Page 58 of First Bite
Chapter Twenty-Three
Iremained in a state of paralysis as the cloaked freaks lined up against the walls surrounding me and continued to chant softly. I looked around for the witch, and I finally caught a glimpse of her face. Her eyes were yellow, her face was porcelain white, and a strand of hair that slipped out from the hood she wore was coal black.
Her vibrant red lips pulled into a fine line as she held her hands over my abdomen. I felt a warmth swirling in my stomach and pain that could only be compared to the dull ache of menstrual cramps.
“Get away from me!” I shouted, interrupting her incantations.
Her eyes grew severe, and her fingers were like claws when she took her hands off my stomach. “All is well,” she said in a voice that indicated she was pissed but hopeful.
“What is well?” I demanded. “I’m pregnant? If you think you’re going to take my baby, you’re out of your fucking mind!”
“Silence!” she snapped. Her delicate fingers pulled the hood from her head, revealing her identity. I had no idea who this person was, but she emanated power even with her youthful appearance. “Shame, though. After all my sister did to ensure those immortals got you pregnant with a promise of our new future, her efforts proved fruitless.”
I didn’t let the lethal stare from the witch scare me off. “What are you talking about? What is happening?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.
“You’re the descendant of Lady Morgana. The most powerful witch in history. Even though she went rogue and created immortals, we still respect our departed queen.”
I tried to struggle against the force that was restraining me, but it was useless. I couldn’t move anything but my head.
“You’re not going anywhere.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “My sister’s death may have been in vain, but the immortal who killed her will pay for that dearly. Not before he makes himself useful to me, of course.”
“And how is he expected to do that?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“He’s the one I will make provide his seed for your child.” She took another sip.
The fuck he will.“That’s not going to happen. He fought off your sister when she possessed me. He’ll fight that off again.”
She laughed. “So much to learn,” she said as she walked around the room, lighting candle after candle. “You might find it interesting to know that I’ve been watching you since birth. Even Enzo didn’t know about you, but I did. I finally have more power than Enzo, I just need more weapons in my grasp if I’m going to end him once and for all for betraying me.”
“Betraying you? What does that mean?”
“Allow me to enlighten you,” she said smugly. “For centuries, Enzo and I worked together side by side. I was his closest confidant and advisor, you see. I was the one who told him to imagine the unlimited possibilities if an immortal were able to procreate with a Life Blood. To have a true immortal-Life Blood hybrid would be a supernatural wonder.
“He put me to the task of finding the perfect spell—the absolute precise combination of magic that would be able to accomplish such a feat. You must understand that such magic is very rare, and if I weren’t as old and as powerful as I am, I wouldn’t even have been able to attempt it.”
My heart raced, and my palms grew sweaty as she spoke, terrified of the revelations she might unfold. I wished that my vampires would swoop in and rescue me before I heard something I didn’t want to.
“We spent months with the Grishon coven,” she continued. “They were much too terrified of Enzo to send him away, and it was the perfect place to be since they had their very own Life Blood. I knew that if my spell were successful, any one of the men in that coven would’ve been an excellent candidate to conceive with the Life Blood. I was so occupied with formulating the perfect spell that I didn’t realize Enzo had fallen in love with the girl, and before I had the chance to tell him that my spell had been cast, he had unknowingly impregnated her already.”
The blood ran cold in my veins, and I felt as though the bottom dropped out of my world.
“Stop. No—” I could hardly speak. “You’re saying—wait. Enzo is my father?”
“I’m not surprised your mother didn’t tell you; although, if she had, this would be much less painful, I’m sure,” she continued without skipping a beat. “He never knew about you, you know? I let your mother know that if she didn’t leave that coven immediately and never return, I would kill her and her unborn child.” She cackled as she recalled her memory, “She was absolutely terrified of me. I cloaked her from all of them. They all searched for her everywhere to no avail. When I insisted Enzo give up looking for her, he became so enraged that he sent me away.”
The witch walked to a table with a large brass bowl and small wooden boxes around it. She opened the boxes and began taking the contents of the boxes one pinch at a time and adding them to the bowl. I had a terrible feeling of what was about to happen, and all I could do was lie there paralyzed.
“Naturally, the only thing that has been on my mind since that day is taking my revenge on him for casting me aside like I meant nothing.Iwas the one who had the magic to make our dream of a future to dominate come true.Iwas the one who had made it my life’s work for us to rise above all the others, and I was disregarded on a whim. I felt the only fitting revenge would be to create the hybrid children he so desperately wanted by using the child he knew nothing about and his mortal enemies, the Banner vampires.”
“Are you the one who bonded us? All so I could have their children for your revenge!?” If it were possible for my heart to pound out of my chest, it would’ve happened. Were we all just pawns in a jealous witch’s game?
“I wish I could take credit for your bond, my dear. Unfortunately, no witch alive could conjure that magic.” She picked up a smooth, thick wooden stick and began to mix the powders and herbs that she’d thrown into the bowl. “No, your bond is wholly organic, and it is a complex work of art. The magic that was used to bond the four Banners is the same magic I spelled your mother with to conceive you. In essence, you all have the same magical DNA, and their magic is used to bond and make them stronger…you are their missing link, so to say, the missing link to their bond. All I had to do was guide them to you and let nature do the rest.”
“You’ve orchestrated this whole thing? Have you been watching me my whole life?” The thought that my entire life had been under a microscope by this psychotic bitch terrified me. “You went to all this trouble so you could cast a spell to get me pregnant and have your crazy sister possess me to force the Banners to do it? All this just so you could prove something to the asshole who threw you away? Are you insane?”
“I amnotinsane!” she shouted as she leaned forward and slammed her hand down on the table, her eyes wild with rage, shaking me to my core. She took a deep breath and composed herself before she continued. “Of course I have been watching you since you were born. Do you really think I would lose track of my most remarkable supernatural creation? It wasn’t until you started merging with the Banners that I began to lose my tether on you and needed my sister to track you all down.”
She swallowed the remaining contents in her goblet and set it on the table. “I have no need to cast a spell for you to be impregnated. You were born under that spell, and you carry that magical residue. You are able to procreate with any immortal. My only issue was ensuring that the process was completed as swiftly as possible. That is why my sister possessed you.”
