestor was a blood witch,” Victoria explained. “It’s exactly what it sounds like: They use blood to give their magic a boost—their own, or that of their victims. The fact that this is your maternal bloodline only makes it that much more potent. And with Suzannah Martin’s spellbook, you could be unstoppable.”
“If I can figure out how to open it,” I muttered.
“Oh, that’s easy. Like anything a blood witch does, the book only needs an offering.”
“An… offering?” That sounded ominous.
“Yep.” Victoria picked up the spellbook and held it under the light. “See those marks?”
I looked closer, and she was right: Deep brown splotches decorated the edge of the faded pentagram, the deepest one in the middle. The realization of what those spots were churned my stomach. “Let me guess: blood?”
Victoria chuckled. “I didn’t take you for the squeamish type.”
“It’s not the blood,” I explained. “It’s the whole ‘sacrifice’ thing.”
“You don’t need much. Just a prick of your finger will do.” She flashed a wicked grin. “Or anyone else’s.”
I decided to ignore that. “What will happen if I become a vampire/witch hybrid?”
Sighing, Victoria sat back in her seat and stirred her tea. “Male humans might not become witches, but male vampires… you’ll be oneincrediblypowerful creature, Ryder. You mentioned sacrifice earlier, and that’s an important element to magick: You might even say vampiric feeding is the ultimate one. Which means every time you feed, it’ll fuel your witchcraft. Not only will you have the strength and speed of a vampire, but you’ll have the ability to use magick. What we call the craft. Augmented with blood magic, you’d be able to manipulate reality, to bendanyoneandanythingto your will.”
“But that won’t happen to Hannah?”
“Your daughter?” Victoria shook her head. “Not unless you plan to turn her too.”
“Absolutely not. Not after what I’ve learned today,” I muttered, running my fingers over the ancient book in front of me. Too worried I’d ruin it if I flipped the book shut, I slid it in her direction and let her close it. “If I’m supposed to be some sort of super witch-slash-vampire, why won’t the venom work?”
“Witches are immune to a vampire’s venom, and your DNA is half witch, half human. It’ll take more venom to turn you than what a vampire can release in a single bite.”
“But he’s already given me multiple bites, and I haven’t turned yet.”
Furrowing her brow, Victoria crooked her head. “You stillwantto turn after learning what you just did?”
