As I put the plates in the dishwasher I keep waiting for the moment I’ll wake up. The moment I get to realise this has all been some fever dream and not the Goddess of Love playing the worst cosmic joke on me. I still can’t believe she fated me to a venatrix. I don’t care that she’s human, I just care that she’s someone who has a deep seeded hatred for all things supernatural. I’m not sure the animai bond can get rid of that much prejudice. If you’re willing to go so far as to kill people because they disgust you so much, I doubt you’re going to willingly change your ways and fall in love with one. As I bend and close the dishwasher I feel a shooting pain in my ribs that has my knees buckling as I clutch my side. I can’t go on like this. I’d love to act like I’m some tough person who just waves off pain, but I’m not. Makkares aren’t like other supernatural beings like shifters, we don’t have fast healing. We heal at the same rate as mortals, and right now that is a fact I loathe. Wha
As I lay in the grass letting the world melt away and time pass by, my head is suddenly filled with broken images. I see two large wolves struggling to keep their wolf form. They’re running I think… through woods. I try to latch onto the images and piece them together, but they continue to slip in and out of focus. I can see a group of people dressed in black and their faces covered as they chase the two shifters with guns raised. My eyes snap open and my fingers dig into the soil beneath me. Fucking venators. I’m still not at one hundred per cent, but I’m far more improved than I was a few hours ago. Definitely improved enough to take on a few lousy humans. I get to my feet and snap my fingers, replacing my maxi dress with simple jeans and a short-sleeved turtleneck and sneakers. Much more appropriate. I stretch my hands out letting my magic flow through my hands as they begin to glow that shade of purple I know and love. I feel my eyes change and as they do, I push my energy forwar
Guess who found the remote?! Turns out there’s a television in here. Took me a while, but after pushing a few buttons, the painting on the wall opposite the bed slid back and just like that, instant entertainment.You know, this prisoner thing is a pretty good gig. Free room and board, my own ensuite, cable TV with all the channels AND free meals. If I was at home right now I’d be filling out reports, attending meetings, training, overseeing council members and travelling the world hunting down supernatural people. While I may travel the globe, I never actually get to see any of the sights. I do my job and then come home. Right now being a bruja’s prisoner actually feels like a much-needed vacation, and to top it off, no family members to fight with. I love my family, but I could do without the arguments and the lectures.I’m scrolling through Netflix – without region restrictions – and squeal like a kid on Christmas. “No way! No one told me they made La Casa de las Flores into a movi
What the hell is wrong with this woman?! What kind of person can care so little about the lives of others to the point they’d happily let them die? What kind of parents intentionally raise their child to be like that? It’s utterly appalling. “Do you really want me to answer that?” She sighs as she puts her toast down. “I think I already know the answer. So why did you bother helping me? I’m a filthy monster, so why not let me bleed out like you would so many others? What makes me so special huh?” I question, my words getting angrier by the second. Her brows dip into a frown as she purses her lips, “I don’t know,” she mumbles. So I’m right to assume she’s just reacting to the influences of the bond. She’s acting without thought, doing things she normally wouldn’t, but if she wasn’t under the bond’s spell she’d have slit me from ear to ear by now. “You’re the one who said I’m stuck here until you’re strong enough, so maybe I just figure it’s in my best interest to let you get healthy
I race out of the kitchen and run straight out the front door. My feet stumble down the steps and I drop to my knees skidding across the grass. I can feel the burn coming from my knees, but it’s barely noticeable compared to the way my head is spinning and the fact I’m struggling to take in air. I claw at my chest and unzip the back of my corset in hopes I can breathe better, but it doesn’t help. I wanted her to be lying. I needed it to be a lie. But it doesn’t matter how much I wanted it; I knew she was telling the truth. You don’t come up with a lie that in-depth on the spot, but more than that, it was all over her face. Those beautiful warm brown eyes held so much dark truth in them, and I swear it looked like it was hurting her to say anything that would hurt me. She doesn’t even know me, my family held her captive, my brother tortured her, and I was going to kill her. Yet even though I’m held here against my will, she hasn’t done anything but treat me with kindness. Kindness I d
I was always so proud of our origins, but as it turns out the story I grew up with about Gaius was nothing more than a fable. What is it they say? He who holds the pen controls history. Supernaturals hid in the shadows, hiding from humans and Gaius took advantage of that. He wrote their story and painted them as monsters breaking into our homes and killing us, but that wasn’t true. They were people like Isolde who just kept to themselves or tried to help others and then we came along and snuffed their lives out without a care. I believed in a bedtime story and have even killed over that belief. I’m actually starting to think I’m worse than Mateo. Mateo never gave a shit about our legacy, he just killed because he liked it. He wasn’t pretending or deluding himself. He was himself at all times. But me? I buried my head in the sand and believed whatever company line I was sold. I deserve to be tortured like all those people Mateo hurt. I hear the sound of the front door open and click
It’s been so long since I spoke to anyone about what happened to my family and the events that have me living in hiding and to be honest, I’m still not ready to talk about it. I think today has been filled with enough revelations, we don’t need to open up the Pandora’s Box of my life to top it off, but I have to admit, seeing Valeria show me compassion like this and having her this close makes me feel for the first time in centuries that I’m not alone. “You don’t have to talk about it, I can tell whatever happened it still affects you,” she says softly as she reaches out taking my hand in hers. Electricity jolts through me the moment our skin touches and I want to bask in this feeling forever. It’s been so long since someone comforted me like this. When you’re all alone with no one to rely on but yourself, you get used to the loneliness, but it’s not until now, sharing this moment with Valeria that I remember how much I miss human affection. There’s Alaric from time to time, but it’
I exit my room and make my way upstairs to my library. I hear Valeria quickly catch up to me, which isn’t hard given how slow I’m moving right now. We make our way to the third floor, enter the attic, and I watch as Valeria’s jaw hits the floor. I chuckle at the expression on her face.“What is this place?” She asks in awe.“My library,” I shrug.She looks at me like I’ve grown two heads, “I’ve seen libraries. This isn’t a library. It looks more like an astronomy tower or something,” she argues, walking further in and looking up at all the ceiling that depicts our galaxy in motion. The room is circular, with a large open rotunda in the middle that has my desk, though it’s a bit of a mess right now. Bookshelves overflowing with books line the walls and several desks are scattered around the room. Okay so it’s more like astronomy meets an apothecary.“Well, it’s my library,” I say as I walk over to a shelf and look for a jar of bloodroot. I grab a pouch from a nearby desk and place the