Page 146 of Dark Flame
“Suck it, vamp.” She kicks her legs out and randomly conjures a movie bucket of popcorn. After popping two kernels into her mouth, she tosses a handful toward Alec, but they fall short. “Keep it up, Your Highness. I’ll ensure someone ugly plays you in the movie.”
“It’s Your Majesty, and you know it.”
“I helped you. Be nice. You wouldn’t be here without me.” She pointedly looks toward me.
“Maybe. None of it changes that ‘quirky’ isn’t apt enough to describe you.”
“’Kay, you carry centuries of knowledge on your shoulders and see what it does to your brain.” She sticks out her tongue again before gesturing toward me. “Enough chatting. We have business to discuss. Sit. Standing there is so vampire-like of you.”
I obey only because I don’t know what to make of the witch—thefirstof our kind. An air of superiority floats around her that demands obedience, and regardless of my new abilities, pissing off the original witch isn’t something I’d like to do.
I cross the room and sit on the opposite end of the couch, beside Carina who’s holding her phone up but taps the red recording button to end it and lowers her phone at her mother’s scowl.
“Jasper will never believe it if I don’t have proof.”
Freya clasps her hands together, making the popcorn bucket disappear, along with the ones she threw at Alec. “I’m sure we can all agree, Harlow being both a vampire and a witch is the most interesting thing to happen today, and that you’re all wondering the magic question: how, considering laws of nature shouldn’t allow it.Well…I don’t have answers. Like, at all.”
Weight I didn’t realize I was holding up crashes to the ground. If anyone on the planet had an answer, she seemed the most likely. Alec notices, or feels, the change in my disposition and hisses at Freya who only waves him off with an eye roll.
“Down boy. I get you’ve already pissed on her, but stay calm.”
“If you don’t know, why come?” he demands, and Morgan makes a face like she’s swallowed a lemon.
“Let me talk and I’ll get to it. No idea how I put up with your ass all these weeks.Anyway...” She flicks hair over her shoulder, shifting to the edge of the seat. “I have to confer with Hecate and get answers. Until then, I guarantee you’ll still be vital to the future. More important than when you had the cure, which if you haven’t figured out, is no longer a thing. You are the only hybrid in the world and will be targeted by both sidesfor now—” a sharp gaze darts to Alec daring him to comment “— but it won’t be like that forever. Witches will be wary of you, vampires won’t know how to take you. Your elemental powers remain the Goddess’ gift to you, and you will not be overtaken by black magick now that you are a creature of Darkness. Essentially, you’re the ideal balance.”
“What about this supposed oncoming war?”
Wariness flicks over her expression so quickly I don’t know what to make of it. “I can’t say much at this time. You were allowed to become a hybrid for reasons, though. It’s fate. Everything that’s happened was. When the Twilight Grove coven turned to black magick, this went into motion.”
Morgan curses softly, looking away. “That’s who…fuck, Jasper will be…” She trails off, mumbling, and Freya speaks overtop her.
“Motion being; your family’s deaths, your kidnapping, the ongoing memory wipes, meeting Alec. I helped him because fate designed him to take you atthatmoment. Not the next day, not the previous. Everything had to happen for the path pre-laid to be walked at the correct speeds. I am sorry for my role, including bynothelping you. You can hate me, scream at me, attack me, whatever, but know, Hecate never abandoned you, even if at times it felt that way. You are an important woman, Harlow Sinclair.”
“So you’re using her,” Alec interjects coldly, wandering closer. “I’ll protect her from whatever plans you have”
“We want nothing less from you,” she replies. “You two being mates will be important for the future. I won’t say why, how, or when, but it’ll come to pass.”
This is all vague at best and unsettles me. “Arthur and Violet mentioned four witches. The descendants from the four original bloodlines that their coven—Twilight Grove, I assume—will be joining together in some ceremony.”
Freya glances toward Carina and Morgan, her lips pinching. “They were telling the truth, but the path I’m seeing laid and the path that coven believes they’re following are different. They’ll be the same for a while, but will eventually deviate. More couples will come together, but that’s all I can say at this time.”
“More vampires and witches?” Carina asks, sitting forward.
“Not quite.” Freya tips her head. “I’m not allowed to say anything more. Until then, though…” She shifts to me. “You and Alec can’t stay.”
“Why not?” That’s Morgan, and something inside me lights a bit brighter. “The coven respects her connection to Alec. Once they digest the fact she’s a hybrid, this is her home.”
Carina slips her hand into mine, and like that, I’m welcomed to the coven all over. “My childhood friend was already stolen from me. Don’t make her leave again.”
Freya purses her lips, glancing at her hands. “I’m sorry. But from here on out, having one-point-five vampires hanging around Banff will disrupt the future. You need to return to your castle.”
“Can I visit?” Carina asks, directing her question toward Freya.
She glances toward the ceiling, making me wonder what she’s looking for, before replying, “In a few months, sure. Not for a while, though. And now, I must go.” She stands with a slap of her thighs, tucking her cloak in tighter. “It’s been lovely chatting. Nice to meet you, Sinclair. Blessed Be, everyone!” By the doorway, she flicks her finger toward Alec. “Except you, bloodsucker. No blessing for you.”
She steps form the room and disappears into thin air.
Sixty-One
