Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood #1)(52)
It was kinda cute, even if it was also kinda ridiculous—if these particular witches had wanted me dead, all it would have taken was for Raven to slip something in my tea at work.
Finally, toward the back of the building, Raven stopped and knocked on a door that looked like all the others. A confirming murmur from inside, and the door creaked open. Raven stepped back to allow us in, hands clasped behind her back. She looked at Warin with obvious distaste as we passed her.
Inside, Joana sat by an oval table, and next to her was a man who looked to be in his early thirties, despite a receding hairline. He had a round face, and the hostility on it looked severely out of place.
“Lord Warin,” Joana said. She nodded at Warin, an aura of serenity around her. Despite the respectful greeting, she didn’t get up.
“Priestess Joana,” he said, tone clipped but equally calm.
“This is my First Disciple, Kevin. He is here as my witness.” She indicated the man by her side with a gesture underlined by the soft rattle of her many beaded bracelets. “And I brought young Raven to keep your human company, should the proceedings go well and a need for longer discussion arise.”
“Three witches present? Not the best start to negotiations for peace.” Warin narrowed his eyes at the Priestess. “I must warn you, witch. If I so much as smell a spark of magic, you will not like the consequences.”
Joana glanced at me, and I shook my head the slightest bit, hoping she’d pick up on the fact that I hadn’t told him about her curse—and that mentioning it right now would be a terrible idea.
Thankfully, she seemed to catch on.
“As long as you and the dead ones you brought to our domain this evening behave, you have nothing to fear from our magic, vampire.” She gestured toward the opposite side of the table. “Please, sit. Both of you.”
So she knew about Carina and the Guard Warin had mentioned bringing. I wondered if learning to spot a vampire in a crowded room was part of witch training—Raven had also clocked on to Warin’s lack of a pulse the first time they met.
I followed Warin around to the other side of the table and sat at his side.
“Liv tells me she was attacked by skinwalkers not far from her home,” Joana began. “Before we begin, I must assure you that no one from my coven had anything to do with that.”
“If I thought you did, we would be having a different kind of conversation,” Warin said, voice cold and even.
I bumped his shin with my shoe underneath, trying to get him to lay off with the threats, but he ignored me.
“Be that as it may,” Joana continued, “Skinwalkers so close to our coven is not something we are happy about, either. They have a history of savaging witches to sire offspring. So, it seems we have a common enemy at hand. What I offer is help locating the skinwalker nest in Chicago, in return for your blood oath that no other witch in the city will be harmed.”
Warin arched an eyebrow. “You will not receive a drop of my blood. If you help in locating the skinwalkers proves valuable, you have my word any witch who stays out of my business will not be hunted within the city limits.”
“The word of a dead man,” Kevin spat. “What are we doing here, Joana? This thing is not our ally, and no amount of wishing will make it so.”
The redhead put a soothing hand on her First Disciple’s shoulder without taking her eyes off Warin. “Settle yourself, Kevin. Times change, and we must adapt with them. This particular vampire has not harmed any of our coven, and we must give him a fair chance to prove himself.”
Warin remained quiet as he stared at the two witches on the other side of the table.
“Look, you all have to compromise if you want this to work,” I interrupted, growing tired of the tension in the room. “Everyone here wants the skinwalkers dead. No one wants an all-out witch-vampire war. So make it work. You,” I pointed at the two older witches with a finger form the the hand currently holding my glass, “have to remember that as little as you trust the vampires, as little do they trust you. You don’t get to make grand demands about needing proof of trust without offering some up yourself. What will you do to ensure he can trust you?”
Kevin sputtered, indignation clear across his round face. “How he can trust us? Young lady, do you have the faintest idea what these… these creatures can do?”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Some. I do know they don’t go around cursing people. As long as I’ve known this man, he hasn’t once tried to harm me. In fact, he’s saved my ass more than once. Your kind, however… your kind has threatened and assaulted me. So let’s try starting these negotiations again, shall we? And let’s all attempt to remember that the other party is going out of their way to make this work.”
Kevin opened his mouth, the red splotches of blooming anger on his cheeks indicating whatever he was planning to say wasn’t going to help matters any. But Joana lifted her hand, silencing him before he could speak. “The girl is right.” She drew in a deep breath. “We have a long history of mistrust between us, vampire, and I acknowledge that it will be difficult for you as well as us to put this aside. But, if Liv will put her word in alongside yours, we will forego the demand of a blood oath. As a sign of good faith.”
“Sure, of course I will,” I said, glancing at Warin to make sure he didn’t take offense. His blank expression gave nothing away. At least he didn’t realize it didn’t make a difference one way or the other, since I was pretty sure I didn’t want to find out what happened if the curse was unleashed. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust Warin implicitly.” Or, ya know, if crazy skinwalker-witches weren’t gunning for me.