Page 82 of Depths of Desire
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
My head is banging, and my mouth is dry. I have no idea what poison my mother had them inject me with. Nothing too dramatic, just something to slow me down. I try to wiggle my toes inside my shoes, and I can. I keep my eyes closed but send out my senses to scope out the room.
We’re still in the church. My mother is humming something under her breath. Malrick is chatting with his followers. No one seems to be in the immediate vicinity except Esme. I hear her breathing, and her scent encircles me.
I risk opening my eyes ever so slightly. I am lying behind the altar now, against the wall under the large stained glass window. My mother seems to be chanting some kind of incantation over the altar, which she has set for a ritual. Esme is beside me. Her head is by mine and her feet extend in the opposite direction. I don’t want to move my head and alert anyone that I’m awake, but I have to see if Esme is okay.
“Esme,” I utter in the quietest voice possible.
Nothing.
“Esme,” I try again.
“Yes,” she whispers, “I can hear you. Are you okay?”
I clock my mother, but she’s lost in her spell. “Fine. You?”
She grunts slightly. “Not fine, but alive. I’m so sorry I didn’t get a chance to warn you about your mother.”
“No. It’s on me. I’m sorry I dragged you into this,… whatever this is.”
Esme let’s out a tiny gasp.
“What? Are you in pain?” I demand.
“Yes, but no that’s not it. Your mother, the spell she’s creating, it’s the same one she tried to do before. She’s trying to turn herself into a vampire witch.”
“Yes,” my mother says suddenly, lifting her head and opening her eyes. She looks directly at us. “And I’m going to use Nico to do it.”
I should’ve known she could hear us. She’s always been able to multitask like no one else. I grit my teeth and force myself into a sitting position. It’s not easy. My body is stiff and doesn’t respond the way it normally does, but I finally get there and lean against the wall, but my weak and breathless condition is mildly frightening.
“Why do you need me?” I manage to utter while I’m catching my breath and waiting for the pain to subside.
Esme also pushes herself to a sitting position. She looks ghostly pale and appears to be in serious pain.
“What have you done to her?” I demand.
My mother waves me off. “She’s fine. I used the same drug on both of you. She just had a higher dose.”
I try to get up, but it’s no use. I opt to save my strength. Maybe there will be an opportunity to get out of this later. I’ll need all my strength for it, I have no doubt.
My mother cocks her head. “You know, I’m not surprised you two found each other.”
“What are you talking about?” I growl.
“Oh, I know you’re married to Luna, but it just as easily could have been Esme.” My mother leans against the altar as if she’s suddenly tired.
I sigh. “What the hell are you on about?”
“Morwenna, Esme’s aunt, was the witch I went to for a spell for you. She also did a spell for Esme’s mother and Luna’s mother. It was known then that your fates would be intertwined. I always wondered how it would turn out.” She gives a small shrug. “Not that it matters much.”
I say nothing, but like a puzzle, the pieces start to fall into place.
Esme locks gazes with me, and hers mirrors the surprise and understanding I’m feeling. “That’s why…” she murmurs.
“Why you’re like a sister to me. Because in a way we are related.”
She nods. “Exactly.” She smiles at me. “I’ve always considered you a brother and had no idea why.”
