The Witch's Destiny (The Vampire's Mate Book 2) by Wendi Wilson

Author:Wendi Wilson [Wilson, Wendi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

26

THE SECRET

When we get back to the hotel and crowd into the room I share with Jesse, Bernadette walks straight to a chair and slumps down into it. Sucking in a deep breath, she lets it out slowly on a quiet sigh. I’ve never seen her look so tired.

“What’s going on, Bernie?” I ask, keeping my voice soft and gentle despite the urgency zipping through my veins.

I have so many questions burning in my throat. Why did the covens relent to her so easily when they were determined to stake me just a moment before? And why does she look like she’s aged a decade in the week since I’ve seen her?

“Can I please have a glass of water, dear?” she asks instead of answering my question, her voice cracking on the words.

“Of course,” I say, hurrying to grab one of the complimentary bottles left on the dresser by the hotel staff.

Twisting off the top, I hand it to her. She thanks me with a slight dip of her head before taking several long sips. Setting the water on the table beside her, she meets my concerned gaze.

“What I’m about to tell you is the most tightly held of witch secrets. If the others were to find out I divulged this information, I’d be ostracized from my coven and shunned by the community as a whole.” Her gaze flits to Jesse. “If they were to find out I told a vampire, much less the king, I’d be executed immediately.”

The urge to yell at her, to demand she shut her mouth and not tell us a single word rises up inside me. I want to know what’s going on with her, desperately, but not if it means she could be killed for it. Nothing is worth that.

As if she senses the shift in my energy, Bernie looks at me with a sad smile.

“It’s okay, Eden.” She looks over at Jesse, then Erik, then Leif before moving her gaze back to me. “I never thought I’d say this about vampires, but I trust you. I know you won’t use it against my kind the way they fear you will.”

I nod, saying, “Whatever it is, I’ll carry it to the grave. We all will.”

The others nod in response to my vow, and Bernadette heaves another tired sigh. Then she begins to speak slowly.

“When witch covens first started settling in what is now known as the United States, the separate covens weren’t united in any way. Squabbles were settled with spells and magic, regardless of who bore witness. The humans decided the casters were demons, minions of hell breaking into their world to take over. They started killing anyone they even suspected of practicing magic, most of which were their own people. People with disfigurements and disabilities, people with mental health problems, or people the leaders just didn’t like were burned by fire or drowned in deep waters.

“Some of the covens held no empathy for the wrongly persecuted, but others knew a solution needed to be found.

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