The sun had started to come up by the time Adrian finally let me sleep, not that I was really complaining. I had never had that much sex in one night. We went on for hours. It was a mystery how I was able to keep up. His stamina was off the charts. Adrian’s need seemed to feed me energy and I wanted him just as bad in return. But now I was feeling it. My body had completely tapped out. I could tell he was tired too, but not nearly as much as me. Must be his wolf endurance. I’m sure he could have gone even longer, but he knew I wasn’t made for that.He rubbed my back and kissed my skin until my eyes fluttered shut, and I knew I was going to be a complete mess whenever I finally did wake up, but I’d deal with that then, I thought, as sleep finally claimed me.Sometime later, a scent hit my nose that begged me to wake up. Coffee. What a heavenly scent it was. I peeled my eyes open, and sure enough Adrian was there with a hot cup in his hand. He was dressed and looked like he’d bee
Of course she knew it was me. I shouldn’t have been surprised. She was a sensory witch. I smiled at the revelation of her power.“Ciel, how are you?”“I’m doing pretty good. Glad you called.”“You are? Why?”“Yes, of course. Come on now, baby girl. I didn’t want to pressure you before, but I would love to train or help you get a gauge on your powers. That’s just what we do. Helping new and young witches coming into their power is very fulfilling, plus you’re not just a regular witch. I’m interested to see what all you can really do.” I could almost hear the glimmer in her eyes. “If you really are of Zoldeck ancestry, there would be many who would love to get their hands on you.”She wasn’t lying. Hands were already trying to get to me now. But she was exactly the person I needed in my corner. Unlike whoever Claudis had in mind, I knew a little bit about her, I had some of an idea of her powers, and Adrian trusted her. I didn’t think Claudis would hurt me, but he wanted to control me
Ciel smiled widely as if she’d just won the witch lottery or something. I guess this was a pretty big deal to her.“Come back with me, meet some of my girls and our coven leader. We will help you.” Her eyes glistened with excitement.Was I really doing this? I was about to dive into a completely new world. The vampire and wolf thing caught me by surprise and off guard. It scared me at first as the unknown usually does, but this witch stuff, I don’t know... something was kind of exciting about it like I was about to finally feel whole.I’m not going to say that I felt like I never belonged, but I did always feel like somewhat of an outcast. I was weird, and people weren’t shy about telling me as much. I didn’t really think I was weird, though, just different. My empath ability only made me stand out even more and not in a good way. I found myself hiding in a shell and not allowing people to see the real me out of fear of being rejected. And now, maybe this was why. I was different
Yeah… so I actually hated road trips. 45 minutes into the drive, and I was reminded of that. I sat up front unable to sit still and becoming restless, fighting the urge to ask if we were there yet. My shoeless feet rested against the dash, something Adrian seemed to be unsure about as he side-eyed me until I gave him that look I wasn’t going to scratch his precious Benz. I did have socks on and I was pretty sure my feet didn’t smell. He eventually let it go without saying any words. Uh-huh. Thought so.Apparently the trip to East End was over two hours away from Adrian’s pack boundaries. I of course had no idea where we were going According to him Ciel traveled back and forth between her own personal home and the coven house, which some of the other members did the same and some lived there full-time. Coven was starting to sound like a sorority house, because unlike Adrian’s werewolf pack and Acelin’s vampire compound, Ciel’s witch coven was only comprised of females. A group o
“I am Iyana, the leader of this coven.” You must be Trinity and Alpha Adrian of the Blue Stone pack,” the woman spoke to them while she still held my hand in hers. She hadn’t acknowledged me formally yet and somehow, I knew she knew who I was. I was now feeling a little awkward holding her hand standing beside her quietly, but I wasn’t going to pull away. I assumed there was a reason behind it. Adrian and Trinity nodded and smiled her way.She then turned to me. “And I am told you are of Zoldeck blood and wish to learn about your magic and unbind your powers?”“Yes, ma’am,” I stated, glad I remembered to show respect to my elders.“Why?”“Uh – “ I stuttered caught off guard by her basic question. Was it not obvious? I glanced at Ciel and she nodded her head as if to say ‘Go on. Say something.’ But I didn’t know what the hell to say.“I want to learn about magic and unbind my powers to use them for good and before anyone else can get ahold of it.” That sounded kind of cheesy, but
“Her daughter,” I repeated. “Who is her daughter? How am I related to them?”I had never heard of anybody named Antoinette before, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if they were in hiding. Something inside told me the people who I had known to be my family were not my blood. Not that that mattered. They had been a family to me in every way possible. Even though our relationship had been strained recently, it wasn’t because of lack of love.She didn’t respond, but instead flipped a couple of pages until she landed to a section that had a bend to it revealing an old Polaroid photo. There was a pretty dark-skinned woman sitting in a chair, but the little girl on her lap is what caught my eye. She was like a darker-skinned version of me, almost my twin. I held the picture in my hand and looking at it intently tracing my hand over the faces. These women, whoever they were, were my family.Emotions consumed me, and I wasn’t sure if they were my own or Iyana’s, maybe a little bit of both.
I gasped. “Oh my God. Me? Are you saying I’m the baby?” I chewed on my lip as my heart raced waiting for her response.“Araya Zoldeck, daughter of Angelique, granddaughter of Antoinette Zoldeck. From your mother’s sacrifice, you survived, thrived on your own and found your way back. You are and will be a force to be reckoned with.”My heart was beating out of my chest. I was overloaded with information and could barely wrap my head around it all. It was unbelievable and yet I knew it was the truth. My mother gave her life for me, and my grandmother avenged her death resulting in her own. Even though I had never met them and was just seeing a picture of them for the first time, I felt like I had known them forever.“What happened to me after Antoinette passed? How did I end up with my parents?”Iyana sighed. “Antoinette’s resolve was unwavering. She knew once she unleashed the amount of power required to do what she needed to do she would not survive, but I did not know that at the tim
We sat in a room in a circle on the floor in the same position me and Ciel had been in before. My eyes were shut, but I popped one open to stare at the women across from me. Even though this was supposed to be a serious moment it was hard not to laugh. “Focus, Araya,” Iyana’s stern words called out. My head shot her way. Her eyes were still closed, but apparently, she could sense my distraction. I squeezed my eyes shut again scolding my childish behavior. I couldn’t concentrate. I wasn’t sure how the training would be, but I guess I was expecting something more physical. I was never good at meditating for this exact reason. Sitting in the quiet and calm only allowed my mind to race all over the place and now there were so many things to think about.“Deep breaths. Push everything aside to the corners of your mind. Search for the dark emptiness. That is where you will manifest what’s needed,” Iyana continued.Right now my eyes were shut, but there was no darkness. I saw colors and imag