The Vampire & Her Witch

”...to do that, I’m going to need your help...”

”You said that before,” Nyrielle said, concern wrinkling her brow as she gazed at her lover lying in bed. ”That you needed my help to restore the balance of the Olive Seed. What is it that you need me to do?”

”I have two ideas, but I don’t know if either is even possible,” Ashlynn said as she reached out to take another morsel of cheese from the tray on her lap. She wasn’t really hungry, not after the bread and the large bowl of Georg’s hearty soup, but having something to nibble on gave her time to compose her thoughts.

”Is it possible to focus your Kiss of the Void on the seed itself?” Ashlynn asked. ”If you could bring about the death of hatred in the seed...”

The moment those words slipped past her lips, a sudden constricting feeling seized her chest. Deep within, the Olive Seed’s delicate roots coiled tightly about her heart like a closing fist, pulling a gasp from Ashlynn’s lips before she could stifle it.

”No,” Nyrielle said, shaking her head before Ashlynn could even finish asking. ”The seed is tangled around your heart and its roots sink into your veins. It would be impossible for me to destroy the seed’s ability to hate without destroying yours as well.”

”And don’t,” Nyrielle added when she saw a thoughtful look flicker across Ashlynn’s face. ”Don’t ever give up your hatred. It’s too precious.”

”Hatred is precious?” Ashlynn said, frowning at her lover. ”That’s not something I ever expected to hear someone say...”

”You know how tangled most emotions are,” Nyrielle said, resting her hand on Ashlynn’s chest so she could feel her lover’s heartbeat. It was stronger than it had been when Georg brought her back to their bedchamber, but still weaker than it should have been. The rise and fall of her chest when she breathed was shallower too.

Beneath her palm, she could feel something else as well. A faint, warm pulse, buried deep beneath Ashlynn’s ribs, that didn’t keep time with her heart at all. She’d felt seeds growing in Ashlynn’s chest before, but even she had to admit that this one was different. Its roots sank deeper into her lover’s heart than any other seed Ashlynn had nurtured, and it pulled more from Ashlynn than she’d allowed any other seed to take.

No wonder it had grown to be so terrifying.

”Hatred and fury both become tangled in your sense of righteousness,” Nyrielle said, moving her hand from Ashlynn’s chest to cup her cheek. ”Your ability to be enraged by the injustice you see is one of the things that drives your desire to do better for the people you cherish. Remove the hatred, and you erode the fury; erode the fury too much, and the most intolerable acts of injustice become much easier to stomach.”

”You can cling to your moral compass for a time,” Nyrielle said. ”But eventually, vampires who have lost their ability to be outraged by cruelty become callous and cruel themselves.”

”I understand,” Ashlynn said, easily imagining how the progression that Nyrielle had described could play out.

The Church taught that hatred lay at the root of wickedness. It was an emotion everyone was expected to struggle against and resist lest it lead them from the bright paths the Holy Lord of Light had prepared for them. Righteous fury was a different thing, but when Ashlynn examined the root of each feeling, she found them to be remarkably similar.

And, exactly as Nyrielle had said, they quickly grew tangled with each other. When she thought of Owain, she couldn’t pretend that everything she felt about him was righteous. She hated him deeply, and she’d wanted to see him suffer before he died.

She wanted him to watch as he lost his treasured family lands, and she wanted to see him humiliated as a woman bested him with a sword. It wasn’t enough to execute him in the name of justice. He had to suffer first, the way she had suffered...

And Jocey too, Ashlynn admitted to herself. She knew that Jocelynn had suffered in her own way, but it wasn’t the same. It was enough to propel her into action to save her sister’s life from Owain, but it wasn’t enough to forgive what she’d done.

That was why she’d prepared the Olive Seed the way she had... So that Jocelynn could suffer at least a portion of what Ashlynn had... And then, on the other side of that suffering, she hoped to find forgiveness.

”Then I’d like to feed the seed a few drops of your blood,” Ashlynn said after letting out a long sigh. ”I need your help seizing control of the seed and guiding it through my memories. For weeks, I’ve fed it my anger and my hurt and my hatred. I’ve pushed every dark impulse I’ve had toward the seed.”

”It’s like a child who refuses to eat their vegetables,” Ashlynn said with a crooked, half-smile on her lips. ”It needs a vampire to guide it and help it feed on my love, my joy, and my hope. I can’t take away the pain and suffering it’s already absorbed, but if you can help me, then maybe we can fill it up with enough of the rest to give Jocey a fair trial.”

”Or at least,” Ashlynn added. ”One she has a hope of surviving.”

”Are you certain you want to do this?” Nyrielle asked. ”You’ve seen the results of using my feather in Ollie’s ritual. My intention was to give him power as a reward for all that he’s done, but he stands closer to the Void than any witch before him ever has. Too close at times,” she reminded Ashlynn.

”If I give the seed even a drop of my blood,” Nyrielle said. ”Do you know what will happen to your sister when you place the seed within her chest? She may come to resemble my progeny even more than Ollie does. Is that really what you want for her?”

”I want her to survive,” Ashlynn said as she leaned into Nyrielle’s touch. ”If she takes after you, that’s fine. You’re the one who saved her life the night you stopped me from charging into Lothian to kill her. She owes you for that, and I won’t begrudge a bond that’s formed between you from this ritual.”

”I never had a sister,” Nyrielle said as her midnight eyes grew distant, gazing back into the distant past when she’d been young, and her parents were still alive. ”I think my parents would have been happy to give me a little sister if they could have,” she said with a sad smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

”Since you want to offer up yours, I’ll accept,” Nyrielle said, returning her gaze to Ashlynn. ”But no vampire has attempted what we’re attempting. It may not work the way you expect it to.”

”I know,” Ashlynn said, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow as she tried to think of any alternative. ”But if we’re going to try this, then now is the best time,” she said resolutely. ”After all,” Ashlynn added as a hopeful smile appeared on her lips.

”You just drank deeply from me,” Ashlynn reminded her lover. ”Much of the blood flowing through your veins is mine, and it carries the power of a witch with it. The power of life, growth, and new possibilities. Now, it’s time to see what our combined powers are capable of...”