Fated Birth: Arcane Witches, #3

By Jali Henry

Would you risk the fate of humanity to save your brother's life?

 

After rescuing my pregnant friend Phoebe from Hugh Beaufort, I promise to protect her. But her unborn child is a vampire-witch hybrid – a being of immense power. Spirit witches and vampires will do anything to get their hands on it, including kill Phoebe. So, she goes into hiding until the baby is born. I'm the only person who knows where she is. But I can keep a secret…. Can't I?...

 

The problem is, I didn't bank on the Spirit Realm ambassador using my brother's life as a bargaining chip. He delivers an ultimatum: tell him where Phoebe is hiding or Frank will die. My brother means more to me than anyone else in the world and I can't lose him. But if I tell the ambassador where Phoebe is, he'll hand her over to Hugh Beaufort. They'll kill her once the baby is born. Then Beaufort's Draculs will take over the world, enslaving humans and turning them into vampire livestock. Can I really betray my friend and risk the fate of humanity to save my brother's life?

 

I might just have a third choice. The mythical Trinity. But nobody's ever found her before and the last person who tried ended up dead.  

 

For fans of Annette Marie, Linsey Hall, Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews. If you love sassy heroines, villains you love to hate and unputdownable chapters, you'll love this fast-paced urban fantasy book.

Content: Contains language, violence and light romance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jali Henry
• Release date: May 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781739758202

Jali Henry

Although born in the UK, Jali Henry is half South African and her 'World Breacher' trilogy incorporates her Sotho cultural heritage from her grandmother. Jali always loved writing but she'd been fed the idea of the starving writer and didn't want to live in poverty. Hence she carved out a career as an Executive Assistant. Before that, she did lots of things, including the most interesting: freelancing as a body-painted mime artist at corporate events (yes really!) After marriage and motherhood, she decided it was time to pursue a career which would nourish her soul instead of just her bank account.  Jali writes novels featuring diverse characters which combine gritty realism with paranormal fantasy. She lives in London with her husband and daughters, works full-time, writes on the side and has a weird obsession with foraging for wild food.  

Book preview

1

Y ou just sat down for a nice turkey dinner and played happy families with the man who drove Mam to take her own life? Fury lit the skin on my face making it tingle as I raged at my older brother. His flatmates had all fled for the safety of their bedrooms, but I was beyond caring how much noise we were making.

Frank’s gaze didn’t falter, there was no hint of shame or remorse in his eyes. His voice was calm and measured, oceans away from how I felt right now. We didn’t play happy families, it was actually very awkward. It would’ve been much better if you’d been there.

I snorted. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I sit down with him.

He paused, his eyes assessing me, I sensed he was choosing his words carefully. Don’t you think he’s suffered enough?

No! I raised my voice. No, I don’t. In fact, I’d be very happy to see his suffering never end. Have you forgotten how he made our childhoods a living nightmare?

Of course, I haven’t. Now Frank was raising his voice too. I’d hit a nerve. But I think it’s healthier to try and forgive.

My blood pressure rose, and I snarled at him. "Oh, well sorry if forgiveness doesn’t come as easily to me as it does to you."

Frank stepped forward, his face inches from mine, his cold blue eyes narrowing. You think it comes easily to me do you? All the memories of trying to keep him from hurting Mam - from hurting you. Jesus, Bree, I was just a kid, facing off to a grown man…. I was just a kid. His voice cracked at the end, and he looked away as he sniffed.

My heart softened and I lowered my voice. Then why let him back into your life? Why open up those wounds again? Why ask me to?

He shook his head, raising his eyes to the ceiling as he struggled to find the right words. Because I’m fed up of hurting. I’m ready to heal and this is the best way I know how.

His words seared every fibre of my emotional being in burning pain. You call this healing? I call it letting a poisonous viper back into our lives.

He reached out a hand to touch my forearm. I can’t do this without you.

I tore my arm away from him. That’s emotional blackmail and you know it.

He furrowed his brow, reminding me of how he’d looked as a child. He looked so lost. But it didn’t make any difference to how I felt. He’d betrayed me and I wouldn’t let this go easily.

What do you want from me, Bree? I feel like I’m being pulled in different directions. Aunt Siobhan, Uncle Paddy and Dad on one side and you on the other. Please don’t force me to choose.

"I’m not forcing you to choose. He is! As anger engulfed me I pointed my finger at him, and the choice should be an easy one. I thumbed my chest. Choose me. I took a deep breath, trying to get a handle on my emotions. You and me against the world. That’s what you said when we were little - hiding from that monster in cupboards as he battered our mother."

His jaw clenched as he ground his teeth, sniffing away the tears that threatened to fall. Now who’s the one using emotional blackmail?

Fuck you, Frank! I screamed at him.

"No, fuck you, Bree - fuck you!" His deep voice boomed, almost making the walls shake.

Suddenly I was a little girl again, with an angry shouty man looming over me. My hands flung to my mouth as I backed away and shook my head.

Realising his mistake Frank reached out. Bree, wait..

But it was too late. I had to get out of here. I had to get away from him. I had to leave before I said worse things that I’d regret later. Grabbing my coat, I rushed out of the door. I struggled my arms into the sleeves whilst simultaneously bolting down the steps two at a time, almost tripping as I raced out into the cold London air. Tears streamed down my face, and I was shaking. Waves of pain crashed over my heart, again and again, a hard lump forming in my throat, making it impossible to swallow the snot that dripped down the back.

Walking blindly through the cobbled streets of London’s docklands, barely aware of where I was or where I was going, I tried to think through what had just happened. I didn’t know how to fix this. I didn’t know how to fix us. Frank had always been the most precious person in the world to me but this…. This was something we couldn’t agree on, and my heart shattered into a million pieces as I realised our relationship may never recover. It was the worst fight we’d had in years - possibly ever. Did he actually care about me at all? How could he put his own misplaced idea of ‘healing’ before our pact to never see our father again? How could he put that man before me?

Painful memories and thoughts bombarded my mind one after the other. I was supposed to be going out for dinner with Nik tonight, but my appetite had vanished. That almost never happened to me and was a sure sign that this fight had shaken me to my core.

Rounding a corner, still sniffing, I saw something that distracted me from my pain and put me on high alert. A man in an alleyway, with his mouth clamped around a woman’s neck. Was it two lovers or something more sinister? The wind was in my favour and as it blew towards me, I caught the unmistakeable scent of vampire. My lips curled up and my heart pounded. Time to put my raging emotions to good use. This vampire wouldn’t know what had hit him. The silvery lights of the vampire’s arcana swirled towards me, and I sucked them into my chest, feeling the power wash over me like a soothing balm. I revelled in the feeling of invincibility as I grew in size. Pushing my toxic emotions down, I concentrated on the here and now. I could stew over my fight with Frank later. Right now, I had a vampire to kill.

Reaching into my inside pocket, I took out both my silver knives and sprinted towards the attacker. I barrelled into him like a cannonball, relishing the look of surprise and the yelp that came unbidden from his lips. Leaping into the air, I raised one of my knives, not giving the vampire a chance to fight back.

His eyes widened and he dodged out of the way just in time. My knife hit the tarmac.

Wait, it’s not what it looks like! He held his hands out in front of him.

Please don’t hurt my boyfriend. The woman’s voice quavered behind me, her cockney accent thick.

Boyfriend? I arched an eyebrow as I kept one knife pointed at him. Do you let all your boyfriend’s bite you? I didn’t take my eyes off him as I voiced the question to her, but my arm slackened as it held the knife towards him.

Sh.. She’s into it. It’s a BDSM thing. The vampire replied. Tell her, babe.

It’s true. The woman stepped cautiously to the front, trying to get between me and the vampire.

I thought quickly. This vampire must’ve glamoured her into thinking that she liked it. I’d been bitten before, and it hurt like bejesus. I couldn’t in good conscience allow this to go on. Straightening my arm, I pointed it firmly at his chest. On your knees, vampire.

The woman screamed. No! Please, don’t hurt him.

He started to kneel, a defeated look on his face but then at the last minute he sprang up and tried to kick me in the stomach. But I was too quick for him. Turning to the left and tucking my elbow into my side, I blocked his kick. Then with super speed, I lunged forward, plunging my silver knife into his chest. I watched with satisfaction as he disintegrated, his death dust fluttering away in the winter breeze.

The woman started screaming hysterically but I ignored her, putting my knives back into my inside pocket before walking off. She didn’t know what I’d just saved her from. That vampire had likely been abusing her for years, making her think she liked being bitten purely to suit his own sick purposes. The world was a better place without non-vegan vampires. And the fight had cleared my head. I felt a lightness to my steps and a lessening to the pain in my heart as I found a deserted spot to ether jump to Nik’s flat.

After pressing the bell, I heard Nik’s familiar footsteps padding through the hallway towards the door. But his face dropped as he opened it. Are you alright? His gaze dropped to my chest, and I looked down.

It was only then that I realised my shirt was splattered with blood - vampire blood. Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I had a run in with a vampire - he was attacking a woman.

His eyes widened. What?! Not again. Come on let’s get you inside and cleaned up. His gaze was furtive as he glanced from left to right, making sure nobody else had seen me. He closed the door behind me and led me through to the living room.

I took off my coat and boots and sunk down into the sofa, rolling my head from side to side to stretch my neck as I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.

Nik went to the kitchen and came back with a packet of anti-bacterial wet wipes. Here. He offered them to me, and I took one and wiped the drops of blood from my shirt. I couldn’t get all the rust-coloured spots off, but it was good enough.

He sat opposite, waiting for me to explain further. When I didn’t, he asked. So, the vampire?…

Yeah, he was biting a woman in an alleyway.

She must’ve been terrified. Did her scream alert you?

I cocked my head to one side as I frowned. She didn’t scream actually. I think the vampire had glamoured her. She was saying all kinds of crazy stuff - like it was some kind of BDSM thing and she was into it. I rolled my eyes. Mind control, obviously.

Nik paused and cleared his throat. Um, how do you know she’d been glamoured?

I blinked at him. He wasn’t making any sense at all. Because she was saying she enjoyed being bitten. Nobody could enjoy that.

Actually, some people do enjoy it - there are underground vampire clubs devoted to these kinds of relationships.

What the fuck? Whose side are you on here? Was I going to fight with all the men in my life tonight?

He held his hands up. I’m not trying to start a fight. I’m just letting you know… he paused, weighing up his words carefully. Not all vampire-human relationships are as conventional as ours.

I almost laughed out loud. He thought our relationship was ‘conventional’? I’d call us many things but not that. Wait a minute, are you saying I’ve just killed an innocent vampire?

He furrowed his brow. Possibly. That’s why we prefer to convert them rather than kill them. For all you know, he was already a vegan, simply indulging in a bit of sex play that deviated from the norm.

Deviant is the right word for it. I kept the thought to myself. I didn’t want to offend him. He may have had similar types of relationships with human women in the past. If that was the case, I’d rather not know.

Sitting in the warmth of Nik’s flat, I began to come down from the adrenaline rush killing the vampire had provided. And as my body relaxed, my suppressed emotions came roaring back into focus. I bit my lip.

Nik sensed the change of atmosphere immediately. Hey, don’t get upset. You made a mistake, it was bound to happen sooner or later. It…

I cut him off. No, it’s not that. I sighed and brushed my hair out of my face. I had a row with Frank - a bad one.

His face fell. Your effort to talk sense into him didn’t go according to plan?

I shook my head. He’s determined to stay on this path of mending his relationship with… our father. I’d tried to say ‘Dad’, but the word had turned to ash in my mouth.

He softened his voice, his soulful brown eyes appraising me. Did he say why?

I rolled my eyes. He has this ridiculous idea that forgiving the man will help him to heal.

I see. And how do you feel about that?

Like he’s Judas and he’s kissing me before handing me over to the enemy.

He raised his eyebrows. Hmm.

My eyes narrowed. I knew that tone. What? He was hiding his thoughts from me, and I would keep at him until he’d said what was on his mind.

Interesting that you compare yourself to Jesus.

Blood pounded inside my ears. Why ‘interesting’?

Nobody is crucifying you, Bree. Your brother is trying to dig himself out of a pit of pain.

By shoving me into one?! I raised my voice.

He kept his voice even toned. Not everything is about you.

A hot flash of anger tore through me. How would you know? Pain twisted my insides, urging me to transfer it onto the first person in sight. Nik was in the firing line. You don’t know anything about me. You don’t know what I’ve suffered. I curled my lip into a sneer. You haven’t even met my brother.

Nik looked as though I’d just punched him in the gut. Because you haven’t wanted me to meet him. His features were suffused with hurt, and he looked away. But I didn’t care - in fact, I wanted to hurt him.

But now a dawning realisation crept into his eyes, and he lifted his face towards me. That’s why you killed the vampire.

What? I mumbled but the dark spectre of guilt threaded its way down my spine, causing my hairs to stand on end.

He continued, his voice more urgent with an edge of horror. It wasn’t because you thought he was attacking a woman. It was because you were furious and desperate to lash out. His expression darkened. That poor innocent vampire died in service to your rage.

I stood up, wrestling my coat back on. I didn’t come here for you to have a go at me too.

His voice became weary. Oh, that’s right, run off, like you always do.

I pivoted to face him, towering over him as he remained seated. What’s that supposed to mean?

Whenever conversations get a bit difficult you either resort to violence or you run. You’re stuck in a perpetual flight or fight coping mechanism.

I shouted at him. You’d rather I stay here and fight? Okay, if you wanna fight, let’s have at it then.

He stood up. The thing is. I care about you, Bree - enough to call you on your bullshit. This hatred you feel for your father - I get it.

"No, you don’t. If you did, you would never expect me to just forgive and forget."

He spread out his hands in a gesture of placation. Okay, maybe I don’t entirely get it, but I get you. I know that if you don’t repair the relationship with your brother, you will regret it. He softened his voice, his eyes growing misty. Isn’t holding onto what you have with Frank more important than holding onto the hatred you feel for your father? He reached out to touch my arm. You have to learn how to forgive.

I tried to digest his words, but I found they churned in my stomach like curdled milk. I gritted my teeth and looked up at Nik from beneath my knitted brow. "You sound just like Frank - just as traitorous." Nik’s face told me he felt the blow as if it had been physical. He even took a step backward, to ward himself from my radiating anger.

Without another word, I rushed out of the door and into the night. I didn’t need Nik. He could go and fuck himself just like Frank could.

Yet somewhere inside me a tiny voice, kept repeating. Try as I might to push it down, it kept popping back up. The voice said you’re making a huge mistake.

2

Later that night I sat in the Cauldron, nursing a large whiskey as I ignored the conversation my friends were having around me. The soft but lively music did little to lift my mood. My favourite pub seemed less well-lit than normal. Painful memories flashed through my mind on repeat. Dark emotions turned my stomach like a rancid fruit punch. I’d come purely to drown my sorrows. It sounded like my coven had come to debate religion. I was so far from being in the mood for talking, really, I should’ve just got a bottle and gone back to my dorm room with it. But that felt too uncomfortably close to the way that my father had consumed alcohol. So here I sat. Brooding.

You can stare into that whiskey glass for as long as you like, it’ll never refill. It’s not the magic porridge pot. Joshua’s voice disturbed my thoughts and I looked up at him.

Oh, um, hey Joshua. When did you get here?

He rolled his eyes. Nice to know I haven’t lost my devastating effect on the ladies - so devastating they don’t even notice my arrival. His sense of humour, although welcome was lost on me tonight. I was too far gone.

Are you going to tell me what’s going on? He asked, gently, his piercing green eyes searching and tender.

After my adept Conor had been sent to jail and Joshua’s ignoranti had quit the Academy, Joshua had been reassigned as my adept. On paper it made perfect sense. Nobody knew he was my secret crush and I planned to keep it that way. But the more he turned on the charm, the harder it was getting.

Wrenching my eyes away from his, I took a gulp of whiskey, enjoying the burn of the liquid as it slipped down my throat. I’d rather not talk about it. This time I really meant it.

His lips turned down as he nodded. How about a lively debate about religion then?

Despite my terrible mood he managed to get a chuckle out of me. Oh yeah, because religion is the cheeriest subject in the world.

He grabbed a nearby stool and drew it over to sit by me. Not any religion - witch religions. They’re pretty entertaining.

Theo butted in. You better not let Grandmaster Johanna hear you saying that she’s devout.

Devout about doling out punishments when we don’t tidy our rooms? Scarlet quipped.

I smiled and felt my heart lighten. Joshua was right, this conversation was better than what was going on inside my head right now.

Homing in on my improving mood, Joshua carried on. You know that the holy book of Sanguistism foretells of a trinity witch - one who holds all three witch powers.

Sanguistism was the state religion of the Spirit Realm. I didn’t know much about it other than that they worshipped vampires, believing them to be sacred descendants of the Goddess Vampiria. Because I had two powers - spiritus and arcanus, I was a rare binity witch, but I’d never heard of a trinity witch.

I blinked at him. Really?

He nodded and took a sip of his beer. The Kizmetari believe in the Trinity - they regularly use her as an excuse to blow things up.

By now I knew who the Kizmetari were. It was impossible not to know about them given that they were the dominant sanguistist terrorist group in the Arcane Realm. I was confused though. Why would she be an excuse for that?

Audrey responded. They think the Arcane Realm authorities are hiding her here. Their main aim is to find the Trinity and ensure her safe passage to the Spirit Realm, where they believe she’ll unite the three witch nations behind the religion of Sanguistism.

As if arcane witches would ever go along with worshipping vampires. I chuckled and shook my head at the absurdity of the idea.

Some people in the Arcane Realm believe in the Trinity too. Joshua continued. But for different reasons. Here, the belief is that she’ll unite the three witch realms to save the world.

What a load of rubbish.

When was religion ever sensible? Audrey replied. Just think about all the nonsense humans believe.

I sipped my whiskey before putting my glass down. I thought you were an intelligent woman. Don’t tell me you believe this? I raised my eyebrows and put my hands on my hips.

Audrey shook her head. I didn’t say I believed it. She sipped on her sparkling water.

Theo leaned forward. "What do you believe then?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear. I’m an agnostic.

A fence sitter. Scarlet chuckled. I call that a cop out.

Audrey shrugged. If you like. But is the idea of a witch who holds all three powers anymore ridiculous than the existence of magic and vampires and all the other supernatural creatures?

I wrinkled my nose. It’s not that idea I find ridiculous, it’s the belief that this trinity witch will be the saviour of mankind. Saving humans from what exactly?

Hector’s eyes flattened. From being enslaved by vampires and turned into livestock.

Not this again. I rolled my eyes at him. If vampires are really capable of that, why haven’t they done it already? They’ve been on our planet for centuries. As I said this the dark memory of Hugh Beaufort and his mansions filled with human blood slaves rolled through the surface of my mind. I rammed the thought back down to the recesses, where it belonged.

Lack of opportunity. Theo answered for him as he pushed a hand through his brown curls. One could argue that vampires have never been stronger than they are today. Humans no longer believe in the supernatural, which means vampires can roam free from persecution.

Scarlet pitched in, her tone animated. Actually, I read online that a trinity witch has already been found in Nepal. She’s a child and she’s being guarded by an elite group of…

Where did you read this?

Her cheeks reddened. On the dark web Reddit but…

I cut her off. Conspiracy theory.

Theo swilled the end of his beer before downing it. In every conspiracy theory there is a grain of truth.

My mouth opened and closed a few times. Why am I the only one who thinks this is total bullshit? I feel like I’m at a flat-earth convention. I looked at Joshua, expecting him to agree with me but instead his expression was oddly conflicted in a way I couldn’t work out. His emerald eyes glazed over, as if he was travelling to a memory - and not a good one. Pain flashed across his features.

I cocked my head to one side, frowning.

His gaze met mine and he corrected his expression. Coughing, he mumbled. Yeah of course I also think it’s bullshit. His eyes shifted from left to right.

What was that all about?

But I couldn’t be bothered to work out what was going through his mind right now. My glass was empty, and this was not a night to be sober. I stood up and picked up a few of the empty glasses. It’s my round. Same as before?

After taking note of what everyone wanted, I walked to the bar and placed the empties on the counter. I stuck my chest forward to try and get the attention of the barman.

He walked over and I wondered, not for the first time, why men always got more attractive the minute they were standing behind a bar. What’ll it be?

One whiskey, two pints of Arcane’s Own, one sparkling water, a glass of white wine and a gin and tonic please.

The barman nodded and went off to prepare the drinks.

A large wizard turned around, as he was collecting his order and knocked into me, spilling beer down my top. Inebriation hadn’t yet stolen his politeness. Oops, sorry. He held his free hand up in a gesture of apology. Can I?…

Don’t worry. I waved him back. My top was soaked through, and it would get all sticky. I’d have to go to the bathroom to clean up. The barman came back with my drinks, and I paid, before taking them to our table. One of the more useful spells I’d recently learnt was how to levitate objects, which came in mighty handy when transporting a large round of drinks. After leaving the drinks at our table, I headed off to the toilets.

Pushing through the crowd I reflected on how good it felt to have a normal night out with my friends. Even if my mood hadn’t been the best when I’d arrived, it was steadily improving. I needed this after the last few weeks. After rescuing Phoebe, the Arcane Academy had broken up for the Winter Solstice. The rest of my coven had each celebrated the holiday in their own ways. I’d gone back to London to spend some time with Nik over Christmas. A frisson of guilt ran through me as I thought about our fight earlier. Perhaps I should apologise? I stiffened. No way. He should be apologising to me, not the other way around. Taking Frank’s side like that, over something he knew was a red button issue for me had been completely out of order. I pushed it to one side - to the part of my brain entitled ‘do not open until later’.

After her ordeal, Phoebe had been staying at her parents’ house. Her Dad was out of hospital, and everything was almost back to normal - except that she hadn’t yet told her parents about her pregnancy. That news would go down about as well as a bucket of cold sick. I’d tried to convince her otherwise. She couldn’t hide it forever. But it wasn’t my secret to tell, and I understood her reluctance. Arcane witches were so violently inclined towards vampires. By carrying a vampire baby, Phoebe could be targeted by other witches.

In the bathroom, I padded my wet top down with paper towels. Looking at the wet patch I sighed. It was a pity I wasn’t an elemental witch who could summon hot air to dry it quicker. But I did as best as I could with what I had available. On my way back from the toilets, my thoughts were disturbed by a rowdy group in the corner. One Spanish-accented female voice was louder