Free BloodWitchInferno by Mary C. Moore Page A

lukewarm. She had been tempted to perform the
Calling more than once, especially after her mother had received word about the
treaty between the blood-witches and demons. Pride had stopped her. Karnon didn’t
want her, so she wasn’t about to Call him into her world.
    “I’ll think about it, Tink.”
    Mollified, her friend bounced away. Mira stared out the
doors of the library, her mind filled with images of horned men and black
obsidian.
    That night she found her mother cooking in the kitchen. Her smile
warmed Mira’s heart, as it always did. It made Mira happy to see her mother at
peace. Even if her mother rarely left the house she filled her time with
hobbies, such as cooking, gardening and weaving. She had gained some weight but
she retained the almost-skeletal look, appearing to be made out of glass. She
didn’t practice magic either, except to teach Mira, and only then when she had
the energy. From the worn expression on her mother’s face Mira could tell her
mother would be too tired for any lessons tonight.
    “Tink wants me to go on another date.”
    Her mother lifted an eyebrow. She quieted whenever Mira
mentioned Tink and when the two of them were in the room there was always a
strange tension. Mira guessed it was because Tink had been the closest person
to her before her mother had come back into the picture and that her mother was
jealous of it. Whatever the reason, Mira chose to ignore it, hoping the tension
would fade in time.
    “Do you want to date?”
    “I don’t know.” Mira sank down on a dining room stool and
watched her mother delicately chop vegetables. “Sort of. I feel like something
is missing. I mean it’s wonderful to have you back and I couldn’t be happier.
But I would like…” Mira paused. She almost said, “to have someone to share a
bed with” but she remembered the last time her mother had shared a bed it had
been with Xander. If her mother noticed Mira’s stumble she didn’t react, her
knife chopping away. Her mother had yet to talk about her experience in Xander’s
prison and Mira didn’t want to force her.
    The sizzle of oil and the smell of frying onions filled the
silence.
    “I found Yima,” her mother said, suddenly.
    “One of the witches was trapped with you?”
    “Yes, the eldest. The one who helped you find your power.”
    Her mother did not say anything more, her shoulders shaking.
Mira stood up and wrapped her arms around her mother’s slender frame. Secretly
she was pleased. If anyone could help her mother work through some of her
trauma it would be Yima. She remembered the strength and wisdom of the older
witch and it overjoyed her she would see her again and be able to thank her in
person.
    * * * * *
    Later that night Mira climbed the stairs to the attic. When
her mother had talked about reconnecting with Yima it had filled Mira with a
longing for Karnon. She fought the compulsion to Call him. Why put herself
through the torture of seeing him when she couldn’t have him? After her mother
went to bed, Mira with a bit of a wine buzz had to admit she missed him, and
seeing him briefly, even under the influence of the Calling, was better than
nothing.
    Standing in the attic, her cheeks flushed from the
half-bottle of zinfandel, she whispered one of the first chants her mother had
taught her. She sensed the spell settle into place like netting around the bare
room. The enchantment would prevent the sights and sounds within from being
seen or heard on the outside. Normally she was supposed to do it as a
precaution, tonight she did it so her mother would not hear what would occur.
She wasn’t sure how fragile her mother was and the last thing she wanted was to
reawaken the trauma of Xander with lustful sounds of the Calling.
    She poured the salt into a pentagram. Tink’s spell book
still sat on a shelf in the attic, forgotten by its owner, and Mira had no wish
to return it. She retrieved the book and as she spoke the words, she marveled
at how easily she