Twenty five

Elder Quentin roamed in circles for the span of a minute before dropping the question "So what do you intend to do?"

David felt his knee jerk. The spell was wearing off and now he had to deal with a scheming elder witch. David's plan was to exorcise his sister before Alpha Sofiane or Candice did anything to jeopardize the rocky peace that had been sustained between the eating faction. He had no problem telling Quentin if he trusted the warlock. It sounded selfish to put oneself above the preservation of one's kind but that was the Blossom way of survival. He was a shunned one. The disgraced runts were the first to kick the bucket. If he told the elder, there was more than a fair chance the warlock would just leave him to the wolves literally and take credit for everything. Exorcism was not a difficult task for a witch of his ranks. In fact, David suspected the idea might have already popped into his stupid head but for clear reasons, the man seemed to be wary of the underestimation he had given his late sister.

"An exorcism." David finally answered. "Not the regular kind. It's one I found in an old family book of shadows. But to perform the ritual, I need to get close. Physical contact to be precise."

"And this exorcism, will it not have any negative effect on the host?"

"There are minor side effects to the ritual but not one we should be worried about."

Elder Quentin roamed the room combing through his streak of black and grey as he strode corner to corner trying to cook up something to save his ass. For all the position and power, the elder looked no less than a spineless coward.

"I'm not sure how we are going to bring this up to Jason. That bastard is unpredictable. There is no way in hell he won't believe we had a hand in this."

"The Alpha doesn't have to know." David chipped in. "It will be..."

Elder Quentin raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't know better, I would say this has nothing to do with you getting back into the coven."

"What?" David stepped back, concluding the final moments of his anesthetic spell. A scream erupted from his throat and he dropped to the floor as the pain washed over him anew.

"Neither does it have to do with exorcising your sister. So David, what are you hiding?"

"What else do you think I would gain from this?" David asked with gritted teeth.

"I don't know." The man confessed. "You Blossom witches are a damn pain in the neck. There is an ulterior motive. There is always an ulterior motive."

The head witch had also begun to mutter something ancient the second he finished his statement. David wasn't sure his body could take another brutal assault. So he confessed before it was too late.

"I did it for Sofiane!"

The warlock stopped chanting for a split second. A smile curled up his lips and he continued like a fucking psychopath. If his eyes didn't turn up like a white glow stick, David might not have rethought the idea of dislodging the man's nose before he finished his already viciously shattered bones. Elder Quentin was actually chanting a healing spell. As the warlock passed his palm over his body, he felt his bones crunch back in place and the pain slowly dull.

"Love..." He scoffed. "That is not something I expected to hear from a Blossom. I thought your kind was obsessed with getting power. Even your sister seemed to inherit that family trait."

It was no new news that David had a huge crush on Alpha Sofiane before his sister blissfully got matched with the Alpha like a cruel joke from the moon goddess. Once his body was back to its original state, David was able to sit up and face the enigma of a witch. He was torn between throwing a thank you or welcome the already conceived idea of punching the smug bastard in the face. But his new state left him feeling foreign in his own skin and he just stood there numb.

"I believe you, David. Putting your plan into motion is the only roadblock. I cannot have Alpha Jason knowing we are planning to purge his mate of some psychotic witch."

Before David could throw his idea into the mess swirling in the warlock's head, his phone chimed. Elder Quentin headed to the table, peered into his screen for a moment then back at the chopped-up hearts that were beginning to look dried before he picked.

"Hello, Satake."

There were a few exchanges before Elder Quentin finally cut the call. He had a blank look on his face and David suspected it had to be bad news if it was the word coming from the right-hand man of the Crow. Suddenly, a croaky laugh erupted from the man's throat making David doubt everything he had assumed earlier. He didn't have to ask before the man filled him in on the details.

"It seems like your sister made the first move to her triumphant return. Alpha Jason's mate just collapsed and word from the beta of the Crow pack is that her body glowed like a light bulb. Now he's in need of a witch to find out what happened."

***

JASON

The pack ground was practically empty with the exception of me, Devin, Olamide's unfortunate brother, and Ginger the witch.

"Don't you think this is a bit drastic?" Ginger inquired as she read through the final lines of her spellbook.

"No, you didn't teleport all this way to fucking ask questions. Wipe his memories now!"

"Don't." Deji pleaded in a dry tone. I probably looked more like the monster. I probably was. But Lilith was not a force I could take on alone. Stupid battles produced stupid results. I knew what Lilith wanted and I was ready to give it to her no matter the cost before it broke out into a war.

"Ginger, this is taking forever," I said in a cool voice. The witch nodded and immediately got to work. She placed her palms on the chest and chanted a spell in Greek that translated to 'you have never known loss because you have never felt love and hope. All you'll know is emptiness but you'll never find that missing piece' if my greek wasn't rusty. A tear that looked more like blood cascaded down the vampire's eyes before his eyes finally shut in completion to erasure.

"It is done," Ginger muttered, wiping away tears of her own. "He won't completely forget her but he'll never remember what he's forgetting. Ever." She was sure to add.

"Devin," I called onto my brother. "Pay a visit to the blood countess and hand her this gift."

Devin sighed, looked at me in disappointment but he kept his comments to himself. I was certain he saw this as low even for me but I didn't care. Devin walked up to the unconscious vampire and whipped him onto his shoulders. Seeing my plan slowly come to fruition, I faced Ginger and demanded that she finished the job.