A Werewolf, A Vampire, and A Fae Walk Into A Bar (Book 1 of The Last Witch Series) novel Chapter 21

“Awesome, let’s bring some witches into the mix,” I say sarcastically. My nerves are frayed and I'm definitely using snark to hide that. AJ sees right through me though, and reaches for my hand, offering what comfort she can.

"I anticipated push back from those who wish to thwart us," Darius says, "but I'm surprised the witches are getting involved.”

"I'm not," Rune says calmly. "This directly affects all magical races, particularly the witches. If your kind hadn't hunted them out of our world, we might not be in this mess in the first place.”

Darius bares his teeth, and fangs protrude, his eyes darkening even further. "Push me too far, fae, and I'll develop a taste for your blood."

Zev studies them both and shakes his head. "My kind has the reputation for being hotheads, but I think you're both stealing that title."

“Please,” Darius says. “We’ve seen you at your angriest, Zev, and it’s not something either of us can compete with.”

The werewolf walks over and gets in the vampire’s face, forcing me to take a few steps back just in case a fight breaks out.

“And if your cold, dead heart could make room for emotions, you would have been angry as well.”

They’re back at it again with whatever beef developed during their years at, I don’t know, magic school. It’s like siblings who can’t let something go, and as an only child, I’m annoyed enough to put an end to it.

“Jesus Christ, what are you talking about? Get it out in the open so we don’t have to pause every hour for this redundant shit fit.”

Neither Darius nor Zev looks at me, still locked on each other and fuming. Rune steps forward to speak, putting a hand on Zev as he does so and hopefully delivering some calm to the furious wolf.

“We learned of this prophecy at the same time, centuries back,” the fae says. “As it affected each kingdom, the three of us were part of an ancient council that aimed to work with some sense of a common goal.”

“Four of us,” Darius says, still not turning away from Zev.

“Yes, there was a fourth,” Rune continues. “A witch named Cara. A dear friend to us all.”

“Not dear enough,” Zev says, leaving no question as to who he’s addressing.

I look at Darius, a new level of rage on his face. It seems like he needs a chance to speak about this through a mediator, so I ask him the next question.

“Darius,” I say in as gentle a voice as I can muster, “what happened?”

The vampire finally takes his attention off Zev and looks at me. The room immediately feels a shade less hostile.

“We all worked together to translate and understand the prophecy,” Darius says, gazing at the wall like his memories are projected there. “Cara wanted to work on a spell that might illuminate the meaning of the language. We initially told her not to, that there was too much magic in play, but she insisted. And I was the first to take her side.”

Zev opens his mouth to speak, but Rune tightens his grip on the wolf’s shoulder and silences him.

“So… your friend died?” Their silence seems like a pretty solid affirmation. “And you were all there when she did whatever she did, and Darius maybe didn’t push back as hard as you two would have liked. And instead of talking it out, you’ve been mad for, what, a millennium?”

More confirming silence.

“Okay,” I say, coming to the end of my usefulness as a paranormal counselor when they continue staring in silence. “I’m glad that got explained. It’s… a lot.”

The tension breaks a little when Rain begins crying, and I feel bad at how happy I am to hear my child fussing. "We’ll get back to that, because right now we need to find Karl," I say, my mind spinning with a plan. "Or whoever he’s working with, since I'm pretty sure he's not a witch."

"He's not," Zev says. "Witches are exclusively women. Always have been."

Huh. That's interesting and slightly unexpected. "Okay, so as I said, we need to find him and figure out who he's working with and why they also want my baby. How many magical species will we be fighting to keep her safe?" I clutch her more closely, fear and a fierce maternal protectiveness clouding my thinking.

"If he has magic, he might not be easy to track," Zev says gruffly. "As for how many others might be after her, that's hard to say. There are many races, but the witches, werewolves, fae, and vampires are the primary. All others are derived from us over the course of thousands of years."

"So nymphs are, like, some kind of blend? A magical mutt?" AJ asks, disappointment clear in her voice. She definitely wanted to be higher on the pyramid.