Page 30 of Vampire's Vixen

Nedra quickly lifted the blindfold. I found myself standing in front of Nightshade, and her sword was pointed directly at me, the tip barely touching my heart.

“Maisy Ellen Tripwater, it is better to fall on the tip of my sword than to enter the Dark Moon Society unwilling, or with deceit in your heart. This is your last chance to turn and walk away. I ask again, are you ready to enter our order, as a full member of the Dark Moon Society, with your oath to stand with us?”

“I am,” I said, the ritual energy soaking in fully. I felt honored to be chosen, willing to do my part, and in my heart, I felt like my family was expanding.

“Then kiss the blade of the Priestess, and be welcome among us.” Nightshade turned the sword away from me, holding it in both her hands. She held it out, at a level where I could gently bend my head and kiss the cold metal.

I placed my lips on the gleaming blade, and all around me, the magic swirled and rose, and a great sense of joy rushed through me.

“Welcome, Sister.” Nightshade handed the sword to Astra and stepped forward, hugging me and kissing my forehead. She turned to Nedra. “Present her to the others.”

Nedra, beaming, said, “Yes, Lady.” She gave me a hug. “Welcome. Let me introduce you to the others.”

She led me around the ring, stopping at each pillar to introduce me to the woman watching over it. As each one hugged me, greeting me warmly, the energy began to dance, and a smile washed over me. I felt free, strong, and part of a society as old as magic itself.

After the introductions, we filed into the cabin for the party, where the table was filled with pastries, fruit salad, crackers and cheeses, deli meat, and there were two pizzas ready to go in the oven. For drinks, there was sparkling cider, sodas, and lemonade—we all had to drive, so booze wasn’t a good option.

As I chatted with the others, I realized they knew far more about me than I knew about them. But everyone seemed nice, and there were two women there in particular that I gravitated to. One was a woman around my age, named Breony Earthdaughter, who was an earth witch, and the other was a woman in her fifties named Familia Sparks, who was a fire witch.

As the evening wore on, they each gave me a gift from their altar—a custom, apparently—and my aunt handed me a box.

“This was your mother’s,” she said.

I opened it. There, nestled in velvet, was a dagger. It had a bronze blade, and the hilt felt familiar and comforting. As I touched it, I realized the hilt was carved from apple wood, almost white as bone, and it had detailed etchings on it of apples and leaves, twining around hearts.

I looked at Astra, a question in my eyes.

“Your mother was a matchmaker of sorts, and she was gifted by Aphrodite with the ability to bring people together, both in love and in friendship. She found this athame when she was young, in a thrift shop of all places, and bonded with it immediately. I thought perhaps you might want it, but I was guided to save it for a special occasion.”

Overcome by emotion—the dagger was a part of my mother, a part I missed every day but seldom gave much thought to—I set the blade down on the table and fell into my aunt’s arms.

“Thank you…I needed this.”

“Your mother would have been a member of the Dark Moon Society eventually,” Nightshade said. “Had she lived, she would have been one of us. But now, you are, and so you carry on the tradition she would have started.”

I turned to the high priestess. “Thank you for accepting me. I’ll do my best to uphold the standards of the organization.”

“You wouldn’t be standing here with us if we didn’t think you would,” Nightshade said. “Now, box up your dagger, take it home and keep it safe on your altar. And in the meantime, eat and get to know your new circle. Because the sisters of the Dark Moon are truly that—family.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

We got home around midnight. While we ate, Nightshade led us in a couple of personality games that helped me understand my fellow coven members better. And I had clicked with both Familia and Breony. I had nine new numbers in my phone—I already had Nightshade’s, and of course, I lived with Astra. I felt an odd sense of satisfaction, like I’d been accepted into something that I didn’t even know I needed.

“So, I’d ask if you were happy that you went through the initiation, but I think I can tell. So, do you want to talk about tonight, or do you just want to process?” Astra was good at recognizing that sometimes, it took time to think.

“I want to talk about something that happened earlier tonight, before the initiation,” I said. “But first, I want to go change my clothes.”

“Are you hungry?” Astra asked.

I laughed. “After the spread they had there? No, but some cocoa would be nice.”

“Go on. I’ll make some hot chocolate as soon as I change, too.”

We headed toward our bedrooms. I found Miss P. sprawled on my bed. She rolled over on her back when I entered the room and turned on the light. Stretching her paws up, she let out a squeak. I ruffled her belly, gently—she liked belly rubs—then carefully stepped out of my dress and hung it in the back of the closet. I slid into a pair of pajama shorts and a sleep shirt, then brushed my hair back into a loose ponytail, removed my makeup, and headed back to the kitchen.

Astra was in her PJs, and she was measuring cocoa, sugar, and milk into a pan. We had premixed hot cocoa in the cupboard, but somehow we never got around to using the packets. Homemade cocoa always tasted better.

As she whisked away, I found a pair of candy-cane mugs we had—they were white and red striped—and pulled out the whipped cream from the fridge. We did buy canned whipped cream—we didn’t use it often enough to keep the homemade whip from spoiling. As I settled in at the kitchen nook, I yawned.

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