Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Sage
“Trina!” Wet top and throbbing ankle almost forgotten, I leap up and hug the singular sane person in the apartment.
Although…did she just…? I pull away, hands holding onto the tops of her arms. “What do you know about vampyres and demons?” I don’t ask about witches because her knowledge on that subject is infinite…
and now I know that it’s all based on truth—hard facts—rather than just a belief.
“Oh, sweet girl.” Trina tilts her head to the side, then looks over my shoulder at any one of the three deceivers behind me.
Okay, so they’re not all deceivers, but I’m still a little salty about being out of the supernatural loop all these years.
“I always had my suspicions with you, but the affinity for witchcraft isn’t purely for supernaturals.
There are many humans who have spiritual abilities and without knowing for sure, I could only assume you fell into that category. ”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” If Danika had given me the same answer, I’d have replied with some sarcastic comment about assuming only making an ass of you and me, but this is Trina. The woman who has taught me so much…and, apparently, also so little.
“I didn’t know for sure and both Danika and I could have been killed or imprisoned for revealing the supernatural world to a human.
We’re all bound to the Moirai, and while loving you girls transcends the universe, I need to be around and alive to keep doing so.
” She kisses me on the forehead. “I’m sorry you feel betrayed, darling. ”
Not buts or reasoning, just a simple apology before she wraps her arms around me for one of the best hugs in the world. It’s warm and I find myself relaxing into her for a moment.
“Come on now, make me one of those delicious coffees and we’ll have a talk, shall we?
” Trina pats my back and maneuvers me toward the kitchen.
“You boys can sit down, no need to stand for this old woman, but I appreciate the chivalry.” She glares at them both, watching as they obey her soft command.
Desdemon smirks before clearing his throat and turning his body in our direction.
“Madame, thank you for the open invitation into your home. My sister continues to sing your praises, but I must be going now.” He stands again, raising his brows with a sharp head tilt-nod thing, then turns to his sister, who hasn’t moved from her position on the couch.
“I’ll be back in a few days. You won’t need to feed again until then. D’accord?”
“Yeah, that’s okay. I promise I won’t accidentally eat anyone.”
Rolling his eyes, Desdemon shakes his head, but he’s amused. The near-permanent grin on his face says as much.
Me? I’m horrified. I feel like my eyes are about to burst from the sockets with how wide they are. Danika turns to look at me, and as soon as she does, she bursts into laughter.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. Don’t worry. It’s not ever going to happen. One, we only feed on anthros blood. Two—well, two and three—we have official places to go and I’m not feral. Only the feral vamps would ever drain someone dry. They have no remorse or feelings, nada.”
“What the fuck, Dan? There’s such a thing as feral vampyres?” Honestly, the information flying my way today is beginning to be a little much. I have no idea which way is up at this point.
“Oh, babe, it’s okay. They mostly reside in Velmore, in West Kohrye.
Which is kind of like what anthros call Hell.
Des has someone trying to find a cure to the ferals’ madness so, for now, the ones that get caught are in the dungeons…
” Danika trails off, most likely because she knows me like the back of her hand and right now, it’s too much.
Most of the things I’m learning are completely foreign to me, the names of places among them, but like, waaay down on the list of things I need more information on.
“We’ll circle back to the whole dungeons and Hell thing later, but I think for now, I’m going to sit the fuck down because my ankle hurts. And the coffee is ready.”
Trina has prepared four coffees and she puts them all on a tray to bring them over to the couch. Danika is quick to intervene, taking the tray from her and placing it carefully on the coffee table.
During the whole revelation on feral vampyres, Desdemon made a quick exit. I didn’t even see him move.
The only space left on the couch is beside Zelos.
Hack. Because of course the armchair is for Trina.
It’s the most comfortable seat in the apartment.
The burning-maple scent of Zelos is almost overpowering, and like it has some kind of comedic pull, I can imagine myself floating toward him with my nose in the air, following the trail of fumes that don’t really exist.
Three sets of eyes are staring at me, as if they’re waiting for me to break or speak first. I can’t tell which.
Maybe it’s a mixture of both. My best friend’s eyes now have the same red ring around them as Desdemon’s.
I guess she has no need for contacts around me now.
I wonder when she removed them because I swear they were her usual brown earlier.
Trina is the first to make a move, leaning forward and grabbing her coffee.
“Are one of you girls going to tell me why there’s a demon here?” She’s not judging, but her question is spoken in such a way that she will not be ignored.
Before Zelos or Danika can even attempt to explain what’s going on, the urge to cry all my problems out with Trina takes over—minus the actual crying because I think the pure shock has dried them all away.
“He says I’m his chosen. I’ve been dying before I get to thirty for the last however many thousand years.
My mother was once Baba Yaga. Hekate actually exists and Zelos here, or Hack as he’s also known, has a demon pumpkin head.
My best friend and her brother are vampyres.
There’s some kind of hex or whatever on me.
Multiple, in fact. I’m a witch, like for real, and apparently so are you.
Does George know?” Somehow, after splurging all that information, I feel a little lighter.
A little. And now I really need to know if George is aware of all this.
It feels like the most important thing I’ll find out today.
“No. My George is a human man, so he can never know.” Trina looks sad about that, and I get it, because I’m sad about it too. I imagine it’s quite lonely for Trina to have to hide a part of herself, but then again, she really doesn’t. Being a witch isn’t exactly unheard of in the real world.
This definitely wasn’t the most important thing I learned so far today, and now I have nowhere else to go. Nothing else to say. Well, I have a million and twenty questions, but forming them isn’t easy.
I turn to glare at the demon, because I’ve just realized his hand is rubbing soothing circles at the bottom of my back. It’s really fucking nice, but that burning ball of anger in the pit of my stomach wants to rip his arm off.
If I did that, though, then there would definitely be no more orgasms for me. That singular one would be it. The last hurrah.
“Oh, crap.” Danika sits bolt upright and sighs. “We should’ve opened the shop hours ago! I loaded the cake display last night and my mind has just been elsewhere ever since.”
“Don’t beat yourself up, darling. I know it’s not easy when you come into your abilities.
I assumed your brother would be taking you back to Kohrye for a few weeks when he approached me for permission to access the apartment.
” Trina swipes her hand from right to left, the crystal bracelets jingling with her movements.
“The coffee regulars can miss a day and the supernatural ones won’t arrive until the late shift anyway. ”
“Supernatural customers? Wait…no. I don’t care.
This whole thing has gone way off track here, and all I really need to know is how do I not die before thirty?
Maybe afterward we can do some real witchy shit because I’m confused as hell but there’s a large part of me that’s excited to do some badass magic.
” I have to stop myself from asking what kind of magic we can do, whether all witches have the same abilities, is riding on a broomstick a real thing…
“Die before…?” Trina doesn’t finish her sentence, but she slides her eyes over to look at Zelos. “Is everything she says true, Demon?” I have never seen her look so angry before.
“Everything is true.” There’s a vibration, a rumble that rolls through me when he speaks; his tone is almost hypnotic.
“Oh, my sweet girl.” Trina sighs and brings her attention back to me.
“Okay, so I wasn’t certain you were a witch when we met.
I felt your affinity for the craft, but I also sensed an evil that I couldn’t explain.
I knew it wasn’t you directly, but something attached to you.
It’s what makes you clumsy and why I gave you all those charms to wear.
They’re spelled to keep you safe. And there have been no broken bones or near-death moments while you’ve been wearing them. ”
The memory of meeting Trina sticks in my mind always, it’s the last time I truly feared for my life because yeah, my clumsy moments were a lot worse before the charms. There had been a moving van delivering our beds and if it weren’t for the gurgling croak of my raven friend catching Trina’s attention that day, I’d have been cut in half by the rolling door.
“So this hex thing is evil? How many hexes do I have? Because apparently my hatred for Zelos isn’t natural.”
He’s being remarkably quiet beside me, and I both love and hate that he’s so close. Talk about confused.
“It’s possible to have multiple hexes. They can only have been done by a very powerful witch, but why would anybody want to hex you?” Trina looks pensive as she sips her coffee and tries to work out one of the biggest mysteries of the day.