Page 87 of Depths of Desire
And I can’t look away.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Esme,” I say as quietly as I can while still loud enough for her to hear me.
“Hmm?”
“We have to figure a way out of this. How are you feeling?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t have the strength to fight. My magic is weak.” She meets my gaze. “And neither do you.”
I wanted to argue with her, but she was right. I wasn’t sure I could even stand up at the moment. Whatever the vampire injected me with was keeping me weak. It could also be that I was weakened in the first place. I try to reach out to my brothers yet again, but it doesn’t work.
“You can stop trying,” Mother says as she adjusts the items on her altar. “I have put a spell on this place. It will block any telepathic communication from the outside. It’s rather like”—she looks directly at me—“screaming into the void.”
My stomach turns. She really is the beast my brothers have always claimed she was. She just was never like this to me before.
“Why?” I blurt out.
My mother cocks her head. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be more specific?”
“Why were you nicer to me than my brothers? I know you said you had a spell made for me, but still why be nicer?”
My mother’s eyes narrow. “You were the only one with potential, as I said before.” She goes back to arranging things on the altar and muttering under her breath.
She’s lying. I can sense the lie, but I have no idea what she’s lying about. My head starts to pound. There’s a hum that’s low but annoying and I think that’s the cause of my headache. “What is that hum?”
My mother laughs. “You’ll see.”
Esme nudges my ankle. “Your mother is summoning power from the magickal realm. This duomo is a thin point in the veil, and she is using it to bring the magickal power over. The hum has been building in the magickal realm for the last few days. It’s how I found her.”
“That’s not good,” I murmur.
“No, it’s not,” Esme agreed. “She might be successful this time. It’s hard to tell. I can’t see all the items she has on the altar. I need to know what’s there.” Esme raises her voice. “She might become the most powerful vampire witch in existence with this ritual.”
“There’s no might about it,” my mother chortles. “Iwillbe the most powerful witch who just happens to be a vampire of all eternity.”
“And how are you going to accomplish that?” I demand, lacing my voice with sarcasm. “It didn’t work last time. What makes this time different?” I try to goad my mother. She would like nothing more than to brag about her prowess. I need to get her to say what’s on the altar. Maybe Esme will have an idea of how to stop this.
“I would have succeeded if those witches hadn’t shown up. This time I have taken care of that.”
“The humming,” Esme says. “It’s making every creature ill in the magickal realm, isn’t it?”
My mother smiles. “Yes, some more than others.” She lets out a giggle.
“But can’t they trace it to here?” I ask.
“Not this time. I have managed to amplify it and make it echo so no one can determine exactly where it’s coming from.” She nods in satisfaction as if she’s pleased with herself.
“What makes you think you’ve got all the right things on the altar for this? I can’t imagine everyday things will work for a spell of this magnitude.”
My mother chortles again. “You will see for yourself soon enough.”
“So, you’re worried then,” I say, trying to poke at her. “You’re not sure enough to share what you’re doing? That’s not a good sign, Mother,” I taunt.
She fixes me with a stare and then smiles. “You want to know what’s on the altar because you think you might be able to do something to stop me. It’s not possible, but I’ll indulge your curiosity. Don’t say I never pampered you.”
Esme leans slightly closer to me. “In order for your mother to become the most powerful vampire witch, she must blend ancient blood magic, witchcraft, and vampiric dominance, which means the altar should reflect her ambition, i.e. power over death, time, blood and spirit, her lineage—your bloodline, and the elements or forces she wishes to control.”
