Vampires & Vinca (Hawthorn Witches Book 4) Read Free

a Hawthorn could have taken it from under there.”
    “A Hawthorn did, as I understand it,” Charlie said carefully. “And Annie then handed it to her friend, who became the first person who was not a Hawthorn to read it since it was written.”
    Standing still in the bedroom, I felt a chill fall over me. It was one of the most sacred books in all of existence, passed down from blood to blood in a succession that had gone on for hundreds of years. The spells in that book had gained power with every generation, right down to me. There wasn’t much room left, but I had committed my knowledge of Charlie, the demon with empathy, to its pages. “Charlie, did you read the book?”
    “No.”
    “Then how do you know what the significance of that event is?”
    He tilted his head, and I saw the concern etched on his brow. Whatever he was about to say, it was going to make it worse. He took a deep breath.
    “I was there when Althaea started that book,” he said. “I know the first spells in there. What I suspect them to be, anyways. I was her familiar, and I recognized you the first time I saw you. I thought it was fate, at first, but I guess it was inevitable that I would encounter one of Althaea’s descendants eventually. Stark hunted down enough witches over the years. I knew you. I didn’t want to see him kill you, and that’s why I offered to hide your heart. That’s why, when Stark had already decided to butcher you for parts, I told him about you. I told him about the book I thought you had in your possession. Kendra… Kendra! ”
    I turned away from him and then out the door. It was completely dark in the greenhouse, and I tripped over a hose as I attempted to storm out.
    I could accept that Charlie had been Althaea’s familiar. It made sense. But his betrayal… if he was her familiar, he knew the true importance of that book, and those spells, and what they were capable of.
    And he had handed over the knowledge of them to a warlock.
    Banishment. I heard the word in my mother’s voice. That was the sentence for witches who told others. Our secrets, and the way we kept parts of ourselves unknown, were both our shield and our sword. To hand them over to a villain—and warlocks were truly the worst I could think of—meant death for all of us. Banishment was the punishment to be handed down to Charlie for such a betrayal.
    I felt the tears stinging my eyes, because I knew I wouldn’t do it. In a way, I felt that it was my penance for all the people I had hurt by falling in love with him. I had traded my sword and shield for Charlie.
    I stopped myself at the workbench after stubbing my toe on a misplaced shovel. If I didn’t stop, I would shed blood on the grounds, and that came with all manner of complications.
    Charlie came up behind me.
    “I did it to keep you alive,” he said. “It was the only card I had left to play.”
    I grimaced, but I understood. I had done things, too, in the name of saving a lover. When he put a hand on my shoulder, I laid mine over it, and I heard him breathe a sigh of relief.
    He had saved my life. But now Stark knew. And Draven’s anger at having been denied once had finally driven him to trickery and deceit. If anyone ever got hold of that book, many more lives could be lost.
    Martha jumped up on the workbench, and she meowed softly, as though she were asking what was wrong.. I laid a hand on her head.
    She was my friend, but I would never let her out of her cat prison again. I couldn’t even imagine the selfish desire that had brought her to my nieces’ door, especially knowing what would befall them the moment she laid eyes on them.
    Others were going to come looking for Martha when she didn’t report back. Her brother, at least, and probably a husband as well. I had never been fond of vampires or their effects on the plants that were my livelihood. I was going to have to either draw my nieces near or else push them very far away before Draven arrived.
    And even outside