“We did volunteer in a way,” Evarius says, “because we didn’t understand what the hell was going on. I was eleven. My sister was nine. I was a witch myself, so I understood bits of it because I always observed whatever my mother did. But most of it, I did not understand. I think that the spell was so personal to her that she might have felt she needed someone she had a personal connection with. As for choosing herself, she would have never done that. What if something went wrong? I didn’t think of it that way at that time, obviously.”Tasha is disturbed by how a mother could put her own children at such risk and says, “What about your father? Didn’t he intervene or say something?”“Father had left because of mother’s erratic ways. He used to visit us now and then. But he wasn’t there at the time.”As Tasha listens to this she realizes something important and says, “You said you were eleven at the time, but you are surely not eleven now. Does that mean her first experiment didn’t work?
Evarius feels a wave of loathing every time he thinks about his mother now. It had been okay in the initial years, but now that he dislikes who he is so much, all he has for her is anger and hatred. He looks at Tasha and sees that she is looking at him rather cautiously. His anger might have shown on his face. He composes himself and gives her a little smile.“What happened after that? What did she do next?”“Nothing. My sister and I killed her.”“What!?”“We were driven mad with her experiments on us and the captivity, so when we got the chance, we killed her. To this day, I don’t know whether it was the right thing to do or not, and maybe I should, but I don’t regret it. She is the reason I am here at all and can’t even leave. She is the reason I am forced to be someone I don’t want to be...”*Tasha can see that he doesn’t like to talk about it, but she has to know. Unless she knows, she cannot make a decision. So, she says, “Tell me about the ritual in detail. What did she do exac
Tasha is absolutely stunned by this piece of information. She is stunned to know what all you can do just because you’ve been around for more than twenty times longer than the average person.“So,” she says slowly, “there’s no such thing?”“No such thing. They are all just helping me die,” Evarius says, still looking amused.“And what about the sacrifices?”“What about them?”“I don’t have to sacrifice any werewolves to kill you, do I?”“I don’t see why you’ll have to. There’s nothing of that sort in the book, is it?”“No, there isn’t.”“Then, you don’t have to.”Tasha looks Evarius in the eye and knows that the moment has finally come where she has to address what has been bothering her since last night. She needs to know what he knows about it.“But,” she says slowly and carefully, “there is something else that I’ll have to sacrifice, isn’t it?”Evarius doesn’t reply instantly, but his posture and expression change. It becomes more rigid and for Tasha, this is enough to confirm her
When Lilia and Damion come home, Tasha is with them. She is going to stay the night because she has things to share and her parents are out of town for the weekend. But before any of that, Damion wants to talk to Brent and so he takes him aside.“How have you been?” Damion asks him.“Good. You?”“Good. More than good actually. I want to tell you something.”“Go ahead.”“The thing is that... um... Lilia and I are going out. I mean we are dating now.”“Oh.”“Yeah, I just wanted to be the one to tell you first because of your... well you know.”“I appreciate that and am happy for you mate. She is an amazing girl and if you two are happy, then it’s fine with me.”Damion looks at Brent carefully to see if he is actually okay with it or just pretending to be, but his reaction seems genuine. It isn’t over the top or too salty. It’s quite normal. Damion is relieved by Brent’s reaction because if he hadn’t been okay with it, it would have complicated things.“Right then,” says Damion, “now we
Adeline’s words are met with the longest silence yet. All of them gape at her and then look back at Tasha who nods to confirm what Adeline had said. She is also the first one to speak and asks Adeline, “How do you even know that?”“Because I was also at Lilia’s place once...” she says.“It means you knew all along?” Damion asks, “Why the hell didn’t you tell us when we were out helping Evarius in the quest of the book or doing literally anything else? We could have planned something else.”Tears well up in Adeline’s eyes as she says, “I didn’t tell you because I was the one who told Evarius that Tasha is a Serafina witch, and I knew you would hate me for it.”“What?” Exclaims Esther, “What the hell are you talking about, Ad? Why would you do that? Did you not know who he was?”A tear rolls down Adeline’s cheek as she says, “I knew who he was but I wanted to save the one I love. I am sorry, Esther.”“No,” says Esther angrily, “that’s not how it works. You have put the lives of so many
Lilia looks around the room and her eyes stop at Adeline. She could hate her for putting Tasha in such a position. Her life was already in danger, but now the rifle is on Tasha’s shoulder. Adeline is not looking at anyone and staring down at her hands and Lilia can see that she genuinely regrets what she had done. Lilia does not approve of what she did. But she doesn’t hate her either. Nadia had waited for her for almost a century, of course, she wanted to help her out.“Ad,” Lilia says softly, “It’s okay. I don’t hate you. God knows if I had been in your position, maybe I would have done the same for someone I love.”“That doesn’t make it right,” says Adeline as a tear drops on her hands that are folded in her lap.“No, it doesn’t,” says Lilia, “but we all mess up. We are all, well, not humans, but yeah.”“I am so sorry,” says Adeline.“It’s okay,” says Tasha, “Honestly, I think he would have found me one way or the other. He already knew Lilia. As I would have practiced more, I am s
“Well, yeah,” says Esther, “At least the weather is beautiful because of the rest of it...”Brent comes and stands beside her and she asks, “How are you feeling?”“I feel okay.”Esther looks at him trying to gauge whether he is telling the truth and says, “You sure? After Damion and Lilia...”“Yep. I feel fine. I can’t say I didn’t imagine this might happen. Although it was still a surprise, it wasn’t a shock. Honestly, it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s in the past. She has moved on. I have moved on. I’ll always have a love for her, but it’s not like before, for which I’m glad. I am happy for them.”“That’s good. You deserve someone who truly loves you. Everyone does. But especially you because you are the nicest person I’ve ever met.”“Glad it’s dark and you can’t see me blush," Brent says smiling.Esther laughs.“That’s very sweet of you,” he says, “Thanks. But how about you? How are you feeling?”“I - I am mad at Adeline, of course.”Esther takes a deep breath and says, “Why didn’t s
“Yeah, the Junta will do that,” says Damion, “they want to protect Lilia as much as we do!”“They probably will,” says Tasha, “but what are the rest of us supposed to do? Stay within five kilometers of Lilia all the time for the rest of our lives if we want to stay alive?” Tasha says.“I don’t mind,” says Damion.Tasha gives him a mock smile, while Esther says, “Of course, you don’t. But the rest of us, no offense Lilia, have lives that don’t revolve around her.”“And,” says Lilia, “Evarius is always going to be on the lookout and will capture anyone who leaves the spell’s periphery, and then I’ll have to go because I am not letting anyone die. We need to find a solution that makes sure all of us are protected.”“Then ask the Junta to cast a spell on all of us...” says Tyrus half-heartedly.“Like they are going to do that,” says Esther, “they don’t give two shits about anyone else here. Also, what I don’t understand is why it is only the Oswyn bloodline. Tasha, did Evarius tell you wh
Six years later.“Tasha! Where are you?”Lilia is standing at the bottom of the stairs in a sea-glass green colored off-shoulder gown and looking up. She sees Esther stepping down the stairs in a halter neck gown of the same shade as hers.“Have you seen Tasha?” Lilia asks her.“She was with me like five minutes ago, and then she went downstairs.”Lilia groans.“I can’t see her anywhere.”“She’ll turn up,” Esther says, now climbing downstairs, “she is very excited for the day after all.”Lilia smiles, “Yeah, she is. I’ll check with the men. Maybe she is there. Does Sabina need anything else?”“Not for now. I just gave her her perfume of demand. She wants everything to be perfect! Honestly, I don’t blame her.”“Mumma.”A voice comes from their right, and they see a small blonde-haired girl in a light green frilled frock running towards them from the hall.“There you are!” Lilia exclaims. “I was looking for you everywhere. Where did you go?”“I was with Uncle Ty. He said he wanted to se
He is hoping that she will feel him and realize what he is trying to say. Should he close his eyes? But he doesn’t want to. He wants to keep looking at Tasha if things go the way he thinks they will.Just as he is looking at Tash, he sees a trickle of blood flow out from her nose. She is having a nosebleed.“Tasha!” He says.Sabina hears his voice and looks up to see what the matter is.“Are they doing something to her?” She asks in a horrified voice.“I don’t know,” Evarius says, panicking. “Hey, Tasha!”He shakes her, but it’s no use. It looks like she and the eight Junta witches that are still standing are having a battle inside this trance that they are in and it’s hurting Tasha. Evarius has no idea what to do. He places his hand again on Tasha’s and closes his eyes this time.*Tasha feels rather than sees Evarius enter this realm. She uses her other hand to force him out. She can do this without him. She knows what he is trying to do. She won’t allow it.“No,” she says in her mi
Relief courses through Tasha as she sees Lilia standing near the fire looking absolutely fine. She rushes over to her followed by Evarius.“Let’s leave,” Tasha says to Lilia.“I have been trying, but I can’t,” Lilia says pointing to the Head’s grip on her wrist. “It’s like she has an iron grip.“It's magic,” Tasha says and places her hand over the Junta lady’s.At first, Tasha can’t feel anything, but then it’s like she is being sucked into a different world and now she knows why the Junta can’t hear anything from outside because she can’t hear anything anymore either. But now she can see. She can see hundreds and hundreds of people lying on the floor slowly turning gray and Tasha realizes with a jolt that these are all the vampires that are dying. The younger ones first.Tasha focuses harder and now it’s like she is flipping through a book and in the next few pages, she finds a lot of other people of different ages clutching their chests. Dying. Among those people, she also sees hers
Tasha and her group move forward. They do not find any more werewolves in their way. Maybe they are fighting on the other side. When the very edge and can clearly see the cloaked witches standing in a circle Tasha says, “Okay, I need to break into the innermost circle. That’s where the real stuff is happening. The rest of the circles are for elevating the effectiveness of the spell.”“I think we should spread out and take on as many witches as we can without causing too much chaos,” says Evarius. “Otherwise, they will try to push us back like last time and it will complicate things. Although this time we have witches which is much better.”“Okay then,” let’s spread out. “We won’t be able to see each other. So, once you and your neighbors are in position, wait for ten seconds and then attack. This will ensure that we do it at the same time.”Everyone agrees with this idea and spreads it out. Evarius stands right beside Tasha. They wait for ten seconds and then Tasha places her hand on
Evarius is clenching his chest and breathing heavily. It feels like someone is stabbing him in the heart continuously.“What is happening? I don’t understand,” he can hear Tasha say, as if from a long distanceHe cannot speak for the pain that he is feeling and just as he feels that he is going to pass out from the pain, it starts reducing in intensity, and soon it is gone. He massages his chest, but it feels absolutely normal now. What the fuck was that?“Evarius,” Tasha says, on the verge of tears.“I am fine Tasha.”“What? No -““Yes. The pain is gone.”“But why did it come in the first place, that’s the question,” says one of the witches.“Exactly. What did it feel like?”Evarius explains it to them. The more he talks the more confused Tasha looks.“Nothing like this happened the last time,” she says, “Did it?”“No.”“Then why now? They are targeting my bloodline, but I don’t feel anything. This is just weird.”“But the Serafina line is related to vampires,” a witch suggests.“Yea
The sun has gone down the horizon and because it's a new moon, the night is very dark. Lilia has been brought out of the house and she sees that it’s not a small house, it’s actually a huge mansion. The junta has cleared the space for the ritual and other than cloaked figures, Lilia can spot some other people. This makes her wonder. Who are these people? All the time she has been with the Junta, she has only seen them in cloaks.She walks to stand in front of the fire beside the Head who gives her a little smile. The smile makes her otherwise rigid face softer and calms Lilia’s nerves.“How long will it take?” Lilia asks.“A few hours. It’s a long process. We will be done before dawn, I hope you have rested during the day.”Lilia nods.“Then, you’ll be fine,” the Head says.Lilia glances around the scene. There are a lot of people here. Much more than there were before. There is a lot more commotion and people are talking continuously and moving in and out of the house. It almost seem
The junta is gathered on the first floor of the mansion. This entire floor Carl has given to them for the time being. It is in the backroom on this floor that they have kept the binder. They don’t want Carl to get close to her before they have no choice.“I have given her the food,” Chiara tells Amyra.“How is she?”“She is fine. I told her she will be going home today and she looked happy with the prospect.”“Good. Now, we just need to make sure to get her out of this place before Carl lays his hands on her. Make sure that no matter what happens he can’t get to her. Once she is back home, we will place the spell that keeps Carl and his people away from her back and she will be safe.”“I will make sure that everything goes as planned,” Chiara says.“It should because if it does we will be able to correct the grave historical blunder that our ancestors had committed. We will finally be able to wash our hands off it.”Amyra turns around to look out of the window thinking about all the g
Carl, Luther, and Garrit and sitting with the Junta head. Her name is Amyra. They are discussing the arrangements that Carl has provided the Junta with and something else that he has found out recently.“Are your plans for the new moon set then?” Carl asks her.“We are almost done. We’ll be ready by then, don’t worry. We’ll be off your hands after that. You’ll get what you want.”“Which is the binder?”“The binder, yes.”“Good. But there is something else that I think you should take notice of.”“And what is that?”“The binder’s friends are in town again. Does this mean that they know she and you are here?”“How can I tell you that? This type of thing should be your concern. Anyway, I have no idea how they can possibly know that we are associating with you. We never associate with werewolves and vampires, or at least that’s what everyone believes.”“Right,” says Luther, “but let’s say they do know and they try to sabotage our plans. Will you help us fight them?”“Of course, we will. H
Everyone looks from Evarius to Sabina to Tasha in shock, but Tasha smiles because she knows that Sabina’s fainting means that it has worked.“What happened to her?” Tyrus asks, kneeling down beside her, looking scared.“She’ll be okay Ty and so will Evarius,” says Tasha. “Can you guys please carry them inside? Their bodies are going through a change and they might be down for some time.”Tyrus carries Sabina in and Damion and Brent carry Evarius. They place them on the two sofas and Tasha asks, “Did you guys feel something when Evarius fainted.”“Yes,” five of them say.“No,” says Damion.“Of course, you didn’t feel anything, D. You are a werewolf. The rest of you, what was it?”“A swooping gust of wind inside,” Esther says.“Yeah, like a blood rush,” says Nadia.“Does that mean it worked?” Brent asks.“In my humble opinion. It does.”“Is there any way to check?” Tyrus asks“Not really,” says Tasha, “at least nothing that I know of. But I am sure we will find something out once Sabina