Blood and Magic: A New Adult Paranormal Romance

by R. L. Weeks

I was about to walk away when fate intervened. Jerimiah texted me back.

  I’m not home. Do you know the woods? I can meet you there. By the old house. Where we went when we were kids.

  I reread the message twice, feeling a tingling uncertainty as I took in his words. Why was he at the old house, and why was he bringing up us going there now?

  I texted him back against my better judgement.

  I’m on my way.

  The house was so used to the dust, mold, and mildew that it had forgotten how to breathe. But as I entered through the creaking door, I noticed something different. It was as if the house was attempting a brave, small smile. It was somehow warmer inside. The plants that had grown through the broken glass of the windows and up the walls flourished. It was a beautiful abandonment.

  Jerimiah walked down the staircase. Each stepped creaked and groaned as if to warn me of him. The top of the stairs was a ghostly whisper of the gloriousness it used to be. “It’s quite something, isn’t it?” Jerimiah gushed. His confidence had returned. The sniveling, socially awkward boy from school had been replaced by a taller, more powerful being. His eyes were the color of the night except for the red that glinted around his pupils. “I’m glad you reached out to me.”

  “I have questions,” I said, getting to the point of my visit. “About this house actually.”

  “Plenty of time for that.” He waved his hand and gestured for me to follow him up the stairs. “I’m not a threat to you, Kate,” he told me as if he could read my mind.

  “I’ve never been upstairs,” I confessed.

  “Yes, you have,” he stated when we reached the top. It was colder up there. The spirits there weren’t as pure as the ones below. It felt like we were in a different house.

  I followed him into one of the many rooms. Wallpaper peeled from the wall, and a crib sat abandoned in the corner. My stomach churned as I took it all in. I hadn’t noticed the men and women standing at the very back of the room until then. Their eyes were the same color as Jerimiah’s, and they were all staring at me.

  I fumbled in my pocket for my phone, but Jerimiah grabbed my wrist, gripping it tightly. “I’ll take that.”

  Shakily, I handed him my phone. I was outnumbered, and I didn’t need to be told they were members of the Black Rose Coven. I could already tell.

  “What’s going on?” I asked in a small voice.

  Jerimiah took his place at the front of the group and crossed his hands over each other. “We had hoped that you finding out about Amara would have called you to us, but it seemed fate wasn’t on our side.”

  The woman standing behind him—with poker-straight red hair and lips to match—stepped forward. Her voice was girlish but eerie. Her tone tinkered as she talked. A cold blast hit my back, making me shudder. I was icy cold. “Do not fear us, Kathryn Bathory.”

  I felt uneasy with their familiarity with me. I had no idea who any of those people were. “What do you want from me?”

  She cocked her head and smiled. It was unnatural on her face. “We want you to join us.” She rested her hand on my shoulders, making me flinch. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she invaded my mind. “You have tasted the powers our dark lord can offer already. You know what he can give you. You enjoyed it.” Her voice got deeper as she continued. “But there is someone blocking you from our lord, the young man you are destined to be with. Nicholas.”

  Tears crept out of my eyes, taking my bravery away with them. “Don’t hurt him.”

  Her eyes returned to normal, and she took her hands off my shoulders. “We would never hurt one of our own.”

  I was frozen to the spot. Wendigos were no match for the coven. The men lined up behind the woman and Jerimiah were cloaked and stared ahead with such determination that told me it would be foolish to attempt to run. Somehow, I had to talk my way out. “I’m not a bad person.”

  Jerimiah took over, and the woman stepped back into her place. On the windowsill, candles flickered, illuminating the slowly darkening room. “What is good and bad?” he asked. “Only what we are told, but there is no good and evil, Kate. Only the truth. We have been driven to hide by the righteous, judgmental Black Lily Coven. You, Kate, are our savior.”

  I gulped. “I…”

  One of the men pulled the hood of his cloak back. “My dear niece.”

  My heart fluttered. It was my Uncle John. He looked unrecognizable. Darkness had him clasped in its grasp. “Uncle.” My voice cracked. “How? You were missing.”

  “In hiding,” he said, correcting me. “Now you are here and of age. You can bring us out of the shadows.”

  Panic seized me. I had walked into a trap. I wished I had listened to Nicholas and stayed away from Jerimiah. My uncle stepped out into the flickering light from the candle. His six-foot-two stature towered above the others. His eyes, black as coal, used to be the same beautiful green as my father’s. “Dad died,” I cried, appealing to his human side. “How could you not come to his funeral?”

  His expression didn’t falter for a moment. “I mourned your father in my own way.”

  I cast my eyes down at my feet. So did I, I thought. “Did he know what you were?”

  “Yes,” he answered bluntly.

  “But he didn’t practice?”

  “He chose a life with your mother and you instead.”

  Loyalty to my dad kicked in. “Then I choose the same path as him.”

  Uncle John shook his head. “You don’t have the luxury of that choice. If you return with the Black Lily Coven, you will be forced to kill Nicholas Nightshade. Is that what you want?”

  I wanted to believe they were lying, but something in his face told me he was not. “With you, I would not have to kill him?”

  “No. If he joined us too, we could overthrow the Black Lily Coven.”

  I thought about Joshua. He would be hurt in the fight. “I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

  “Only those who resist,” Jerimiah said, adding to our conversation. “Any who choose to join us will be forgiven and welcomed. We execute forgiveness.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “I hadn’t thought of the devil as the forgiving type.”

  Uncle John growled softly. “The dark lord was mercilessly thrown, damned to an eternity of pain for nothing more than loving his father. He is not the evil that you believe.”

  I shuddered. Something didn’t feel right. “Why call on me now?”

  “You’re ready,” John said simply.

  “The wendigo,” I said quickly. “It’s been stalking me.”

  “To protect you,” explained Jerimiah.

  I furrowed my brows. “What?”

  “Yes,” Jerimiah said. “It was watching, keeping you safe, but the pesky dead witches from the Black Lily Coven kept it from you.”

  “It killed Dad.”

  “No, that was not the wendigo.”

  I looked up at John in an attempt to gain sympathy. “He was your brother. He loved you.”

  “Your father died,” explained John, “from a bear. Sorry, Kathryn, but not everything has a supernatural explanation.”

  My chest felt heavier. “Why should I believe you?” I looked around at the others. “Any of you?”

  Uncle John squeezed my shoulder. “We are your coven, Kathryn. Your family. We can give you relief from the burden you carry for the girl who died. You and Nicholas could be together with nothing stopping you. We can take care of you, and you wouldn’t have to move away from your mother. You could stay right here.”

  His words were alluring—I couldn’t deny it—but I wasn’t buying it all. “How could I trust you?”

  “Let us prove it to you,” he said. “Go back to Nicholas and Joshua.”

  The woman raged. “We can’t let her go back to them!”

  “Yes we can!” He lowered his voice, returning it from its aggressive tone back to speaking calmly. “Go back. Go meet with the Black Lily Coven and see for yourself, see if they let you be with Nicholas. When you are ready, you ca
n return to us. We will be here, waiting for you.”

  He turned toward the woman and uttered one word. “Patience. Let her see for herself.”

  Chapter Eleven

  We had a long time to go until graduation, which meant I couldn’t leave until next year. Halloween was almost there, meaning my eighteenth birthday was just around the corner. I wrapped my scarf around my mouth and nose. It was silver with little red leaves on it. My mom had brought it for me as a good-bye. She was going down south to Texas for work. She had left me two hundred dollars in an envelope on the counter in case I needed it.

  I had made my way to Nicholas’s house after bidding my mom good-bye.

  I hadn’t thought much about my meeting with the Black Rose Coven since it happened one week ago. They told me to see the Black Lily Coven, but I refused to miss school and fly to Canada with Joshua and Nicholas. Fortunately, Nicholas agreed to stay until graduation, but Joshua could not. That meant I was stuck in an uncertain gray area—trust the Black Rose Coven or the Black Lily Coven. Both had compelling arguments to why their coven was the right one, but I couldn’t make my mind up.

  All I knew was my being with Nicholas wasn’t an option with either. Both covens had promised loopholes, but a prophecy was a prophecy, and until we knew for sure if the young couple the old man wrote in his book of shadows was about us, Nicholas was keeping his distance despite releasing the secrets he had held from me to protect my mental well-being. Unfortunately, Amara’s death was unlike my dad’s. It was whole other type of grief, one where I was at the guilty side. I tried to push it away as much as I could. In the dead of night, I’d cry and tell myself it wasn’t my fault, but I was only lying to myself.

  I stood in their kitchen. Vanessa wrapped herself in his words, no complications. I envied what she had with Joshua. He was saying good-bye to Vanessa. They hadn’t done the deed, apparently, but she seemed head over heels for him. Joshua kissed her on the forehead. “It was a pleasure spending time with you,” he told her coolly.

  I couldn’t bear to watch anymore. I turned away and looked at Nicholas. There would be no sweet nothings from him. He was leaving for a couple of days to see his cousin off.

  “What’s on your mind?” asked Nicholas as he packed his black suitcase, throwing everything in there with no organization. I rolled my eyes and took over packing. A question lingered on my lips as I folded his underwear. “Do you believe the Black Rose Coven is that bad? I mean, do we have any proof they’re evil?”

  “Yes,” he answered quickly. “Look what happened to you when you let the darkness from their coven in. You were a monster.”

  I admitted I wasn’t my best self, but if I could perhaps get a grip on my emotions, then I could handle it. That power was easier to wield. Jerimiah and the others seemed to have self-control. “With time to get a handle on the power, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad,” I explained. “I’m sure they’re not all bad. What if that’s what we’ve been led to believe?”

  The corner of his lips twitched. “What are you trying to say, Kate?”

  “Nothing.” I needed to change the subject. “Do we need to go to the forest to kill the wendigo?” I asked, remembering what Jerimiah and Uncle John had told me about it. I did, despite my better judgment, trust they were telling me the truth.

  Nicholas zipped his suitcase and lifted it off the bed, then rested it by the wall. “In answer to your wendigo question, yes. We have to kill it.”

  “Right.” I understood. “I guess we have no choice then.”

  He sat on the bed, crumpling the sheets beneath him. “What’s going on with you?”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Hmm. Oh, nothing. Just pondering things.”

  “You seem different.”

  I waited a moment before replying. “I guess I am.”

  “Are you going to be okay with your mom and us gone?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “What about the house? Did you reach Jerimiah?”

  I shook my head. “How did you know about that?”

  “Joshua. He was pissed when you didn’t get back to him about your plan.”

  “Yeah, well, it wasn’t an option. I couldn’t find Jerimiah.” I lied. “Besides, I think you were right. We should stay away from him.”

  He grimaced. “Glad you’re seeing some sense for a change.”

  I spotted my pink lacy panties stuffed down by the bed. We had searched for them but never did find them the morning after. Red-faced, I stuffed them into my pocket and made my way to the trash can. I wasn’t carrying those around with me all day.

  Besides, I didn’t want a single reminder from that night. It hurt too much knowing it was just a one-time thing. I felt like a dirty tramp, another notch on his bedpost, although I knew that wasn’t the case.

  He looked different today. His hair was shorter, styled neatly. His eyes were bright, and his skin was glowing. I watched him as he hurried around the room, getting himself ready to go. “Do you want to hang out when I get back?” he asked, surprising me.

  “Hmm?”

  He was blushing, which was something I never thought I would see. “I realized I’ve never taken you out on a date. We had so much happen between us, I wasn’t sure how to be close to you again, but I want to try.”

  Everything in my body screamed yes, but my response stunned even me. “I don’t think now is the best time to try that.”

  “I can understand that,” he said regretfully. “I’ve missed my chance with you.”

  I wanted to tell him he hadn’t, that I was glad he was opening up, but something inside of me kept me from being the usual Kate. A part of me hated him for making me fall for him, then making me feel like a fool. I knew what he was hiding was only to protect me, but still, he could have been closer to me afterward, and he hadn’t. It wasn’t all the secrets he held; he wasn’t ready for an adult relationship, and for the first time in my life, I was being responsible. He’d made me crazy. I’d gotten drunk and I was obsessive, paranoid, and I’d let him become the focus of my mind when really, I should have been concentrating on more important things. I wasn’t over my dad’s death in the slightest. Amara’s death was crippling me with guilt. I had to control my powers and decide between two covens as well as kill a wendigo who was trying to protect me. I didn’t need more drama, at least not for right now.

  “I just need some time,” I explained. “You do too. We weren’t thinking half the time. Perhaps some space is what we both need.”

  He looked pained. I wanted to take it away more than anything, but I knew he needed it. He needed something to hold onto. I could feel it through our shrinking bond.

  “I agree,” he eventually said and walked out of the room.

  Tears glazed my eyes and my heart hurt. But I made the right decision, I told my shaking body.

  I kissed Joshua on the cheek. I’d grown closer to him since his arrival. We weren’t best friends by any stretch of the imagination, but he did understand what I was going through. “Take care,” I told him.

  He gave me a quick squeeze. “You too. If you need to talk about Amara or anything else, you can text me. I’ll be back if anything else comes up. I’m sending down other warlocks to take care of the wendigo.”

  “Oh?”

  He nodded. “You were right. It calls for more experienced hands—wendigo hunters.”

  “Ah,” I said and fell silent.

  “I’ll see you next year, after graduation,” he said. “You can meet the rest of your coven.”

  My heart warmed when he said “your” coven. He made me feel like family, but the feeling wouldn’t last long because—and he knew it too—they weren’t just my coven. I belonged to two, and I couldn’t keep hiding from the second one.

  I waved good-bye to Nicholas and walked back to my house alone. I pulled out my phone and texted Jerimiah.

  Can I talk to you? Without the rest of your coven, just us? My mom’s away. Come to my house. Do not bring my uncle.<
br />
  I tucked my phone away and reached the gate by my house. I looked at the red-bricked, two-story building and sighed. It was time I focused on what needed my attention. It was time to embrace being a witch. One way or another, I had to acknowledge it was a part of me. I hadn’t taken it seriously, and it was a huge part of my life. It was my life.

  I turned the key in the front doorknob and walked inside. I was sorting through the questions I wanted to ask Jerimiah in my mind when my phone buzzed. It was Jerimiah.

  I’ll be there in 20.

  A second later, it buzzed again. That time it was Nicholas.

  I’ll be back in a couple of days. Staying at the hotel at the airport. I hope we can chat more when I get back. I didn’t like how we left things earlier.

  I meant to text back but decided to put it off until later. I wanted a strong coffee and a change of clothes before Jerimiah came over.

  ***

  There was a knock on the door. I quickly opened it and was greeted with the Jerimiah I’d always known. It was odd how he could go between dark and relatively normal looking when he chose to. I was glad he was back to his usual self. Those black eyes creeped me out. They were something else that made me nervous about joining. I didn’t want to look like a creepy panther.

  He sat himself on our red leather sofa. “Do you want a coffee? Green tea? Water?”

  He shook his head. “No, thanks.”

  I sat on the armchair across from him. He looked nervous again. The Black Rose Coven definitely gave him confidence. He was a completely different person when he was with them.

  “I have some questions,” I said.

  He understood. “Go ahead.”

  “Firstly, is it only trauma that brings out your powers?”

  He seemed ready for my question and diverted his hazel green stare up at me. “No. It can bring it out of you early, but most people realize they have powers in their teen years—when their emotions are at their most heightened.”

  “Oh,” I replied. That wasn’t as mystical as I thought it would be. “Okay, next, did you kill that boy?”

  He shuffled uncomfortably. “Yes.”