Chapter 16 pt. 3

After a text message to Leo and calming down with the help of tea, Alizya explained that for my own safety, she needed to bind my magic. I was nervous that taking away my magic would make me a more violent vampire. There was no good answer that Alizya could give to me to make the nerves go away either, so we simply went through with it.

Taking my hands in hers; me sitting, her standing in front of me, she began to say things that I didn’t understand. Things like calling on the ancestors and letting spirit guide us, all sounded a little ridiculous to me. When she let go of my hands, I didn’t feel any different. I wasn’t even sure that anything had happened so I was confused by how exhausted she looked.

“Did it work?” I asked carefully.

Alizya nodded. “You have a lot of power hidden beneath the surface. For now it is bound and should cause no more trouble but be careful and don’t give it any reason to break the binding.”

I picked up Mariella’s phone along with my own and added myself as a contact. It just made sense for them to be able to reach me and vise-versa. “If you find something to get my memory back, Mariella will have my phone number. Tell her to stay away from Nyctophilia so she doesn’t get hurt.”

“She only went to find you. Witches stay away from vampire establishments otherwise because we know what happens.”

I nodded. “Good.”

“Now, can I send you to Leo’s or to the market. Either way I think you’ll need to call him to tell him where you are.”

“His house is probably the safe option,” I answered. “I’ll call him when I get there. I need some time to take this all in.”

“I’ll be in touch,” she finished before the kitchen disappeared only to be replaced with the living room at Leo’s.

There was a weird feeling of detachment that lingered in me. I didn’t know why I felt that way but I had to sit on the couch until the overwhelming feeling finally left. I almost didn’t want to call Leo but staring at my phone wasn’t going to change anything.

His phone only rang once before he was demanding to know where I was and if I was okay.

“Leo, I’m fine. I’m at your house. Can you come here? We need to talk.”

“What happened? Did they hurt you?” he pressed.

“I’m completely fine. When you get here we can talk about what happened.”

I heard him sigh. “I’m on my way. Don’t leave the house.”

“I didn’t plan on it, Leo.” I finished, tired of fighting everyone and ready to just sleep. I set my phone on the side table and pressed myself deeper into the couch. In the ten minutes it took him to arrive, I had almost managed to fall asleep. The door burst open and I jumped to my feet, ready to defend myself.

“Raven?!” Leo called from the doorway.

I sighed in relief that he wasn’t an attacker and went around the corner only to be caught in his embrace.

“You’re not doing that again. Not ever,” he breathed into my hair.

“I don’t plan on it,” I returned, relaxing in his arms.

He held me out at arm’s length to look me over for a moment then pulled me back and kissed my forehead. “Let’s sit down so you can tell me what happened. I really want to know why one of the witch elders needed you.”

I nodded and we made ourselves comfortable on the couch together. While I appreciated the security of being held, it got awkward really quickly and I stood to get my own space.

“I can’t talk to you if we sit like that,” I said quietly, trying to make an excuse for my behavior.

“It’s okay, just tell me what happened then we can get some sleep. You look beat.”

I nodded and turned to look at the chair for a moment before deciding to go sit there. I was so tired, my brain was moving at a snail’s pace. Leo watched and waited patiently until I was comfortable in the chair and looking into his deep brown eyes.

“I’m a witch,” I began, then stopped, waiting for his reaction.

He didn’t say anything so I had to decide whether to continue or not . In the end I just needed to fill the silence.

“I’m the great granddaughter of Alizya, the elder who sent the goons to get me. She bound my power or whatever so that I don’t get in trouble with Warren.”

More silence.

“I need you to say something,” I begged after a moment.

Finally he shook his head, breaking eye contact with me. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“I told her the same thing, but she knew my mom. She said that I’m named after my great grandma.”

“You can’t do magic though. I would have seen it.”

“Apparently, I stopped time.”

Silence.

“Do you hate me?” I whispered nervously.

He looked up at me suddenly and our eyes locked. “No, Raven, I love you. I don’t hate you.”

I smiled at him a little despite still being nervous.

“So you can do magic?” he tried with a small smile to match my own and open arms beckoning me back to him. I went willingly. “It’s a little weird for a vamp but kinda cool at the same time. Do you have to check in with the witches now or something?”

“Alizya has my number. Do we have to tell Kris about this?”

“I think we probably should. He knows about the memory loss so he can probably help with this too.”

I nodded as I yawned. “I guess, if you say so.”