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“Matthew Roydon,” he said with a tip of his head, as though we were only this moment being introduced. “Friend to poets.”
“I can taste sunlight, Matthew.” My voice was sharp with panic. “I can see time, waiting in the corners.”
I felt sick. In 1590, Matthew was a member of the Congregation, and the Congregation was our enemy.
Vampires might marry multiple times, but most mated just once.
“They don’t think I’m a vampire. They know I’m a spy.”
That he was five inches shorter than she and twice her age didn’t seem to deter him.
“What constitutes a manjasang mating is the same thing that silences all objections to a marriage when priests, lawyers, enemies, and rivals come calling: physical consummation.”
Your scents are not only odd but entirely distinct—like two separate creatures instead of one. Any manjasang would know you are not fully mated.
Our gazes crossed, clashed. The warning was unmistakable. Philippe de Clermont was up to something.
“What a fool you are, to allow a besotted manjasang to take the blood from not only your arm but your neck,” Philippe said, stunned. “The covenant forbids the manjasang to take the blood of witches or daemons. Matthew knows this.”
Matthew could wait to consummate our marriage but hadn’t been able to resist Blanca’s charms. It was far more than I had wanted to know about their relationship.
My wife had learned to give in to what someone older, stronger, and meaner wanted. I was all of those things, and I wanted her to say yes that summer night, so she did.”
Philippe said I lacked the courage to be a manjasang. As soon as my father could, he sent me away to fight. ‘If you’re determined to end your own life,’ he said, ‘at least it can be for some greater purpose than self-pity.’ I’ve never forgotten his words.”
“You want me to share my darkest sin?” An interminable time passed before Matthew was willing to reveal it. “I took his life. He begged Ysabeau to do it, but she couldn’t.” Matthew turned away. “Hugh?” I whispered, my heart breaking for him and Gallowglass. “Philippe.”
Matthew had freed his father from torment, but only after first sharing everything Philippe had suffered.
Sixteenth-century condoms were made from linen, leather, or animal intestines.
Gross lmao.
“The priest blessed our marriage. The entire village wished us well. There was food, and dancing. I did think we might draw the night to a close by making love. Yet you seem more interested in your wardrobe.”
Even so I gasped in surprise when our two bodies became one—warm and cold, light and dark, female and male, witch and vampire, a conjunction of opposites.
We fell into the rhythm unique to lovers, pleasing each other with soft touches of mouth and hands as we rocked together, together until all we had left to give were our hearts and souls. Looking deep into each other’s eyes, we exchanged our final vows with flesh and spirit, trembling like newborns.
‘On the morning of the Christians’ holy celebration, I said farewell to your son. He is happy at last, mated to a woman who walks in the footsteps of the goddess and is worthy of his love,’”
Fate still has the power to surprise us, bright one. I fear there are difficult times ahead for all of us. I will do what I can, in what time remains to me, to ensure your safety and that of our children and grandchildren, those whose blessings we already enjoy and those as yet unborn.’”
Around the time the covenant was first signed, some claimed that a witch gave birth to a baby who wept tears of blood like a vampire. Whenever the child did so, fierce winds blew in from the sea.”
“Diana. You’re—” He stopped. “Pregnant. I thought so,”
“All that children need is love, a grown-up to take responsibility for them, and a soft place to land.”
If your wife is found guilty of willingly offering her blood to a vampire, she will be shunned and cast out of London. If you are found guilty of taking it without her consent, you will be put to death.”
“A child?” Susanna’s eyes were huge. “Conceived between a witch and a wearh?” “Not just any witch. Only weavers can work such magic.
The goddess has given you her blessing to borrow the powers you need but not to command any of them absolutely.”
“No witch could hold so much power within her without upsetting the balance of the worlds. A weaver selects carefully from the magic around her and uses it to shape something new.”
Some creatures believed that Ashmole 782 was the first grimoire, a book that contained the original enchantments and charms devised by our people.
Weavers are not simply witches, Diana. Susanna is a great witch, with more knowledge about the magic of the earth and its lore than any of her sisters in London. For all her gifts, though, she cannot weave a new spell. You can.”
“Magic and witchcraft are but two paths that cross in the wood. A weaver is able to stand at the crossroads with one foot placed on each path. She can occupy the place between, where the powers are the greatest.”
“Diana’s father was a weaver of great talent but no training. His spell was pieced together rather than properly woven. Still, it was made with love and served its purpose for a time, rather like the chain that binds you to your wearh, Diana.”
And so I discovered that the practice of magic was not unlike the practice of history. The trick to both wasn’t finding the correct answers but formulating better questions.
