Page 90 of The Royal Street Witch
I was dreaming of you when the ringing woke me. You had been holding me on the beach in California, your nose on my neck, breathing me in. The sunrise riveled cotton candy, shades of pastel pinks and baby blues, and the ocean crashed, casting pearly bubbles at our feet. Heaven is in each other’s arms and that’s where we were until the sky opened up to the bedroom where the trill of my phone rang incessantly. I didn’t want to let you go, but my eyes opened and there was Cassius’s name on the screen.
His voice was so frantic, a kind of begging I never thought Cassius capable of. He was inconsolable, unintelligible, but I was able to make out three words.
“Please, save her.”
I sat up straight, the tone of his voice slicing like a knife.
“What is it?” I asked him, because Cassius doesn’t reach out to me. We see each other around town, we nod and he’s always studying me but I keep walking. I’m staying out of vampire affairs, but now I suspect that the rumors are true about Cassius. He’s more different now than he’s ever been.
“I’m in love and I need you to save her. If anyone can do it, it’s you.” He paused for a moment, like he was pushing down a sob. “It’s just too poetic, too aligned with my destiny. He’s gone and I actually want to live.”
It took my breath away, because we don’t speak of you, it hurts too much.
“What happened?”
“Please, come!” he cried. “I promised, never to turn her, to keep her human. Please, I keep to myself. I don’t bother you. But please, please do me this favor.”
And I knew you would want me to, Bastian. Your mother killed the Vampire King, saving my life. We don’t know if there have or will be repercussions for that, but I knew you would want me to help Cassius. So, I got out of bed. I pulled on my longest coat and buttoned it up tight. I gently placed Winnie in my bag, along with my case of tinctures and herbs, I did this all for you, my love.
“Where are you off to?” Mother asked, surprised I was leaving the house so late because I’ve been quite the hermit at night. She was working on a spell to light a fire under the contractor’s asses, to hurry up the rebuilding process of my home. I long to be home, to be where you and I wereuslast.
“Cassius needs a favor.” I hesitated because Mother doesn’t trust him, but I didn’t want to lie.
She stood from Chantal’s kitchen table, shaking her head, and if her face could speak it would’ve said, “Are you nuts?”
“He sounds desperate. I’ll be fine.” But I can’t lie, Bastian. There’s something inside of me that softens when she looks concerned for me. When she’s protective. When she acts like a mother.
We vowed. Mother, Cassius, Chantal, Jade and I. To never tell a soul about the potion I created. It was an easy decision for Cassius; he hated the potion from the start. And that keeps me free of Aunt Violetta’s wrath…for now.
“Oh, don’t worry, Aunt Violetta,” Mother had said on the phone after Franklin died. “Per Nicola, the agreement stays in effect.” She winked at me with that confidence that came so naturally to her. “No, no,” she said into the phone. “Nicola killed Franklin because he killed her son. I haven’t a clue why, but that’s vampire business. A new Vampire King or Queen will eventually be appointed.”
And that was all the reassurance Aunt Violetta seemed to need after the Vampire King was murdered at Nightwalkers. As long as she still got her money, it wasn’t her concern.
Mother stayed. Can you believe that? She stayed to help me, help us. Nicola rightfully took Nightwalkers back and didn’t want anything to do with Franklin’s witch. Mother took over making the potions with the promise that I will never have to get involved again. Sometimes we can’t always save ourselves. Sometimes we need help.
Mother kissed my forehead and gave me that look. “I’m fine,” I said again, as I walked out the door, and it’s only part true.
Grief still takes over, but with each day that passes, I’m changing and the grief evolves to something else, something better, something like hope. And I smiled as I took each step carefully. That overwhelming feeling of hope invading my body, my heart fluttering at my abilities, at my control of our future. All in good time, Bastian.
Farther down Chantal’s street, I couldn’t help but chuckle. Cassius in love—I never thought I would see the day. Especially not with a human. And now he wants to live. That night he was in my backyard he whispered the wordtwo. Two heartbeats. Two lives in one body. He didn’t tell me then, but I found out because time is the greatest teller of tales. Just like this journal I keep for you, Bastian. So you don’t miss anything. So you know it was all for you. I have let go. Let go of the pressures of who I should be or what I should do. I live for us now.
I stepped back on Bourbon Street, another night of thousands in my life so far. My feet skipped to all the music, every different sound coming to one grand crescendo. I would save Cassius’s love and do it for you.
My fingers found my coat buttons, taking care to undo each one slowly, before I arrive at Nightwalkers, just a touch, just another woman lost in a crowd. And all the love gushed through my palms onto my slightly swollen belly, our child that we planted there.
Our magic created life and I haven’t completely lost you. With the power of three—your ashes, our child’s blood, and my power—I can do the forbidden. I’m not scared anymore.
The witch that can’t grow things is growing something, Bastian. I’m having your child and we will be a family. I will bring you back.
