When my parents finally released me, they lectured me for hours on how that word was not to be used ever in their house, all the while a large feast of chicken and potatoes sat untouched behind them. I eagerly agreed to anything they said just to have one bite, but when they finished their lecture, they whipped me three times and gave me stale bread to eat instead. I never said the word “Deific” again.
“The Deific,” Charlie began, but stopped and looked at me sitting awkwardly on the ground. My arms were shaking just trying to hold up my body. “Why don’t we go somewhere more comfortable and then I’ll tell you everything.”
I shook my head. “I want to know now.”
“If you insist, but I’m going to keep it brief. You obviously need food and a lot of rest.” He straightened his legs again.
“The Deific is a secret organization created several hundred years ago. We have one purpose: to bring balance between good and evil. Whenever evil, regardless of what form it comes in, becomes too great, the Deific steps in. It doesn’t matter if the evil is human, witch, monster, demon, or vampire, the Deific always right the balance by any means necessary. And that is why I am here. We discovered that a witch named Alarica was the cause all the recent fires, the ones that have killed a lot people. We’d never heard of a witch named Alarica so we were very concerned.”
“Did you come here to kill me?” If he had tried in that moment, I don’t think I would’ve stopped him. It was what I deserved, wasn’t it?
“I came here to kill Alarica, but you just informed me that you are Eve. We’ve never had concerns for the daughter of Sable Whitmore and Erik Segur, though I must admit when you were born, we were worried.” Charlie furrowed his brow. “By the way, how did you become Alarica?”
“It wasn’t by choice. It was my parents and—Boaz,” I could barely say his name.
His eyes grew big. “Say that again?”
In a louder voice, I said, “Boaz.”
“I know this may be difficult for you, but I must know more about this Boaz.” Charlie’s tone was hard, yet he managed to keep his expression gentle, encouraging me with a small smile.
I breathed in deeply to relieve the pressure on my chest, and then said, “He was a vampire. My parents introduced him to me when I turned eighteen, almost a year ago.” Had it only been that long?
Charlie leaned forward. “What does he look like?”
I groaned, his image still fresh in my mind. If only I could forget his face, but he refused to be stuffed into the confines of my mind with the rest of my past, leaving me with a constant reminder of who I was and what I’d done. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Please, it’s very important.”
“He had long black hair and dark green eyes,” I blurted.
“No offense, but you just described ninety percent of vampires.”
My muscles tensed. “You don’t know what you ask. You couldn’t possibly…” I forced myself to calm down. Boaz was gone, so what did it matter? Why was I getting so upset? I met Charlie’s gaze and said, “He had a tattoo of a snake on his forearm.”
Charlie reared back. “It can’t be.”
“Why?”
He was talking to himself, but too quietly for me to make out any of the words.
“What’s wrong?”
Charlie stopped mumbling and looked up at me as if he was surprised to still see me there. He cleared his throat. “That’s the thing, Eve. That vampire, Boaz…he was already dead.”
“What do you mean, he was already dead?” I pressed. “Because he’s a vampire?”
“No,” Charlie said. “We killed him once before. If what you are saying is true, he came back. Are you sure you have his description right?”
I swallowed around the tightness building in my throat. He’d been killed before, and didn’t really die. What if he came back again?
“Eve?” Charlie said, waving his hand to catch my attention again. “I said, are you sure you described him right?”
I nodded, my hands trembling, unsure if I could even form words.
Charlie dropped his hand back to the side. “I’ve worried you. I’m sorry, but right now we need to focus on Alarica. You were telling me how she came to be. Please, go on.”
I took a deep, shaky breath, and wrung my hands together. It was time to move on, and that meant getting everything out on the table. “My parents put a strong spell, more like a curse, on some old silver necklace with a glass orb gripped between what looked like spider legs.”
I wondered briefly if I should’ve begun at the true beginning, the part where Boaz injected me with some kind of immortal serum, but the time didn’t feel right.
Charlie balled his fists again, and I noticed something flash in his eyes, but when he didn’t say anything, I continued, “The orb was filled with blood. Whatever they did to it changed me. The moment that thing was around me all I could feel was hate. I smelled it, breathed it, I could even taste it. I was filled with such rage that I couldn’t help but destroy everything in my path. Physically, my body couldn’t contain the power.” My voice cracked.