Page 64 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Three

I scan the coffee shop and spot a few witches, none of them close allies of Rita’s house, the Bowens. “Can we talk in the back?”

“Sure.” Rita passes by Gwen and gives her a squeeze on the shoulder. “I’ll be back out in a bit. Let me know if you need me.”

“Will do.” Gwen smiles at me.

In Rita’s office, my skin crawls when I see the mess on her desk.

Don’t look at it. You’re here for a very specific reason and that reason is not to organize Rita’s office.

“Remember when I came here to ask about the necklace and the binding and you said we needed a new moon to undo it?”

Rita folds her arms over her chest. “Of course.”

“Whenever I take off this necklace”—I finger the charm hanging from the chain—“the magic is distant. I know that because Bran can taste fae blood when he bites me.”

Rita turns her office chair and plops into it. “What are you asking, sugar?”

“Is there any way to undo the binding early?”

“Well, sure, we could try, but a spell that old, I’d much rather err on the side of caution and do it right the first time.”

My stomach drops. I pace the small room. “Is there a way for you to take the necklace and help distance the magic? Like some kind of neutralizing spell or something?”

What I don’t say is—is there a way for me to tap into my terrifying power today?

But I think Rita probably knows that.

Maybe not the terrifying part.

Rita thinks this over, her hands folded on top of a pile of crinkled receipts. “I suppose it’s possible, but…” She looks up at me. “Is this because of your Pledge and the rumblings I’ve been hearing about it?”

I bite at the corner of my lip, considering how much to tell her. I know I can trust Rita, but I’m not sure Cal wants everyone knowing he has a psychic.

“The Renshaw witches are working with Julian and we think they’re planning something for my Pledge and I don’t want anyone to get hurt in the crossfire.”

“You don’t even know what your power is,” Rita points out. “You wouldn’t know the first thing about using it.”

“But could I? With whatever spell you do? That’s what I need to know.”

If I could use the power when I was just a year old, then surely I can use it when I’m twenty-one. I just need to have access to it.

“I mean…theoretically, yes,” she says. “A binding is a current just like any other magic. So yes, I think I could dam it temporarily until we can really undo it. But Jessie...what you’re asking me is dangerous and extremely reckless.”

“All of this is happening because of me. I need to be an active part of this, Rita. Actively defending those I love.”

She pursues her lips, breathing out heavily through her nose.

“Bran will probably kill me,” she says with a weary laugh.

“Let me handle Bran.”

She arches a brow. “Well, all right. I suppose you want to do this now?”

“My Pledging is in three hours. It needs to be now.”

Out in the shop, the steamer hisses as Rita gets up. She goes to her shelves and slips her reading glasses on, scanning the jars that are haphazardly arranged. She finally selects one that is full of a mixture of dark herbs and what looks like crushed crystals.

“Take off your necklace,” she says as she brings the jar down.

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