Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Where Abigail Williams' ashes were stored.” I finish.
“So, the plan the whole time was to find her ashes and try to resurrect her.” Antonio slowly moves his head back-and-forth, eyes and narrowing. “But she has no body. She was cremated and all that was left was ash and a little bit of bone.”
“I’m not sure how necromancy works,” I say, mind going to Maria once again. “Maybe they’re just trying to…I don’t know…bring her spirit back?” I shrug. “I don’t know how it works.”
“Neither do I, but it definitely makes me think a witch has to be one to find the sigil and break whatever hold it has on the demons.”
“You need witch friends.” Antonio is joking, but his words make me pause.
“Right?” I say, thinking of Marie yet again. “It would be great if one just contacted me out of the blue.”
“Hah.” Antonio picks up one of the journals, skimming through it. I reach for a random book when my phone dings with a text. There’s no way it’s Leo already. Someone from an unknown number sent me a message.
Unknown: Hey, it’s Marie. We’re not all getting together for a few more days but I felt like I should reach out. And you were right…I did have your number. Let me know if you want to grab coffee sometime!
I reread the text three times because are you serious right now? Is this too much of a coincidence or is the universe working in my favor for once?
Me: Hi! Do you happen to be free now?
Marie: I am. I can be downtown in like two hours.
Me: Yes, that would be great!
I send her the location to a coffee shop and then go back to research while we wait for lunch to be ready. Not surprisingly, we didn't find anything helpful, but at least the food Alan made was amazing.
Then I change out of my workout clothes and into a simple blue and yellow dress.
“You look nice,” Xavier says when I come down the stairs. He just walked out of his office.
“Thanks.” I look up at Xavier and smile. “I’m going to have lunch with Delphi.”
Chapter
Twenty-Three
“Florence,” Marie says, standing up when she sees me coming closer. We’re at the same cafe I was at the first time I saw her. “It’s nice to see you again. I have to admit that even if I had my doubts I would hear back from you when I texted.”
“Fair. Thank you for meeting me so soon,” I tell her. “And I had doubts as well I admit, but I have a lot of questions and I’m hoping you could answer some of them.”
“I’m hoping I can, too. I meant it when I said witches need a coven. You are welcome to join ours.”
“Won’t they hate that I’m married to a vampire?”
“Oh, they definitely will,” she says a laugh, adding another spoonful of sugar to her tea. “There will be many elders in the coven who will try to convince you that you’ve made the wrong choice by marrying a vampire,” she admits. “There will also be plenty of witches who tell you made a mistake by getting married in general.”
I would love to sit here and chitchat, making small talk and getting into Marie and the ins and outs of life as part of a coven. I don’t have that kind of luxury and have no choice but to awkwardly rip the Band-Aid off and cut to the chase. That’s what I’m going to have to do.
“What do you want to know?” she asks.
“Everything,” I rush out and we both laugh. “The Blackwoods. You were right to say I come from that family.”
“I knew it, especially with your name starting with an F. There aren’t a lot of names that start with F, you know.”
“Do all Blackwoods have F-names?”
She shakes her head. Her braids are pulled back in a loose bun today and she’s wearing another flowing dress. “From what I was able to dig up, the woman who would have been your great grandmother, Felicity, started it. Like I said, I don’t know your family well but they do have quite a reputation for being hunters. Which makes this whole you were raised by the Order thing all the more curious.”
“Trust me,” I say. “No one’s more curious about it than me.”
“I have to ask,” she says almost apologetically. “How exactly did you end up in the Order? You said your family was killed by demons and the order took you in?”
“That is what they told me.” I leave it at that, letting her come to her own conclusion. “The Order still believes that we get our powers by making a deal with the devil. They didn’t know I would have magic but when I did, they utilized it. Powers come in handy when you’re hunting demons.”