Page 64 of Sinister Hearts
“She is a demon, Faye, a skinwalker,” I retorted in actual disgust.
“The way she would whisper into men’s ears at the bars and they would become mesmerized by her… Why didn’t I ever catch on?” Faye replied, rubbing her forehead in exhaustion.
“Skinwalkers use the voices of loved ones, especially to seduce men,” I remarked, running my hand through my thick, coarse hair.
Faye picked up the thick vintage grimoire, blowing the dust mites off the yellow stained pages once more. “Tell me about skinwalkers,” she demanded, closing her eyes and speaking to the ancient book as if commanding it with her words. She placed her slender hands over the grimoire, and the book of incantations opened and landed on page 666.Chapter: Skinwalkers.
“They take on any shape or sound to hunt their prey and manipulate them. Skinwalkers are some of the most dangerous demons there are. They are low on the totem pole of Mortis realms, meaning they will do anything to make sure they don’t stay there.” I glanced at her sternly.
“Like sacrificing their friends' family?” she asked, gulping.
“Such as that, yes,” I replied, feeling awful for my poor littleljos. How much heartbreak can one take in a day?
Ryker walked in, fresh from a shower, interrupting her reading.
“I honestly had my doubts, but I knew Creed would never care to listen. As strong as my brother likes to think of himself, he is a fool for a pretty face and long legs.” Ryker lit a cigar, all healed and still full of banter. My little big brother was full of cynicism and wisdom. That was Ryker for you. “The first hint was her absence every winter solstice. It’s the time where skinwalkers are summoned back to their realm for mating season. I have no doubt she would have manipulated our brother into believing the seed was his if she conceived. Their main goal is to make it back to their realm full time, so they can walkfreely in their skin, their form. Shedding into their walker skin is beyond painful for them every time they shift here. It was a curse the Council themselves placed on them for hiding out here, making them earn their place back in the realm. They’ll do the ugliest of things to have it, whatever it takes. Cultists and skinwalkers are known for doing shady business with one another. The cultists, though, are more wealthy and powerful in this realm, making them slaves for hundreds of years to their old god.” Ryker inhaled and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
“He doesn’t know, does he?” Faye tapped the round table.
“Fresh fucking hell, now what?” Ryker was both amused and annoyed.
“A few nights ago we pieced together that Faye’s ex-husband is a part of this cult we’ve been hunting. A cultist group called The Followers Of Shedim. This cult goes back hundreds of years. They’re known to sacrifice spell bounders for wealth and power. Their God, Shedim, sired all of the witches' magic for wealth, sacrificing only the most powerful of them. The seer,La Sibila,is one of the most dangerous spell binders according to the grimoire’s prophecies.” I stared out the window as we all sat at the Reaper’s round table, exhausted from every new revelation.
“A seer is born when two bloodlines procreate.” Ryker looked at Faye in astonishment.
“A spell binder and a god, a power source of both light and dark”
“It’s just like Ma told me.” Faye took out a wrinkled bloody letter from her black boot.
“The thing with this cult is their sacrifices have all been women, because spell binders are the second most powerful beings in any realm, making gods the first above all else,” Ryker said, dumping his cigar on his ash tray. “It’s not just about sacrificing you for wealth, Faye Robles, it’s about getting rid ofyou. The realms fear you,La Sibila.” Ryker stared, in awe of my little light.
Imentally noted that after all this hocus pocus bullshit was over, I would be taking a much needed vacation, perhaps on a beach somewhere with my titties out. The ocean made my problems seem so much smaller than they truly were.
Right now, a part of me felt like I didn’t know who lived in my skin anymore. Another part of me felt like I had died with Ma. And a different part of me knew I was now someone else entirely. I had to leave some parts of me behind in order to growinto this new being, this stranger that I was to myself. These powers still felt foreign, and there was still so much I needed to wield and learn. I had no time to process—my people were being taken and sacrificed. Innocent women were depending on us, they needed us. They neededme. This wasn’t just about me anymore, this was bigger than me, and I’d make sure I’d be the fucking end of it.
Ryker opened the old, dusty grimoire, showing us wicked illustrations of women being sacrificed by demons displayed on the pages. Jax grabbed my hand and squeezed it, reassuring me he was there and I was safe.
“Women are the strongest spell bounders in our world. This is why their sacrifices have always been women.” Rocky placed her leather jacket down on the chair.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Jax asked, rubbing his coarse beard.
“That Faye’s jackass ex-husband is a cultist, who was going to sacrifice her for wealth? Precisely!” Rocky said, smugly.
All I wanted to do right now was lay down with my daughter and hold her, because I thought for exactly an hour yesterday, that my child was taken and gone. My mother… gone. My thoughts alone were too much for me to carry. I felt the lingering sensation of grief that had made its way into my bones permanently. The lights began to flicker the more my anger boiled.
“Calm down, Faye,” Jax said, grabbing my fuming hot hands.
“I don’t think, in any realm or parallel, that statement detonates a bomb, brother,” Ryker said, convincing Jax to just shut up.
“I’m so tired of everyone dictating how I should feel in this situation!” I shouted across the room. The light bulbs above us cracked and shattered to the floor, the shards of glass gravitated to Ryker’s throat, small trails of crimson beginning to dripfrom his neck. I closed my mouth in shock, forgetting the evil that resided in me. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I said repeatedly, apologizing to everyone around, and falling to my heavy, exhausted knees.
“Don’t be sorry, your darkness doesn’t scare me, little witch. It is my home. It is all I’ve ever known,” Jax said. I embraced his coldness as it iced out the surge of heat brazing my body.
“I say we kill them all. Let them meet their maker,” Jaxon suggested, at peace with his decision.
“I like the sound of that plan, brother.” Ryker sat up from the oversized wooden chair.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Jax twirled some alfalfa between his teeth. “If you think I’m going to put my girl in danger, you’re mad! We just got Birdie back, thank the gods!”
