“Why in the world would I offer that?” she asks.
“The vampire is rich,”Gus tells her, and her demeanor changes.“I know it’s not cheap feeding all your wayward familiars waiting for witches to be born. Not to mention I don’t think you’ve changed your nightgown in over a decade,”Gus says.
I squeeze his middle, and he yelps.
“What he was rudely?—”
“Shut up, witch,” Sarephine says, looking back down at my raccoon.
“Tell her I only talk to familiars,” she says to Gus, even though I’m standing right here.
Warin looks skeptical next to me, like maybe he wants to strangle the swamp witch, but this is the only lead we have.
It’s this or I make the decision to never see the sun again, never use magic, untether myself from Gus and my coven.
“Five million and some of the vampire's blood,” she says.
“Done,” Warin says quickly.
“Ten million and some of the vampire’s blood,” she updates her offer.
“Done,” Warin replies again.
“Fine. We do this now. Gladis, go get mommy’s banking information,” she says, putting the cat down, who trots back into the house.
The cat comes back with a piece of paper in its mouth, and Sarephine hands the paper to Gus, who then hands it to Warin.
Warin pulls out his phone, clicking away at an unreal speed.
“The transfer is complete.”
“Your blood vampire,” she says.
“Blood after the spell,” he retorts.
She pinches her lips, but tilts forward.
“Tell them to come to the porch,” she says to Gus, even though she was talking to Warin about money. This woman is totally cracked out and I wonder if we’re getting scammed.
Gus holds on to me for dear life, like this woman might snatch him up and add him to her little collection of creatures.
“There’s no guarantee this will work. I’ve only tied magical creatures to witches before,” she says, of course after she has her money.
Awesome. I’m going to be a fucking vampire.
“For the spell to work best, I need to understand their intentions. It’s how I pair familiars with witches, understanding their signatures. Since he doesn’t have a heartbeat,” she says, tapping her finger against her chin. “Blood, I will sense the connection in the blood,” she says, grabbing a bowl that really looks like it needs to be heavily washed from the porch. “Augustus, tell them to put their blood in the bowl,” she says.
“You heard her,” Gus says.
Warin bites his wrist, putting his blood in the bowl first, his wrist heals immediately, and he grabs my wrist, lightly pricking it with a fang and I add mine.
Sarephine gasps when they combine, and she holds it up to her nose.
“I’ve never seen such a connection,” she says.
“Maybe this was a bad idea,”Gus says quietly.
“A verbal confirmation will make the spell stronger,” Sarephine says manically, as she stares at the blood. “Tell them to state their intentions out loud,” she directs Gus.
