Walking with the Vampire |COMPLETE|

21. Spectres

Valentina made herself invisible to the human eye. Which meant only the wolves, Osei and Semi could see her.

With her cloak in place, she ventured into the cabin where the witches were all huddled over a book with a very attentive Semi.

Osei however, was laid back on a couch.
He looked very relaxed and nonchalant. Even when his eyes landed on hers he only tightly nodded his acknowledgment.
And lying beneath his feet was Rex, mirroring his owner's state.

Valentina crept behind Semi and breathed in her ear.
'Ask her about the guardian trees.'
Semi jumped a little, startling the other girls.
'I felt a kick.' The lie smoothly came to her tongue.

They smiled at her and went back to reading.

'So you see Semi, from the look of the wounds, there is definitely some dark magic still at play here.' The blue-haired witch said.

That one was obvious.
'You see every witch leaves a signature behind. So there's really two ways we can solve this, by tracking the witch..'

'Nearly impossible since even Jeffery doesn't know her.' Valentina remarked. But Semi already knew this.

'And the second option is very much the same as the first. Find the blood used to bind the magic. This is blood magic and so the caster most likely used their own blood. Again that's only a possibility.'

Valentina looked at Semi expectantly. The witches needed to know everything in order to be of help, right? She remained quiet after a shared look with Osei.
They may have the culprit chained up in a tent.

'Since this isn't going anywhere, ask her about the trees.' She partially understood why they were only giving the witches half-truths but that was wasting her time.

Semi heaved a sigh.
'On a subject totally unrelated, can you tell me a little about the guardian trees?'

'What do you want to know?' The blue haired one spoke again, lifting her eyes from the yellowed pages.
The others were still researching.

She looked at Valentina.
'Can a pregnant woman participate in the ritual?'
A deep frown marred Semi's pretty features.
Osei stiffened, if he wasn't paying attention, he was now. But Valentina was too focused on the answer to care about their feelings at the moment.

Semi, bless her, still asked the question.

'Interesting question.' Fauna replied from the entrance.
Where had she been? Valentina only then realized she'd been missing.

'I apologize for my lateness but I had an errand to run with his Lordship.' Oh, so Nicholae had been with Fauna.
The thought of that had Valentina's vision turning a shade of green.

'From what we know, that's never happened before. And it really isn't allowed for fear that the tree might violently reject the mother if the child doesn't possess magic.'

Semi herself asked the next question.
'So the mother might lose her child?'

'Yes. Or they may both lose their lives. You see why it's really not advised. The mother would either have to give birth before or give up the child by abortion.'

Were those the only alternatives?
'We have witches still working to repair the damages. But ancient magic was used and it'll take some time to restore the tree to its former glory. I'm sure you would have given birth by then.' Fauna added.

'Well thank you for that information Fauna, but Semi would not be part of that. She was just asking for someone else.'
The restraint in his voice was the only indication of his displeasure with the current topic.
Valentina could only imagine how unhappy Osei was with this entire situation. For so long he'd lost people he loved. His father, his mother, countless wolves to the insane poachers, and Danielle. The first love of his life. And here they were casually discussing a possibility of him losing Semi as if it were just a conversation about the weather.