Emptiness

Jolie:
Alex smiles,pleased. He takes my chin between his thumb and index finger and briefly rocks it.
—You are such a clever little witch. - He whispers with an admiring expression. -Many people don't even know who she was.
I pry my chin from the contact with his fingers and rolling my eyes at him.
— I think we have established ad nauseam, that I am not "a lot of people." I like reading. That brings about I know many things other people don’t.
He gives me that crooked smile that would once make my poor heart throb. Now I think the withered organ isn't even beating.
— You offered her a second chance, she accepted it, had to die burned and turned to ashes, her molecules came back together and then what? She became a psychotic killer and entertained herself by mutilating people?
I see him purse his lips and lower his head in shame.

—There is something I must confess. There is a period in the life of an immortal that can only be described with a word: Emptiness.
—It is a difficult feeling to explain, I think it can be compared to the depression suffered by humans. It all started for me in the seventeen hundred. By then I ... couldn’t find happiness in my existence. So much was the dissatisfaction I experienced that in the middle of that century I began to inquire about Yoleandra’s whereabouts . I was curious to know ... what had become of her, so, I traced the little vestige she left during ancient Rome, I rescued a few of her old belongings in Spain and later I discovered her descendants in England, but that branch of the Bruxa Clan had no mastery of the use of magiks.Therefore, I followed her trail to France and then having traveled much of the known world I knew she had set sail for the new world. Hence I took the Identity of Alexander O'Reilly and made several incursions in the Americas hoping to find her. No wonder the Sorceress was disappointed in me while I was governor in New Orleans, during those years of my life I was myself.
—It was difficult for me to find your relatives in New Orleans. Yoleandra had changed her name too often. If I had had a bit of luck ... I would have found her still alive.
I swallow hard.
If you had been a bit of luck, we'd never have met Alex.
— In short, when my inquiries finally paid off, both Laveau daughters had already been murdered.
He sighs and compresses his lips
— Jeanne beat me to it. Two months, I was late for a measly two months. Desperate at the impasse I was in... Ah... I decided to open both graves, yours and that of your eldest daughter's. There was absolutely nothing left of you. But in your daughter's grave I found the Grimoire and the star- stone necklace.
—My great-grandfather's letters...
—Exactly. I was unable to read the Grimoire, of course. But the letters were something else. They pointed my search in a new direction and gave me hope, though I was forced to stop my plans for a while, I suspected someone was behind your entire family’s near extinction . Then, ten years ago, I received the news that you and your grandmother had been found. I was impressed, back then you were just a teenager and yet your resemblance to the Sorceress was incredible. I let my coven members know in 2018 that my search had paid off.
—And Jeanne came for us.
— Yes. Luckily she gave you for dead and since then went into hiding.
—But she heard I was still alive and you had to kidnap me.
— Precisely.
I frown.
—Alex?
—Yes, mikrí mou magissa?
—I don't know if you have noticed ... but I believe there are two traitors in your Coven. Jeanne tried to murder me but someone told her that I was still alive.

Jeanne:
Three weeks. Three hellish weeks in which I have not been able to uncover where our Mégas has gone to hide with his damned witch! Alexandros has too many properties around the world. It is impossible for me to determine in which of them they are hidden. I lost track of them as soon as they took off in the jet.
At this rate we will all die. I have contacted the person who always provides me with information. The remaining ten idiots of the council have turned their backs on me, I don't care what our Mega says since we are all in grave danger. Are they so blind that they can't see it? I have been declared an outlaw in more than ninety nations. Ironic, I laugh. I ... accused of treason. Me ... who was chosen by the Elementals to hasten the liberation of my country from the English yoke.
I, who am a saint venerated by the French Catholic faithful! A traitor? No.Our Megas is the traitor. He has washed his hands and left us to our fate. I won’t allow it!
This won’t stay this way. Until now, Pierre and Willielmes have been in charge of the dirty work, I have avoided staining my hands with blood all these centuries but this witch ... this damn witch! ...She has earned me gutting her with my bare hands!
The "ding" of an incoming message sounds on my cell phone. I read it:
"South end of Spiros Island."
Well, I've finally been provided with a clue. I sigh in relief. It is time to meet with my dear friends once more. We have a witch to hunt.