Allison Brennan - Original Sin

Safe and hiding .

Hiding from his dreams. His nightmares. The nightmares that had come long before he arrived at Santa Louisa Mission.

Hiding from his fate.

Patience had never been her mother’s strong suit.

Serena tried to ignore Fiona’s pacing in the library, but it had begun to irritate her when Fiona asked, exasperated, “Is it ready?”

Serena frowned as she added the final ingredient to the glass bowl. She was at a delicate point in the spell; her mind needed to focus, as spells were as much willed as they were created. Fiona had incredible control over external forces, but it was the quiet concentration of spell casting that held true superiority.

Though some witches preferred wood or stone, Serena liked the conductive force of a perfectly formed, clear, pure glass bowl. Her peculiarities , as Fiona called them, had gained her the respect and awe of many. It was her magic that Fiona used to keep the other covens under her thumb. No one in their world doubted Serena’s ability. She had full command of the tools of her trade. Serena had taken magic to the next level, and beyond-a feat even her mother, on occasion, admired.

Not that Fiona would admit to anyone that Serena was as powerful as she was … or more powerful.

If you only knew what I could do, Mother .

“Serena!” Fiona snapped. “Answer me!”

Ever since Fiona’s Third Eye had been unable to locate Raphael Cooper, she’d grown increasingly irritable. Serena suspected it was more because Fiona needed to ask her for help, and Fiona did not like giving up control to any of them, even her own daughter.

Fiona had put herself in a trance and sent out her psychic “Third Eye”-an ability that worked most of the time. She tracked Rafe from the cliffs to a nearby abandoned cabin, but when she sent two of her men out to capture him, he wasn’t there. She’d been so certain, but she hadn’t allowed Serena to verify the information before impulsively acting on it.

Another rash act. Fiona’s going to the jail early this morning in her attempt to kill Moira had been particularly unwise. Now Moira knew for certain that Fiona was nearby, and probably Anthony Zaccardi did as well. The coven had been protected here in Santa Louisa partly out of ignorance-St. Michael’s Order didn’t know where they were. But now it was only a matter of time before hordes of witch hunters descended on the town and their efforts were hampered. She didn’t want to leave and stake out new territory-Santa Louisa was perfect for their purposes for many reasons.

After the failure to apprehend Rafe at the abandoned cabin, Fiona sent out her Third Eye again, but Rafe seemed to have learned how to shield his aura from exposure-a difficult and almost impossible task against Fiona’s psychic eye. Whether she was conscious of it or not, Serena didn’t know, but the more Fiona tried to find him-and failed-the more irritable she became. Now she was on the verge of exploding.

“The ingredients need to sit.” Serena put a clear crystal into the bowl and recited the spell that summoned Prziel, the demon of lost enemies, and trapped him in the crystal. Once the crystal glowed red, Prziel could be used to find nearly anyone, though he was primarily used against enemies.

Fiona paced. “When I get my hands on Raphael Cooper, he will understand true pain. If he thinks he can walk away with what I need …”

“He doesn’t know what he has locked in his mind,” Serena interrupted.

Fiona whipped around and angrily shot an electric charge at Serena. Used to her mother’s mood swings, Serena held up her hand and sent the charge into the fish tank. The water sizzled and steamed, and in seconds more fish were floating on the surface. Dammit, Margo had just put in the new fish three hours ago.

Fiona barely noticed. She whirled around and peered into the mirror, inspecting her perfect skin with a critical eye.

“We have the arca back,” Serena reminded Fiona.

“But we don’t have the Seven and they’re becoming stronger. I need them under my control before they gather so much strength even I can’t control them. We don’t have the time to screw around. I’ll pull the information from Raphael Cooper’s mind if it kills him.”

It likely would, and if it didn’t, Fiona would find other ways to torture him and make him beg for death.

Serena didn’t want Rafe to suffer, but he’d made his decision when he fought them ten weeks ago at the mission. There was nothing Serena could do to end Fiona’s wrath. If only the process had been completed then, they would have had the Seven under their control the night of the fire on the cliffs when they first opened the gates. But Rafe had led Anthony Zaccardi to Santa Louisa. The demonologist’s presence had forced them to be cautious, lest he discover them. They’d been smart, and while he was suspicious and had walked the ruins nearly every day, he hadn’t figured out why he was suspicious, and that enabled them to continue their work.

But Moira had somehow tracked them to Santa Louisa. Fiona thought Moira was weak, foolish, annoying-a pest, a gnat to swat dead. Fiona wanted to torment her for fun and revenge, but didn’t consider her a real threat.

Serena suspected that Fiona underestimated Moira.

Serena had once dreamed that she and Moira would band together and defeat their psycho mother. Together, they would be more powerful than anyone could imagine. But Moira didn’t want to run the coven and had turned her back on their gifts.

Serena desperately missed her sister, loving and hating her at the same time. Did Moira ever think about her? Did she remember that there was a time when they were best friends? Did she know that it was Serena who put a magical shield around her so Fiona didn’t know she’d slipped out? Did Moira know that Serena had saved her life?

Serena stared at the glass bowl. The clear liquid began to bubble, though it was nowhere near a source of heat.

“I need his blood,” she said.

Fiona walked over to the locked mini-fridge behind her desk and typed in the secret code. She didn’t trust anyone, even Serena, with that information, though Serena had broken the code many times. Fiona always underestimated her, just as she underestimated Moira. It pleased Serena to have so many secrets from the sorceress, the one who believed no one could lie to her.

Fiona handed over the small test tube of Rafe’s blood that Richard had obtained for them. They had only a few left-in a rage, Fiona had once fried the fridge, destroying everything inside. They were still rebuilding their supplies.

Serena held up the tube of Rafe’s blood, opened the stopper, and chanted the words she knew by heart, a spell she had perfected. Few witches today did anything but what the old books told them; Serena could write her own grimoire with powerful, original spells. She understood more than even the most seasoned of witches, more than Fiona herself, though Serena wouldn’t say that out loud.

She dripped two drops of Rafe’s blood into the potion. “As it is above,” she said, adding two more drops, “it is below.” Two final drops were added and she sealed the tube. Fiona took it from her but didn’t return it to the fridge. She, too, was entranced by the metaphysical reaction in the bowl.

The clear liquid turned blood red, bubbling and churning. A whirlpool began to move faster and faster, and the table the bowl rested on began to shake violently. Serena held the sides of the bowl so it wouldn’t crash to the floor, the liquid warm but not burning.