***Tessera***

Nixie’s house is tiny and so freaking bright with all the sunlight that shines in due to all the windows the house contains. We’re all filling up the living room because there’s no hallway. Caius tries to glance around Jagger, his fangs are out and it’s like he’s drooling. Shit. It must be the Witch scent. I know damn well how good it smells.

Like fresh baked chocolate cookies you need to devour instantly as if your life depends on it. That’s how it was for me when I smelled my sister’s blood. Before I was mated to Jagger I might add, because in that moment he smelled better and when his blood hit my tongue there wasn’t anything else on this planet that would do. I have zero interest in Witch’s blood, only Jagger’s. I swing my head toward Nixie whose eyes have gone wide while shock fills her face.

“No,” she gasps. “Blue hair, those eyes...it’s you...but that can’t be.”

“Fuuuuuuck,” Jagger snarls as he grips Caius by his cut. “Alastair, get the women out. Now, dammit, I can’t hold him much longer.”

There are black bat-like wings spouting from Caius’ back as he snarls and fights to get free of Jagger’s grip. “It’s her, let me the fuck go.”

Nixie’s hands go up in front of her and at the same time she closes her eyes, she spreads her fingers, bringing her hands up to fist them tight before swinging them down fast while spreading her fingers yet again as she yells. “Stop!”

Everything around us vibrates. No one moves or says anything.

That is until I hear Caius chuckle. “Smart, little sprite. Now unfreeze me so I can claim you. You know very well this is going to happen one way or another.”

Wait...what?

“I vote for unfreezing, with what Caius just said there isn’t a threat. Him wanting to claim you means you’re his eternal mate, all fucking happy. So yeah, unfreeze. Now would be nice because this shit is getting awkward and I’ve got an itch I need to scratch,” Alistair rumbles as he adds, “Fuck...what bad timing for my nose to fucking itch.”

“What is this about? He’s mated to Nixie? That’s not possible! She’s a freaking Witch, he’ll drain her. And she can’t turn into a Vampire, she can’t, it’s not allowed. Or do you think because they are eternal mates it will be allowed? Tell me, Alistair,” Eliana pleads.

Shit. This is messed up. The pained look on Caius’ face is even killing me. What a twisted sense of irony. I don’t get the whole mating thing. Even more when it’s twisted like this. Now I know damn well from what I’ve been told, experienced, what legends state through history that the perfect match for your soul is branded into your DNA.

The perfect match, the link between two people for the best chance at survival, ultimate fertility, and to strengthen the chance for a solid future together. But a Witch and a Vampire? Jagger spent time explaining to me that a Vampire needs to be born not created. How is that going to work for them?

“Jagger, man...please. Trust me in this.” Caius’ eyes find Nixie’s. “Come on, little sprite. We’ve met before, remember?”

“That wasn’t real. It was a freaking dream!” Nixie squeals as all the guys wince. She starts to pace while she continues. “One where you bit me! I won’t let you awake that part inside me. I’ve worked hard to keep that part of me asleep all these years. We...I can’t. All of you need to leave.”

“No,” Caius growls.

I rub my hands over my face, this is all seriously screwed up, as if we didn’t have enough to worry about already.

“Hey, why isn’t she fucking frozen?” Caius snaps, making my hands fall from my face.

Everyone is freaking gaping at me. “Don’t look at me like that, I don’t know.”

“If I have to guess, I think it’s the Elite part in her,” Jagger answers.

Nixie gasps. “Oh, my gosh, you’re an,”

“Don’t say it,” all the men snap in sync, making Nixie glare at each and every one of them.

“It’s true then?” she mutters as her eyes find mine. “Dammit, I can’t believe that one was possible. When my mom was making those hex bags she let me help and explained how one was for a mixture of your kind...I remembered because that one intrigued me as did the dragon one because both are rare.” Nixie sighs. “Wow. Incredible.”

“Fun and games, now cut it out with your magic, I need to fucking move again,” Caius’ growls, earning a glare from Nixie.

“Ha.” I can’t suppress a chuckle from slipping out. “At least one part of you is able to move.”

The corner of Nixie’s mouth twitches. “It’s the blood flow that clearly still works. I froze the body but the blood inside it is still free to pump around. Makes it easier to chop off heads, let the blood flow, easy kill.”

“Uhm...Nixie, I think it’s wearing off because Caius’ hand just turned into a fist,” I whisper, knowing it’s useless with all of us having enhanced hearing.

Jagger’s voice is laced with concern. “Think about it Nixie. Don’t fight it. You know damn well no one can fight off a mate, embrace that shit. My VP hasn’t been the same since he had that dream, he was yours even before you two met just now. There’s no way Caius would hurt you in any way, deep down you know this too. Please, for the love of fuck, unfreeze us so we can leave you two to hash it out.”

“Like I said, I can’t,” Nixie presses. “Derek didn’t come to my mother out of the blue...it’s not like she was listed in the freaking phonebook or something. The rumor, that wasn’t so much of a rumor, was that she made a hex bag to bind a Vampire to her, to see her as his eternal mate and not as a Witch. She managed to cloak her own blood and made the connection between them fertile.”

“Hang on for just one fucking second,” Alastair snaps. “Are you telling me your father is a damn Vampire?”

Caius sucks in a breath.

“Well, that makes shit easy,” Jagger states. “She’s half a Witch who’s born with Vampire blood. Another one who sidetracked the damn laws of physics. This also explains why you’d be drawn and destined to be mated with a full Vampire.”

With what Jagger just mentioned, what she mentioned earlier now makes sense. “Oh, that’s why you said you worked so hard to keep that part of you asleep for years.”

“Yes,” Nixie states, her voice cracking with emotion. “My father,” she clears her throat, “he found out about the hex bag. When my mother told him she was pregnant, he couldn’t cope; he ran away from her, from us. She told me he turned into a murderer, and how the hex bag had a side effect...that Vampires couldn’t handle the magic inside us. She raised me while hiding my Vampire side. She also told me that she searched for years for my father to help him. She never did find him. She was so lonely and in the end...she killed herself. And since she died I’ve been managing to keep my hunger at a very low level with herbs and magic. But if I allow this and become your mate ...then I turn into the killer my mother said my father was. She said it couldn’t be prevented because it’s the combination.”

“Nixie, look at me.” Nixie’s eyes find Jagger’s. “Though Witches and Vampires are a connection that is bound to cause problems, and the fact some Vampires do indeed become killers who need to be stopped...I have a feeling that there’s more to the story than your mother told you. Will you please let me know the name of your father so I can see for myself? I’m the President of the Death by Reaper MC, Vampire Charter. If your father belonged inside this state I would have been connected to him.”

“No,” she snaps.

Jagger’s upper lip twitches in a snarl before I hear his voice flow through my head. ‘Angel, touch her and think of her father. This will allow me to channel through you so I can see without her knowing.’  

What the hell? How is that even possible? And isn’t it kinda rude to trick her like that? I mean, that’s stepping on some major privacy boundaries, right? Yet with all of the insanity, even with myself, from the last few days, I believe Jagger and step toward Nixie, placing my hand on her arm. “Your father, he was...”

I gasp when an image slides through my head. A woman with dark blonde hair and the same features as Nixie strides toward me. My eyes travel to the right and see a woman next to me who’s frozen to the spot. I can’t move at all. The woman, who I now know must be Nixie’s mother, has a sword that she grips with both hands.

My throat hurts as I yell with all my might, but nothing can change the outcome as Nixie’s mother decapitates the woman. Blood is spraying into my face, I can feel and taste my mate’s blood as my heart shatters. The pain is excruciating when I face my own fate. I don’t mind the sword that’s swinging my way, I embrace it because without my eternal mate my life is meaningless.

Darkness swarms until Nixie’s concerned face appears in my vision. “What the hell was that? What...oh, no...was that...really? Did you channel your mate’s thoughts, that was real what I saw, right? My mother...she...no,”

Nixie sways a little on her feet. She steps back and right when I see she’s going to faint, Caius is there to swoop her into his arms.

“Fuck, yeah,” Alastair quips. “Nothing better than a Witch who faints to break her damn spell.” He stretches his arms above his head.

Eliana smacks Alastair against his pecs and scowls at him. She stalks to Caius who is now sitting in a chair with Nixie draped over his lap. Her head is leaning against his chest as he strokes gently down her head, murmuring words that sound so freaking sweet.

I glance over to Jagger who meets my gaze. “Sorry you had to see that, and I damn sure didn’t know she would be able to tap in too. I’ve done it a few times before with Caius, linking through to see inside someone’s head to get to a certain Vampire...but never like this.”

“It’s the connection with your Old Lady,” Alastair says. “The Elite part inside her allows her to channel differently. You know how powerful those fuckers are. Even if she’s only got one third of that DNA shit.”

I decide not to engage in this conversation, it’s not the time or place. Right now, this is about Nixie and Caius. And that reminds me. “Why are you calm, Caius? You were freaking out before, sprouting wings, that have disappeared I might add, while now all of a sudden you’re the epitome of serenity.”

“She needs me,” Caius simply murmurs, not taking his eyes off Nixie.

Understanding dawns. I saw Nixie’s mother kill a Vampire and his eternal mate. The agony, pain, and emotional disaster that coursed through my veins was something I never, ever, want to experience. Nor anyone around me.

“Caius.” I kneel in front of him, his eyes meet mine. “When I touched her, Jagger, me, and Nixie saw her mother kill her father and his eternal mate. You heard what Nixie said, right? About her mother and what she knew about her father? This means her mother lied to her all this time. It’s not just the murder she just saw, her world just shifted underneath her feet because that’s a hell of a lot to take in. And if she felt what I did...what her father was feeling and seeing when her mother killed his eternal mate and then chopped off his head?” My mouth falls shut. The pain is now evident in Caius’ eyes as he glances down at his own mate, realizing the reason why Nixie collapsed.

I can’t even find words to describe what I’m feeling with seeing and knowing all of this. And I’m not even the one whose mother did all of that...poor Nixie. Caius gives a tight nod and hugs her closer, instinctively knowing what Nixie needs right now.