Chapter 9

"Take her, take her inside."

Mario said as Viola fell unconscious. It had felt like the ritual had gone on for days but as he looked out and saw how dark it was and looked at the time, it had barely gone for an hour. The ritual was complete, he thought as he wiped the sweat from his brows, he was exhausted. There was something about the ritual that seemed to drain the energy of everyone in the room, the witch most especially. Mario could remember how the witches chants had sounded so loud and draining that he had gone out for a break. He looked at the blood on the floor and turned to the quiet woman who was gently shivering at the corner.

"Clean it up."

Her name was Lisa. He had put her in charge of the witch twenty four years ago when he brought her to the farmhouse. He had taken great precautions to ensure that she would not reveal his secrets or the location of the witch. Lisa was mute, for the past twenty four years after her tongue and been cut off after an unfortunate incident. She should have kept her mouth shut, he thought as he shook his head remembering the incident.

He looked at the witch who was lying on the floor and gave her a kick, she didn't move. She was dead.

He stared at the lifeless body for a while and sighed.

Well, at least she served her purpose.

He told himself as he sighed.

Then he fished out his phone and took a picture of her dead body.

Her son would love to see his mother in her final moments.

He signaled to his men outside and pointed to the body.

They walked inside, one of them took one look at the witch and turned away, while the other quickly hoisted her up and carried her lifeless body over his broad shoulder.

"Dispose of it properly."

"I don't want any mistakes."

He warned and they nodded.

Lisa was back later with a bucket and a washcloth and very soon she was scrubbing off the blood and the chalk marks from the hardwood floor. She worked fast, diligently and Mario left her alone and walked away to see his granddaughter.

She was lying on one of the small bed that he assumed belonged to the witch.

The room was dirty, the sheets were a muddy brown, but he couldn't move her until she was awake. That was the instruction the witch had given him before the ritual.

He walked up to her and pulled away strands of her golden blonde hair from her face, she was sweaty and her neck was matted with blood.

He gently raised her head up to see the wound. There was blood, but the wound was gone. Her magic had healed her, it was alive.

A leaving breathing pulsing thing.

The only thing he had to do was wait, wait till she woke up on her own. She had been cut off from her powers for years, they were not even sure she would survive the ritual it took to get them back. She would need time to recover, the witch had said.

She would need time for her body to readjust and make way for the power coursing through her veins.

He stayed in her room quietly, watching her sleep, watching her chest heave and fall.

In a way, she reminded him of her mother. In so many ways actually. Beautiful, except her mother had dark hair. They smiled the same way though, they had similar interests and were both intelligent women. But Viola was not nearly as wild as her mother had been.

The freedom her mother had, her grandfather had made sure to take it away her. He only wished he could have done for his daughter what he did for Viola.

Lisa came into the room, quietly shuffling about and picking up what was left of the witch's things.

It was going to be burned, along with the body of the witch. Even in death, witches were notorious creatures, they haunted people who were alive and their remnants could be used for so much more. The best way to get rid of them was to burn them.

"Clean her up. She is not to be disturbed or awoken."

Lisa nodded.

"I will send someone to bring fresh clothes."

Lisa nodded and Mario looked around.

He started preparing to leave.

Then he paused and looked at Lisa directly.

"Once she awakes, you tell me. I will leave Hugo and Elio here, they will bring her back home once she is awake."

Lisa nodded again, then she bowed slightly.

Mario was satisfied.

He left.

"The elders are asking for a council meeting. They're hearing news about you getting engaged and they are wondering why this hasn't been brought to their attention."

Loki said as Leonardo rummaged through hid drawers in search of a file. He had to live in a bit and he was already running late.

Leonardo scoffed.

"Is that all? Let them wait a while, I'm sure the suspense is killing them."

"Leonardo.."

Loki said in warning and Leonardo shrugged.

If my Grandfather Gino hasn't told them anything, I see no reason why I should."

"Besides, nothing is official yet. Let them wait."

Loki sighed.

"Very well. There's been some trouble with the Shadow pack. They're encroaching on our borders and claiming that it's their land."

Leonardo sighed.

"Send my engagement invite to the Alpha of the Shadow pack, I'd like to talk to him and hopefully he won't misconstrue that as a threat because he's so damn paranoid."

Loki nodded.

"Hopefully."

He murmured in agreement as he shook his head.

"Is that all?"

Leonardo asked as he finally looked up. Loki still seemed like he had a lot to say.

"No, no really, just a few things to deal with as regards the pack politics, funding and all."

Leonardo shrugged.

"I'm sure you can handle that. You always have."

"Is everything set for the next full moon?"

He asked and Loki nodded.

"Yes. We are running perimeter sweeps and getting the pack house ready for you."

Leonardo nodded.

"That's good."

"It seems like you still have something on your mind."

He said and Loki shrugged.

"No. No. Everything is fine."

It can wait, he didn't want to bother Leonardo, especially not when he had been working so hard.

And quite frankly he had a lot of things on his plate. Loki reckoned that it wasn't that important.

"Good."

Leonardo said as he looked around. He was going away for a few days, he had business to attend to. Company business.

But he would come back right in time for the engagement. Besides, Viola seemed to be in a mood and she had not replied his last text when he told her that he was going to get her the engagement ring.

She must still be angry for having waited for him that long but apologies would come later.

"Lucia, are you sure about this? Your father, he is not to be trusted. He used you for years."

James said as he watched his tired wife hold their newborn baby girl tightly to her chest. She was exhausted from the delivery and now they had even greater challenge to face.

Lucia shrugged.

"What choice do we have James. If we don't find a way to protect her, she's going to be like me, running all her life, surrounded by people who want to use her for who she is, just like I was."

"I'd rather she doesn't have her powers at all."

Lucia said as she held her daughter's tiny hands.

She could feel the power that was coursing through the little one's veins, are visions had been clear and true, Viola was going to be even more stronger than her, than all of them combined.

"And you think this will work?"

James said as he turned to the witch waiting at the door.

Lucia nodded her head and started to move, it had barely been an hour since the baby had been born, but she knew they had no more time to waste. Thy had to do the ritual as soon as possible.

"Yes. It will."

She turned to her husband, his dark blue eyes filled with love but wavering certainty, he was scare for their little daughter.

"Do you trust me James?"

She asked quietly and James nodded.

"With all my heart."

Lucia nodded, she turned to the window and saw that it was almost sunset.

"Good."

She unsheathed the dagger in her other hand then turned to the witch.

"It's time."

Viola opened her eyes and screamed.