Chapter 19

Once she’d cast her curse on her deceitful lover, Drake, Cerie had walked away without a second thought. Because of this and the fact that her daily activities gave her no cause to be around them, she’d never encountered an actual zombie until Ezra was presented to her by Jasper and Ben. She’d had no idea just how far King Landon’s contribution to her curse had made it progress. Fortunately, Jasper’s serum immediately took hold. It had already cleaned Ezra up enough that he was tolerable to be around.

Being inundated with responsibilities to the mutilated witches, the vampire babies, and the zombies, Jasper’s ability to make and distribute the serum amongst the herd was hindered. He’d only helped a small portion of them. Upon seeing Cerie’s reaction to having to weave her way through a sea of grotesque and stench ridden creatures as she followed him deeper into the masses, he expressed his appreciation for her taking over both the task of repairing the witches and binding the vampire babies. With his time freed in such a way, he had no doubt that the entire herd would receive the serum within a few weeks.

Try as she may, the old witch found the stench that accompanied the grotesqueness of the creatures so offensive that her body violently reacted. She did her best to subdue it, but the bile rose from her throat by its own volition. Her foot was raised to take the first step leading to the porch of the building that housed Jasper’s lab when she doubled over and projectile vomited.

To her surprise, it was Ben and not Jasper who criticized her for her lack of fortitude. He freely expressed his surprise over her inability to maintain control of her faculties. After all, she was the witch of all witches, was she not?

To Ben’s good fortune, Cerie was so spent by her body’s reaction to the environment that she lacked the fortitude to retaliate his insulting comments with magical punishment. Instead, she accepted Jasper’s gentle guidance to the entrance of his lab.

“I cannot explain why my body reacted in such a way,” she managed to say between involuntary gags that produced nothing but sound.

“Their scent is pungent,” Jasper soothed. “I can understand why you might respond to it in such a way.”

“Did you?” she asked as she slowly returned to her former, stable self.

“Is this your first time near them?” Jasper asked as he handed her a cloth to tend to the perspiration that had beaded on her forehead.

“I have never had cause or desire to be near them before,” she replied as she gently patted her face and neck free of moisture. With disgust, she added, “This is the first time I have ever perspired.”

“Ever?” Jasper said with surprise. “You are centuries old.”

“I have always remained calm and collected,” she explained. “I am a queen, after all. Only commoners perspire.”

Realizing that she was returning to her usual arrogant self, Jasper turned his face away to hide his smirk.

“Well,” he said with a cough that he hoped disguised the chuckle, “We won’t think on this one time again. Consider it a fluke.”

“You have zombie, but you do not stink,” she grumbled.

He thought on her comment for a moment before saying, “I have it in me, but I believe it is only enough to make me recognizable to them. I never experienced the symptoms they suffer. Not even a little bit.”

“When were you bitten?” she asked.

“At the same time that I was attacked by werewolves,” he replied. “The vampire, Rowan, found me lying half-dead in an alley and took me to his castle. He literally saved my life.”

“Yet, you turned your back on him,” she mused.

Since her tone of voice made her words sound more like an observation than an accusation, he simply nodded and said, “Yes.”

“You prefer the wolves?” she continued.

Thinking back on the time Rowan stopped the limousine so that he could rape Lila while he was forced to watch, he vehemently said, “The vampires have views on sex and the treatment of humans that I can’t abide.”

Assuming that he was referring to the mutilated witches who he’d help to rescue, Cerie nodded. Then, after a brief silence, she added, “Vampires were magical creatures in my home realm. Their ability to maintain it was lost when they were cast out. Now, they must syphon it from witches either through the drinking of blood or through sex.” Remembering Rowan’s demise and then her torture at the hands of Oscar and Samuel, she said, “Most prefer blood, but there are some who only use sex.”

Finding this bit of information interesting, Jasper asked, “Which way is more effective?”

Cerie thought for a moment before replying with, “I imagine that drinking the blood while having sex would be the most effective.”

“I can’t imagine a vampire passing up an opportunity to sink his fangs into his victim,” Jasper snarled as he thought back on what he’d witnessed.

“Or hers,” she said. When he flashed her a look of confusion, she said, “Female vampires are just as bad as males.”

“Yet, the males dominate, do they not?” Ben interjected as he entered the room.

Still annoyed with the fact that he’d had the audacity to criticize her, Cerie refused to look his way as she said, “They do.” Then, with a hint of angst, she turned to him and asked, “Why is it that you are able to tolerate the stench of these creatures? I can understand Jasper. He has it in his blood. You, on the other hand… the only explanation is that you are not full blooded witch so you don’t feel the effects of it as much.” When his eyes went wide, she sneered and said, “That’s it, isn’t it? You have human in you.”

“I do, but I have mastered magic to the extent that it is difficult to tell,” Ben admitted.

“You have disguised this fact well,” she mused. “And your coven?” she suspiciously asked, “Are they human as well?” When he didn’t respond, her tone grew more demanding, “How much of your coven is pure witch?”

“There is only one,” he hesitantly admitted. “The rest were recruited from the human realm.” Then, with a hint of desperation, he added, “They have worked hard to perfect their magic. Most are quite adept.”

“Most?” she incredulously snipped.

This bit of information changed things for her. She’d noticed that the witches she’d persuaded Samuel to release weren’t pure. She could see traces of their human aura and detected hints of their human scent. She’d hoped that it was not the case with Ben’s coven. The intermingling of witches with other species -humans in particular- was making pure witches a minority outside of her home realm. King Landon would have never tolerated such a thing. She was determined to correct this issue. She was a queen to the witches and she expected them to maintain their purity. The last thing she wanted was for her king to discover that she was ruling a kingdom of mutts. No matter how hard they worked at it, a half-breed witch could never match the magic of a full blooded one.

“This explains how the vampires got the jump on you,” she hissed. “A pure witch would have sensed them coming.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed. Since he had a human parent, he took offense by her prejudice. He’d worked hard to develop his own magic and had devoted a good deal of his life to finding and recruiting witches born in the human realm so that he could help them get in touch with, and perfect, their witch side.

Cerie’s snide remarks cut to his core. So much so that he threw caution to the wind as he snarled, “Is that why you were held a sex slave for so long? If my sources are correct, you’d still be there… or be dead… if it weren’t for one of those impure humans.”

The air grew heavy with tension and so silent that Jasper’s gasp seemed to echo off the walls.

“You have a death wish, I see,” Cerie snarled between pursed lips.

Fearful for his friend, Jasper cast him a quizzical look of disdain for his actions as he quickly stepped between the two magical beings.

Placing both hands on her upper arms with a gentle, but firm grip, he softly cooed, “It has been a difficult time for your body and a tense time for us. I suggest we get some rest and allow our emotions to settle down.”

Cerie stubbornly jutted her chin, but said nothing while her hardened glower locked with Jaspers gentle gaze. After a few minutes of silence that felt to both Jasper and the remorseful warlock like a few hours, her expressions softened.

She finally nodded her head and asked, “Where can I rest?”

Placing his hand on her elbow, Jasper carefully guided her to the room in the back of the lab. Inside, she found a bed that was large enough for two, a table, a chest, and a comfortable looking chair. Although not glamourous, it was impressively inviting.

“I did not expect anything this cozy,” she said with surprise.

“This is my room,” he informed her. “It is yours as long as you need it.”

She was standing close enough and was calm enough to notice just how much his large, masculine, sexiness towered over her petite, feminine frame. She instantly forgot her angst with the warlock and remembered her desire for Jasper’s body.

“What about you?” she asked with a seductive tone.

“If I need to, I can find a place to lay my head,” he quickly assured her. “I sleep very little. My mind doesn’t seem to settle down enough to allow it.”

“I’ll bet I can get you to relax,” she cooed as she placed her hand flat against the hardness of his chest.

Her meaning was clear, but he wasn’t convinced he was up to what she wanted. His time with Freya had soured him to the lure of sexy centuries old queens. Freya came across far less arrogant than Cerie, yet he’d seen past her beauty to the ugliness that lay beneath. He could only imagine what the façade the old witch displayed was hiding.

Patting her small hand with his larger one, he softly said, “I have a few things to tend to. Why don’t you get some rest. I’ll return as soon as I can.”

Annoyed, but feeling the need to regenerate her body after the turmoil it had just endured, Cerie nodded and fell onto the bed. Within minutes she was gently snoring.