Page 13 of The Powerless Witch
“That didn’t stop you from getting kidnapped. Nor will it stop all kinds of attacks. Her spell protects you from physical damage caused by ill intent. It does not protect you from getting smashed by a car falling on your head or by a spell that doesn’t aim to cause immediate harm. You can still get hurt.”
Lily blew out a sigh, giving me another stubborn look. I didn’t have the time or the energy for this. If she wanted to put herself in danger, what could I do about it? Celeste was big on freedom, so she ought to understand if the Martens disagreed with my decision.
“I mean, it’s just my dad,” Lily was saying just as I was about to tell her they could do whatever they wanted. “He works for a big security company and he needs to go to work. He can’t fake being sick forever. My mom and Luke will stay here, and I…I can help you with…” Her eyes lowered to the messy table, and she waved her hand toward all the notes, lists, and devices. “Research! I’m good at that. You said so!”
“This is not as simple as going through books and articles,” I said, but she shrugged, her smile growing wider.
“Research is research. And you look like you need all the help you can get! You said that humans are not allowed to know about you and the supernatural world so you can’t give them this task, and telling them to research something without giving them all the important details will produce lacking or inaccurate results. Didn’t you tell me that?” I gave her an exasperated look, and she grinned like she had already won. “I already know your secret and I know about the supernatural world! What’s the harm? You can’t give all of your tasks to your poor butler, he is, like, super old! This way you won’t even worry about me taking any risks because I’ll be right here, safely doing what you tell me to do.”
As if to emphasize her point, she sank into one of the chairs, throwing her hands in the air. I licked my lips, weighing the options. She was young, and I doubted she had any experience with hacking or digging information the illegal way, but I had seen her pouring through books and articles and finding details and references even I had missed. She had a great intuition and an impressive attention to detail, which was why I had been giving her all those tasks at school. And if I did give her something to do, she’d stop complaining and wanting to go out. Celeste would definitely approve of this plan.
“Fine,” I said finally, and her face lit up. “I’ll provide security for your father, but make him aware that his safety is his responsibility. I can only protect you if you are with me and I will not be playing your babysitter.”
Lily grinned. “Yes, Professor.”
I gave her an irritated look, glancing toward the door where the sound of steps—Chester’s this time—came from the stairs.
“I think you can quit calling me that now,” I said, waiting for the old man to get to the door. “Roman is fine.”
I ignored her surprise and the grin that followed, focusing instead on the knock on the door and the butler stepping in. He eyed Lily curiously, but he said nothing as he approached the table with a tray in his hand.
For a moment, I thought he was bringing me blood—I was forced to drink the one he collected from the blood bank when I sent Celeste away. I couldn’t allow myself to grow weak just because I didn’t like the taste anymore.
The tray, however, held no glass, just a big, black envelope. There was nothing written on it, but I recognized the seal immediately—the red wax with the large V in the center and the runes in the language the world had long forgotten told me exactly who had sent this.
Frowning as a chill crawled down my spine, I took it in my hand, trying to sift through the scents clinging to it. Paper, wax, smoke, and…blood.
Lily watched me curiously as I broke the seal. The smell of blood intensified, human for sure, but I kept my face relaxed while I slid the single parchment out. The paper was ancient, just like the people who had sent it, but it was the red letters that caught my attention. The other times I—or Maria—received a summon from the Elders, it had always been written in ink. The Elders were dramatic, but not that much, and blood faded easier than ink, so if the letter had to travel far, the text could get corrupted.
Blood was best used as an intimidation technique when your victim was near. Or so my Maker taught me.
Did that mean there was an Elder nearby? Or could it be Maria who was taunting me? This sounded like something she would do, but even she wouldn’t dare impersonate the council for her own agenda.
“Master?” Chester said. It wasn’t until I looked down that I realized my fingers had tightened over the paper, crumpling it to the point I could no longer read the words inside. I knew what it would say even before I opened the letter.
‘For the crimes committed against the vampire kind, you have been summoned in front of the Elder Council. Present yourself immediately to receive yourpunishment.’
A movement made me focus my eyes when Lily rose to her feet. “Is everything alright?” she asked, taking a step closer.
Squashing the letter into a ball, I smiled at her as I tossed it into the bin.
“Everything is fine. Just a problem for another time.”
Chapter 5
Isaac
“Does it hurt?” Alice asked as she stuck the needle into my flesh, pulling hard enough to make me think she was trying to tear my skin off rather than piece it together. I gritted my teeth and ignored the pain, staring at her profile with disbelief.
She was alive. After all these years, she was…alive. She had grown so much—from the tomboyish skinny girl I remembered to a woman of impressive height, curved figure, and a face that would make men turn to stare. When I thought about finding her after all of this time, I imagined the little girl with a haunted look in her eyes and anger pumping through her veins.
She looked…calm, content.
“This is strange,” she said after snapping the thread with her teeth. She tied it carefully, then reached for the washing cloth to wipe away the last of the blood that had seeped through the stitches. A witch had healed one of my wounds, but the other had been too deep to leave open. Nothing life-threatening, the woman that examined me judged, so they had left Alice to patch me up before someone else attended to me later. Celeste must have required their full attention, Alice surmised, and to that, I had no complaints. The faster she healed, the better. “I thought you were dead.”
“I never believed it when they said you’d died.” I shook my head. “Not for a second. But I never thought I’d find you…” I looked around the spacious room where she had brought me, to the giant, neatly made bed, the thick rug on the floor, and even the wide sofa in front of the unlit fireplace. “...in a witch coven.”
“Ah, well, I didn’t either.” She shrugged, moving the basin with red water to the table and returning with an armful of bandages. I waited for her to continue, but she seemed too focused on wrapping my arm to speak. Or maybe she didn’t know where to start, just like me. When the bandage was tied and everything was cleared, she continued to fuss around the container as if she couldn’t bring herself to look at me.