by Aneesa Price
“When I grow up, I wanna be just like them.” Marie added in a mock toddler voice, making them laugh. They’d already lived a few of the Gautier’s lifetimes.
“What? You think we’re grown up?” Marie looked at them with mock astonishment. “Jokes aside, I am a bit jealous of them. We have each other and I’m more grateful than I can say. But it would be nice to have someone, a partner or a mate, to make some memories with.”
Marie looked apologetic for being open about her feelings. Anais felt glad that she was sharing these emotions though and not just shooting off her mouth as was her usual modus operandi. “Marie, you’re right. I think we all feel that way from time to time. It is one of the crosses we have to bear as vampires. We live so long but never go through the normal circle of life like humans do. So, we don’t ‘grow up’ in the same way.” She cocked her head to the side, pondered. “But look at it this way; we have stacks of time to find that love, that partner. Some humans don’t manage to do so in their short lifetimes. I think we should look at the Gautier’s vow renewal as inspiration. They’re good people and we’re good people so love will find us. Maybe we just need to start looking.”
“So, the sex was that good last night?” Marie felt a bit uncomfortable now and found the perfect topic to detract from the one she’d thrown into the conversation.
“That’s so random.” V gave an inelegant snort, knowing well what Marie was trying to do. She lent her support, “But accurate. So, Anais, spill. Was the sex smokin’?”
“Had to be,” offered Miss Suzette. “I ain’t got no vampire hearing like y’all but those noises came all the way down to the guest room.” She chuckled as the eerily beautiful glow Anais had gotten from unleashing her magick grew brighter as her face grew redder in embarrassment. Her girl needed a little raggin’ to bring some normal back and looked like they were all ready to give it by the smirks they shot her way.
“Well, if the lights go out, we can always use you, Anais,” Marie quipped at Anais. Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief, her diversion tactic had worked. “You’re glowing like the Fourth of July. Tell me, how did Conall manage to sleep next to you last night? Wait, I get it, you guys didn’t sleep. That’s a handy new gift you have - keep them awake to do other more interesting things than sleep. If I had a hunk like Conall in bed with me, I’d be glowing too. I guess you double-glow then, from sex and from magick. The ghosts, by the way, are fascinated by your shining new abilities.” Marie stopped to snicker at the bad pun.
“Dieu! I feel like I’ve got whip-lash. One minute we’re talking about the event and the next you’re bringing up my sex life.” Anais wasn’t going to fall for their nosiness.
Marie stuck to her guns. “Sneaky Sam says you didn’t even notice him when he popped into your room. It was quite a hot account that he gave me when came around to my room afterwards.”
Face enflamed, Anais scowled, “That ghost is lucky that he’s already dead and I can’t wring his neck. But, just so y’all get off my back, the sex was great, thank you.”
“Nuh-uh. You don’t get away with being obtuse with us.” Rose interjected, stepping back into the room. “You’ve not had a man to my knowledge for more than a century and our reservoirs aren’t much fuller, so you don’t get to get away without spilling. See, I’ve even brought refreshments.” Rose placed down a tray on the coffee table beautiful pecan pie, ice-cream balls in a bowl and jugs of iced-tea and mint juleps. It was a heavy tray that no normal human being could carry, let alone place gently down on a low coffee table with one hand, as though it was a coffee mug.
“And I too come bearing gifts,” V was looking particularly pleased with herself, carrying a platter of beignets, which indicated that she meant business. She’d picked up the scent of the sugary pecan filling that the kitchen staff had finished preparing for the patisserie table and had used her vampire speed to whip out to the kitchen for more bribery material so Anais would dish the details. “So, out with it my dear nympho of the moment and we will leave you alone.”
Anais narrowed her eyes at the blatant enticement. “You don’t play fair, any of you.” She glared at Sophie and Miss Suzette, who were sitting too innocently and demure on the over-sized chairs at the opposite end of the room. “So, after all I’ve been through, you ambush me at a business meeting? And bribe me with my favorite desserts?”
“Of course, boo.” Miss Suzette rolled her eyes at Anais. “It’s the best way to corner you. What did you think? You must really have jumbled your brains if you didn’t see this one coming. You’re usually a lot sharper than this.”
Sophie snorted and decided to jump onto the band-wagon. “Just goes to show, Miss Suzette, that our Anais had some seriously steamy interludes with a certain handsome witch, steamy enough to render her temporarily a bit rattled in the attic.”
Miss Suzette patted Sophie co-conspiratorially on the knee, lips curved in amusement. “Now, stop keeping us on tenterhooks. Our Marie will start getting more insulting than usual and the rest of us will eat all the sweet things our Rose has brought us and since I rule this house’s kitchen and all in it, I say you don’t get any until you spill.” She took a breath and shot Anais a pitiful look that had no one fooled. “Have some mercy on an old woman, boo. It would do my heart good to know that you had a grand end to the evening we had last night with the whole unbinding thing”
Resigned to their nosiness, Anais inwardly sighed. She’d spill alright but not because of the food or them cornering her in a meeting. She’d spill because Miss Suzette had struck a nerve. They’d all nearly risked their lives for her the previous night and whilst her evening, or rather early morning, had ended in the most pleasurable orgasms in her recollection and she felt better than ever due to the transformation, they were still a bit raw from the shock her ordeal had given them. “Okay, but pass me the first slice of pie, with ice-cream and I’ll have a glass of that mint julep too. If you insist on feeding me to get the deets, I might as well indulge.”
Marie whooped with excitement making the others chortle in glee. She handed Anais an extra huge helping, “Here. You must need the fuel after the round you had. Now tell us about that round.”
“For beautiful women, you certainly lead the dullest romantic lives and until recently that had included me too. We all work too hard if an account of my super-steamy sex with hottie Conall has you all jumping with excitement.”
“Super-steamy? That good, huh?” V raised an enquiring brow. “Do you think it is the witch thing? Maybe Niul or Sylvain are willing to put that theory to the test. I wonder if Sylvain’s available. He certainly looks like he’d be a naughty one.” V thought she’d stir things in Sophie’s direction too. At the mention of Sylvain, the impish beauty frowned but said nothing. Yes, thought V, that’s where that wind lies too. Things were getting pretty warm on Papillion Plantation.
“Y’all need to get out more. Living vicariously through my sex life is not healthy.” Anais looked at V and slid a quick glance at Sophie who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. “I think Sylvain would be happy to put the theory to the test.”
“I did notice that.” V grinned teasingly. “That leaves Niul but he doesn’t look like the type to wanna get down and dirty. He’s so serious and quiet.”
“Boo, they’re the best ones!” Miss Suzette’s booming counterpoint had them all jumping and then laughing.
“So, you reckon that Niul is like that?”
Miss Suzette shot Marie a glance, “Oui, those quiet men are like that great big Mississippi,” she pointed out the window to where the river ran beyond the oak alley. “Quiet on the surface but full of life underneath. They’ll grab you and roll with you and take your breath away so that you feel like you’re gonna die from their good lovin’.” The others burst out laughing again.
“Miss Suzette, you give sound advice as always. I guess Niul is a likely contender then.” V nodded in mocked solemnness. She flicked her gaze towards Anais, “Your Conall is also a bit on the seri
ous side. Tell us; is Miss Suzette’s theory true for you too? ”
“Oui, he was! And better, so very much better. In fact, it was so good that no words can describe the height of steaminess that were reached.” Placing her plate and glass down on the occasional table next to her, she cast her gaze over them, grinning like the cat that got the cream. The rest of them also saw the magickal glow layered over her brighten as her mood lightened.
“Now y’all talked business, had a bit of fun poking at Anais, so I guess it’d be time for some serious talkin’.” Miss Suzette leveled a look filled with firmness and care at Anais.
Anais squirmed in her chair, she didn’t like talking about her emotions any more than the next vampire. Her discomfort heightened when they all turned to look at her. The chandelier lights turned on and off.
“Nick, cut that out!” shouted Marie to an empty room. “I love you Nick but you’re testing my patience.”
“It’s not Nick,” said V, pointing at Anais, “It’s her!”
At that point, the lights shattered! “Darn! Fuck! I didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t even know that I’d done that. Fuck! That chandelier is irreplaceable.” Anais looked at ceiling in despair.
“Jeesh, if that’s what nervousness does, what will anger do?” Marie stared up in wonder. The magick Anais had let out not only blew the lights but mangled the gilded gold as well. “Ow,” Marie yelped when Rose stabbed her in the ribs.
“Don’t worry, Anais,” Rose came over. It’s just a light and we can find another.”
“An antique, priceless piece of French history ‘just a light’, yeah.” Anais’ face was filled with remorse.
“Oh, don’t be fretting,” Fianna came into the room, followed by her sisters. “She’s come into a lot of power in a burst of time. It’ll take time and training to control.”
“Mmm…” Ida said, cocking her head thoughtfully while staring at Anais.
Anais could feel her prick at her mind and automatically pushed her out in self-defence.
“That’s good,” nodded Ida. At the confused looks from the others, she explained, “I tried to do a mental scan and Anais kicked me out. I’m a pretty strong mind witch, so she’d have to be powerful to do that. Also, that she knew instinctively to do that bodes well for her training.”
“Speaking of training,” Brigid joined the conversation. “We’d like to offer our tutelage to you. Not just Anais – all of you. You all have an innate gift but it needs to be honed. We think that you might all have great power. A power not understood and not controlled can be dangerous.”
“Miss Suzette,” Fianna addressed their voodoo counterpart. “Perhaps we could work with you too. Not to teach you but to learn from you – I find your gift fascinating and I’m sure there’s correlations between our magick and yours.”
“I think that’s a great idea and a generous offer. One we’ll gladly accept,” Anais replied after a quick look of confirmation from the others.
“Great,” Brigid rubbed her hands anticipation. “Now for your first lesson, Anais, let’s fix the light.”
Anais looked dubious, so Brigid interrupted the doubtful thinking, “The most important thing in magick is to believe. Look at it this way - if you broke it with magick, fixing it should be easy. I’ll walk you through it.” She looked at the others, “you should all link with her. Sophie, can you link Miss Suzette in too?” At the affirmative nod, she continued, “Good. Then you can all watch and learn. Sophie, you have some telekinetic powers so this will be something you will need to pay attention to.”
After the light was fixed, they all gazed in awe at Anais. Fianna commented, “I admit that we knew you were powerful, but there must be a leverage you have because of the combination of vampire and royal witch magick. That was a quicker lesson than anticipated.” Not only had Anais restored the light, she’d unknowingly added an element of fantasy to it, so that it sparkled – it looked like a fae artefact.
“Mon Dieu! That scares me. This power. You’re right,” Anais looked at the witch sisters. “The sooner the lessons start the better.”
“How do you feel, boo?” asked Miss Suzette.
“Wonderful,” answered Anais truthfully. “Lighter. Like something’s been lifted. And…”
“And…” prompted Sophie. She knew how Anais was feeling because she’d linked with her but the others needed to hear and Anais needed to voice it.
“And,” Anais shrugged, “I don’t know. Like I’ve drunken some potion and have become some type of super-hero.” Anais joined the giggles. “You know how our senses were heightened when we turned? Well, this time, it is more accentuated. And I have all of this new knowledge churning around in my head of magick and of others. It’s like I have Google encrypted in my brain but it is just so much information I don’t know what to do with it.”
Ida nodded, “It’s the royal witch magick. When we unbound it, given your age and time on earth, it came in flooding. With us, it comes over time until we reach adulthood, then we have all that was known in the past.”
V considered that, “if you know all that was in the past, why are you scholars?”
“Knowing what was in the past isn’t the same as knowing all. We’re royal witches, not gods,” Ida responded. We know what our ancestors knew – not everything of all creatures and for those of us, like me, that have psychic ability, you get glimpses of the future – you don’t know it all. We’re witches with gifts. We’re not omnipresent.”
“Makes sense,” nodded V.
“So, is Anais more a witch now?” asked Marie.
“No, I don’t think so,” Anais responded, looking at confirmation at the witch sisters. Receiving their nods, she continued, “I still feel like a vampire – like myself – but there’s as though something’s been added to it. Something awesome, but just an addition. Besides, I’ll always be a coffin girl,” she grinned at her sisters who returned the expression. That, thought Anais, was what mattered most – that bond.
“So,” Anais addressed the witch sisters, “we have the event tonight so can we start the magick lessons tomorrow?”
The witch sisters nodded, “Yes, but for the event, you can’t mingle amongst your guests glowing like that. Conall’s waiting in the library to help you mask it.”
“Speaking of Conall,” Fianna’s eyes glinted, “we couldn’t help but catch some of the replay to the others. How is my dear brother?”
“Oh, dear,” Anais clasped her hand to her heart dramatically, “Look at that. I’ve finished the pie and conversation. Thank you ladies, this was most welcome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to see Conall to work off those calories you bribed me with.” Anais giggled in delight at their vexation.
“But you haven’t said much!” Rose protested, moving to block Anais’s way but Anais had anticipated the move and used her vampire speed to slip away.
Anais shouted as she moved away, “You filthy minded women! Y’all need to get out more. Conall’s going to help me learn how to cover up the magickal glow before the event. I can’t work tonight while being lit up like a Christmas tree, can I?”
“You need your head examined if you do actual work while alone in a room with that one,” mumbled a chagrined Marie, feeling robbed of a juicy story as she heard her friend’s laughter trill down the hallway.
“Oui, Marie. Certainement!” agreed V, sipping on the mint julep. “You are quite insightful today.”
Chapter 16
“I’m afraid that there was an urgent matter at home that arose and my sisters had to return immediately.” Conall announced, walking over with Niul to where the vampire ladies sat under the shade of a large pecan tree in the garden.
“Is everything all right?” asked Anais, moving towards him to comfort. Strange, she thought, how natural it seemed to do that so soon, so comfortably.
“No,” was the simple response. “We,” Conall swept a hand over all of them, “seemed to have formed a bond – more than an alliance – and you have shared m
any of your secrets with us. So now it is time that we do the same.”
Anais sat down, so he joined her and addressed the apprehensive crowd, “It has nothing to do with you.”
“We don’t know that,” was Niul’s response.
Conall glared at him, “Okay. It may be something you could help with but it is not your fault.” Conall’s correction won a nod from Niul and a sigh of relief from the others.
“We agreed to the vampire alliance because we suspect that the Vampire Council is behind the mysterious disappearances of a number of young witches in Ireland – all women – girls, really.”
“How many?” asked V. “And why do you suspect the Vampire Council?”
“Remember the story that Sylvain told?” Conall prompted. “Well, the Vampire Council are old enough to know what they’d gain from drinking witch’s blood. In short – power. Our blood, combined with vampire power creates a creature with unimaginable magick.”
“And power corrupts those not selfless enough,” added Anais.
“Aye,” nodded Conall. “And because I’m responsible for the well-being of witches, I have to find them and put a stop to the kidnappings. The fate of these young girls is dire if what we suspect is true. It is not the best time for me to be away from home. There are some witches who are old enough to have heard tales of old, of how their ancestors were hunted, drained and held captive until they became mindless Renfields – Dracula’s puppets.”
Anais shuddered next to him, “Yves never controlled me fully after he turned me, but he tried and eventually gave up because of what he termed as my insolence. I can’t imagine how horrible it must be to be under the full control of such an ancient vampire.”
“Exactly,” Conall agreed. This is why we are here. We thought that if we get close to the vampires then we might gain a clue to their whereabouts.”
They were listening and did not show signs of betrayal, so he continued, “We received word that there have been more kidnappings. My mother needs support, so my sisters have gone home to give it. Sylvain has escorted them to a place close by where they can teleport back.”
