Samantha put her face into her hands, crying softly. Lifting her chin, she wiped her tears. “Okay then, I’m ready. I want you to know that I am normally a very, strong person, but this past week...I feel quite shattered right now. But, I will be fine. I just need to get home.”
Luca glided across the room, put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a tissue. This frail human stirred something in his cold, dark heart. What was it? Over the centuries, he’d seen many a human cry. It was the hard reality of life. But this fragile woman with long, fiery red hair ignited a small, caring flame inside of him. He ran a hand over her soft hair and patted her shoulder attempting to provide comfort. “Samantha, it will be okay. Ilsbeth is a strong and kind witch. If you have been given magic, she will cleanse you. All will be well again.”
What the hell? Kade raised an eyebrow at Luca wondering what was going on with his old friend. Luca just didn’t do comfort, or sympathy, or humans. There was a long list of all kinds of things Luca did not do. Kade wondered if some kind of magic was rubbing off on his second. Where the fuck was Ilsbeth?
A loud knock at the door jolted Luca away from Samantha. Kade shook his head in confusion at his friend’s actions. “Enter,” ordered Kade.
A blinding glow shone through the doorway as Ilsbeth opened the door. Thank you God. “Please come in Ilsbeth.” Kade gestured for her to sit in a guest chair, but Ilsbeth wandered over to sit next to Samantha on the bed. “Ilsbeth, this is Samantha. She has no recollection of her actions in the club the night she silvered Dominique. I sense no deception, but we need to be sure she is safe to be around others...and herself.”
Ilsbeth ran her lithe, pale fingers across Samantha’s cheek. “Samantha, I am Ilsbeth. You understand you have been in contact with a great evil, yes?”
Samantha nodded silently.
“This evil, it made you do things, things against your will, things you do not recollect?”
She nodded again.
“Do I have your permission to read you...your aura? Do you come to me willingly?” Ilsbeth asked in a soft, lilting voice.
“Yes, I am so sorry. Please help me,” she begged.
The air thickened as Ilsbeth closed her eyes and raised her hands, palms up above the crown of Samantha’s head. She hummed a cyclical melody as she lowered her hands around the girl. Opening her eyes, she blew out a breath. A somber look crossed her face as she locked her vision on Kade. “This young woman, dark magic tints the edges of her aura. She must come with me to the coven where my sisters and I can purge the darkness and cleanse her soul.” She was holding back.
Kade knew there was something else. What was it? He promised this girl she could return home. “Ilsbeth, thank you for your reading. As always, I am appreciative of your magical insight. Yet, I sense there is something else.”
“It is the magic.” In disgust, she shook her head. “It has been infused.”
“Meaning?” he questioned.
“The magic has been infused. We can cleanse her aura and remove the darkness, but the magic, it will stay. In short, Samantha is now a witch. She will need to stay with the coven, learn the craft, grow into the light.” She regarded Samantha. “Do you understand, Samantha? You are now a witch.”
Shedding a single tear, Samantha sucked in a breath. “I am a witch?” She asked, saying the words back to Ilsbeth as if it would get easier if she spoke them aloud. “I have to be honest with you. I’m not sure what that really means, but I will try. I want this evil out of my body now. I promise to do whatever you say...just please help me get on with my life.”
Ilsbeth hugged the girl knowing this would be an uphill battle. It was not an easy life being a witch, let alone being turned into a witch so late in life. Being thrown into the supernatural world after spending your entire life as human was difficult to comprehend. “It will be okay, Samantha. I will help you,” Ilsbeth reassured her.
Samantha pulled away, looking over to Kade. “Sir, one thing before I leave. Please...I want to see Sydney. I owe her my life. I just want to thank her.”
Kade motioned to Luca. “Go get Sydney. I know she will want to see the girl before she leaves.” Luca nodded and left the room.
“Thank you again, Ilsbeth. We do seem to make good allies, don’t we?” Kade needed to lighten the mood before Sydney arrived. She had been through enough this past week, and didn’t need to come into a room of full of crying women and serious faces.
“Ah yes, Kade, that we do. The coven is in your debt for eradicating Simone and Asgear. If we hear of any other activity related to Asgear, I’ll make sure to contact you immediately.”
Luca returned to the room sans Sydney. Glancing to Kade and back to Ilsbeth, he silently sent Kade a message that he needed to speak with him. “I am sorry, Samantha, but Sydney is not available to come down to see you at this time. She has promised that she will visit you at the coven as soon as possible. Now, if you don’t mind, a vampire situation has arisen that Kade and I need to attend to. Etienne will see you up to the foyer, and then I will escort you both back to the coven.”
Now what? Upon Luca’s words, Kade sent out mental feelers to locate Sydney within the house. Where the hell is she?
“Kade, please, you must understand, no one saw her go, and there has been no evidence of foul play. It appears she just left. The maid saw her jump in a cab about an hour ago. Maybe she went downtown to get beignets again?” Luca sighed.
No, Goddammit. Kade knew that she wasn’t shopping or sightseeing. His woman was running, running from her feelings, running from him. Sydney Willows could run, but she could not hide. He would find her any place on the face of the Earth. What exactly did the woman not get about them being bonded?
“That woman is going to be the death of me. Seriously, Luca. I ask her to stay here and move in with me and she takes off? What the hell? Get Tristan on the damn phone, and then call the airport and gas up the jet. We, my friend, are going to Philadelphia tonight. She is mine, and it is damn well time she starts to understand precisely what that means.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Sydney felt sick as soon as she got in the cab. She kept telling herself she just needed time to think, time to work things out. She would call Kade as soon as she got to Philadelphia; tell him that she loved him, and that she just needed space. If she called him before she got on the plane, she would fold and return to him. If she just had some time to make a decision without Kade tempting her with his sex-on-a-stick, gorgeous body, and demanding presence, then she’d know she was making the right choice. She couldn’t trust herself to think clearly around him. Her libido had officially taken over in New Orleans. She had lost the capability to make intelligent decisions with her brain when she was thinking with her wanton, aching loins.
Sydney called Tristan before boarding the plane. There was no way she was staying in her condo after the attempted rape. She’d needed to repaint and decorate it since the place got trashed anyhow. Finally, Tristan picked up the phone. “Tristan, it’s Sydney. Listen, I need to talk. Um...I mean I need a favor.”
Tristan was suspicious. “Syd, uh...what’s going on? What do you mean how’s it going? How about...’how are you healing after the big fight’? And why do I hear airplanes? Where’s Kade?”