Page 51 of Blood Coven

“Mother?” he asked, his voice hoarse. The voice of a tired man.

His eyes adjusted to the candle-lit room as he focused on four young women—his daughter among them—and a stranger. His eyes narrowed. A look of pure murder crossed Victor’s expression, and the Wolf realized he had seen that look on many of the Lucas before him. Red was right about some children inheriting the Luca gene more than others, he thought as he protectively stepped in front of the young women. They would not be harmed by this monster; no more blood would be shed by a Luca’s hand.

35

OCLEAU

THE YEAR OF THE CURSE

AZALEA

Azalea stumbled weakly back to the house, barely holding the bowl of cedar, borage, and scabiosa steady.

Juniper’s fresh, warm blood darkened the shavings.

The drink which Matthias and Blaez would both consume sat in a cauldron over the fire, thickening. Azalea grabbed two chalices and filled them with slow, calculated scoops of the ladle. The blackening brew smelled horrific, but she did not turn away from the scent. Ensuring an hour had passed since Juniper’s sacrifice, she poured the mixture into the cup she would feed to Blaez. An ache spread through her chest, but she had no time to give in to the emotion. The front door opened, and Matthias entered the house.

He turned to his mother, his gray eyes ablaze. Black circles were evident under his eyes as though he had smeared the charcoal at the bottom of the roaring flames beneath them. His skin had become sallow, the toll of the curse obvious on him as the full moon neared.

Azalea imagined the fear that swept over him the last few days, worrying what would happen if she failed. Recalling the terror when he shifted last time. From a man to a deadly Wolf, he would lose control again.

“You look dreadful,” Azalea told him outright.

“Of course, I do,” he growled back at her. “If you fail, who dies? You? Ana? Juniper? Me?”

Azalea flinched when he mentioned Juniper. “Yes.”

A grimace made him look even worse off. “Do you care?”

“Yes,” she repeated. Meeting his gaze, Azalea told him confidently, “I will not fail.”

His lips tightened into a thin, white line, his brows coming together in the center. “No one but him gets hurt.”

Azalea knew he was referring to Blaez; he was only going to be hurt when he realized what he had done to his wife. He believed her to be so innocent, but she knew better. Sometimes being so close to someone blinded you to who they really were. Blaez and Matthias were both blind to what Ana truly was. Azalea knew the moment Blaez showed up that he had never laid a hand on Ana. She did wonder what the other woman’s game was and what she had planned for Matthias, though none of it mattered. Ana would be dead by morning.

“After all I have done, you still do not trust me?” Azalea asked her son.

“I will never trust you,” he snapped. He then loosened his shoulders. “I have no choice but to rely on you.”

Aegidius’s chilling caw bounced off the walls, startling them both.

Blaez had arrived.

His fist struck the wooden door, each knock desperate, as though the energy had been sapped from him.

He promised that he was willing to die for Ana, but Azalea wondered if he would be so eager to accept his fate if he knew what was to come. She wondered if he would still go through with it if he knew she was a liar. Though tempted to reveal it to Blaez to see his reaction, she knew it would only bring more suffering to her son.

“You do not need to trust me, but you’re right—you do need me,” Azalea said. She glanced at the front door and beckoned Matthias to open it. She welcomed the disruption to prevent Matthias from digging deeper. He’s blinded by love and how quickly he falls.

Was Matthias not so clearly in love with the woman, Azalea might have spared her. But Ana was not a woman that could be trusted, and she refused to allow her to live when so many variables were present. It would be too easy for Ana to turn around and point her finger at Azalea. She had to die, or Matthias would leave with her the moment he got the chance. He had his replacement for his dead lover, and he’d located his child; he would flee, and Azalea could not allow that. Now, more than ever, she had to ensure that the Luca line continued.

Azalea’s only hope to survive this would be to put the full blame on Blaez, saying that he lost control as a wolf. The evidence would show that he was to blame for Juniper and Ana's death. Though he had not killed Juniper, Azalea took extra steps to prepare her body as if a wolf had mauled her. He would be put on trial, but they could not kill Blaez once he was bound to the second curse, the one that would control him. The only way to break the curse was a hundred years of starvation; since this was impossible, he would never die.

After the town realizes they cannot kill this Wolf-man, after they learn that I’m in control of him, they will cower in fear, and I will run this town, she thought happily. They did not need to know it cost me a daughter.

Matthias tensed as he opened the door to allow Blaez to enter, glaring at the newcomer; Azalea knew with absolute certainty that her son was in love with this man’s wife. There was no other reason for his obvious disdain.

“How is your wife?” Matthias asked. “Any improvement?”

---