Page 8 of Bite of Passage
He accepted the simple ceramic filled with warm brew.A sniff of the herbal concoction insulted his nose.“What is this?”
“It’s good for you.Makes you strong.Drink it.”He moved around to sit slowly in the chair across from him.The old Indian mage’s appearance, with frizzy dark hair graying at his temples pulled tight into a ponytail, deceived all who crossed his path.He came off as frail, which was far from reality.The graying hair contrasted his wrinkle-free, dark brown skin.It made him seem wise and exotic.
“Did things go poorly at the ball?”Serish stared into his own cup of tea.
Skarde shrugged and sipped the hot, fetid liquid.
“Need some advice?”The mage grabbed a few chocolates off the side table and shoved them into his mouth.
He glanced into the fire.“I saw an unexpected lass.”
Serish’s brows shot to his hairline.A garbled, choking noise came from him as he struggled with his mouthful of chocolate.After a few seconds of coughing, he asked, “Tell me this isn’t a joke.I don’t think I could take it.”
“No joke.”
Serish shot upright and squealed like a girl.He did a little dance that was disconcerting to watch a gangly man of at least a hundred do.“Yes!”He clapped his hands.“How did this happen?I need details to determine if she’sthe one.”
“That prophecy is bullshit.”
Serish laughed so hard he had to swipe his eyes.“If you believed it a lie, you’d have turned hundreds of humans over the years.No one who entertains females as often as you would have restrained this long from a little neck nip.You also wouldn’t avoid human bed partners.Only a vampire scared shitless of a prophecy could resist the lure of a decent blood meal in the midst of sex.”He fisted his hands in excitement.“Destiny found you.Finally.”
The “prophecy,” as foretold by Magdalene the Blind, over a century ago:Fail to protect the one you turn, the world will burn.Your soul she will steal and incite an immortal burn.Amongst your people evil will churn.
He wasn’t sure what it meant.The threat of an “immortal burn” and triggering vampires to become worse than they already were had inspired him to forge a wide path around human females.
“She can’t be the one.I don’t believe in destiny bullshit.”
Serish stopped dancing around.“You believe if you turn a woman, it’ll open the lid on evil and she’ll send you to hell where you will burn, right?”
“I saw her through a mirror.I’m not even sure she was real.”
Serish’s face scrunched up.His enthusiasm quieted.“A reflection?She wasn’t in the room with you?”
He shook his head.
“That’s powerful magic.”Serish paced and made a clicking noise.
Skarde blew out an agitated breath and closed his eyes.He muttered, “Magic always bites me in the ass.”
“What was it about her that caught your attention?”He halted.“Other than the fact a face in a mirror spoke to you.”When he didn’t answer the mage added, “Hey, you can tell me.”
Skarde opened his eyes and watched the flames flicker and pop, sending a few sparks flying.“She was different.She warned me about Petra moments before the witch stabbed me.”
“I don’t trust any kind of magic that comes through reflection communication.It might be another witch.”
“She didn’t seem …” He massaged his forehead.“Whatever she is, she’s beyond our reach.”
Serish pulled his skinny knees up into his body with his bare feet resting on the edge of the chair.No sage words of advice came from him.
“It doesn’t matter.”He tried to shrug it off.“She’s likely another witch trying to manipulate me.I’m fine.”Such is the way of my cursed shit life.He put the dog back on the floor and stood.Day sleep had called to him an hour ago.“I need to rest.”
“You’re not fine.You haven’t been fine since… well, I can’t remember when you’ve been fine.You’re different when you think of the mirror lady.That’s new.New can be good.”
“You’re giving it too much importance.”His voice grew angry, something that rarely happened around Serish.From the startled look on Serish’s face, his friend was just as shocked.Somehow, he forced a tempered tone.“I was thrown off.I didn’t stop to think how it was possible.It’s something new that I’m sure I’ll have to deal with later.”
The mage waved.“Sleep now.I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
“There’s no such thing as safe.”He stood fast and had to grab the side of the chair to stabilize the dizziness in his head.Was this from the witch blade’s poison or Serish’s tea?
