Page 33 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
“Thank you,” I say with a smile. The old apothecary pats my hand and sits back down, waving away my thanks. I take a vial in between my fingers and roll the liquid, watching as it coats the glass. “We need to find the others before Semyon does. We can’t have him making more hybrids or putting more of my kind through this.”
“Others?” Cole asks.
“Cassian and Valentina. They’re the two earliest generation vampires left. Semyon’s after the most ancient vampires he can find, something about us making better hybrids.”
Eryx’s feathers clink as he shifts on his seat. “How do we find them?”
“Cassian is probably the easiest to start with. He hardly ever ventures from Rome. ”
“He has now, but he has not traveled far,” Mr. Hassan says, capturing everyone’s eyes. He looks at me with a faint smile. “When you were resting, your Reaper asked me to look into the whereabouts of both vampires.”
“Not my Reaper,” I mutter into my mug.
“I spoke to the apothecary of Rome,” he continues, undaunted. “She said Cassian has left for Ravello. He’s with a coven of witches.”
Cole’s brows flick in acknowledgement but he doesn’t look up from his food. “And Valentina, any idea where she might be?”
“Not yet, but I will continue searching. I will find a way to send you a message if I find her,” Mr. Hassan replies as he pushes a plate of basbousa in Davina’s direction. Our gazes connect for a fleeting glance before we both look down at our meals.
Ediye knocks my elbow with a gentle tap. “Do you know Valentina, Lu? I don’t recall you mentioning her before.”
“No, I’ve never met her. I’ve heard her name around here or there but she’s always kept a low profile. She’s the vampire that created Arne Larsen, the one that Semyon made into the hybrid with the huge dick,” I say, smiling when Eryx coughs around his falafel. “Cassian might know her. He used to like to keep up with the comings and goings of our kind.”
There’s a moment where we all look at one another in a silent agreement. We need to get to the others before Semyon does.
“What about you?” Davina asks. Her voice isn’t what I expect. It’s quiet but assertive, like a gentle breeze that still cuts through a forest to find you.
“What about me?”
“You said you need to finish what was started. Can Cassian and Valentina help you?”
I look at Davina for a long moment as I consider her question. “Probably not, but I’d rather get to them first before Semyon has a chance. He’s already got a month head start on me,” I reply. I don’t back down from looking at her. I’m curious as to what her reaction will be. She must know what that month in the Shadow Realm meant for me. She’s seen at least a glimpse of what I’ve endured, and she’s been through her own brand of suffering there as a reaped soul. Her face is stoic but I think I see some kind of understanding in her eyes as she gives a single nod.
“We’d better leave as soon as we can,” Ediye interjects, her weighted glance shifting between us. She shoves a few bites of basbousa into her mouth and washes it down with long gulps of water. The rest of us follow her lead and consume what we can of our meal as Mr. Hassan gives us directions to the coven’s stronghold in Ravello. Villa Datura on the outskirts of the town, nestled in the hills. Club Caelum, overlooking the Amalfi shores.
We rise as one from our chairs, all except for Davina. Her gaze darts from Mr. Hassan to me, then the others, then back again. She lingers on the edge of her chair, unsure what she should do.
Dammit.
It just doesn't feel right to leave her here. That part of me that wants to grind her bones into spells is still there, but there’s a bigger part that can imagine she’s suffered her own torture. She’s still suffering. I guess we all are. We all have memories to suppress or grief to live, or love to lose and broken hearts to mend. We all struggle to find our place. Maybe we could make it easier on one another once in a while. The world would be better for it, I think.
Okay, I’ll totally caveat my sudden magnanimous streak by excluding Ashen. Obvious reasons, you know.
But I do feel better when I say, “Come with us.” And I can see she feels better about it, too. She gives an unsure but relieved smile that she follows with a nod.
Our group heads to the living room, Davina trailing a little further behind to observe from the edge of the room as Cole and Eryx shift the furniture to make room for Ediye to construct a portal. I watch for a moment as she lays pine needles and charred herbs and burnt bones in a pattern on the floor before going to collect our bags. I write a little note to Mr. Hassan that I rip from my journal, apologizing for fucking up his sheets. I leave it on the bed, running my hand across the surface like my skin can absorb memories I’m not sure about keeping.
When I arrive back with the others, Ediye is chanting with her arms spread wide. The black vortex of galaxies spins at the summoning of her power and I look with admiration at my friend.
“She’s both a healer and a traveler?” Davina asks as she stops beside me to watch a glittering black orb rise from the floor. I turn a proud smile in her direction and give a slight nod. “My mother was a traveler. There were so few in my time.”
“Even fewer now,” I say. “Most were wiped out since the days when you must have been around.” I don’t elaborate, but it lingers in the air. The truth is, most of those witches fell on the blades of Reapers. They were killed for crimes that were fabricated for the sole purpose of crushing their power and controlling their covens. And if it wasn’t the Reapers, it was the humans. Humankind’s fear of the unknown drove so many powerful witches to suffer and burn.
Davina swallows and looks away before she disappears into the passageway that Ediye has created. Eryx and Cole follow after thanking Mr. Hassan and taking bags of leftovers from his hands with grateful smiles. Ediye gives the old man a hug and looks at me for a long moment with a knowing smile before passing through the shimmering black globe.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” I say to the old man as we grasp each other’s arms. Tears gather in my eyes. I can see them glass the surface of his too.
“Azizati. I already told you. Of all the immortal creatures, vampires are my favorite. And you most of all.”
