Chapter 10 Grace
GRACE
The sweet smell of powdered sugar hit me before I even stepped inside.
Seraphine’s beignet shop sat on the corner of Dauphine and Chartres, two blocks from the Midnight Wytch, and it always smelled like temptation.
Fried dough, chicory coffee, and something a little more wicked humming beneath the surface.
Magic lived here. It coated the walls, soaked the tables, and clung to Seraphine’s skin like soft perfume.
And only those who shared that power, recognized it.
She looked the same as she always did with her tight black curls framing her pretty face, and her gold hoops swaying as she wiped sugar from her hands.
She kept yelling out orders to the staff between customers, her voice smooth but sharp enough to keep them on their toes.
Every sentence ended the same way, soft and honeyed, “Thank you, suga.”
That was Seraphine. Sweet on the surface, steel underneath. She could hex you and hug you in the same breath, and you’d thank her for both.
She wore a blood-red headwrap, a low-cut top that showed off the tattoo crawling up her collarbone, and a grin that could both bless and curse you.
When she finally spotted me, her grin softened. “Well, look who crawled outta the fire. Come here, beby.”
I went straight over and received the warm hug she had for me. Pulling me away, she gave me a once over, then called back to the kitchen. “Two café au laits, extra sugar! And don’t forget the powdered top!”
I slid onto the stool across from her, my fingers curling around the edge of the counter. “You heard what happened?”
“Everyone in the Quarter heard,” she said, sliding a coffee mug at me. “Bloody Scorpions hittin’ a Bastard princess’s shop? That’s not just gossip, cher, that’s suicide.”
“Yeah, well,” I muttered, stirring my cup, “they made a mess of things.”
Her eyes narrowed, the smile fading. “But that’s not why you look like you ain’t slept. What else happened?”
I hesitated. Talking about it out loud made it real. But Seraphine wasn’t the type to let things go.
“Don’t look at me, like that, cher. Now you tell me what’s happening.”
I took a slow breath. “I’ve been… dreaming,” I started. “Only they don’t feel like dreams.”
“How so?”
“It’s not a vision, it’s physical. I can feel it. The air’s hot, the ground burns through my shoes. Everything smells like iron and ash.”
“Hell,” she said quietly.
I looked up at her; she gave me a knowing nod. “Yeah,” I whispered. “I can hear people screaming. I see shadows moving, twisted shapes that crawl instead of walk. And then there’s the demon.”
“Demon,” she murmured, her face hardening. “The one who has your papa runnnin’?”
I nodded. “He fought him for years, Seraphine. But he always said Bael had promised to come back one day. I think that day’s arrrived.”
Seraphine’s jaw tightened. “You’ve seen him?”
“Last night. At first, I thought it was just a nightmare, but it’s too real.
He’s there, in my head. He’s tall, built like something that was once human, but it’s been corrupted.
Its skin is black like coal, cracked with fire underneath.
Eyes red as blood, mouth full of teeth too sharp to belong to anything natural.
He likes to mock me, says he’s been waiting for me.
That he’s going to finish what he started with my father. ”
Seraphine reached across the counter, her fingers brushing mine. “What does he say exactly?”
I swallowed. “That he’s going to take me. That he wants to feel me burn from the inside out. That he wants to make me scream until heaven forgets my name. And that he wants my holy boy to watch.”
“Holy boy?”
I nod. “Peter Hellsing.”
Her hand tightened around mine. “He’s trying to break you.”
“I know.” My voice trembled despite me. “Yesterday afternoon, when Hellsing went down… I felt his power. And I did something I shouldn’t have.”
“Tell me.”
“I performed an ancient spell. One that bound me to Hellsing and now, now I’ve taken in his powers, and I can’t get rid of them.”
She listened, eyes sharp, lips pressed tight. By the time I finished, she wasn’t smiling anymore.
“You know, that energy you felt,” she said slowly, “that wasn’t just fear or adrenaline. Hellsing holds power. Old power. And it’s tied to you now, cher.”
I shook my head. “It felt like… him. Like I pulled him back from somewhere neither of us should have been.”
Seraphine nodded. “You did. I can feel the residue on you from here. You dragged him out of the dark, and that kind of act leaves a mark. You and that man? You’re linked now.”
Her words made my pulse stutter. “Linked how?”
She gave a small, knowing smile. “In more ways than one, I bet.”
I groaned. “Seraphine…”
She raised her hand. “Don’t even try to deny it, beby. I can smell sexual tension a mile away, and right now, you reek of it. You’ve got it bad for that man.”
I rolled my eyes, but heat crept up my neck anyway. “He’s impossible. Bossy. Arrogant. Always trying to take control.”
“Mhm,” she hummed, sipping her coffee. “And that excites you, doesn’t it?”
“Jesus, Seraphine!” I hissed, glancing around the café even though we were the only two there.
She laughed, low and wicked. “Don’t blush, Grace. It’s natural. And we are both women. He’s got that look about him, trouble dressed in leather and scars. Men like that are born to ruin good girls.”
“I’m not a good girl.”
She raised a brow. “No, you’re not. But you’re his kind of trouble, and that scares you more than the demons ever could. I am pretty sure it scares him too.”
I didn’t answer. Because she was right. The way Hellsing looked at me…
it wasn’t gentle. It was raw and hungry, almost reverent.
Like he wanted to protect me and devour me in the same breath.
I hated how my body reacted to him. How my pulse kicked up every time he got close.
How his voice, low and rough with that Louisiana drawl, could undo me with a single word.
“I don’t know what this is,” I finally said. “But whatever connection there is between us, it’s getting stronger. Last night, when he went down, I felt it. Like I could feel him slipping away.”
Seraphine reached across the counter and took my hand. “Let me see your palm.”
I hesitated, then turned my hand over. Her long fingers traced the lines, soft at first, then slower as her brows knit together.
The shop went quiet, the hum of the city fading into the background. I could feel her magic rising, the faint buzz in the air, the way the candle flame on the table flickered.
Her expression darkened. “You’ve got two lifelines, cher.”
“That’s not possible,” I said softly.
“It shouldn’t be,” she agreed. “But here they are. One is yours, one his. They cross right here.” She pressed her thumb against the center of my palm.
“That’s where you pulled him back from. The place between life and death.
But there’s a shadow over it. Something dark, ancient. He’s not done with you yet.”
I swallowed hard. “The demon.”
“Bael,” she said, the name tasting foul even as she whispered it. “It whispers to the spirits. I can almost hear it. It wants you because of your power. It wants him because he’s the only one who can stop him.”
A chill crawled down my spine. “So, what the hell am I supposed to do?”
Seraphine’s gaze softened. “You listen to the part of you that knows. You’re your father’s daughter, Grace. You’ve got the gift, and you are maybe stronger than you realize. You’re gonna have to use it.”
I pulled my hand back, shaking my head. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“You will,” she said simply.
“You’re tattoo, Grace. Show me.”
I pulled my sweater to the side, exposing the sigil tattooed along my chest. The spiraling design that was once a sharp black, was now dull and fading
Seraphine traced the outline with her fingertip. “It’s dead. The protection is gone.”
My throat tightened. “Can that happen?”
“There are only two ways this could happen. The one who made it is gone…which last time I checked, my grandmother was alive and kicking. Or… the evil that’s callin’ you is stronger than the spell.”
I stared at my coffee, watching the swirl of sugar melt into black liquid. “So Bael’s stronger.”
She tilted her head. “Not necessarily, but he is feeding off the bond between you and Hellsing.”
I looked up sharply and Seraphine gave me that knowing smirk again. “That man’s energy clings to you like smoke after a fire.”
“Again, with that. We’re bonded because of a spell, that is all.”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “You can lie to yourself, but don’t lie to me. I can see it all over you. The way your body reacts when you say his name, the way your aura sparks. Lust, guilt, power, it’s all tangled together.”
I crossed my arms. “He’s infuriating.”
“And you want him anyway,” she said with a grin. “There’s no shame in that, cher. I am actually happy for you. I didn’t think anyone could reach you.”
I sighed. “He’s dangerous, Seri.”
“So are you, sugar,” she said softly. “And maybe that’s why you two found each other.”
I didn’t respond, and she leaned in. “You need to strengthen the sigil. I’ll mix you somethin’ tonight, oil, ash, blood from your own palm. But I warn you, it will hurt and it is only temporary.”
“I’ll take any protection you want to throw at me.”
She smiled faintly. “You are just like your daddy.”
The thought cut deep. “He never told me what it felt like,” I said quietly. “To have something inside your head that you can’t escape.”
Her voice softened. “He didn’t want you to know.”
“Well, now I do,” I whispered.
“Don’t worry. God does not give us anything we cannot handle.”
“So, they say,” I mutter beneath my breath.
“There is somethin’ else you need to be careful about, cher.”
“What?”
She gave me a sly smile. “That man of yours. You two are walkin’ on dangerous ground. The energy between you is feedin’ the bond. Every time you touch, every time you think about each other, it grows.”
I stared at her, heat curling low in my stomach at the memory of his hands, his mouth, the way he’d said my name in the dark. “You make it sound like we’re cursed.”
Seraphine chuckled softly. “Oh, honey, all love stories with demons in the mix are cursed.”
I laughed, but it came out nervous. “You’re not helping.”
“I ain’t supposed to,” she said, standing. “I’m supposed to tell you the truth. And the truth is, you’re in deep shit, spiritually and otherwise. So watch yourself.”
She walked around the counter and kissed my cheek. “You tell that man of yours to come see me too. He’s carrying more than just that demon. I can feel it.”
“I’ll tell him,” I said, though I knew he wouldn’t like it.
She smiled, her eyes gleaming like she knew exactly what I was thinking. “Coffee is on me, cher. Go get your head right before the sun sets. Tonight’s gonna bring something with it.”
Her words stayed with me as I stepped back out onto the street. The air was thick, humid, heavy with that pre-storm stillness that always made your skin prickle.
I could already feel it, the connection between Hellsing and me thrumming under my skin like a pulse that didn’t belong to either of us alone.
And for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to fight it.
.