Coffin Girls (Elegantly Undead: Book 1 of the Coffin Girls Witch Vampire Series) (24 page)

“Men,” she continued, “always thinking like the baser animals
you are. Ayden, I want these witches to be brought food only by female
vampires. The rest of you,” Akeldonna turned to glare a warning at the other
vampires, “keep your dicks in your pants and your fangs in your mouth. No more
organic blood for you. You will drink from the blood bank - cold blood! Drain
the humans we have left and fill the blood bank – but keep a few for me. I’ll
drink from the source and you can watch.”

“Marc, you will go out and find me witches to replace these.
Take who you need with you. I need them pronto! Try and find nice fat ones; all
the rich food that they eat here in New Orleans will make the blood taste
better. And bring me a fat, non-magickal one, the memory of spicy Cajun blood
has made me peckish.” Akeldonna smirked appreciatively, “It has such a nice,
wild taste to it.”

As the other vampires filtered out, Ayden did a quick round
of pulse-checking. He ended in front of the girl, still lying on the bed. After
reassuring himself that she was still alive, he shrugged and left the room.

The bastard just wanted them to live long enough for the
blood-letting. The only thing that kept Anais linked to the girl and not
running to the nearest bathroom to release the bile rising up in her throat was
a stronger need to help her. Anais tried to get some form of mental dialogue
going with the girl and failed – she was too close to death.

“Anais,” whispered Conall, weary that with their combination
of magick that they’d be heard in the other room. “We need to link again, all
of us. I’ve got a connection to the girl now and so do you. As Royals we can
send healing magick to them. It’s going to take a while, so let’s start with
her and a few of the others that are as close to death as she is. We can do the
rest tomorrow morning when the vampires are resting.” He looked at the rest of
them in the inner and outer circles. “We need to do the same as before, channel
your magick to Anais and I’ll cast the spell to heal the girl. After this, we
can meet to discuss how we’ll get them out.”

“Before we discuss strategy, I think it’s time I tell you a
bit of our history. You already know that vampires used to hunt witches for
their blood,” Conall began, addressing all of them in the big kitchen. “At the
time when Anais’ ancestor, and mine, Claire, was taken from the Royal Witch
stronghold, the plight of witches was off to an ominous journey. Vampires and
witches had previously lived in harmony. They had the understanding that each
would do what had to be done to survive whilst trying to live in harmony with
the earth and all its inhabitants, including humans. Vampires never killed
then. They used glamour to hypnotize the humans before taking just enough blood
or they had arrangements with donors. These were the feudal days of masters and
mistresses, so most vampires, generally being of the wealthy, got away with
it.”

“Ayden,” at the look of shock on their faces, Conall
affirmed, “yes, that Ayden, was only a witch then and one who dabbled in the
dark arts. The witching community had long suspected it but could never prove
it until it was too late.”

Conall continued. “Back then Ayden befriended vampires,
which wasn’t unusual in those times. They began to hatch plans to increase
their magick and become more powerful. Ayden was a feudal lord and already very
powerful but in his case, the old adage is true, power corrupted him. Their
strategy was evilly brilliant and the witching community had been too naïve,
too trusting. Before they suspected anything untoward, Ayden and his band of
vampires had kidnapped and turned a number of witches to vampirism in an
attempt to create the superior army and overthrow the supernatural rulers. The
vampires began hunting down witches too, feeding from them when they found that
the additional magickal blood increased their own powers. We lived in villages
then, close to human ones but not fully part of it. The feudal system served us
well and helped us maintain some distance so humans were safely ignorant but
though the witches tried to fight, they failed miserably.”

“That explains why witches and vampires don’t mingle today
but from the sounds of things, they were at the losing end, so how did Ayden
survive?” Anais asked.

“And what happened to the witch vampires they created?”
probed V.

“The Goddess stepped in. She’s not only the Goddess for
witches; she is the Goddess of all magickal creatures, witches, shifters, fae,
vampires and others. She serves to ensure that we maintain equilibrium in this
world and inhabit it peacefully with our human neighbors. When the vampires
started to act much like the Church did with the witch-hunts, randomly
attacking humans in mistaking them for witches, she had to intervene. That’s
when she destroyed all the vampires that had committed the atrocities,
including the witch vampires. Ayden, who’d aligned himself to the Dark Lord,
used his dark magick to hide from her like the miserable coward he truly is. No
one had heard or seen him within the witch community until today.”

Conall dragged a tired hand through his hair, a stray lock
swiping at his brow. “As you know, a few months ago, witches started to go
missing. They were either kidnapped while out or their homes were found broken
into, their families killed. Only the women or girls were taken. Male witches,
even babies, were slaughtered if they happened to be at home when the
kidnappers came. We searched for them using magick as well as substantial
financial and technological resources and nothing came up.”

“Hold up,” interrupted Marie. “Why were only women and girls
taken? Magick doesn’t discriminate against gender.”

“We don’t know,” offered Niul. “But we think it boils down
to plain and simple sexist arrogance.’

Anais nodded, “From what I’ve experienced from the ancient
vampires, they still treat us like whores or chatelaines. That’s another reason
why we chose event coordinating. It gives Yves the impression that we are a
bunch of women making money from flitting around like social butterflies and
playing hostess, so he leaves us alone.”

Conall nodded but felt the flicker of irritation ignite; it
galled him to think of anyone having such an undeserving opinion of Anais. He
took a breath to stifle it and explained, “My sisters, the history geeks,
highlighted the similarities to the witch vampire wars. Around this time, the
Goddess approached me to forge an alliance with the vampire, Yves. He’d been
trying to forge this alliance for a while and I’d done my best to ignore him.
The Goddess said that I had a mission and that the first step was to accept
Yves’ offer – with caution. She prophesized that it would bring us here and
that we’d find the key.”

“There’s plenty of cryptic in that,” noted Raulf.

“Yes,” concurred Conall, “that’s the way of the Goddess.” He
lifted his shoulders in indifference. “It is because we are meant to carve out
our own fates, the only exception having been the witch-vampire war.”

“Okay, so that gives perspective,” Anais stated, “but I’m
anxious to get those girls out of there. Did you get enough of a link to be able
to find them?”

“Aye,” nodded Conall. “With the link we’ll be able to
teleport there. But that’s not enough – we need more information – we can’t
just show up. We need to know how many vampires, what the place looks like,
escape routes, how many women, etc.”

“And we only have two days to do it,” interjected Niul. “Too
risky to do it on the third and I don’t know how many women will be bled out
before then, so the sooner the better.”

Conall noted the fretful atmosphere and stated, “We can use
magick to find out more. If we heal the women, we might be able to gather some
more intelligence from them.”

“I don’t know if this is possible,” said Raulf, “but if you
could get a scent for me, the pack could try to find where they’re held and
scope the place out.”

“Pulling something tangible through a psychic connection is
tricky magick,” responded Conall. “I don’t know if it can be done, but I’ll get
my sisters to go through the old grimoires – if it can be done, it’ll be
documented somewhere.”

“I’ll stake out the house in the Garden District,” offered
V, “see if I can find something on the council. Pick up who else is in on it
and maybe get a chance to follow Akeldonna.”

“There’s one more thing. Those are vampires. Magick is one
skill and we can use that but my sisters and I need to learn to fight. Only V
is trained in combat.” She waved an arm in the direction of the four men.
“Also, as strong and powerful as y’all are there were many vampires there and
from what Akeldonna said, they have others. I get the feeling that we’re
outnumbered.”

“Nope,” Raulf responded resolutely. “I have a pack of wolves
who’d love to get their paws dirty. They’re innocents being tortured and
killed. Wolves were created to protect the innocent – it would go against our
very reason for being not to help them.” 

“Thanks Raulf, we’re honored by your offer of the aid of
your pack,” Conall stated sincerely as he crossed the room and shook hands with
his prior nemesis.

“I can offer more man-power and magick too,” Sylvain
interrupted the moment of ‘bromance’. He pointedly ignored Conall’s look of
surprise and addressed the rest. “I have a secret to tell. That I have come to
trust you is the only reason I’m divulging this, but under no circumstances
must this secret be revealed.” He took a deep breath while the rest sat wary,
breaths held and dropped the bombshell, “I’m not a witch. I’m Sylvain, Prince
of Fae.”

“What would this fae be, boy? “ Miss Suzette, confusion
knitting her brow, asked while the others sat shocked, mouths wide open. 

“That would be fairies, Miss Suzette,” Sophie explained.
“Fae is the real word for fairies.”

“I thought you were a witch, Sylvain, you don’t look like
Tinkerbelle to me.” Miss Suzette leaned to peer behind Sylvain, as though she
was expecting wings to sprout from his back. It was said with a complete lack
of mockery and such sincere curiosity that the others packed out laughing, the
mood lightening considerably. Miss Suzette looked so baffled at their laughter
that it only cracked them up more.

“Oh God,” Anais gasped between giggles, taking the tissue
Rose handed her to wipe the tears away. She went over to Miss Suzette and
pecked her cheek. “Thank you for making us laugh, we needed it.” Miss Suzette
blushed and swatted Anais away with embarrassment.

Sylvain, lips curved, continued, “Just like vampires are
different to what we find in movies and tales, so are fae. We don’t have wings
but we can fly, so you’re not far off Miss Suzette. Many of you won’t know of
the fae and what you know won’t be nearly close to the truth. Like you, we’re
supernatural, magickal beings. But unlike you, we don’t have any biological
link to humans.”

Sylvain disappeared and was replaced by a glowing misty
creature with lights of silver, white and gold passing through him, twinkling
and dancing. He had a shape similar to what he’d held before but was far from
human or ghost. He exuding bliss and all things wonderful. It enthralled them,
pulled at them. Unknowingly, they all edged closer, wanting to touch that
glorious magick, to be wrapped in it. A sweet enticing scent permeated the air,
making them draw in deeply to get more of it. Anais smelled Chanel no. 5 and
roses in the hand of a happy bride, Miss Suzette smelled the spicy air that
surrounded her mother’s gumbo after stepping into the kitchen from school; each
of them smelled the scent they most treasured. Sylvain spoke to them; his voice
rang with the sounds of musical instruments playing in perfect harmony.

Sylvain returned back to the shape they were accustomed to
seeing him in, snapped his fingers and jerked them back to reality. The men
scowled, feeling uncomfortable at their lack of control and the magnetic pull
they’d felt. “I’m sorry, my friends. It was the easiest way to show you and a
sight that very, very few non-fae have witnessed. The pull you felt is stronger
for normal humans and they become quickly addicted to it.”

Sylvain noticed the wonder and quiet acquiescence, then
continued, “We’re magickal, completely magickal. Our magick is neither dark nor
light, it just is. It is the oldest, purest form of magick that ever was and
ever will be. We’re also a very secretive bunch, having learnt before the time
of witches, wizards or any other supernatural creature, that it served our
continued existence better. We have no desire for human or supernatural
politics, living much more harmonious on our own. So, we’re insular and
selfish. Our focus is our magick and preserving it.”

A sliver of sarcasm crept into Sylvain’s voice during the
latter part of his speech but disappeared quickly and Anais wasn’t sure if
she’d imagined it. “I appreciate your honesty, Sylvain,” Anais stated solemnly.
“On behalf of everyone here, I can assure you that we’ll honor your trust in
us. We know what it is like to be different and to live in secret, especially
today in the world of Google, YouTube and social networking. I don’t think any
of us want a flash mob on our doorsteps. Thank you for your confidence in us.”

“I had no doubt that I could trust you all.” Sylvain
inclined his head in her direction. “We live in fae hollows or villages, always
in the middle of natural landscapes like forests, hills. The purity of it
matches our magick and suits our preference for isolation from non-fae. The fae
can fight, though, and we have enough warriors to assist you. So, having said
that, I propose that we all move to the fae hollow tomorrow.” At the raised
brows, he offered further clarity. “It is here, in the bayou and has actually
been here for millennia. It is one of the most protected places on earth, all
fae hollows are. As Prince, I am able to invite you to it. On top of being
safe, it is also one of the most magickal places on earth. That will give Anais
and Conall the additional boost required to remotely heal so many of those
captive girls.”