Page 32 of The Fang Arrangement (Celestial Witches #2)

S amantha dropped me off at my house and the first thing I do is make the quick potion to stop my period.

There’s a fluttering around my ear and I bat it away.

“Miss Ember, is everything alright?” Tabitha says, her tone far nicer than usual.

“No and yes.”

“The vampire isn’t keeping you captive?”

I turn as I crush up the flower with the mortar and pestle.

“No, and I don’t want anyone talking negatively about him. If you’re not okay with him coming around, you all can leave.”

I’m sharper tongued with her than usual, and I don’t know if Warin is rubbing off on me or having some time away from the cottage has shown me just how demanding the fairies are.

“Miss Ember. Are you of sound mind?” Domingo asks, and I roll my eyes.

“Yes, I’m of sound mind,” I say, though am I really?

The fairies are just a small taste of the pushback I’ll get with being with Warin.

“Feel her head. Does she have a fever?” Tabitha says.

“Stop, I don’t have a fever,” I reply, resting my hands on the table. “Warin. The vampire. He’s…he’s my mate,” I say. I figure it will be easier to test the reaction on the fairies before I tell Iris and Violet.

“Your what?” Tabitha shrieks, her wings flapping behind her. Today she’s wearing a Barbie minidress.

“My mate, okay. Fate. We’re meant to be together.”

“Oh, no. Oh, no. He’s compelled her. Someone call a priest,” Domingo cries.

“Priests are for demons, you idiot, not vampire compulsion. We’ll need to get one of the witches to help us,” Tabitha says, both of them ignoring me as I rub the bridge of my nose.

“But then we’ll have to leave the garden,” Domingo complains. Tabitha also agrees that it’s a serious problem to leave the garden.

“Stop it you two. I’m not compelled, I’m completely me. I know you are afraid of him, but he wouldn’t hurt you. He wouldn’t hurt me,” I tell them.

“He said he was going to pop our heads off and drink us dry,” Tabitha says.

Well, that adds an extra layer to me assuring them.

“I’ve made a vow with him for your safety. I promise you’re fine. Warin wouldn’t hurt me or anyone who means something to me.”

“Oh no, Tabitha. I think she loves him,” Domingo says, Tabitha’s hands are on her face in horror and I clear my throat.

“It’s too soon for that, right? I mean, these feelings are intense, but that would be crazy, right?” I say, trying to rationalize all of this with the fairies.

They both blink at me like I’m insane. I dump the mixture into water and chug it when there’s a knock on my door. I take a deep breath and go to answer it.

Violet and Iris stand on my stoop. Violet looking beautiful, radiant, and happier than ever. Meanwhile, Iris looks like she’s anxious and like she could use a good night’s rest.

“I didn’t realize you two were coming here first?”

“Where have you been?” Iris demands, walking past me into my house, looking around the cottage like there’s some sort of mystery, before facing me. “You’re alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I ask her with a tilt of my head.

“She’s in love with a vampire! She’s been compelled. Exercise her from his evilness,” Tabitha shouts in a high-pitched voice.

Violet and Iris both turn to me at the same time, Violet looking shocked and Iris resigned.

“Fuck,” Iris hisses.

“What did that fairy just say?” Violet asks.

“Okay. Yeah. So we’re just going to rip off this Band-aid then.”

Violet’s bright blue eyes blink at me wildly as she motions for me to continue.

“Did you know vampires could have mates?” I ask her and turn to Iris, who rubs the bridge of her nose.

“This is so fucked,” Iris says, as she starts pacing back and forth, mumbling under her breath, like she’s talking to someone.

“What’s wrong with her?” I ask, pointing to Iris.

Violet looks over at our friend with concern and then back to me.

“We’re starting with you first. All that talk about vampires in the past, I thought it was a fantasy, maybe something you’d try once and get out of your system. I didn’t think you were serious.”

“Me either, okay? I didn’t expect it. I tried to resist him. Well, maybe not super well. But it makes sense now. We’re mates, Violet. You should understand that,” I say.

“Who is he?” Violet says in return, not questioning the bond I have with Warin.

“Warin Auclair.”

Violet sighs. “Yeah, okay, I can see the appeal. He was at the meeting when I saw Silas again for the first time.”

“He can’t stop, he won’t stop,” Iris says, and Violet and I are now fully staring at her as she seemingly talks to herself.

“Iris, honey, is everything okay?” I ask.

She turns to face me, her amber eyes that are like a kaleidoscope of autumn leaves, blinks at me.

“I think the…thing…man, living in my house who claims to be my mate might be the one who tried to kill your vampire.”

“The Slayer is at your house?” I say. “Wait. What? He’s your mate?”

Iris rubs her temples, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Her elbows rest on her knees as she tries to get the words out.

“Yes. The psychopath in my house is my mate, and he’s dead set on killing Warin Auclair for injuring him.”

Violet and I both pull up seats at my worn dining table and sit in silence for a few moments.

“You’re both sure?” Violet says.

“I’m positive,” I say, more cheerfully.

“Yeah. Unfortunately. I’m sure,” Iris says.

“Okay. Wow. I thought maybe you were feeling down about the date with Bobby not going well. As far as you, Iris, I thought something was bothering you but didn’t know what,” Violet says.

Iris grimaces, and I feel like there’s more information she isn’t telling us.

“Warin and the vampire council are searching for the Slayer now,” I say, and Iris waves me off.

“They won’t find him. My store is warded, and he’s still healing. He won’t leave. What I’m worried about is what happens when he’s healed. He’ll either get himself killed or kill your vampire.”

I tilt my head at her, realizing she sounds more affected than she wants to let on about the Slayer dying.

“You know that he staked a vampire near me, and showed up at my house?” I tell Iris.

“I’m sure the psycho did,” she says with a nod, back to rubbing her temples. “Listen. I don’t like him much either, but I can’t let him die, okay?”

I stand from my chair. “Well, I can’t let anything happen to Warin. I actually like him.”

“Even though he’s a vampire?” Iris asks.

“Yes. He’s not perfect, far from it, but he’s protected me from the Slayer and from the vampire council. He’s the one I’ve been waiting for. I don’t know how to explain it,” I say, exacerbated.

Iris holds up her hand. “I’m sorry, Ember, I don’t mean to question you. I haven’t slept much. Having a demon, well, something adjacent in your house along with other nuisances has me exhausted,” Iris says.

“Wow. Okay. I thought my life was dramatic, but I think you two take the cake. So you both have supernatural mates of a…unique variety and they’re both trying to kill each other. Cool, awesome. What do we do now?” Violet says.

“For now, we go to the moon ritual. We act like everything is normal. You know your grandma is going to lose her shit when she finds out, Em. You being with a vampire may be the thing that sends her into an early grave. I’m sure some of the coven might have an issue with it at first, but they’ll have to get over it,” Iris says, assured.

“What about you and your Slayer?” I ask.

“I don’t know what to do with him yet.” She sighs. “I just know that every magical particle in my body doesn’t want him hurt.”

“I can understand that.”

“So we get through the ritual, then what?”

“I think Warin could maybe be reasoned with, a peace treaty. The vampire council is another thing all together though,” I say, biting my nail.

“He’ll be more difficult.” Iris sighs. “He’s not just the Slayer, he’s a human, too.

The Slayer has more control though, and he’s proven pretty fucking difficult to reason with.

We’ll probably need magic to deal with him.

We’ll need to hit the books and come up with a magical solution on that front.

Maybe your vampire council, too?” Iris questions.

I lick my lips. “Warin. He gave me some old grimoires. A witch who specialized in offensive and defensive magic against vampires. It’s come to me more naturally than I could have ever thought. Maybe there’s something in there?”

“That’s a good start. I’ll visit my aunt tomorrow, see if she has any suggestions. What about Delphine? Has she seen any of this?” Violet asks Iris about her grandmother.

Iris huffs. “All she’s told me is that she’s sorry for my ancestral burden. She was right about that. I’m not sure she could see anything involving vampires or slayers, but I can ask.”

“Okay, so in the meantime, you keep your Slayer. What’s his name?” Violet asks, being polite, and Iris sighs.

“It’s complicated,” Iris says.

“Alright then. You keep your Slayer safe locked in your house, do whatever you need to do to keep him there. Keep him preoccupied so that he doesn’t go after Warin. And Ember, figure out if you can reason with Warin, and what would make this council fuck off?”

I scrunch my nose and nod.

“That’s it. That’s the solution? You should be saving her from the bloodsucker,” Tabitha cries.

“Tabitha, if you don’t shut the fuck up,” Iris grates out, pulling her wand out, and I grab her wrist.

“Tabitha, go back with the other fairies. Now.”

She huffs, flapping her wings, before retreating to her fellow fairies.

“God, how do you deal with them all the time? Someone constantly talking your ear off when all you want is for them to go the fuck away?” Iris asks, and the question doesn’t seem so hypothetical.

“Iris, is there something else?” I ask, grabbing her shoulder.

She holds my hand and shakes her head. “No, we’ve got bigger problems right now. Let’s just get through tonight, alright?”

I search her eyes and nod. “Alright.”

“Just another standard day for the Celestial Coven.” Violet takes a deep breath. “Ready to get the show on the road?” she asks.

I nod, realizing that while there’s so much I need to figure out, a lot of my problems have been solved today. Conner is out of the picture, the Slayer is out of commission, and I’m not fighting this pull toward Warin anymore.

There’s still the issue of the vampire council, the Slayer wanting Warin dead, and the whole issue of him being a vampire and me a witch.

But at least Violet and Iris have my back, I never should have doubted them. They might not fully understand Warin, but they both know what having a mate feels like, and no matter how complicated everything is, we’ll always have each other.

The future is still up in the air, things are still complicated as ever, yet somehow, I feel at peace.