Page 60 of The Soulless Witch

I cocked my head, giving her a look full of pity. “Oh, child, death is nothing to be scared of. Life is the one you should watch out for.” Hesitation passed through her face and she took a small step back. “So, tell me, Samara. Why do you hate me so much?”

The girl looked like she’d snap that it was none of my business again, but then her eyes narrowed.

“How can I not when I have been compared to you every single day of my life? And for her, I will never be enough!” Her voice shook, but she clicked her mouth shut, her eyes narrowing even further as if to hide the tears in there. “It was bad enough when you were dead, but now? Now it’s even worse!”

“Is that why she is working with the hunters? To get rid of me?” Samara frowned in confusion. There was no way to tell who was the witch meeting with the Order, but I had a feeling that whoever it was, Regina was involved. “I’d answer if I were you.”

“We’ll never work with the hunters, even to get rid of you!” she snarled, hands balling into fists at her side. Losing my patience, I sent my magic barrelling into her mental shield, and after some resistance, it shattered, letting me straight into her head. Samara’s knees gave out, and she dropped to the floor, catching her head in her hands. She tried to push me out, but I held, sifting through her memories as fast as I could.

It was dark in most of them, as if she had spent her life without light. Cries of pain and desperation filled my head, of a young girl falling down again and again until she couldn’t get up. Another memory flooded in, of an older Samara kneeling in the middle of a pentagram with her hands outstretched while more and more coils of magic rippled through her. I gasped in surprise, my skin bristling at the echo of her power trembling through her mind.

The girl from the memory lost hold of the power and dropped onto her face, whimpering in pain. A pair of dark heels stopped at the edge of the pentagram, and Regina’s disappointed voice filled the room.

“Still not strong enough. Never strong enough.” Samara reached toward the older witch, but Regina was already walking away. “Clean up this mess, Mathias.”

Something barreled into my chest and I stumbled back, almost falling down as Samara rose to her feet

“Get out of my head!” she panted, hurling her magic toward me. I waved with my hand, conjuring a ward just in time to save myself from being tossed across the corridor. My shield held, barely, until Samara finally lowered her hands. “Get into my head again, you soulless monster and I will destroy you so fully that you won’t return from the dead anymore!”

I bit the inside of my lip, cursing myself for not finding anything useful in her mind. Maybe she didn’t know what Regina was up to. She was so young and Regina was Head Witch—she didn’t have to tell her anything.

My thoughts flew back to the memories I saw and the darkness that was present in all of them. I had my fair share of dark moments through the centuries, and I knew what desperation felt like, but that girl…that girl had only darkness in her head. I hadn’t picked up on a single happy memory, a single ray of light, or a bubble of laughter. Just what had Regina done to her and why? To kill me? No matter how strong Samara was, she still couldn’t match me when I was at my full power.

I pushed away those thoughts, trying to focus on the girl, when I realized she was no longer standing in front of me. In fact, she was nowhere in sight. Frowning at the corridor, I let my shield drop and stepped onto the small terrace. The wind kissed my face, making me shudder.

That had been a mistake. The poor thing hadn’t known anything, and invading her mind like that had triggered her even more than whatever upset her before. Regret squeezed my throat, suffocating me until I was taking Samara’s crouching position and leaning my own forehead on the cold stone. It helped, if only a little.

“Are you feeling unwell, Celeste?”

I forced myself to turn slowly, looking up at the blonde woman standing a few steps away. She had changed into a gorgeous dress of black and gold, her hair pulled into a tight bun while diamonds glittered on her neck and ears.

“Too much champagne,” I lied, pushing myself up and plastering a smile on my face. “Spending eighty years in the ground has completely ruined my alcohol tolerance.” Regina gave me a tight-lipped smile. “Is there something you need?”

Instead of answering, she stepped onto the small balcony that barely had space for the two of us. Regina stared out, ignoring the way the wind picked up a short strand of her carefully arranged hair.

“The world has changed a lot since you were last alive, hasn’t it?” she said, still looking at the twinkling lights ahead. Before I could answer, she continued, almost as if I wasn’t there. “Even more so for us than the humans.” She paused, and I wondered if she expected me to ask what she meant. “There are fewer and fewer witches born in the past several decades, most of them weak enough to be considered humans.”

She closed her eyes, her expression calm and distant.

“Now more than ever, we need to preserve our kind and nurture it until the Goddess blesses us again.” She turned to fully face me. “For that to happen, we need strong people to fight for us. People like me and you. What I said in your home was not to mislead you. We are not the same witches who betrayed you, Celeste. We have changed, just like the world has.”

“That’s not what I saw in there,” I finally spoke, and to my surprise, she nodded.

“It’s true that they fear you. Theyshouldfear you. A witch with your power could destroy everyone in that room in a heartbeat and they know it. They also know you came to our sacred gathering on the arm of a vampire, showing a complete disregard for our traditions. You even refused to share a tiny fragment of your power with the Goddess. They saw that too.”

“And did they see how you kept that power for yourself?” I arched an eyebrow. A small smile crept onto Regina’s lips.

“I did that because it’s my job to protect them, and your vampire bared his teeth to anyone who so much as glanced at you the wrong way.” I almost rolled my eyes—Roman would never bare his teeth at just anyone. He had manners. “I understand why you brought him, and that’s why I allowed him to stay. However, if you wish to reconnect with your own kind and rebuild what was once broken, you’ll need to leave behind the monsters that work tirelessly to weaken us every day. Do you know how many of our sisters have fallen at the hands of vampires? More than they have under any other supernatural creatures. Vampires are immune to our magic, and that makes them even more dangerous.” I considered telling her that Roman couldn’t be bothered with witches unless they attacked him first, but Regina seemed content with just hearing herself talk. “I can help you reconcile with them. I can help you change from being an outcast and a monster that people scare their children with, to a pillar of the witch community. It’s not too late. All you have to do is take the hand that has been offered.”

With those words, she extended hers toward me. I hesitated, looking down at the unblemished skin, the well-maintained nails, and the golden rings on two of her fingers. I didn’t move.

“Answer me this, Regina,” I said, looking back into her cold blue eyes. “Is it me you want, or is it my power?”

“Is there a difference?” The Head Witch shrugged, letting her hand fall by her side.

“There is and you know it,” I replied, trying to keep the sharpness out of my tone.

Regina sighed. “Every witch or supernatural creature would kill for your power,” she said. “Some want to possess it, others want to destroy it. In both cases, you need allies, Celeste, or you’ll end up dead like so many times before. There is nothing free in this life, so yes, we want to use your power to help ourselves, but that can also happen while you are the one wielding it. We can also benefit from your knowledge and experience, and in return, you can gain what you never had—a coven, a family. That’s not something you can get from monsters who are simply fascinated by your pretty face.

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