The Vampire & Her Witch

Micheline did her best to restrain herself when her aunt Maela entered the small, private dining room that she and her mother had moved to for their surprise reunion dinner. She’d only seen Maela once since returning from the Royal Academy in the summer, and at the time, her aunt seemed distant and distracted, as if she’d lost her sense of direction once her children moved away.

Now, after months of being unable to visit her favorite aunt, she finally got to see her again... Only it came days after receiving the news that her cousin Ashlynn had died and, in a twist of fate so cruel it must have been a joke, Owain Lothian intended to claim her cousin Jocelynn as a replacement bride.

Micheline was no stranger to political marriages. Her parents had been setting matchmaking appointments for her ever since she returned home. She’d never had any illusions that she would be allowed to marry for love, especially when the person she fancied was so far out of reach.

But an arranged marriage between powerful families was one thing... What Owain Lothian was doing to her cousins felt both shameless and demeaning, as if the Blackwell sisters were wagon wheels that could be exchanged the moment one struck a pothole. It wasn’t right, and if Aunt Maela voiced the slightest disapproval, Micheline was ready to make it clear just how little she thought of the Lothian lord who would do such a thing.

As soon as she saw Maela, however, with her reddened eyes and tear-stained cheeks, her thoughts of quiet commiseration were instantly replaced by a much sharper desire to make her disapproval felt rather than heard. She still had friends at the Academy and her mind was already conjuring a list of names who were both powerful enough and positioned well enough to make life difficult for whoever had made her aunt Maela cry.

”Maela,” Countess Hedra said, rushing over to her sister-in-law with a welcoming hug as soon as she saw her enter. ”I’m so sorry about... about everything,” she said, stroking Maela’s pale blond hair lovingly as she enveloped her in a tender embrace.

”And I’m glad you came home. Please, stay as long as you want,” Hedra added, giving Maela a final squeeze before she stepped back. ”This place was your home before it was mine, and we’ll never turn you away.”

”Thank you, Hedra,” Maela said, looking between her brother and her sister-in-law before her eyes fell on her niece. ”Hello Micheline,” she said with a strange catch in her voice. ”You know, you look so much like Jocelynn these days that, if your hair were lighter, you’d think you were sisters.”

”I’m sorry I wasn’t here when she passed through,” Micheline said, glancing at the strange man who followed her aunt like a shadow draped in silk and lace. ”I would have liked to see her before she went to Lothian,” she said, creating an opening in the conversation that her aunt could enter or not, as she pleased.

”I’ll be seeing her soon,” Maela said, taking her seat along with the rest of her brother’s family at the small, round table heaped with elegant dishes for their dinner. ”You could come with me,” she added a moment later after glancing at the strange, dark-haired man and receiving a nod of approval. ”It should be safe for you there. Maybe safer than staying here, at least for a little while.”

”Maela,” Dylan said, frowning at his sister. ”Maybe we should get to the message that your ’friend’ Marcel is carrying before we start with dinner. We’re all family here,” he added with a pointed look at the one person in the room who wasn’t. ”You can speak freely.”

”You’re right,” Maela said, nodding in agreement. ”The sooner you know... But Brother, the things I’m about to tell you, they cannot leave this room. I’ve never asked you to keep secrets this serious but if you can’t swear to me, all of you, that you won’t betray this confidence... I’ll leave now before I put you in any danger.”

”I swear it,” Dylan said without a moment of hesitation. ”Micheline, leave the room; you’re not ready for whatever this is.”

”Father!” Micheline protested. ”I’m not a child anymore. I’ll be married soon enough and...”

”And that’s why you should leave,” Dylan said, pressing a finger on the table. ”If this is a secret that would put you in conflict with your future husband, then it’s a secret you shouldn’t hear.”

”That’s not fair,” Micheline snapped. ”You’re keeping things from me again, just like you did when I went to school. I want to help you, Father. I promised I would. I helped Inry to enter Prince Henri’s retinue, didn’t I? I’ve been away from home for years, and still, I helped with everything you asked,” she insisted.

”I’ve earned the right to your trust, Father,” she said, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at her father. ”I’m staying, unless Aunt Maela asks me to go.”

”This is what I get for letting you grow up at school,” Dylan said, shaking his head and turning to Hedra for support. But when his eyes met his wife’s, she only shook her head, clearly taking their daughter’s side.

”I’m outnumbered,” Dylan groused, reaching out for a soft dinner roll and tearing it into pieces that fell haphazardly on his plate. He glanced briefly at the mysterious ’Marcel’ but found even less support there. ”Fine, but if this becomes a problem later, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said, determined to have the last word. ”Sometimes, knowledge is a curse rather than a blessing.”

”This is good news, at least,” Maela said, coming to Micheline’s rescue. ”Well, it begins with good news. Marcel brought me a letter from Ashlynn; she and Jocelynn are both alive and well.”

”What?” Micheline blurted before clapping a hand over her mouth. ”Aunt Maela,” she said a moment later when she’d regained a measure of her composure. ”That, that’s wonderful news! But, but how?”

”That part is more complicated,” Maela said. ”Because your cousin Ashlynn is a witch...”