Page 21 of Forty Deaths Till Us Part
The door to the vehicle was already open, and the doorman stood with an umbrella over the back seat entrance. I nodded at him politely as I slid into the car, but Cass was right. My skin felt like I had a slight sunburn until she and Rene joined me, and the door slammed shut.
Cass and I chatted about training and how apologetic Kirnen was after he accidentally sliced me with his blade. The ride was so quick I was disappointed when the vehicle came to a stop and the coven building loomed outside.
“I will wait out here unless you need me, Rene?”
He nodded his head. “I would prefer you stand guard. We can handle Ursula. If any errant mercenaries show up, we all leave immediately.”
We exited the vehicle and Rene held the umbrella over me as we walked to the entrance. Ursula surprised me by opening the door herself and backing away to let us enter.
We followed her to the table, and I had barely sat down before Rene spoke.
“We promised to keep you apprised of progress. We found another page of the prophecy. Once we fit some of the pages together, a passage was revealed.”
Ursula leaned forward with an eager look on her withered face. It was the first time I had seen her without her full makeup and her black robe had a small stain. It was as if the strain of leadership was getting to her for the first time in her life. “What did it say?”
Rene explained the passage and the effect it had on me. “It was written by the high priestess of that era. Your kind seeks to destroy mine.”
Ursula sucked in a breath. “That is not true. We may seek your destruction Rene, but no witch would want the burden of genocide.”
I felt the familiar feel of the magical probe and a protection spell formed between Ursula and me. “Stop it. You are not testing my magic anymore and if you seek to assess Rene, you can fucking well ask him if he minds.” I rarely swore, but how dare she try to probe Rene or me without consent?
Ursula tried to pierce my bubble with a sharp spike, but it glanced off and the sting of that failed attempt creased her brow. I had botched a spell enough times to know what felt like a slap in the face. “How dare you,” she hissed.
“Back at you.”
Brigid entered from the side door and paused when she saw Rene and me sitting at the table. It was obvious that Ursula had not informed her second-in-command that we were having a meeting. Her eyes turned from shock to complete outrage and her hands raised in the air before lightning arced from her fingers toward Rene.
I redirected my shield toward her and stood up so I could fight the attack on both fronts. “You bitch.”
Ursula stood at the same time I did. While she had attempted to assess Rene, her magic was not intended to harm him. “Brigid. What are you doing? Stop this at once.”
Brigid hissed at the high priestess. “You stupid old goat. I tried to lead you to the path of redemption, but you are determined to lead the coven to its destruction. You can die along with the vamp tramp witch and the mad overseer.”
Rene stood and stared at Brigid as her electrical storm bounced off my shield. “You were undermining the coven and Ursula’s position. You are the witch leading the dark faction.”
Brigid hissed under the weight of her power as it flowed from her, usurping her energy. “You are doomed overseer, along with the unholy creatures you call clan.”
I felt Ursula strengthen my magical shield, and I assumed that Brigid had no way to hurt us. But the second witch was far craftier than I expected and she grabbed at something from the pocket of her black robe before blowing it into the air. Sparkles glittered around us and I assumed the protection spell would block it.
There was a lesson in every mistake, and I should have known that non-magical dust particles could penetrate a magical shield. They flitted through like fairy wings and Rene hissed when they landed on his skin.
Flecks of gray marred his cheek as he attempted to wipe the offensive powder from his face.
Ursula stared at Rene’s face in horror before turning to Brigid. “You have been murdering the vampires. How could you betray your coven in this way?”
Brigid huffed. “You were so bloated with your power you did not see what was happening right in front of you. I care nothing for this coven and will form my own. We will replace the false human leader and rid the diseased undead from the world.”
Ursula hissed. “How dare you speak to me so? I trained you. Gave you every opportunity to be the next high priestess.”
Brigid laughed and there was a twinkle of madness as the sound echoed around us. “The fact that you think so is proof of your idiocy. The overseer has been infected and the next stage of our evolution is at hand. It will not include the undead or you.” Smoke rose from the floor as misty fingers wrapped around her body. The shroud I had seen on multiple occasions cocooned her before she seemed to vanish before our eyes.
My protection shield died off as I turned to Rene. His hand had several splotches of gray and he appeared to be in the process of turning to stone. “How do I stop it?”
Cass burst through the front door and her jaw dropped when she saw Rene’s skin.
Rene held his hand up, and it made a grating sound as he clenched his fingers into a fist. “Strange. It does not hurt. But my body is shutting down.” There was a hint of sadness, but none of the hysteria I would have had if I had been poisoned and knew I would die.
Ursula stepped toward Rene with betrayal in her eyes. “Allow me to try to help you.”