I hugged her back. “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain. You did the right thing. Thank you.”
“You want a glass of wine?” Urvashi offered from her perch on the floor by the sofa. She’d beat Honey by two minutes and the bottle was already opened. That woman was a ninja with a corkscrew.
“God, yes.” Honey released me and parked her butt on the sofa-bed.
I closed the door and joined them. No alcohol for me though. There was a dragon inside me, and alcohol loosened inhibitions. I had the feeling that right now my inhibitions were integral to keeping the power inside in its box.
“So, what happened with Vritra?” Honey asked.
“Well he wondered around his bedroom half naked for the first part, which was kind of a distraction.”
Urvashi spat out her wine. “The fuck?”
“No fucks. Just talking.”
She wiped at her mouth and smiled slyly. “But you wanted to, right?”
“No. I didn’t want to do … that. I was confused and scared.”
“And distracted,” Honey added.
“Fine, the guy is hot. But he’s also uber intense and scary. No. I just can’t go there.” Paimon’s face flashed in my mind, and I archived the image, just like all the rest that kept popping up in my head. He was betrothed for godsake. Get over it.
“So, did Vritra explain what happened to you?” Honey asked.
I filled them in best I could, but left out the parts about our powers rubbing up against each other.
Urvashi let out a low whistle. “Wow. That’s something. Vritra has been the only one of his kind for a long time; no wonder he was attracted to you. He could probably sense what you were even though he didn’t know it.”
“I guess.”
“So you gonna train with him?” Honey asked.
“I don’t have much choice. I can’t risk losing control like that again. I could’ve hurt someone.”
Honey nodded. “Yeah, you really could have. It took eight yaksha to pin you and tie you up, and then you started to get all scary and huge. Kinda like the hulk, but with scales.”
Oh god. “I’m so sorry. I completely messed up your meeting.” The interviews! How was I was going to explain this to Murdoch?
Honey snorted. “Actually you did me a favor. After watching you go all she-hulk they were more than willing to give me a seat at the big boys table. Not sure how long it will last but …” She shrugged.
“Any ideas on who might have placed the hit?”
Honey’s smile fell. “No. They’re all bastards. Could have been any one of them.”
“Although Marco’s comment about taking over Renegade flags him as a possible prime suspect.”
Urvashi topped up her glass. “I vote we hit pause on the doom and gloom for the evening. Tomorrow is gonna be a shitty day cos Carmella is getting the snip. So I say we get pissed and talk about sex.”
I rolled my eyes. “Do you have to put it like that?”
She grinned. “Fuck ‘em. Let them keep their skein. You’ve got a dragon. Seriously Carmella, to be an asura with that power, that ability—it’s huge.”
It was also a world I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a part of. I’d always been a witch-blood. Even without the power, that name had given me a community, an identity. And now that identity was being stripped away. Sure, the asuras would adopt me, Vritra would make sure of it, but what guarantee was there that they’d want me? That one slip, one deficiency wouldn’t get me cut off from their world? Best to stay in between. Urvashi, Honey, Banner, and Victor were my tribe. The covens could go suck it. And once I’d learned how to control the dragon inside me, the asuras could suck it too.
“I prefer being an independent agent.” I winked. “IEPEU and you guys, that’s all I need.”
Honey and Urvashi exchanged a glance I couldn’t quite decipher.
Someone knocked at the door.
Urvashi made to get up.
Waving her back down, I hauled my ass up to answer it.
“Surprise!” Aunt Constance held out her arms.
She was back. The woman who’d picked up the pieces of me and super glued them back together, she was back and my heart swelled with joy. The tide of emotion I’d been holding back for weeks came surging to the surface, and my vision blurred.
Aunt’s brow furrowed, and then I was in her arms, pressed to her bosom.
_____
The smell of freshly baked croissants and coffee woke me. Aunt Constance smoothed back the hair from my forehead.
“Up and at ‘em girl. Big day today. The beginning of a new chapter in your life.” She said the words in a sing-song voice.
Time for the snip. I sat up, rubbing sleep from my eyes. “You got croissants. I love croissants.”
“I know. I had Urvashi send them up. Waters hot, go jump in the shower.”
Man I loved that woman. She always knew what to say and how to kick my arse into gear. I’d missed her so much.
“Aunt, I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to come back to all this drama.”
She pressed her lips together. “No. You shouldn’t have to be going through this. If I’d known … Damn your mother. When I get hold of her …”
“You know where she might be?”
Aunt nodded. “There’re a few places she might go. Leave it to me. I’ll find her. She needs to be made accountable for what’s happened to you, and trust me, we will get answers. Now up you get. Shower, eat, and get your day started. You’re more than a witch blood. You’re more than an asura. You’re Carmella Hunter, my wonderful, kind, generous, and incredibly brave niece. And don’t you forget it.”
There was no arguing with my aunt. And I loved it.
_____
We crunched up the drive to the Mayfair Mansion in Banner’s fancy car.
His profile was serious and concerned, but it was him I was worried about. “Are you sure it’s okay for you to come with me?”
“No,” he said. “But if they want me to leave they’re going have to throw me out.” The corner of his mouth lifted in a cocky smile. “And I’d like to see them try.”
Aw, now I had the warm-fuzzies, but still. “Don’t get into a scrape over me. I’m a big girl. You don’t need to hold my hand.” Please hold my hand, please.
He parked outside the elaborate entrance. “I know. But I want to. So shut it.”
If someone had told me three weeks ago I’d end up being friends with Mal Banner, I’d have had them committed. But here we were. Friends. Or as close to it as we could be.
He killed the engine and turned to look at me. “I wish there were some other way.” His chest rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “I really do.”
He sounded so sad, so end of the world. I punched him lightly on the arm. “Hey, it’s just magick. I can live without it.”
He blew out a breath and nodded. “Yes, of course.” He grinned. “Fuck it, right?”
“Right.”
The house loomed above us, forbidding and judgmental. Urgh, stop it. It was just a building. A building in which I was about to get an essential part of me removed. Up the steps and through the doors we went. And there she was, the High Witch, waiting to greet me. Her smile dropped at the sight of Banner.
“Mr. Banner, how nice of you to give Miss Hunter a lift.”
Banner’s jaw tightened. “Let’s cut the crap. I’m staying.”
The High Witch’s left eye twitched and then she exhaled through her nose. “This isn’t your domain, Mal. You know this isn’t how things are done. You don’t belong here.”
“And in a few minutes, neither will Carmella. So, I think she has the right to have a friend with her when you take away her identity.”
The High Witch’s brows snapped together. “You speak as if we have a choice. You know as well as I that this is the only way to protect her from the coven’s wrath, and if I recall correctly, it was the Piccadilly Coven that bayed for blood the loudest when we met to discuss this very issue.”
/> Banner’s lips tightened. “The coven does not speak for me.”
“No, I can see that. Very well. Stay if you must, but keep your peace. This is a delicate spell. The intent must be pure.”
Banner’s shoulders relaxed.
She led us past the staircase, through a mahogany furnished sitting room, and down a long corridor toward the back of the house. Several arches and closed doors later, we stopped outside a plain black door.
“Now Carmella, this room may look daunting to you, but it is merely ceremonial. Do not be frightened.”
“Um … okay.”
Banner snorted. “Do you have to do the whole robe thing?”
The High Witch glared at him, her eyes flashing dangerously. “One more word from you and I will forget your status and expel you from the premises.”
Banner snapped his mouth closed.
We stepped into a huge circular chamber with a domed glass ceiling. The floor was tiled and etched with strange symbols. A raised circular platform, with twelve robed figures standing on it, ran around the circumference of the room. The figures’ faces were obscured by deep hoods. The High Witch left my side and strode across the floor. She climbed up onto the podium and picked up something from the ground—a robe. She shrugged it on. Her gaze locked with mine, and then she inclined her head, raising the hood to hide her face.
Banner leaned in to whisper in my ear. “You need to stand in the circle.”
Ah, okay. I walked into the center of the room. Now what?
The High Witch’s voice filled the room. “Carmella Hunter, you have been charged with disrupting the natural fabric of the skein. You are an abomination that must not be allowed to continue to taint the sacred skein.”
What the fuck? Abomination? Heat stirred in the pit of my belly.
“Your sentence is final. To be cut off. To be banished. A witch no longer.”
The other robed witches joined in. “To be cut off. To be banished. A witch no longer.”
My scalp prickled and the room grew dark as rainclouds swept over us, blocking the sun’s rays. A shiver ran up my spine and the witches began to hum.
The sound vibrated in my teeth and bones, and the kernel inside me pulsed in agitation. Then there was the skein, glowing brightly in my mind, alive and connected to me, to my heart. Not just one thread but several, buried deep inside me.
The hum intensified, and the threads began to vibrate and shiver. It was happening, whatever they were doing was working. I didn’t want this. I couldn’t do this. Those threads were a part of me, they belonged to me.
One by one they went dark.
“No.” I fell to the ground, a hollow ache swelling inside me. It was gone. My connection was gone, and in its place was a void.
The kernel unfurled and warmth spread through my limbs, seeping into the void left by the absence of my connection to the skein. It was a hug from my dragon—an it’s-all-right-you-still-have-me.
The clouds parted and a ray of sun lanced down into the room, placing me in the spotlight.
“Carmella?” Banner helped me off the floor.
My legs were rubbery, my insides quivering as if recovering from the flu. My asura power swelled, dispelling the symptoms, and my mind was suddenly clear. They’d called me an abomination. My eyes grew hot, not with sorrow, but with anger. I shook Banner off and stood tall, my gaze fixed on the robed figure of the High Witch.
“Thanks for that. Thanks for spelling out just what I am to the covens—an abomination. Well this abomination is no longer your problem and your problems are no longer mine.” I pulled the pearl from my pocket and held it up. “Catch your own damn Daayan.” I lobbed it at her, turned on my heel, and stormed out of the room.
I was done with the covens. Done with their magick.
It was time for me to start fresh.
Time to learn what being an asura was all about.
8
“Did you get a look at her face when you lobbed the pearl at her?” Urvashi asked, leaning across the table.
“She had the damned hood on, so no.”
We were seated in a corner booth in my favorite bar, Bottoms Up, in Leicester Square. It was a quaint place with a sixties-themed decor. Even the staff dressed up, and the drinks all had funny names based on sixties fashion. After the spell at the Mayfair Mansion, I’d had Banner drop me here and called the girls. We’d been hanging out ever since. Eating, drinking, and just trying to feel better about shit that happened. My pain was nothing compared to Honey’s, but then Honey was something else—focused, determined, and strong. Her family was dead but she was taking care of business. But then, like she’d said, she didn’t have the luxury of falling apart. I just hoped she allowed herself time to grieve. Holding it in like that, burying it … it couldn’t be healthy.
Honey shoved a handful of peanuts into her mouth, and chewed. “Fuck ‘em. You’re better off.”
“Yeah.” My stomach felt hollow. “I start training with Vritra tomorrow evening.”
Urvashi slapped the table. “Good on you.”
“You think they’ll come at you for the Daayan thing?” Honey asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t care. I’m done being blamed for stuff out of my control, punished and used. They can figure out how to catch her themselves.”
“But what if she comes for you?”
Yeah, the thought had crossed my mind. The pearl had been my only protection, but what was done was done. “If she comes for me then she’ll have a fight on her hands.”
If my asura power wasn’t under control by then I’d call on Paimon. But there was no way I was asking the coven for anything ever again.
Honey got up. “What you ladies having this round?”
How many rounds had that been? Five? Six? So much for avoiding alcohol. But the dragon was sleeping in its box, and I didn’t feel at all tipsy. Maybe being asura meant I couldn’t get drunk?
“I’ll have a Baby Doll,” Urvashi said.
“Capri for me.”
Honey wandered off to the bar, her jean-clad arse swaying and catching the eye of every male in the room. I swept my gaze back to Urvashi and caught a woman’s eye. She was seated by the window, alone. Her long dark hair was pulled back from her face and braided. She averted her gaze and turned her head to look out of the window.
Had she been watching us?
“Hey? What you looking at?” Urvashi turned in her seat to follow my gaze.
I drained my glass. “Nothing. Thought the woman by the window was watching us.”
Urvashi frowned. “What woman?”
“The one over …” she was gone. “Never mind.”
Honey returned with our drinks, and the sixth or seventh round commenced.
An hour later, the place was heaving with the night-life crew. Did Sunday nights mean nothing to some people? Heck what was I talking about? This was London.
A group of guys spotted us and started to wind their way over.
“Time to leave ladies.” I scooted out of the booth and we headed for the door. Outside the cool breeze was refreshing against my warm skin.
“We should call a taxi,” Urvashi said. “Carmella, your flat is closest, can we crash with you?”
Honey giggled. “On her teeny tiny sofa-bed? Cozy.”
“Hey, that sofa-bed is mighty comfy.”
We clipped arm in arm down the lamp-lit street. Well not clipped, because none of us were wearing heels. Urvashi was dressed breezily in a short sundress and Hercules sandals, and Honey was wearing cut-off jeans and ballet flats similar to mine. The streets were still buzzing with life.
Someone screamed.
“Nope. No, no, no.” Urvashi shook her head, hair swishing. “Not tonight.”
Several more screams joined the first. We were walking toward the shouts and yells and then the reason for the panic was striding toward us.
Honey tensed. “Motherfucker.”
Urvashi’s grip on my arm tightened. “What … what are they?”
“Yamduth.” And they were headed right for us.
Honey shoved us away from her. “Run, get the fuck out of here. It’s me they want.”
Her body vibrated and her face began to morph. More screams erupted around us, whether at the site of the silver weapons the two Yamduth were carrying, or the fact that a yaksha was shifting in the street right in front of them.
The power inside me stirred. “Fuck that, we do this together.”
“Wait.” Urvashi said. “Let me distract them, you run.”
“What?”
But then she opened her mouth and began to sing. The melody that spilled forth was the likes of nothing I’d ever heard before. The screams died, and the Yamduth faltered. Urvashi stepped in front of us, moving sinuously toward the reapers. They watched her, eyes glazing over.
“We can’t just leave her,” Honey said.
But I’d seen the ancient being in Urvashi’s eyes. She had this under control. I needed to protect Honey. Whoever had put a hit on the yaksha obviously wanted Honey out of the way too. After all, she’d been the only yaksha left stand at that gathering. This was either a finish-the-job scenario, or a get-rid-of-the-female-yaksha bid. Either way, Honey’s life was at stake.
“Go. Now.” I shoved her. “I’ll stay with Urvashi. It’s not me they’re after.”
Honey took a step back and a deep rumble cut through Urvashi’s song. It was coming from the Yamduth. They were shaking. No. Not shaking. They were laughing.
Urvashi’s melody faltered and died. She glanced over her shoulder at us just as the nearest yamduth lashed out, backhanding her and sending her flying through the window of the restaurant to our left.
Honey roared and charged.
“NO!” I bolted after her. My power rose to infuse my limbs with uncanny strength, but Honey was already within reach of the killers. Except … they weren’t paying her any attention. Their attention was fixed on me.
Honey cut an arch through the air from a backhand delivered by the second yamduth.
I skidded to a halt.
Me … They wanted me? “What the—”
Defying Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 2) Page 5
