Page 113 of Sinful Mates

“Yes, Theo, she is the same as me. For now, she has trapped her magic , but it can’t stay that way. The longer she leaves it in that bracelet, the worse it will get and the closer she will get to death.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, frightened.

“The magic , dear, spirit can drive someone mad. It’s the strongest elemental of magic there is.”

I shake my head, not understanding.

“But she is a vampire?” asks Theo, confused as I am. I can see Josiah thinking, his hand rubbing his chin like he is deep in thought.

“Of course, she is, but the magic will taint her, turn her dark. Spirit isn’t an element, more of a life force of every living thing. Imogen technically died, the DNA and her magic brought her back. Because she is unnatural, it taints her magic . To use spirit, it pulls at your life essence; because she is part vampire it pulls on the energy she draws around herself. Whatever emotion she feels her magic draws on it, amplifying it to create enough energy. Everything has a balance. Spirit is living while you are dead there isn’t meant to be an in between, you can’t be both. You need to choose, choose which parts of yourself to give to it or whether to give it up completely.”

“I still don’t understand?” I told her.

“You will, dear, but the longer you leave your magic , the closer you get to becoming human, and the fact that you're still partly a vampire, I’m assuming you already died. Humans don’t come back to life once they are dead. When you sent your magic into the bracelet, you sent your vampirism with it,” she tells me.

“So, I am human?” I ask, becoming more confused. The woman shakes her head.

“Not yet, but the longer you leave it, it will take its toll on you, and it will revert you to who you once were.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I’m an Oracle. I saw it when I grabbed your hand. I knew as soon as I saw you that you were a spirit user. Your aura is white, but I can see the darkness that surrounds you, the darkness you trapped in your bracelet.”

Turina trots down the steps toward us, “Time to go, I am sure I will see you again, Imogen, but for now you must stand up for what is right, for now you have a bigger purpose, and it isn’t talking to me,” she says walking away.

Josiah waves his hand to Turina to let her know we are coming. I tried to think of what she meant about me coming closer to death. The thought is horrifying but how do I fix that? I get little time to ponder before we are escorted into what reminds me of a courtroom, except instead of one judge, there were nine seats lined up along the bench.

Only one is empty. Two women and six men sit along the bench as we approach. Taking our seats, they glance at us before resuming their conversation. I can tell they must be elders as they all hold a certain air of authority.

He wears black robes and has a cruel smile on his face. When his eyes land on Josiah, he smirks, and Josiah growls lowly. I know then he is Christopher. The two women sitting on either side of him looked bored, like they couldn’t really care less about what is going on and wants to be anywhere other than where they sit. The elderly white-haired man on the end looks like he is about to take a nap as he keeps leaning back in his chair.

The four men all sit staring us down while listening to the man speaking. Theo places his hand on my shoulder and the door at the side opens and Bianca struts out, taking a seat at the bench next to the man with red hair and freckles.

“As everyone is aware, after we lost Alaric a seat at the council opened. And since no one stands up for the position, I have appointed Bianca to take her rightful position at the table. One of the women scoffs at his words, and I can tell she didn’t agree about Bianca’s right to the position as she sent her a glare. Bianca rolled her eyes at the dark-haired woman and makes me wonder what Bianca did that made an elder all but laugh at Bianca’s title?

“Josiah, I know you are here to appeal my decision, so say your piece. So we can get this over with and Bianca can take her rightful place on the council.” I can tell by what he says he will not be changing his mind about giving the spot to her. Josiah stands explaining why she shouldn’t be elected and that she should be held accountable for her crimes not rewarded. But nothing he says seemed to get through to any of the men, yet both women were nodding and agreeing with Josiah.

When he was finished, they called a vote and no surprise all the men on the council voted in favor of Bianca. Everything Josiah explains I can tell is a waste of time and in no way does anyone care for her crimes. When Christopher says his decision remains.

The dark-haired woman stands and glares at him. She is very intimidating when angry, and she looks on the verge of jumping across the bench and attacking the other council members.

Josiah is standing now too, also angry as he shakes his head before saying it is unjust and they should strip her of her new title.

The man next to the woman stands. His red hair and smattering of freckles make him look younger and around Tobias’s age, but age doesn’t really matter in this world; chances are he is probably centuries old. He has an Irish accent.

“Nothing can be done, Mara, she has every right to the position. Alaric only holds the position because she handed it to him. It is her birthright to take back up the position now that Alaric is dead,” he tries to tell her.

“She has broken our laws; laws you helped write and you’re going to let her take a seat back on the council just because of who her father is?” she screamed in anger.

Suddenly all hell breaks loose, and they are all standing, arguing with each other. I can’t but help think if they act like this, how the hell does anything get done? They are all acting like children, screaming at each, and not letting anyone speak. One thing irks me though, and it doesn’t click when she says it, but having a few moments to process her words, I realize what she says. That it was Bianca’s birthright because of her father, yet he is also mine.

So, didn’t that give me the right to the position as well?

Standing up, I see Theo peer up at me. I walk to the front, standing in front of the bench. Theo and Tobias both stare at me, wondering what the hell I’m doing. Tobias mouths for me to come back, but I shake my head. I stands there for a few minutes listening to them argue amongst themselves until the blonde-haired woman notices me standing there and waves her hand, silencing them. Everyone takes their seats and the blonde haired woman with black eyes cocks her head to the side, examining me before speaking.

“Would you like to add something?”

I nod, wondering how to start.