Page 57 of The Soulless Witch

“I think you could have charmed him even without that,” Roman said in an amused tone. I gave him a sidelong glance before shrugging.

“That would have taken too long. I didn’t want you to lose your patience and snap his neck.”

Roman let out a low chuckle, kissing my shoulder. “I would never interfere with your hunting, but I do encourage you to find more interesting prey to play with.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?” I scoffed, but before he could reply, we found ourselves atop a curved marble staircase leading down onto a hall even more magnificent than the one before. Enormous chandeliers hung from the ceiling, hundreds of candles burning on each of them and filling the room with the smell of fire, incense, and magic. Exquisite paintings and other art pieces decorated the walls, but what stole my attention was the giant pentagram drawn in the middle of the dance floor, with an altar holding a seven-foot-tall statue of the Hallowed Goddess in its center. Most of the guests were keeping a respectful distance from it, as if afraid the deity would come to life and strike them down, but occasionally, some would step close to say a prayer.

The moment we entered the room, magic bit into my skin, telling me I had triggered not one, but two wards. The first one was like the one I had placed around the Martens’ home—it targeted anyone whose bloodlust rose enough to push them to act on it. The second was to let everyone know exactly who stepped into the hall. And now, they all knew I was here, along with a vampire.

Every set of eyes turned to us, staring with a mix of fear, awe, and anger. Roman took the brunt of those gazes, smiling as if he enjoyed the hostility. That didn’t seem to affect him one bit as he turned to me, offering me his gloved hand.

“Shall we?” he asked, a playful smirk dancing on his lips.

“We shall,” I replied, allowing him to lead me down into the sea of witches.

Chapter 30

Celeste

“It’sbeenawhilesince I’ve been stared at this much,” Roman said as he led me through the hall, while young women in white robes moved between the guests, carrying trays with food and drinks.Womenwas not the right word—judging by their age, they had to be the youngest witchlings of the city, some of them barely old enough to be considered adults.

“They are just jealous because you look so handsome,” I chuckled, picking up a drink from one of the serving girls. She paused to look at me, eyes going wide, and she almost dropped her tray. A whiff of my magic steadied the glasses while she flinched, realizing she had nearly made a mess. I winked at her before moving along, ignoring the whispers around us.

“I don’t think any of them would touch me even if I was the last man on earth.” He smiled at a woman who had been openly staring at us and she jumped, turning around so quickly, she almost tripped on her dress. “Your kind tends to pick their men by how likely they are to give them strong offspring, so I’m all but useless in that regard.”

“My kind doesn’t know what they are missing,” I smirked as he turned his head unnaturally fast, his eyes flashing with lust that made my insides heat up. He leaned closer, and I thought he’d kiss me, but his lips brushed against my chin before pressing to my neck. A few witches gasped, their eyes widening in disgust, but nobody moved to help me, even though his intentions were so blatantly obvious.

“Don’t tempt me,” Roman whispered against my skin before pulling back. “Do you know her?” I was just about to ask who he was talking about when I noticed the woman making her way toward us. It took me a moment to recognize her without the tangled locks of black hair—now pulled into a messy bun with a few curly strands bouncing around her oval face—but as the name rang in my head, I tensed. Roman glanced at me in surprise, moving half a step in front of me.

Mariam Castle circled a group of witches, where one tried to veer her from her path, but she shrugged the woman’s hand off without even looking at her. She took the last few steps separating us, not even blinking as Roman positioned himself between us. The room seemed to hold its breath as the two of them stared at each other.

“Is the oldest and most powerful witch on this earth in desperate need of protection for some reason?” Mariam’s voice rang out, much colder than it had been in the shop. Plastering a smile on my face, I stepped around Roman, meeting her eyes.

“Don’t mind him, he likes to intimidate his competition to weed out the weak ones,” I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. He gave me an unamused look, but the tension drained from his body. Mariam threw him a hesitant look before smiling lightly.

“While I’m flattered to be considered a competition, I’m afraid I’m not interested in women in that way,” Mariam said, taking another step toward us. Her eyes shot to Roman again as if to check if he’d react, but he had already returned to looking uninterested. “I just saw a familiar face and decided to come say hi.”

Her smile widened, and she raised her glass. It was hard to read her face, just like it had been with her ancestor. Now that I knew whose granddaughter she was, the likeness seemed even more obvious. It was the same honest expression and the gray eyes that had made me believe the deal I made with the witch was worth the risk. It was the same smile Moira wore when she tried to stab me in the back. And now this young, smiling woman was one of the very few people who were immune to my magic. I needed to dig up Moira’s family tree and figure out how many of her descendants still lived.

“Hi,” I finally said, clinking my glass against hers.

“How are your humans?” Mariam asked and I had to stop myself from glaring at her. There was plenty of space between us and the other witches, nobody had tried to get too close, but we were surrounded by magic users. Who knew how many of them were enhancing their hearing so they could listen in on us?

“They’re fine,” I replied, taking a sip from the champagne that suddenly tasted like a bitter potion in my mouth. “When are you going back to the Silver Flame? You mentioned leaving after Samhain?”

“I’ve decided to stick around for a while.” She shrugged, giving the room a carefree smile. “The Coven of the Hallowed Goddess has been very accommodating and I have so many project requests that I don’t think I can leave just yet.” Her eyes darted to Roman, her eyes growing a little colder. “It’s not like my Coven will miss me all that much.”

I gave her a tight-lipped smile, trying to figure out how to get away from her.

“You shouldn’t get so close to her, Castle.” An unfamiliar voice came from behind me and I turned, watching as a young woman with light brown hair strode toward us. She was pretty, with a heart-shaped face and dark eyes with even darker makeup that created a stark contrast with her pale skin. Wearing an emerald dress that accentuated her figure, she moved past me like I was part of the furniture, keeping her eyes on Mariam the whole time. They were about the same height, but while one of them looked friendly and sweet, the other exuded anger and power even though she wasn’t touching her magic.

Samara gave me an unimpressed look before narrowing her eyes at Roman.

“And here I thought vampires couldn’t come in uninvited,” she spat, squaring her shoulders when Roman moved to stop one of the servants. Picking up a glass full of champagne, he handed it to me, sliding the empty one out of my grip.

“We do not need an invitation to enter a building that is not a residence, witchling,” he replied, actually smiling at her. It wasn’t a warm smile by any means, and the way his fangs protruded over his lips could have sent any normal person rushing across the room. The young woman held her ground even as her posture locked. “You should spend more time studying than playing dress-up with the adults. Your Head Witch will be embarrassed if she hears how lacking your knowledge of vampires is.” He gave her an even more unimpressed look than she gave me. “You have a long way to go if you ever want to take her place.”

The woman bristled, her magic wrapping readily around her, but before I could tell her to stand down, Mariam put a hand on her shoulder.

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