#☽ . . . coven.

[fwnlang]

[lunaetics]

roll the stone away | pack

the timing worked out: dean, sam, jo, and lux⎯who'd tagged along for your protection, whatever that meant⎯arrived at ajani's home and stepped out of the car, just as the group of salem refugees arrived.

dean didn't know much about the group. frankly, the only people he really knew anything about were sam and jo. but lo had informed them all that her friends, alphas like her, would be meeting them soon, seeking asylum and help that only eshe could provide right now. dean hadn't pried for details⎯they'd all had such a long day already and all he wanted was for it to come to an end⎯but watching the group climb out of their mini-bus, he thought he understood.

the exhaustion of the group was palpable. shadows hung over their faces and there was a stiffness to the way they move. none of them looked bruised or particularly ruffled, like there'd been a battle, just⎯⎯exhausted. as if they'd been through just as much as everyone else here, if not significantly more. and there was something about the way they hesitated to step too far away from each other, thoughtlessly shuffling into a clustered formation as they stepped out of their vehicle, that was familiar to dean.

he'd never done it with a group quite that large, but⎯⎯with sam, yeah. he recognized what it looked like to have been dragged to the pits of hell with someone and feel like the world would end if he ever parted from that person again.

peculiar enough, the last person out of the bus was asleep; she was pulled out of the car gently, cradled in someone's arms. her head lulled against their shoulder, and dean momentarily thought that it was kind of them to allow her to sleep.

then he saw⎯⎯the way their eyes shuttered away from her, as if she were a painful sight. the careful way she was held. the pallor of her skin. the way she wasn't even breathing.

oh.

finally, dean looked away.

"oh, good timing," lux said, running her eyes over the group. unlike the people she'd driven with, she wasn't human; she could pick up all of the distinct scents in the group, as well as the lack of a heartbeat in one of them. her eyes flicked down to the sleeping witch, then back up to the others. "come on, i'll bring you inside. don't worry," she added, seeing the way one witch's eyes darted frantically around, "you're safe here. whoever you're running from, they can't get you in this city⎯⎯certainly not here."

mae drew her bottom lip between her teeth and tried to believe that. rose and the twins had said the same thing. mae wanted to believe it. but it was hard to believe anything when her entire belief system had been upended just twenty-four hours ago. still, she fashioned a smile for the blonde and nodded. "right. yeah, of course."

lux tried to return her smile. she wasn't the best welcoming committee; she was not soft and endearing like julia. but ajani would want her to be kind, and she owed him everything. so she smiled, then turned to lead everyone into ajani's fortress of a home. some of the witches looked around in awe as they ventured through the house to find the others, and lux said nothing about it. spirits knew she'd done the same thing many times over the years.

soon enough, they reached the room where everyone was gathered. uche was seated between her sisters, hand wrapped around eshe's while her head rested against ife's chest. lux couldn't blame them for the way they banded together. near death experiences were scary for anyone; she couldn't imagine what that did to someone who'd been invincible since near the beginning of time.

upon entering the room, ethan couldn't even find it in himself to recognize all of the threats gathered around them. his eyes immediately found the familiar sight of home. "lo," he exhaled, breaking away from the witches to cross the room over to her. he wrapped his arms around her and felt something settle in his chest at finally being with her again. separating had been the right thing; that didn't mean he didn't miss her terribly. "hey. you okay?" he pulled back from the hug to look her in the eyes. "have you been alright?"

bellamy, on the other hand, did not look at lo first. instead, her eyes landed on julia. she was an odd sight, considering bellamy was certain deucalion had killed her some years ago. then again, she seemed to have a knack for beating death. there were scars wrapped around her throat, jagged claws marks that undoubtedly came from deucalion's attack, but that seemed to be the extent of her trauma. she didn't look at the alphas with any sort of recognition, and it made bellamy question just what price she'd paid for her survival.

"thank you for having us," harry said, while the alphas reunited, his voice quieter than usual. everything felt... odd. in a new city, with a bunch of new people, and piper still dead. if the last thing wasn't true, then piper would be speaking right now; she'd know how to be a good ambassador for their coven, how to show that they come with earnest intentions. but she was⎯asleep, still, so someone had to say something. "we're sorry for the sudden intrusion."

[thedemonlady]

Coven Akali Bio:

They came to Akali encircling from the tree canopy at an impossible speed, their taunts leading her deeper still into the Elderwood until at last she was lost. Then a voice whispered the choice right into her ear: die in these woods alone or emerge in their charge. And so she walked out of the woods... straight into the arms of the Coven."

[gothictyped]

nevermore gwen ... psychic or witch besties what do we think

[lunaetics]

uche waved off sam's concern. "yeah, i'm good." that was, in truth, an overstatement. her hands were visibly shaking in her lap, and her heart was beating fast enough for the world to hear, it felt like. there was a very real chance that she would vibrate out of her skin and⎯⎯fall apart, maybe.

but it would pass, she told herself. she'd had a near death experience; the jitters would go away.

dean's phone rang, bringing her out of her thoughts.

he turned away from the group, bringing his phone to his ear. "yeah?"

"put me on speakerphone," a woman said on the other line, her voice calm to uche's ears.

"bossy," dean muttered. "don't even get a hi these days." he obediently tapped his screen. "you're on speaker. jo harvelle, this is everybody. everybody, jo."

"hi, jo," julia called.

"hi," jo replied kindly. "just⎯making sure i understand the facts of what you're saying here. you said masked figures emerged from the road and tried to attack an original. then they just disappeared. yes? did they leave any traces?"

lux glanced at julia, remembering what she'd mentioned earlier. "some kind of electric residue," lux said. "nothing else, though."

jo fell silent for a few seconds. "jo?" dean called, wondering if she'd walked away from the phone or something. "did you figure something out? bethy?"

"don't call me that," she said immediately. "yeah, i... i think i know what you're dealing with, but i don't understand why. an original? there's no reason for them to..."

"hey, fill us in," dean complained. "what're you talking about? what is it?"

"they're⎯humans."

ife frowned. "they were not human. humans cannot do what they did."

"these can. they're scient⎯" jo paused as the sound in the background of her phone picked up. "sorry, i'm at work. i think you were attacked by the dread doctors."

dean looked at sam in confusion, then at the others. "what the hell is that? i've never heard of that."

"neither have i," ife added.

julia and claire both shook their heads, and lux just shrugged.

"no, you wouldn't have," jo sighed. "they're from a scifi novel, but they popped up on the west coast a few years back. they're supposed to be dead, and they would never target any of you, so i don't understand why⎯⎯sorry, i don't know if i can explain all of this over the phone. is it alright if i meet you all somewhere once i leave the bar? i have some books i can bring. they should be able to explain things better than i can right now."

ajani let out a laugh that was closer to a sob and dropped to his knees at uche's first words when she regained consciousness, and eshe covered her mouth as she let out a sound somewhere between both as well.

"ife is right, little love; your bike is a thing, but you are an irreplaceable life." she knew uche was likely only joking to lighten the mood; surely she must be feeling even more alarm than the rest of her siblings combined at what had happened to her, at what could have happened to her. but with her injury so close to the forefront of eshe's mind and heart, it seemed only right to remind uche how very beloved she was.

ajani frowned as lux spoke; as usual, her observations were astute. he quickly realized, however, that indeed very many of them were unknown to one another. well, if there was anything that could bring people together, he supposed, it was a brush with danger; there was no need for any of them to be strangers any longer. and besides, after they had all come together to save his sister even without knowing her, he had no desire to be strangers to any of them any longer. they had come to his sister's aid; as far as he was concerned, he owed them the greatest of debts, one that could never be repaid.

lo smiled back at ife; she knew she had felt a strong connection to her immediately, and now she knew why. there was an immediate connection to any other werewolf, but it only made sense that she would feel so instantly drawn to the original werewolf, the first of her kind.

"claire, that is not all you are," castiel said defensively. eshe smiled; it was easy to see familial bonds, especially when they so clearly echoed her own.

"my name is castiel, and i am a cheribum." he added. he glanced over at lux again, offering her a small smile; he knew whispers were often seen as the natural enemy to his kind, but he had no desire to be her enemy. he had no desire to be anyone's enemy, and certainly not anyone present here.

"ajani. i am the original vampire."

"and my name is eshe. i'm the original witch."

"lo...lauren, but you can call me lo," lo said, holding up a hand in greeting. "i'm...well, not an original werewolf, but an alpha werewolf."

"and i'm annika. i'm a hunter, too."

"sam, also a hunter," sam introduced himself.

"is the friend you texted a hunter, too?" annika asked.

"yeah. her name is jo, she's actually why we're here in the first place. we were coming to meet with her, when..." he looked at uche, face lined with worry. "are you sure you're okay?"

"if you're all originals," lo asked, "then...what the hell were those things? how could anything be strong enough to harm an original?"

"that is exactly what i am wondering about," ajani admitted. "in all my years, i regret to say i have never encountered them before. were they familiar to any of you?"

"i have not," eshe shook her head. "but whatever they were, the tools they were using were not unknown to us. vervain, wolfsbane, sulfur, silver; all of those have been used to hunt the supernatural for generations."

"that's true," sam said, realization dawning. "they clearly weren't human, but they were using human tools to try to attack uche. they didn't use magic, or any other kind of supernatural power." he paused, wondering. "could any other type of supernatural power hurt you, though?"

"unless it comes from one of us," ajani said, gesturing to his siblings, "no, none that i know of."

[yeonzzzn]

✨capturing magic: park sunghoon

a vampires bleeding series: four / seven

pairing: sunghoon x afab!reader word count: 5.3k

synopsis: your witchy presence causes an uproar with sunghoon, him not enjoying the idea of you being anywhere near him. as you struggle to regain your strength and magic, the banter between you and sunghoon continue grow along with the pull of fate.

genre: strangers/enemies to lovers, vampire!sunghoon, photographer!sunghoon, witch!reader, angst, some fluff.

warnings: mentions of blood and death, swearing, y/n has long black hair and facial piercings, stubbornly cute sunghoon ♡

☾ jungwon(1) | jay(2) | jake(3) | sunghoon(4) | sunoo(5) | niki(6) | heeseung(7) ☽

“YOU BROUGHT BACK A WITCH?!” Sunghoon snapped, his jaw clenching tightly. 

“Yes!!” the dhampir snapped back, “We couldn’t leave her there to die!!” 

Sunghoon was filled with anger, blood boiling. 

“Let's all calm down…” Heeseung spoke up, placing a hand on Sunghoon’s shoulder.

Sunghoon slapped his hand away, “Hyung, that dhampir bringing this witch here will put us all in danger!!” 

“This witch is one of my best friends!” She yelled, “I wasn’t going to leave her, end of story!” 

Sunghoon scoffed, “Yeah, and if we all die it’ll be the damn dhampir’s fault.”

“Hey!” Jake yelled, getting in his best friend's face, “That damn dhampir is my mate, watch your words. She’s in our pack now.” 

The room fell silent. Sunghoon figured he would have connected with the dhampir, the tension between the two was too obvious. 

“And for the record,” Jake said, taking a step back away from Sunghoon, “I’m the one who said to bring the witch here. We need information once she wakes up.” 

Sunghoon looks away from his friend, looking at the witch lying unconscious on the couch. 

He knew Jake was right. In order to stop Dorian, they needed any information possible. 

Sunghoon releases a breath, “Fine, do what you want with the witch.” 

And with that, Sunghoon stormed off. 

—

“Easy does it,” Heeseung grabbed your hands, helping you sit up.

It’s been exactly a week since Dorian burned down your village and killed your coven. You were the only surviving member. 

Your heart ached for those you’ve lost, but you knew their souls were somewhere free from the cruelness of this world. 

Most of your burns have healed from your recovery spell, but you still ached with each movement, making it harder for you to move. On top of that, your right leg was broken. And no recovery spell could make that heal any faster. 

The vampires have shown you kindness for the most part. One in particular doesn’t care for you much. 

Once you were completely sat up, you thanked Heeseung. 

Jay knelt down beside you, looking at the bandages that covered your arms, slowly lifting them up to look at your skin. 

“We can probably remove the bandages,” He said, lifting more of the bandage up to get a better look at your skin, “The only thing is, there’s a lot of scarring.”

You nodded, “Recovery spells can only go so far.” 

Jay removed the bandages, relieving the scars. You didn’t realize how bad they actually were until you looked directly at them. 

Flashbacks to the fire came back, shaking you to the core. You dropped your head into your hands, begging for the thoughts to go away. 

“Y/N,” your best friend drops beside you, her hands set gently on your shoulders, “what’s wrong?” 

Her voice alone was enough to snap you out of it, you quickly looked up at her, giving a nod, “I am fine, the scars just…” 

She sighs, “It brought back the memories?” 

You nodded again.

A scoff happened from across the room. You immediately glared in its direction. 

Sunghoon leaned against the wall, arms crossed against his chest, his black hair falling against his eyes. 

“Got something to say, bloodsucker?” you hissed.

Sunghoon raised a brow, “You gonna put a hex on me or something, witch?” 

You gripped the blanket that covered your legs, “I just might!” 

He chuckled, pushing himself off the wall. He smiled just enough to show his sharpened fangs and cracked his knuckles. 

“Alright, that’s enough!” Jungwon snapped, looking between the two of you, “This situation isn’t ideal, but we all have one goal in common, so please for the love of everything put your differences to the side and shut the fuck up.” 

Sunghoon sighed, retracting his fangs. 

“Good boy, listen to your leader.” you gave him a wink. 

“Y/N,” Jungwon warned. 

You sighed and relaxed your body. You were powerless in your current situation. 

A pack of vampires and two humans were your only source of protection at the current moment. Your coven was destroyed. This is all you have right now. 

Sunghoon scoffed, then stormed out the door into the night. 

“Do you think you can make it up the stairs to bathe and sleep in a bed finally?” your dhampir friend asks, giving you a soft smile. 

You removed the blanket, and more burn scars trailed down your left leg, while the other was covered in a cast from your knee down. 

You pulled your shorts down, trying to hide the scars. 

“Hey,” Jay’s mate kneels beside your friend, her soft hands taking yours, “These scars are proof that you survived, don’t try to hide them.”

You wanted to protest, to shout that she doesn’t understand what it meant to survive after what you went through. 

But then you noticed the scars on her neck. It didn’t take long for you to recognize that those scars were caused by Dorian. That __ survived almost being killed by him. 

You forced a smile, “These scars don’t just show that I survived, they show what I also lost.” 

“Then you’ll carry them with you forever,” she gives you a soft smile, “It’ll be a reminder of what Dorian has done, and what will be done to get back at him.” 

She was right. You gave her a smile back with a nod. 

Jay pulled his mate up and to his chest, wrapping her in his arms, “__ always knows what to say.” 

Their bond pulled at each of them. Jungwon pulls __ to him and Jake pulls your friend to himself. Sunoo, Niki, and Heeseung had smiles watching their pack. 

You too had a smile. You could feel the bond they shared. Their vibes and how their energies matched. 

You looked at your friend and Jake. The way he held her so tightly and her head in the crease of his neck. 

Your heart danced for them. You knew how much losing her first mate did a number on her. But you truly believe Jake was meant to be hers completely. She just had to go through some bullshit shit first. 

Eventually, you had enough of the love birds, positioning yourself to stand up. 

Your recovery spell healed your broken leg enough that you were able to stand up straight and still walk…but just barely. 

Your half-blooded friend noticed your struggles, releasing herself from Jake to help you up the stairs and into the bathroom. 

The reflection you saw in the mirror haunted you, a burn scar covering your left eye and up the side of your forehead. The recovery magic healed it enough that it was a light pink. 

A sigh escaped your lips, as you turned and faced away from the mirror. 

You cleaned yourself up, washing away the couch bum life you had for the last week. 

You were so glad to finally be able to sleep in a bed. Archer was nice enough to run to the nearest supermarket to buy you extra clothes, bed sheets, and other witchy essentials to have here. 

Your new room was filled with plants and crystals and a few books that Jake was able to salvage from the fire. 

You tried to stay awake to read, but your eyes failed you. After not sleeping in a bed for over a week, it was way too comfortable. 

—

You stood in front of the mirror, pulling your long black hair behind you and into a braid. Your bangs pull out perfectly down the sides of your face. 

Your half-blooded friend brought you some jewelry to wear, which you were ecstatic about. 

Witches can’t go without jewelry, right?

You pull some rings onto your fingers, then dangle earrings into your ears. 

A perfectly black hooped nose ring suited your nose and a lace choker around your neck and a short silver bar on your eyebrow. 

You pulled a white cropped tank top over you and a black baggy pair of cargo pants and black boot, and black cast boot on your right leg to match. 

A beautiful light brown cardigan made the outfit even more perfect. 

You did a three-sixty in the mirror, finally feeling and looking like yourself. 

You stared at the scar on your eye. You traced your fingers over it, feeling the rough skin. 

Dropping your hand back at your side, you turn and walk away from the mirror. 

The kitchen was lively, and laughter from your new friends echoed up the stairs as you made your way down. 

Jay stood at the counter flipping pancakes and bacon, a bag of blood attached to his lips. 

The two humans stood behind Jay, begging him to hurry with breakfast and Jay tried his best to shoo them off. 

Jake sat with __ on the couch. She ate a bowl of cereal while Jake drank his own bag of blood. 

Sunoo, Jungwon, and Heeseung sat at the kitchen table with a map in front of them discussing the layout of the area. 

Niki also sat at the table, backpack in his lap, and sipping on a bag of blood as if it were a juice box. 

You giggled and walked over to the table, “You really are stuck in a seventeen-year-old body arentcha?” 

Niki rolled his eyes, “Unfortunately.” 

Heeseung checked his watch, “Off to school.” 

Niki groaned, throwing his head back against the wall, “This fucking sucks.” 

You softly smiled at the younger, “I’ll walk you out.” 

Niki stood up, throwing the backpack on. 

You went to the fridge, grabbing an apple and a bottle of water. The piles of blood bags filled the bottom shelf. 

Seeing the bags reminded you that one bloodsucker in particular was missing. 

“Where’s the idiot bloodsucker at?” you asked anyone who would give you an answer. 

Jake perked up, “That idiot bloodsucker has a name,” you shrugged your shoulders, and Jake sighed, “He’s outside doing his photography.” 

Your dhampir friend smiles at you, “Worried about him, Y/N?”

You narrowed your eyes, “He annoys me.” 

She smirked at you, “You look pretty.” 

You toss your braid over your shoulder, “Of course I do, part of being a witch is also being charming.” 

The vampires groan, which you expected. They might be being nice to you for the moment, but witches and vampires still don’t get along. 

You grabbed a blood bag along with your other items and closed the fridge. 

You patted Niki’s back, “Come on baby bro, let’s get you off to school.” 

—

Sunghoon sat up in a tree, camera in hand, and snapping photos of the open land. 

The morning sunrise hit the land perfectly. He changed a few filter and lens settings, finding the perfect combination. 

His mood changed once he heard the door to the house open, sensing Niki and you stepping out of the house. 

Sunghoon turned around, watching as you waved Niki off, him going into a full sprint and gone within seconds. 

You took a bite out of the apple in your hands, looking around until you made eye contact with him. 

Sunghoon glared before turning his attention back to his camera. 

“You lack a lot of manners bloodsucker, ya know that?” 

Sunghoon scoffed, looking down at you who was now underneath him. 

“Why do you care about my manners, hmm?” 

“Haven’t you heard? We have a common goal, gotta act like friends, don’t want Jungwon to snap our necks, right?” You loved teasing him. You loved how irritated you made him and how you knew exactly what to say to get under his skin. 

Deep down you really wanted to get along with all the vampires, Sunghoon was just the only one not budging. 

Sunghoon ignored you, his jaw clenched as he held the camera back up. 

You whistle at him, his eyebrow rising. 

Sunghoon was fixing to snap, “I know for a fact you didn’t just whistle at me like I am a dog.” 

“Look at me then.” You said. 

Sunghoon looked back at you, a warm smile on your face. 

You tossed the blood bag up to him, Sunghoon catching it. 

“You haven’t eaten yet, right?” 

All Sunghoon could do was stare at the bag, his tough exterior relaxing. 

“Thank you,” was all he could say. 

You smiled even brighter, taking another bite out of your apple. 

Sunghoon drank the blood as you finished off your apple and drank your water. 

“Can I see your work?” You asked, finally breaking the silence. 

Sunghoon glared at you again, “Why do you care?” 

You sigh, “Because believe it or not, we are kinda stuck with each other, soooo.” 

Sunghoon rolled his head, running a hand through his hair. 

He knew you were right. 

“You won’t put a hex on me if I come down, will ya hex girl?” 

You glared at him, “No you idiot!” 

Sunghoon smirked, “Sassy much, hex girl?” 

“Continue pushing my buttons and you’ll see, bloodsucker.” 

This small banter admittedly made Sunghoon happy. You were the first person to get under his skin and make it crawl, but returned every ounce of energy he gave out. 

Sunghoon flung himself down from the tree, waving you over. 

One by one, Sunghoon showed you all the photos he took this morning. 

“These are really beautiful, bloodsucker,” you said, patting his shoulder, “But it’s missing something.” 

Sunghoon once again glared at you, “Missing what, exactly?” 

You smile, pointing at yourself, “A model!” 

Sunghoon furrowed his brows at you, “I don’t need you in my photos hex girl, might put a curse on them.” 

You rolled your eyes, “Come on, just snap a few pictures.” 

Sunghoon wanted to protest, why should he take photos of his enemy? 

But with the way you looked right now, Sunghoon knew with the sunrise and open fields, you would be a perfect fit. 

He nodded, “Fine.” 

You smiled, skipping away from him. 

Sunghoon lifted his camera, snapping a few photos of you skipping. 

You stopped and quickly turned around, the biggest smile on your face. Sunghoon snapped that as a photo, his stomach doing flips. 

The way your lips curled as you smiled. How the sun brought out the color of your eyes. The way your hair fell and blew in the wind. 

Sunghoon stared at the photo. You were so beautiful. 

“Hey!” You snapped Sunghoon out of his trance, “Are you going to stare at the camera or tell me how to be a good model?” 

Sunghoon smiled, “Just…be you.” 

You thought about it, deciding to make a joke, “What if I do Wanda Maximoff poses? Like Scarlet Witch Style?”

Sunghoon blinked at you, “Can you actually do magic like that?” 

You glared at him, “No! I’m a witch, not a superhuman.”

Sunghoon glared back, “Well, I didn’t know what all you witches can do!” 

“Just think of us witches as hippies, just that we don’t smoke a shit ton of weed.” 

Sunghoon chuckled, his hand clenching his shirt from his laughter.

“What is so funny?” You tried to not laugh as well, but his laugh was contagious. 

“Just the way you explained witches,” Sunghoon took a deep breath, “I’ve only ever been in contact with witches who use darker magic, you’re the first who doesn’t.” 

You studied him and his smile, his natural fangs being present with his smile. 

You haven’t seen him smile at all since you met a week ago. 

You walked towards him, stopping directly in front of him. 

Sunghoon narrowed his eyes down at you, “What are you doing? Get away from me.” 

You sighed, “There’s that tough exterior.” 

You placed your hand on his cheek, he pulled away, but reached back for him, connecting your palm to his skin. 

Sunghoon’s heart was racing at your touch, his jaw locking together. 

You breathed in, “You have such a tough exterior, but are so caring and soft underneath it.” 

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “Stop using your voodoo shit on me.” 

“Sunghoon.” 

It was the first time you actually called him by his name, and oh did it do numbers on him. 

He made eye contact with you, and immediately after, you backed away from him. 

Sunghoon knew why. There was a spark of electric energy that shot through the both of you, that small string slowly getting tied, but being still loose. 

He shook his head, not letting it tighten. 

“I’m going back to the house.” Sunghoon quickly turned and walked away, leaving you. 

You touched your chest, looking down at the ground. 

“What the fuck was that.” 

—

Sunghoon spent the rest of the day locked inside his room, flipping through the photos he had taken earlier that morning, stopping at the one of you. 

His heartstrings were being pulled. The moment of the string being attached to the both of you came back into his mind. 

“I can’t mate with a damn witch, it’s impossible,” he whispered to himself. 

But the more he looked at your photo, the more his heart called to you. 

He turned the camera off, set it on the bedside table, rolled over, and fell asleep. 

He woke up at the sound of footsteps walking down the hall. 

Sunghoon stretched, a yawn escaping his lips. 

He checked the time off his phone, rolling his eyes at the time. 

Sunghoon quickly got out of bed, sliding his sneakers on before walking out of his room, seeing the door to your bedroom was open. 

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “What the hell is she doing?” 

He found you outside by the pond sitting on the ground. Glass bottles filled with herbs sat in front of you, and a small fire was lit to your right. 

“It’s three a.m.,” he yawned, “why the hell are you outside at three a.m.” 

You turned and smiled at him, “I’m doing witchy things.” 

Sunghoon scoffed, “I already figured that, hex girl. I’m asking what exactly you are doing.” 

You turned back to the herbs, slowly mixing them together and setting them into the fire. 

“Don’t you know the witching hour is three a.m.?” 

Sunghoon shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants, “Yes, isn’t that when your powers are at their strongest? Just like us on a new moon.”

“Exactly,” you sang, “My powers are only stronger for an hour, plus the protection barrier I put around the house was fading due to my injuries from the fire. I need to revamp my recovery spell as well, so these scars go away.” 

Sunghoon’s heart pulled towards you even more, you were sacrificing so much to protect everyone, to protect him when he does nothing but be an ass towards you. 

You stood up, brushing the dirt off your sweatpants, “The barrier on the house has been fixed, so yay!” 

Sunghoon nodded.

“But I ran out of herbal recovery leaves, so I need more of that to remove all these burn marks.” 

You started to walk away, only for Sunghoon to grab your arm.

You raised a brow at him, noticing how serious his face looked at you, “What?”

Sunghoon walked closer to you, tracing his fingers over the massive pink scar on your face, “You’re beautiful as you are,” his fingers moved over every inch of the scar, before moving down your cheek, his palm cupping your face, “You’re so beautiful, scars and all.” 

Your heart raced. He thought you were beautiful? You thought he hated you. But you couldn’t help but feel that tug to him, and notice his energy was matching that tug. 

“What is this feeling?” You asked, “This energy that’s flowing between us? It wasn’t there before today.” 

Sunghoon reached for your hand with his free hand, his eyes meeting yours, “It’s the string of fate.” 

You looked at him confused, “String of fate?” 

“When vampires meet their mates, a string of fate ties them together,” Sunghoon took a deep breath in, “And I think we might have a string of fate tying around us.” 

“Is that another way of saying we are soulmates?” You made a grossed-out face at him, which earned you a glare. 

“Don’t look at me like that hex girl, you act like it’s a choice.” 

“Is it not?” 

Sunghoon shook his head, “Trust me if it was, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.” 

“Must be spine-chilling knowing your string of fate is probably being tied to a witch.” you teased him. 

Sunghoon half smiled, biting his lower lip, “You know for someone who was the head witch of your coven and village, you sure don’t know a lot about vampires.” 

You rolled your eyes, finally pushing his hand from your face, “I was only recently appointed as head witch, it’s not something I wanted.” 

Sunghoon squeezed your hand, “It’s like Jungwon being our leader, I don’t think he thought he was fit enough.” 

“Jungwon is doing fanatic, better than I was.” 

“I bet you were fine—“

“If I were fine,” you took a deep breath in, “Then Dorian wouldn’t have found a way to break the barrier over my village and wouldn’t have burnt down to ashes and killed my whole coven.” 

Sunghoon pulled you to him, embracing you, “I am so sorry they didn’t get to you in time. The moment Dorian would have been near Jake we would have known, we would have been there in seconds and…” 

“And what, bloodsucker?” 

“I could have saved you and your coven.” 

You looked up at him, “You hate me, hate witches, why do that?” 

Sunghoon took a deep breath, pushing your long hair behind your ear, “I would have gone to protect Jake, he’s my best friend after all, but I would have met you sooner, and could have prevented what happened.” 

You stepped away from him, tears filling your eyes and not wanting him to see it. 

“I couldn’t have stopped what happened, but I can do something now to protect you and my pack.” 

You made eye contact with him, once again feeling that string of fate, it pulled your hearts together, you could feel and see the red energy wrap around the two of you, but you could also feel Sunghoon’s heart trying to reject it. 

“We can’t be mates, you won’t allow it.” 

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “Stop using your voodoo on me.” 

you scoffed, “I’m not using voodoo! I am using my—“

“Just shut up and come over here and kiss me.” 

You stared at him, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

You chuckled, “What?” 

“Y/N,” your heart stopped at hearing how beautifully your name rolled off his tongue, “I am fighting to push out that string of fate. Anytime I’ve thought about who my mate would be, I never once pictured it would be you. Yet here you are in front of me. We are total opposites and two different types of creatures. And if you go back into that house and ignore this fate, then we will continue this back and forth. But if you come over here and kiss me, I swear I’ll be good to you.” 

God damn that string of fate and god damn this vampire. 

You rushed to him, standing on your tiptoes to reach his lips. His hands found your waist. The red energy of this fate tied you two into a knot. Bonding you as mates. 

“Goddammit, hex girl,” he whispered in between kisses.

“Goddamnit, bloodsucker,” you whispered back. 

Sunghoon sat against the tree, with you between his legs. Back against his chest and his arms wrapped around you. 

You leaned your head against his chin, watching as the sun slowly peaked over the horizon. 

“How long were you the head witch?” Sunghoon asked, taking your hands in his. 

You sighed, “Only two years, I was next in line but I didn’t want it.” 

“Why didn’t you?” Sunghoon was curious. Witches were something totally different than vampires, dhampirs, and even werewolves, their way of life was completely in the opposite direction. 

“I didn’t feel as if I was ready,” you leaned more into him, “I don’t have as many years on me as some of the other warlocks and witches in the village.” 

“And what time period are you from exactly?” Sunghoon teased. 

“I saw the Salem Witch Trials happen.” 

“Gosh you’re so old!” he teased you more, planting kisses on your cheek. 

“Oh shut up!” you shoved your back into his chest, “I can NOT believe I am stuck with you until the world ends.”

“Get used to it, sweetheart.” 

You both laughed and leaned more into each other. 

“Can I take a photo of us?” Sunghoon asked, “I want to capture this moment.” 

You nodded and he pulled his phone from his pocket. 

“No camera?” you teased. 

“Phone cameras work just as well.” 

You looked into the phone's camera and gasped, “Oh my god! I can see your reflection!” 

Sunghoon dropped his arm and rolled his eyes, “Shut up with your stupid ass jokes and take a nice photo with me, hex girl.”

You decided to stop teasing him and smiled into the camera. 

Sunghoon stared down at the photo of the two of you, the happiness he felt, he could see it written all over his face. 

“You know, I’ve never captured something as beautiful as you.” 

You looked up at him, “And I’ve never thought I’d have my own personal photographer to take model photos of me.”

“God you’re so annoying.”

Hand in hand, you followed Sunghoon back to the house. 

Everyone was awake and stopped everything they were doing in shock at the sight they were seeing. 

“Who would have thought,” Jake teased.

Sunghoon tried hard to fight back his smile, “Shut up.” 

Everyone laughed and joked along. 

You were happy. 

The moment you bonded with Sunghoon, you felt the same bond with the others, including your best friend and the humans in the pack. 

It wasn’t like your coven, but the bond was still there. You belonged somewhere again. 

You looked up at your mate, his smile working numbers on your heart. God you loved him so much already. 

But Sunghoon’s smile faded, and so did the other vampire's smiles. 

The room fell silent. The humans and you are both confused, clearly not being able to hear what they are hearing. 

“Something isn’t right,” Heeseung said quietly. 

“Sunghoon?” you take your hand in his.

He squeezed your hand tightly.

Before Sunghoon could open his mouth to speak, you sensed the other presence. 

You dropped your mate's hand, and slowly back away. 

You looked at your half-blooded friend, she was already looking at you. 

“Dorian...” you whispered, “He broke the protection barrier.” 

Sunghoon’s jaw clenched, “Guys what do we do?” 

Before any more could be said, you and __ were running towards the door.” 

“No no no!!” Sunghoon and Jake both yelled, grabbing ahold of you and her. 

“Jake, fucking let go of me!!” she screamed. 

You also fought off Sunghoon’s grip on your arm, “Let go of me!” you hissed. 

“I am not letting you go out there!” He snapped.

You managed to get out of his hold and were out the door. 

“Y/N!” Sunghoon yelled, going after you. 

__ released Jake’s grip and was following behind. 

Everyone else was right behind. 

Dorian stood at the edge of the pond, two women standing at his side, and a black portal opened behind him. 

You clenched your fist and you stood in front of him at a distance. 

“Dorian!” you hissed. 

“I see you survived being burned,” he laughed, “You unfortunately didn’t get the fate as your coven did.” 

“How dare you speak of them!” You took a step forward, only to be stopped by Sunghoon getting in front of you. 

Sunghoon glared down at Dorian, his rage hitting its peak. 

Dorian laughed, “Oh this is too good! Two enemies mated? This pack continues to surprise me.” He glances over at your best friend with Jake also at her side, “Ahh, nice to see you again, __. I also see you’ve mated again.” 

“Shut up!” the dhampir snapped, “Don’t you dare bring him up!! You murderer!!” 

Dorian’s laughter grew louder the more he made eye contact with each member of the pack. 

Jungwon and Jay have death grips on their mates. Their eyes narrowed and their jaws clenched.

“I would love to stay and chat up with you guys, but I only came for two of your mates, and that is all.” Dorian looked at the women at his sides, “Ladies will you do the honors?” 

The women both smiled and disappeared. 

Sunghoon’s eyes widened, those two weren’t like normal vampires. 

“He used magic..” you whispered, “He figured out how to read the spells he stole from my coven.” 

Dorian’s laughter filled the air and it only made Sunghoon rage even more. 

With one blink of an eye, one of the women was at Sunghoon’s side, and then she was gone. She reappeared back at Dorian’s side with you in front of her, a knife pressed against your neck, the sharp edge making a cut, a small stream of blood dripping down. 

The other woman reappeared with the dhampir at Dorian’s side. 

As if on command, Sunghoon and Jake both rushed forward. 

They weren’t thinking clearly. Their brains fogged and only had their sights on their mates. 

Heeseung made it in time to grab Sunghoon, pulling him back, and Sunoo for Jake. 

“GIVE HER BACK!!” Sunghoon screamed, “FUCKING GIVE HER BACK TO ME.” 

“Sunghoon calm down,” Heeseung shouted, “He’s going to kill them both if you take one more step.” 

Sunghoon stopped fighting Heeseung, but Sunoo struggled to keep Jake at bay, until Heeseung repeated the same words again, causing Jake to fall to his knees. 

“Good,” Dorian said, “Would have been a shame to kill your mates in front of you.” 

“What do you want with our pack members!?” Jungwon snapped a low growl leaving his lips when he yelled. 

“I have some unfinished business with them,” Dorian stared down at Jungwon’s mate, causing Jungwon to press __ even closer to him, “I have some unfinished business with all of you actually, but Y/N and this dhampir are more important. They have something I need.” 

Sunghoon went to take a step, just to be stopped by hearing your whimpers as the knife was pressed harder against your neck. 

“Now then,” Dorian turned and faced the portal, “We shall be taking our leave then.”

He stepped through the portal, the women slowly following behind him. 

Sunghoon and Jake tried fighting Heeseung and Sunoo again. 

Both scream out for their mates.

Sunghoon felt powerless as he watched you disappear through the portal, quickly closing up after you stepped through. 

The last thing you saw was the tears that filled Sunghoon’s eyes. 

Once you were gone, all Sunghoon could do was fall to his knees, his fingers dug into the dirt as he stared down. 

The sounds of Jake’s cries muffled out. 

No one ever told Sunghoon how it would feel to have your mate taken from you, to feel the distance of how far they were. The loneliness of them not being at your side. 

Sunghoon couldn’t hold in his rage as he let out a yell until his voice was gone and his throat sore. 

The last thing Sunghoon remembered was Heeseung pulling him off the ground and dragging him into the house. 

—

Everyone sat in silence the next morning. 

Jake sat in the corner of the living room, knees to his chest and head on his knees, tuning out the world. 

Sunghoon stared down at the photo of you he had taken with his camera. His hands shook. 

“Dorian is going to pay.” Sunghoon said, breaking the silence, “I am going to make him pay for the things he’s done and get my mate back.”

[jasmines-library]

Double Trouble

⛤⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽⛧☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⛤

WHUMPTOBER DAY ELEVEN: Prompt: Seeing Double

MASTERLIST WHUMPTOBER 2024

⛤⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽⛧☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⛤

To say you weren’t in the greatest stay would be an understatement. The hunt had been extremely rough and you had been tossed around like a ragdoll until you were beaten and bloody. You were fighting a coven of witches. All brutal and nasty in their own way, and damn near impossible to actually get rid of in one go. You had just managed to dust one of them and you were raising your gun to take a shot at a second one when something collided with your back.

It was cold and cut through you like a knife, gripping at your heart. It hurt, and you cried out, dropping to your knees. One of them had managed to land a spell on you. Clutching at your chest, you had squeezed your eyes shut, trying to block out the room around you. You could still hear the commotion from the other room where your brothers were occupied with their own bundles of trouble.

The pain seemed to subside after a moment or too; but when you opened your eyes to stand up again, you were met with dizziness and a wave of nausea. Your vision swam and doubled before you, making it impossible to see straight.

You could see Sam approach in the doorway, but to your eyes his figure morphed in and out of two version of himself. When he saw you on the floor he dropped down infront of you, calling for Dean with a shout.

“Hey—“ the non-vision of Sam tapped at your face “what’s going on? Are you alright?”

“….spell…..”

“What? What happened?”

“Can’t see…….two of you….” You mumbled, trying to focus so that the two images would merge into one. But they just wouldn’t.

“Shit.” Sam cursed. Then Dean arrived, his silhouette also split in two. “She’s been cursed! What do we do?!” Sam said desperately.

“Hey. Focus on us, kid. You gotta try and stay focused.” Dean urged you when your mind started to wander. “We need to try and find the witch who hexed you. Can you remember what they looked like? Where they went.?”

Deans words tried to spark some recognition in your mind. But you couldn’t remember seeing the witches face because the attack had come from behind. But as you dwelled on it longer, you began to recall who else was in the room with you at the time. Raising one arm in what you though was the right direction, you pointed them towards the doorway.

Dean was up in a second, dashing though the house to try and kill the witch before they got away to end the curse over you quicker. Meanwhile Dean stayed infront of you, whispering reassuring words and trying to get you to focus.

There was the sound of a gunshot, followed by a scream from somewhere within the house. And then slowly the two figures of Dean merged into one. You blinked, readjusting as the nausea vanished. Sam came skidding back into the room with a hopeful look on his face.

“….you alright?”

You blinked. “Yeah…..thank you.”

Dean helped you up gently, patting you on the back supportively as you re-gained your bearings.

“I hate witches.” You grumbled.

“I can’t blame you” Dean said.

“Yeah. Remind me to never come to one of these again.” You huffed.

“You say that every time.” Dean couldn’t help but smirk. “And yet here you are.

⛤⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽⛧☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⛤

<- DAY TEN. DAY TWELVE ->

⛤⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽⛧☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⛤

TAGS:

@hearts4robs @kingshitonly @alicedawitchbish @hell-o-kittys @azure-drag0ness @harleycao @thewhispersofthewaves @batfamsstuff @xxrougefangxx @rosecentury @noisymutantherelol @killxz @rhiodes @inlovewhithafairytale @that-wannabe-vangoghgurl @canthavetoomuchchaos

⛤⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽⛧☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⛤

[dracopias-bloodbag]

Bewitched By Bloodlust | Dracopia x F! Reader

Chapter I: You'd Never Want Me To Appear

As a witch you have a duty to protect your coven, the very sisterhood that raised you. When the High Priestess tells you of a prophecy that sees the downfall of the coven as you know it approaching, you're willing to do whatever it takes to stop it. You're surprised to find out that her visions show the leader of the local Satanic Ministry at the center of it all. You're more surprised to learn that he's a vampire; and you can't help but be disgusted at the thought of a creature like him being blindly worshipped by so many innocent people. The task of slaying said vampire is bestowed upon you, and you're more than happy to take on the challenge. You've waited your whole life for an opportunity like this– for a chance to prove yourself to your coven. But what happens when that opportunity is ripped from your grasp along with your freedom, and is replaced instead by mismatched eyes you just can't get out of your head?

chapter content: 3.6k words. 18+ only, enemies to lovers, slow(ish) burn, dark romance but not anything crazy, eventual smut, slight dubcon, blood, blood drinking (duh), kidnapping, canon divergent (ghost is not a band, but the ministry still runs and operates as a functioning church), time period is undisclosed romantic era, leaning towards the victorian era

Recommended Listening:

Witch Image — Ghost

Masterlist ☽𖤐☾ Read on Ao3

The frigid night air seems to wrap itself around you, making your lungs burn as your breaths come in short, shallow bursts. If it wasn’t so cold you might even feel like you’re being suffocated as you try desperately to quiet your mind. The moonlight is the only thing illuminating your path aside from the oil lantern clutched in your shaking palm. Your other hand remains wrapped around the leather reins of your horse, gripping them tighter than usual. Clicking your tongue and tapping your heels against his sides, you gently urge the animal forward through the foggy woods. He nickers softly in response as his ears swivel back and forth, and you just know he senses your unease.

“It’s okay, we’re okay… you can do this.” You’re not entirely sure if you’re reassuring yourself or your horse, but regardless you press on trying to ignore the pit in your stomach that only seemed to grow with each passing moment.

Keep going, keep moving. You can do this… you can do this.

The words repeat in your head over and over again, but whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, the truth is you don’t know if you can do this. Your coven spent so long training you, ensuring you were ready and making sure you understood just how important your mission was. The prophecy had scared them, it scared you; and the reward they offered you if you succeeded was too great to pass up. Yet a part of you still feels ill-prepared, like maybe you are the wrong person to carry out this task– like maybe they had made a mistake.

You lift your lantern, holding it out in front of you as you try to peer through the trees, but the fog is too dense for you to see much of anything. You take a shuddering breath before glancing down at your compass.

“Travel five miles due north on horseback. Then when you’re close enough, go in on foot. Sneak into the abbey, find his quarters, then take this silver dagger and end him.”

The anxiety in your stomach threatens to boil over at the memory of the High Priestess’ words. The instructions were straightforward, almost too straightforward, as if it would be an easy task. Yet something in your gut tells you it won’t be, and at that thought your fingers find the dagger on your belt, as if trying to reassure yourself. Slowly they trail upwards to the matching silver pentacle pendant that hangs from your neck.

“This talisman will protect you. The pure silver will burn him if he touches it. So long as it is around your neck, he will not be able to bite you. You will make it out alive.”

You damn near tug the pendant off as you jump at the sound of a tree branch snapping behind you. 

You whip your head around and thrust the lantern forward as you look around wide-eyed, before your eyes land on the culprit. A barn owl chirps before swooping down to a nearby bush, talons outstretched, no doubt chasing a rat of some kind. You breathe a sigh of relief as you place a hand on your chest, feeling your heartbeat thundering wildly under your ribcage.

No vampires, just owls. No ghouls. Just rats.

You continue making your way through the forest, the chill of the night air turns your cheeks rosy and makes your eyes water. You eventually stop your horse at a stream, allowing him to take a drink while you pull out your map and trace your finger over the weathered paper as you try to figure out where you are.

Your eyes flicker between your compass and the map, and you whip your head up, looking around as you realize that you’re less than a mile from the abbey.

Less than a mile and still no ghouls? 

You had expected to run into at least one patrolling the area. But the forest is still and quiet aside from the usual sounds of the night. There were no signs of life aside from the chirping crickets in the bushes and the owls in the trees.

“C’mon boy,” You pat your horse’s neck, your fingers gently stroking over his black coat to encourage him. “Let’s get this over with.”

You guide him across the stream, through thick brush, under the looming trees, and it's not even five minutes later when you spot the steeple of the abbey in the distance. Taking a shuddering breath you try to harden your resolve.

That’s when you hear it… a low growl coming from the treeline to your right. Your horse reacts almost instantly, anxiously shifting and tossing his head. You pull back on the reins, trying to get him to stop.

Chill out, chill out, chill the fuck out, you’ll only make it worse. You tell yourself.

You shove your lantern forward again, your eyes narrowed as you attempt to glare through the thick brush.

“Who’s there?” Fuck, you meant it to sound confident– but your voice cracks– a dead giveaway to how you truly feel. Petrified– like a child that’s terrified of the imaginary monster in their closet.

Only as you hear a snap from your other side, the devastating realization that this is no figment of your imagination washes over you. You whirl around and peer through the darkness, and then you see it.

One of his ghouls is staring straight at you, looking as if it’s ready to pounce.

“Oh fuck.” You curse, your instincts kicking in, sending your horse flying forward. You race through the forest, your heart pounding as you tuck your body close to his back as you try to avoid getting whipped in the face by tree branches. He soars over a fallen log, and whips around a tree trunk, before you spot the break in the trees.

The worn leather of the reins digs into your palm as you pull on them, turning your horse as you aim for the opening, but just as you think you’re home free– you see him.

And may the Goddess help you he truly is a sight to behold. Your breath hitches in your throat, both out of paralyzing fear and pure fucking awe. Gritting your teeth, everything seems to move in slow motion as he emerges from the trees on his own steed. If it wasn’t for your current circumstances, you might have time to laugh at the irony of the stark contrast of his pale white horse to the obsidian colored one you were mounted on– mirroring his darkness disguised as light, while your own righteous duty could be perceived as dark and taboo.

His face is painted with the signature skull paint you had heard tales of, his mismatched eyes boring into yours. One a bright crimson red while the other is such a bright white you could almost swear it glows. His hair is slicked back and you can’t help but notice the way it’s graying at his temples. A few strands fall in his face, giving him a disheveled look that makes your stomach flip. His black cloak billows behind him in the night air as he emerges from the darkness.

Your horse reacts then, skidding to a halt and nearly sending you flying. You manage to regain your balance, gripping his wavy mane to stop yourself from sliding off his back. The next thing you know you’re throwing your lantern down between you purely on instinct– it's the only thing you can think of to buy you time.

The glass shatters, oil and flame escaping their confines as the brush erupts in flames. Both his and your horse rear up, whinnying and kicking the ignited air with their front legs as your eyes meet his through the wall of fire separating you. The look in his eyes is one of shock, awe but most of all, rage; and you feel a chill run down your spine as you turn your stallion in the opposite direction. Your mission is long forgotten by now, and the only thing on your mind is getting the fuck out of there as fast as you can. You race through the trees you had passed before, your heart beating out of your chest.

Behind you, he dismounts from his horse before handing the reins off to one of the ghouls. He stalks around the flames, slowly, calculated. It’s as if he does not have a care in the world. Why would he? He knows that by the end of the night, you’ll be his. Even if he isn’t the one to do it, he knows his ghouls will catch you and bring you back to him; and he will take your life as easily as he has taken so many others. Even through all the chaos, through all the commotion of your scramble for escape, the only thing he can focus on is the sound of your racing heart beating against your ribcage like a terrified, caged bird.

A small smile tugs at his painted lips as his mouth waters at the sound.

Your horse leaps over the same log from earlier, whipping between the trees as you cling to his mane. You spare a glance back but everything is a blur as the sound of his hooves thunder in your ear in time with your frantic heartbeat.

A ghoul leaps out from the trees in front of you when you least expect it, and your horse rears up impossibly high. This time you’re less prepared, and you lose your balance and hit the ground with a sickening thud before the animal turns and bolts into the surrounding forest.

You cough and sputter from your place on the forest floor, the impact had knocked the wind out of you and you were struggling to suck in lungfuls of air. You claw desperately at the leaves and dirt under you as you try to pull yourself up.

You stumble to your feet as the ghoul stalks towards you, claws extended as he reaches for you.

All of your training comes rushing back to you then, and in one swift movement you catch his hand with yours. He cocks his head, surprised at your strength as you grunt with the effort and throw all your body weight against him, shoving him backward. You turn quickly as he struggles to regain his balance and kick your leg out, effectively knocking his legs out from under him. That gives you just enough time to slip away as you take off running on foot.

Shit, shit, fuck– shit!

Your boot gets caught on a tree root, causing you to stumble. You’re quick to catch yourself, your nails digging into the bark of a nearby tree as you grasp onto it for support. You gather your long skirt in your hands, trying desperately not to fall on your face.

A clawed hand digs into your arm, pulling you out of your thoughts and you yelp as this new ghoul shoves you against a tree.

The ghoul studies you carefully as his eyes flick over you, he snarls, sharp fangs revealing themselves as you wriggle under his grasp. Somehow you manage to wrench your hand out of his and grab your dagger from its place on your belt before swinging at him.

The blade leaves a thin but effective scratch across his face, and he snarls again even as he stumbles back long enough for you to make your escape. Another ghoul runs at you; but you sidestep at the last second, causing it to run headfirst into a tree.

Your breaths are ragged as you press on, running further through the trees. Whether you’re heading towards the abbey or away from it, you don’t know anymore. In your head you vaguely remember spotting your compass amongst the leafy foliage when you fell, and you mentally curse yourself for ever dropping it. You eventually shove through some thick brush and stumble into a clearing, and the sight before you makes you freeze instantly.

He is standing there as if he’s been waiting his whole life for you. He doesn’t look the least bit worried as you step into the clearing, even as the moonlight bouncing off the silver dagger in your hand catches his attention.

“You know why I’m here.” It’s a statement, rather than a question. Good, your voice was surprisingly steadier now, even though your legs felt like they might give out at any moment. 

But your heart tells another story, still trying to beat out of your chest. The sound is the only thing he can focus on, and he has to bite back a chuckle as he counts a hundred and forty-eight beats in a single minute. He can picture your veins shirking in your extremities, as your body prioritizes getting blood flowing to your most vital organs. He wonders how it will taste flowing over his lips once he finally takes that first bite, and it makes him practically growl in anticipation.

Soon. He tells himself.

“Of course, you eh… want to put that,” He waves his hand dramatically, gesturing towards your blade, before pointing at his chest. “Here.”

The way the moonlight makes his fangs gleam as he speaks makes your stomach do a somersault. You can’t help but notice how his thick accent somehow makes his words sound sweeter than they are.

“I was sent here to kill you.” You snap. 

He’s unfazed at your outburst, his white eye practically glowing in the moonlight as he studies you.

“The elders of my coven have seen an ancient prophecy, one that sees you at the center of our coven’s demise.” Your fingers feel for the silver pentacle hanging from your neck. “I am not going to let that come to fruition.”

He laughs darkly, watching you as he slowly steps forward. “And why do you think I care what a bunch of old hags think, eh? Are you vain enough to believe I care enough about what you’re doing out there to go out of my way to hunt down some lowly coven.”

You grit your teeth. “I don’t know why you’re at the center of the prophecy, but I don’t care. I won’t let you get the chance to hurt us. ”

He chuckles at that. “Well, they made a very stupid mistake sending someone like you out here. A scared little ragazza, who can barely put one foot in front of the other. If I knew any better, I’d think they wanted to get rid of you, strega.”

“You don’t know anything about them.” Your voice drips with venom as you take another step towards him.

He laughs dryly, glaring at you through narrowed eyes, and in the moonlight, you can see where the tales the elders had told you came from– why people are so fucking scared of him. The dramatic face paint contrasts those dangerous eyes of his, making them stand out against the painted black eye sockets. The lines on his cheeks accentuate his cheekbones and bring attention to the aged smile lines around his mouth. For a brief moment you wonder what this wretched creature could possibly have to smile about that would’ve caused those to form overtime.

“Then do it. Kill me.” His voice pulls you from your thoughts as he slowly puts his hands up, as if in surrender.

You hesitate, everything in you is screaming that it’s a trap, but as you weigh your options your eyes land on the surrounding treeline. Spotting eight pairs of glowing eyes; you realize his ghouls have you surrounded. If it wasn’t a trap, there was no way out anyway. Kill him and they kill you to avenge their leader, let him kill you and well… that was it. Your heart practically plummets to the pit of your stomach as you realize no matter what you do now, this will be your end.

You take another shaky step forward, rotting autumn leaves crunching under your boot as your hand clutches the cool metal dagger. As you adjust and readjust your grip on the hilt nervously, your eyes flicker back to his.

He’s practically grinning as he watches you shift nervously, and that's all it takes to set you off.

You rush him, drawing your hand back as you approach, poised to strike. He doesn’t move as you approach, almost as if he welcomes death.

Only he doesn’t. 

Of fucking course he doesn’t.

At the last second he grabs your wrist, punching a gasp from your lips as you feel just how strong he is. It’s like being manhandled by a fucking brick wall as he twists your arm and uses the momentum to spin you around so your arm is pinned behind your back. You feel his other hand come up to grab your throat, and you shut your eyes, preparing to run as you expect him to pull back hissing in pain when he touches the silver chain around your neck, but then…

Fuck.

Gloves.

You gasp at the feeling of leather instead of cold skin, dropping the dagger out of pure fear as a scream tries to rise in your throat. You really were going to die.

He chuckles darkly in your ear as his fingers find your necklace, plucking it off of you with ease.

“What’s this, hm?” 

He dangles it inches from your face, chuckling as you writhe and struggle under his iron grip. 

“Did you really think that this would protect you from me, streghetta? Did you think I’d writhe in pain, giving you the chance to escape me?” His voice is low, dangerous, almost a growl as he throws it to the ground. You feel his hot breath on your neck then, and you practically whimper as you realize what’s about to happen. “Think again.”

You make one last attempt at escape, using all your strength to try and wrench yourself out of his grasp. But you can’t, and instead are faced with the harsh reality that the fucker truly is undead, superhuman strength and all.

“Shhh…” He practically purrs in your ear. “This will hurt… a lot, but it’ll be over soon. Then you can sleep for all eternity, cara.”

His fangs pierce the delicate skin of your neck and you cry out in his arms. Every fiber of your being is screaming at you to fight, but every fight or flight instinct firing at the same time causes you to panic and freeze up, utterly paralyzed under his grasp.

He groans gutturally as your blood flows over his tongue and down his throat. Every single cell in his body is screaming your name without even knowing it. He wants desperately to drink you dry, to leave you broken and bloodless on the forest floor. But his senses are overloaded when he tastes how sweet your blood is. 

In all his years of immortality he had never tasted something so fucking decadent.

You can feel yourself growing weaker, your vision swimming as dizziness sets in and the world begins to spin around you. Your chest feels hot and damp, and you realize it’s your own blood running down your collarbone, past your neck, and down your chest.

He pulls away for a moment, and you feel his hot breath on your ear. The coppery smell of your blood on his breath makes you tremble violently in his arms.

“I was sent here to kill you, to stop you from ruining everything The Ministry has built… but how can I now that I have tasted how sweet you are, now that I know your blood sings to me?”

You can only whine as he latches his lips over the puncture wounds again, and the sound he makes is animalistic, and so fucking guttural that it makes your knees weak. He’s practically moaning at the taste of you, as his arm wraps around your torso, caging you more firmly against him. Your body grows heavier and weaker as you lose just enough blood to make dark spots dance across your vision. The last thing you see before losing consciousness is the stars through the trees, and for a moment, you think to yourself, this may not be such a bad way to die. Surrounded by nature, where you felt most at home, under the watchful eye of the Goddess.

It takes every ounce of self control for him to pull away from you as you pass out in his arms. As much as he wants to let greed win, he meant what he said before. He isn’t sure he can let you go now that he’s had a taste. He flicks his tongue over your wounds, as his saliva causes the blood to clot and stops the bleeding. The act is almost tender, a stark contrast to his almost violent feeding only moments before.

He stares down at your limp form in his arms, and he can’t help the growl that rises in his throat at the sight of your blood pooling on the leather of his gloves. The front of your corset is stained with the evidence of what he had done, and your skin looks a little paler than before in the moonlight, and he can’t help but think just how gorgeous you look like this. 

No, he decided. He won’t kill you tonight, you were too special, too valuable for that. Instead, he decides, he will keep you. He will tuck you away from the rest of the world. You’ll be his and only his, doomed to be his little blood bag for eternity.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

I will try my best to post updates biweekly, but if I don't keep up please have some grace, I have a full-time job and usually write whenever I have the time and energy.

Comments, kudos, and reblogs are always appreciated! ‪‪❤︎‬

Translations:

ragazza – girl strega/streghetta – witch cara - darling

Next Chapter...

[moonlightazriel]

Son of the Darkness XVI /// Azriel X F!Reader

Summary: Hidden for so long The court of shadows thrived, and things were great until the high lord's death, now the next in line should assume the crown of high lord of shadows, will he accept his duties?

Warnings: SMUT and talkings about war.

Word Count: 2,7K

Notes: After so long, SOD is finally back, it feels so good to be writing this again.

Son of the Darkness Masterlist

Main Masterlist

“I must say that I love a good-looking fierce female.” Helion leaned closer to Y/N and she giggled trying to politely shove him away, Azriel raised an eyebrow at that, his wings flaring and he puffed his chest, appearing bigger and scarier as Helion hit on his mate. 

They had retrieved to a banquet room, food was being served and wine was being passed around. Y/N was seated right beside Helion and Azriel was across from them, the High Lords and their courts having nice conversations with each other, the atmosphere was amicable, it almost felt like the meeting hadn't occurred. 

“What are our numbers?” Tamlin asked, trying to make small talk, everyone turned his way, harsh gazes directed at him, he tried to ignore how this made him feel, by sipping on his goblet. 

“Let’s enjoy this feast, we never got to be together like that.” Thesan redirected the conversation to something else, everyone was hiding their numbers, Tamlin could not be trusted, it was a smart move. 

Soon, everyone was walking around, talking with friends they hadn’t seen in a really long time. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow among the stones that composed the room and the people. 

“This place is beautiful.” Y/N whispered, appearing behind Azriel, her voice sounded tired. He turned to her, pulling her closer by the waist.

“Did you like it? I can build one for you.” She looked at him, blushing a bit under his intense gaze, the sun reflected in his eyes, making them look like melted gold.

“No need, I’m perfectly fine with Tornan.” She replied, feeling the light flutter of a thousand butterflies in her stomach as he looked at her. 

Azriel wanted to kiss her, but instead, he pulled her towards the musicians, moving her in an animated dance. Neither of them were that good, bumping into each other but the smile on her face made it all worth it. 

His family watched, Azriel seemed lighter, happier. He deserved all the happiness he could find, and he sure did in the arms of the female who looked at him like he was her whole world. They could smell their bond, so strong, even if it hadn’t snapped yet for her. A match like no other. 

“You’re all welcome to stay here for the night, but you can leave.” Thesan announced. Rhysand’s voice quickly echoed through their minds, telling them he would like to stay. 

Each high lord had the same idea, deciding to stay. Thesan escorted Tamlin out and the Night court walked to their designated chamber. Helion follows them closely. 

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

“The Illyrian legions are ready for war, every single camp was prepared. The dark bringers are joining too.” Rhys stated, spinning the wine in his glass. Helion nodded. 

“My armies are all ready as well. Everyone I could gather.” He looked at Azriel, he was standing in the corner, hugging Y/N from behind, with his arm around her neck. Helion eyed the both of them with lust, the clear smell of arousal made Cassian snort a laughter. “You know you’re always invited to join, Lord of Bloodshed.” He whispered, winking at Cassian. 

“Her legions are ready.” He said he was the High Lord, but the person who spent her whole life getting ready and taking care of his “army” was her, it was only fair to address things properly. 

“55.000 soldiers ready to be transported by the Sephiran coven.” She added that pride emanated from the dark bridge between them, so much pride that leaked through half their bond. 

“We’re marching to war as well.” Evanore, who had watched all evening in her own world, spoke. “For healing and for protecting, if we can gather the armies together, we can bless the weapons.” 

“Cassian and I are going to the Illyrian camps first thing tomorrow morning.” Rhys turned to her. “Maybe you can start there? I can try to help.” Eva nodded. 

“Sounds like a plan.” She happily replied. 

“Then we need to go back home, it’s time for the Nightfall.” The night court members nodded. 

Talking took a little while longer, with Feyre pulling Y/N aside. As soon as they were on the balcony, Feyre smiled at her. 

“I need your help.” She started, not sure how to tell her exactly what the plan was.

“Whatever you need.” Feyre nodded.

“I want Bryaxis by our side.” Y/N’s eyes widened.

“The Soul Seeker?” The female smirked. “That will be interesting. We will do that tomorrow.” Feyre nodded, shared a quick handshake and they went back inside. 

“Do you want to go to sleep, my love?” Azriel asked as she approached, a cute yawn coming out of her mouth as she agreed, they said their goodbyes and marched to the chamber designated to them. 

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

“What is up with Helion? He looked like he wanted to fuck you.” She asked, removing her jewelry and makeup in front of the mirror. 

“It’s his dream to get me and Cassian in his bed.” He approached her from behind, hands pressing the knots in her shoulders. “And now apparently you.” She could hear the jealousy in his voice. 

“Jealous, my High Lord?” Her voice was low and sensual, her pink tongue wetting her lips as she looked at him through the mirror. 

“Maybe.” It was all that he said, his hand wrapped around her throat and he forced her up, kicking the chair to the side. “It’s just that…” His lips started to kiss the skin of her neck, and she let her head fall onto his shoulder, pressing her lips together so she wouldn’t moan. “The thought of you with another male, it’s enough to drive me insane.”

His hand kept pressing her throat, while his other traveled down her body, fingers ghosting over her nipple, which hardened under his touch, the lacy nightgown was also enough to drive him mad. His cock throbbed in his pants, and he pressed it against her ass. 

“Eager, I see?” She teased, Azriel smirked against the skin of her shoulder, only to dip his hand inside her underwear, touching her bare dripping cunt. She shivered, pressing her legs together, arching her back and her ass as she tried to control her breath. Azriel rubbed circles in her clit, sending waves of pleasure through her body. He wanted to taste her so badly. 

He turned her around, almost coming with her expression, eyes squeezed shut, lips parted, and flushed cheeks, he felt proud of being the one making her feel like that. His hands helped her sit on the desk, the contact of her hot skin against the cold surface made her whimper, the sound going straight to Azriel’s cock.

He pulled down her underwear, locking his gaze on her, her expression filled with lust as she watched him kneel in front of her, part her legs open, and dip his head between her legs, tongue licking a stripe along her core, focusing on the apex of her tights while two of his fingers pumped in and out of her. One of her hands tangled in his hair, pulling him even closer to her, while the other held firmly on the desk. 

She whimpered and squirmed, feeling her peak approach her fast as Azriel’s skilled tongue drove her closer to the edge, he flickered his tongue in circles, making her moan loudly. 

“Oh Mother, I’m going to cum.” She blurted it out, how long since someone properly ate her out? She couldn’t even remember, and she didn’t want to, he was the only one who would ever do that again, and he did it so well.

“Come in my tongue, love.” He said, going back to his ministrations, moving his fingers and tongue in synchrony, at an impossibly fast pace. Y/N was violently thrown over the edge. Coming so hard that she felt consciousness slip away from her grasp. Azriel noticed, getting up and pulling her in his arms. Gently carrying her to bed. 

He pulled her under the covers, circling the bed and going to the other side, pulling her to his chest again, she softly snored and he tried to calm his hormones, going to sleep with the taste of her still in his tongue. 

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

“We have to go home soon.” Azriel said, rubbing soap on her back as they shared the shower in the morning. She turned to him, gently applying shampoo on his dark locks, fingers rubbing his scalp and Azriel let out a low groan in pleasure, he loved to have her whining and panting underneath him, but this non-sexual pleasure? Just having her in this intimate way? It was enough to have him giggling and kicking his feet like a little girl. 

“Are you going with Rhys?” He nodded. “I’ll ask someone to take me there, I need to do something with Feyre first.” He hummed in agreement. 

“Maybe Mor can take you.” Y/N whispered a “sure” and they finished their shower. Getting dressed and eating the meal that was sent to their chamber. 

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

“Thank you again for coming with me.” Y/N shook her head, they were all back to the night court, and now she and Feyre were marching down to the bottom of the library. 

“I like him.” It was all that the brunette said. Her scalp tingled as she felt the temperature drop, Feyre squeezed her hand harshly. “Hey, Soul Seeker.” 

“I haven’t heard this name in a long time.” The shadows moved with curiosity. “You’re not from here.” He deduced. “You belong home.” 

“Took a while for you to notice.” She joked and Feyre tried to look at her, feeling the fear sneaking up her spine, she was rigid, afraid to make the wrong move. The shadows moved and the beast chuckled. 

“They fear me here.” Bryaxis stated. 

“Good for you, that our High Lady here has a deal for you.” She nudged Feyre, the female cleared her throat. 

“If you help us in the war, I can get you home.” The beast got agitated with interest. 

“All I have to do is help?” Feyre hummed in agreement. “And how do I get back to the Court of Shadows?” He inquired. 

“The Sephiran.” Y/N replied. 

“Ahhh, the witches. My dearest friends.” The shadows moved and it felt like he was happy. 

“But…” they abruptly stopped. “You will have to follow our rules, and fight for us until we don’t need you anymore, and only then will we bring you home.” The creature watched Y/N, then Feyre, who stood with more confidence. 

“We have a deal then.” The creature said, and both females could feel the burning in their arms, as they reached the light, a drawing of the night sky, the court of the Shadows night sky, marked their skin.

“I’ll ask Amren to help with the restraining spell. Mor will take you to the camps.” Feyre stated as they reached the house of wind. “Thank you for helping me.” 

“I’m always here to aid a friend.” She winked, squeezing Feyre’s hand, the female smiled, going after Amren. 

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

“I hate this place.” Mor stated as she felt the male’s eyes lingered a bit too long on parts they shouldn’t. 

“Males are awful everywhere, I see.” She pointed out, gaining a few more angry gazes as they walked through Windhaven, reaching Devlon’s tent. 

Rhysand sat on the desk, while Cassian discussed strategies with Devlon, who had a very sour expression on his face. 

“Where’s Eva and Azriel?” Y/N asked, earning the attention of the three males. 

“She’s protecting the weapons and he’s with her, for safety.” Rhys gestured for the two to approach. Y/N looked at the Prythian map.

“We should face them in an open field.” Devlon insisted.

“Or we could force them near the sea, here.” Cassian pointed. 

“Some of the summer court members have water abilities, and so do the witches.” The leader of Windhaven shivered at the words. “That beautiful creature out there? One of the most powerful witches ever born.” She proudly spoke of her best friend. 

“Fucking hell.” That was all that he replied. Looking back at the map. 

“Here, we have this mountain and water. This guarantees they can’t attack us from behind. Natural protection.” She crossed her arms. Cassian smiled at her. 

“That’s actually perfect, but how do we get this many people there?” 

“Teleporting!” Evanore said, entering the tent, sweat coated her forehead even in the cold winds of the mountain. “Me and my sisters can teleport all of them, it’s no big deal.” She smiled. 

“Then it’s done.” Cassian circulated the area on the map with a coal pencil. “This is where it all ends.” 

At this same time, Feyre and her sisters entered the tent, Nesta looking around and giving a small smile to Eva and Y/N, while Elain just nodded to everyone, her eyes lingering a little while longer on Azriel, Y/N rolled her eyes at that, deciding to ignore it.

Then, they all felt the shaking of the ground and the air being knocked out of their lungs, like a huge wave of raw magic sweeping over the camp, the terrified looks in their eyes. 

“The wall is gone.” Nesta stated. She had felt it more deeply as they used the cauldron. 

“We need to be fast.” Y/N grabbed Evanore’s hand and they both disappeared through the folds of time. Going home. 

They were met with the witches already waiting at the war camp. “I called them.” Eva explained. 

“ATTENTION.” Y/N yelled, the soldiers falling silent as they reunited in front of their general. “It’s time.” Her voice echoed through the camp, thanks to one of the Sephiran spells. “The war is here and we need to prepare, he trained our whole lives for this. This is the moment.” The soldiers nodded in silence. “Gather your supplies, take your armor. We’re leaving in the morning.” She dismissed them with a wave of her hand. 

The chaos started as soon as they departed, the clinking of metal from the armory being carried around, swords being cleaned and packed. The kitchen packing food to feed an army twice as big. The healers rushed around getting their wagons ready. 

“Someone needs to go back to Prythian and keep blessing their weapons.” Eva told Rune, who just nodded, that she might be the leader and know everything that was happening, but Evanore was the future of the Coven, she wanted to see if her sister had what it took to keep their legacy once Rune couldn’t. 

“I’ll send Thalia and Kharis to bless their weapons. Ellora, Alais, Ryo, and I are going to transport them. You should rest, sister.” Rune advised. 

“Rune is right.” Y/N squeezed Evanore’s shoulder. “You can rest in my tent.” The blond looked at her. 

“What about you?” Her blue eyes were filled with concern. 

“I have too much to do.” She ushered Evanore to her tent, turning to Rune. “We need to take them to the Illyrian war camps.” She felt all the weight on her shoulders, Ryo wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so sorry to ask that from you.” 

“It’s our land too, we will fight for what’s right.” Ellora spoke, her voice was soothing. She squeezed Y/N’s hand. “Everything is going to be fine.” But she wondered if they really would. The fear was clawing at her heart and she felt sick to her stomach. 

“I’ll prepare tea for you.” Alais offered and the female nodded. She needed to calm down if she wanted to make this work.

“Thank you all, for always being kind to me. You’re all a blessing to this land.” Rune smiled at her. The witch was at least 700 years old, but as all the witches did, she looked as young as ever with the red hair and the freckles adorning her face. 

“It’s our pleasure to fight by your side, general.” The witch bowed, Ryo let her go and Alais was next to her with the tea, she sipped quickly, feeling the calming properties of the plant filling her senses. 

She exchanged a quick goodbye to the witches and went to the meeting room, to share her strategies with her soldiers, the sounds of the camp muffled by her powerful voice. 

“I guarantee to you all, we will be the standing ones on that battlefield, we won’t lose this war.”

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

Taglist: @allison-rosewood-maximoff @devilsfoodcake22 @fieldofdaisiies @brekkershadowsinger @valeridarkness @margssstuff

[chvoswxtch]

navigation

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ welcome to the coven my feral little gremlins ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

everyone say thank you @thyme-in-a-bubble for that cute ass header ✨

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ coven rules ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

☾ this blog is 18+, minors do not interact

☾ this blog is a safe space. no hate or disrespect of any kind towards anyone will be tolerated

☾ all work is my own. please do not repost anywhere else without my consent

☾ my fic requests are currently closed. [request guidelines]

☾ go on, be nosey. [about me]

☾ want notifications? [join my taglist]

masterlists

☾ marvel

☾ supernatural

☾ criminal minds

☾ stranger things

milestone celebrations

☾ come have a drink at mine 🥂 [2k]

☾ the eras tour (court's version) [3k]

☾ court's cafe ☕ [4k]

character playlists

☾ elektra natchios

☾ jessica jones

☾ the bodyguard soundtrack

[thelunarsystemwrites]

I made another discord server!

it's a server to learn about agere, talk about it, have fun and meet others in the community!

Note three thing!

1, don't have any mods yet.

2, we're kinda strict on rules! This is for everyone's safety!

3, I ask nobody over 25 years old joins!

Remember it's an agere server, keep it child friendly!

[mortuarymorticia]

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

01.24.24

it’s time for a midweek check in! feel free to reblog this with ur own answers, or make ur own post, just be sure to tag me in it & at least two mutuals to keep the trend going!

📚 what have i gotten done?

✦ lecture notes for two classes.

✦ homework for microbiology.

✦ marketing project.

📑 what have i got left to do?

✦ business project.

✦ next week’s microbiology homework.

✦ flashcards.

🧫 what am i proud of this week?

i kicked ass with productivity this week despite having a cold & feeling like crap.

📖 what am i looking forward to?

coven circle on friday night!

i tag @studywithvictory , @shrivelfigstudies & @lottiestudying ! ❤️

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

[lunaetics]

right to the bone | coven

piper had bitten her nails down to the quick by the time the last of her guests arrived.

harry watched her pace the floor with steadily raising eyebrows. for all that they poked fun at her almost frantic veneer of stoicism, she typically was fairly calm. pristine clothes laid flat against her body, hair falling into strict curls around her shoulders, makeup done just right. even when events and opinions nipped at her skin to leave her red and marked, she walked without faltering and split fire with her footsteps.

so he didn't love the thought of whatever had her so visibly and palpably anxious.

bellamy’s gaze flicked to the door when the last of the invited wandered in, but it was mae that got up from her seat to intervene. "okay, pipes," she interrupted, walking into the heir apparent's path and taking both hands. "you really have to stop with the pacing. you're freaking me out." her thumbs grazed the back of piper's hands, skin against skin in a gentle caress, and she offered a smile. "do you want to sit down? mari made some tea."

harry glanced over at the girl in question. he couldn't say with any confidence that he understood why she was here; why any of them were here, especially the werewolves. he'd long since outgrown his parents' prejudice towards lycanthropes, but that didn't mean he was used to having parties with them. they were here anyway, right along with damaris and every person in their friend group. if damaris found her presence to be out of place, it didn't show in the way she made conversation with willow over cups of tea and the tea sandwiches that she'd brought over with her.

if there was one word to describe damaris, it would always be pleasant.

he looked back to mae and piper just in time to see the latter force a smile. "thank you," she said, ever the prim leader the coven had crafted her to be. "but no, i can't. i need to stand for this. that's everyone, correct?"

"you made the guest list," ethan pointed out, not totally unkindly. they weren't any clearer on why piper had called them all here than anyone else was, but they didn't particularly mind that; they liked everyone here well enough to accept whatever the reason was. "does it look like we're missing anyone else?"

piper swept her gaze across the room quickly, taking in every face and letting her shoulders relax when everyone was accounted for. she exhaled softly through her lips and nodded. "okay."

"okay?" mae echoed.

piper smiled at her again and squeezed her hands. "i'm good, yeah." her hands fell to her sides as mae stepped back to join the others, piper on one side of the room and everyone else on the clear opposite. "thank you all for coming here. i know this was... sudden and weird, but i can't... i need to get this out and i need all of you to hear it, because i need all of you to help me fix it. but you have to promise me that whatever i say, you'll help me. and you can't tell anyone outside of this room. not our parents, not the elders, not other coven members. just us. promise me; please."

[thedemonlady]

Coven Syndra Bio:

They came to Syndra in a thundering flutter of carrion wings, beckoning her to free herself from the limitations of mortals. Following the wing's foul wind to a ritual site, she along with another witch awakened the Horned King from his putrid tomb. She now seeks retribution against all who stand against the Coven or the Old Gods."

[moonglowmagic]

While Dilan loved her birthday she wasn’t exactly out here wanting to throw a big celebration for it. Mostly because she half expected that she’d end up ghosted on her birthday considering the last few months. Unfortunately Bri and Leyla hadn’t got the memo and now there was a full on house party to celebrate her going on in her house. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful for it, just the night was now ending very differently than she’d planned it. 

“So this party was unexpected.” Dilan admitted tp the person next to her as she reached up and readjusted the crown that had been placed on her head when she walked in. Taking another sip from her cup as she finished off her drink and she looked at the persons cup next to her. “Want another one?” She asked. “You get free drinks if you’re with me.” She teased knowing all the drinks were actually free. “Although I will say I’m partial to the Dilan drink and not just because it’s named after me.” 

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Poppy stood outside of the bar while she had a duplicate or two working inside to help out the clients. Ever since July when Kyle had killed her things had felt different, it wasn’t just because her immortality was gone or because Alyssa had died or the fact her grimoire was gone. Everything felt different, she still had yet to process what had happened to her. Instead she’d just thrown herself into work and the coven. Doing her best to make sure they still stood by her and understood that nothing had changed, despite how much it actually had. 

Rubbing the back of her neck when she sensed another person in the alley next to the bar with her. It caused her to be on high alert, everything did anymore. While she was normally more friendly she couldn’t keep faking it today. “What do you want?” Poppy asked when she realized who it was. Letting her guard drop some as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. “The cheery happy version of Poppy is inside.” She informed them, knowing that her duplicates were good at masking how she really felt and hiding it. Inhaling the smoke before she blew it out and looked over at the other person. “I’m fine you know.” She promised even though she was far from fine. “You don’t have to check in on me.” 

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Safiye had been a nervous wreck and barely sleeping since the Ren Faire between checking in on her sister and her friends. Raking a hand through her hair as she stood in line at The Daily Drip, she was due for another cup of coffee to help her stay awake. Taking a step forward in line when her phone beeped, she pulled it out of her back pocket dropping her money in the process on the ground.

It wasn't until she got up to the cashier and ordered that she took out her headphones. Ordering quickly and she reached in her back pocket to find the money gone. Frantically checking her other pockets for money but there was none. "Just-" Signaling to the cashier to give her a moment. Turning to the person behind with a plea. "Can you just cove me for once? I promise I'll pay you back, just I need this coffee."

[lunaetics]

mae nodded, still in awe of the fact that dragons continued to exist somewhere. "yeah, i think that'd be good. i just..." she couldn't explain why she felt nervous about the idea of going back to the seller. it wasn't as if she would take the mirror back... was it? mae had bought it. it was hers. and she was struck, suddenly, by how strangely possessive she was being over an object she'd only had for a week. she set the mirror down and nodded more firmly. "yeah. i'm ready to go whenever you are."

"jo, you said you'd found more stuff about the harvest, right?" dean asked.

jo hummed her confirmation. "actually, ivy and damaris figured it out. i just added a bit of my own research to the pot." she waved towards them.

damaris nodded, standing up and addressing the room. "ives and i were talking a while ago about what we know of the harvest and, more importantly, what we don't know. why was piper there? why have piper and the parents do the dirty work if the elders are supposedly the strongest? why waste time searching for dom and cass if they don't have time, instead of replacing them with another fire and water witch? how did piper find them but the coven didn't? why do they care so much about continuing this tradition?" at some point, she'd begun to pace, but here she stopped and looked at piper with a smile. "we totally believe everything you've said. we know you've told us what you know. so we're not doubting you, i promise."

piper smiled at her, thankful for the reassurance, though it didn't completely assuage the guilt in her stomach.

damaris continued. "so we got to talking about it, and we did some research, with jo's help, too. and what we've discovered is that the harvest that the coven carries out is⎯excuse my language⎯a fucking mess."

darren blinked. "oh."

"it's not a real thing," damaris said. "i mean, it is⎯⎯it's several very real rituals that they've poured into one ceremony. there is a harvest like the one you all grew up looking forward to. in that ceremony, you sacrifice a portion of your magic into the land that birthed you and it protects your home. the good that you've poured into the earth comes back to you and the earth blesses you. there's a coven in sweden that hosts the ritual every year, and one in brazil that feeds their nemeton with it. there's nothing in that ritual about death or human sacrifices. there's another ritual that calls for a minor blood sacrifice for the enrichment of the land, but that's borderline archaic. other rituals that call for animal or human sacrifices to appease gods..." she shook her head.

"so what?" dean asked. "you think they're doin' all of them?"

damaris ran her tongue across her lips. "there is this belief in communities like salem, where witches are a part of the history, the foundation, that if you desecrate the land and its magic, misfortune falls back on you tenfold. and there is no doubt that the coven has desecrated salem and the magic that belongs to it. they've concocted an unnatural ceremony and slaughtered salem's children. there is a reckoning coming for them. doing a blood ritual to suppress angry spirits or gods is just a survival tactic, at this point."

"that's why they're doing this?" claire asked. "because of superstition?"

"it's not superstition," harry said in a gentle tone. "not to them. it's religion, it's history. they tell us stories about covens and colonies that have been ravaged by vengeful spirits because of their actions. our magic comes from nature; the way we treat that magic is a reflection of how we honor nature. and mother nature does not take kindly to disrespect."

"it's why necromancy is taboo," saint added. "it goes against the laws of nature for something that is dead to be revived." he nodded to ajani. "it's why witches historically try to stay away from vampires. when you mess with the balance of nature like that, it will come back to bite you."

"oh," claire said. "so if they don't continue the harvest... something will come for them? what?"

"that's the part we don't know yet," damaris said. "to have started this whole blood sacrifice thing, they had to have angered some entity and been made aware of it. but until we know what entity they pissed off, we won't know how to stop it from decimating salem or how to get the coven to stop looking for dom and cass. but we did find out some other things," she added hopefully. "for one thing, the purpose of the harvest. i said before that the original harvest ritual is to give magic back to the land. the easiest assumption here is that the coven isn't feeding that magic to the land, they're feeding it to themselves. it's... extremely likely that the elders are very weak witches who are siphoning magic from the witches that they've killed, and thus depriving the land of the magic that should be returned to it."

"shouldn't that have consequences?" anna asked.

"yeah, absolutely," jo confirmed. "in theory... piper is holding off the consequence."

piper blinked. "me?"

jo hummed. "it's why they made you a part of the ceremony. you're an earth witch, right? that means you have an inherent connection to the land. you're a child of salem, and the magic clearly favors you. so if you're a part of the ceremony, that means that some fraction of magic is still going back to the earth. but it also means..."

"...it means i've taken magic from the dead."

"that's our theory," damaris said softly. "we think that's why you were able to find dom and cass. the coven paralyzed you with the knife and they made you complicit."

"which also means that if this ritual backfires, pipes could get caught in the cosmic karma backlash," harry guessed.

damaris considered it for a moment before shrugging. "it's possible, but we don't know that for sure. what we do know is that this harvest is a horrible frankenstein-coded monster that is drawing in consequences for the coven's own actions. we could let them deal with that themselves, but the innocent people in salem would get caught in the crossfire."

"so we need to find out who or what the coven pissed off," saint surmised. "how do we do that?"

"i can assure you, dragons are very real, and in many forms, as well," ajani said, so casually that nora's jaw dropped.

"seriously?" taylor asked, looking at him with wide eyes. ajani chuckled in response.

"of course. granted, dragons— or dragon shifters, to be more precise— used to be far more abundant than they are today," ajani said. "there were many kinds; those who flew in the skies, and those who dove deep into the depths of the seas. like shifters we know of today, they were often in their human forms, but were able to take the forms of dragons. in many places, they were seen as guardians, as protectors; in others, they were seen as fearsome, terrifying, and dangerous. the same is true, of course, for many of us across the world and across cultures."

"dragons," nora repeated, breathing out the word in awe.

"you said there used to be more of them. what happened?" sam asked. ajani frowned sadly.

"unfortunately, as i'm sure many of us in this room have seen, humans often tend to fear what they are not, and what they do not understand, especially if they believe it may harm them. it is why, in general, supernaturals still have to stay hidden today. i say in general because, as you have no doubt seen, things are...a bit different here in this particular city. nearly every resident believes in the supernatural, and has a respect for it to one degree or another. some find it exciting and fascinating; others view the concept of the supernatural the way those who live near forests view wildlife: they respect it from a distance, but prefer not to interact for their own safety. still others actively engage in it; why, if you enter certain voodoo shops here, you will find altars humans leave offerings upon, and they're known to leave offerings at marie laveau's tomb, as well. in certain areas of the city, drivers will not pick up passengers late at night as they have, on occasion, picked up a wayward spirit; even the voodoo temple allows humans to tour it and learn about the religion. but, as we know, that is not the case everywhere. it is easier for some of us to hide, but even then, we have been tracked down. i am sure our friends from salem understand that," ajani said sadly, nodding towards the witches. "and there have been witch and werewolf trials in europe, as well. but wolves, and many other shifters, are smaller, and often indigenous to an area or able to be mistaken for something else. a dragon, whether on land, in the sky, or in the sea, is difficult to mistake for anything else, and difficult to hide."

"people hunted them?" ivy asked incredulously. ajani nodded sadly again.

"even dragons can be slain, i am afraid. but there are still some, some descended, in fact, by those who i believe also lived at the same time as our journal writer."

"if dragons are real, then 'pitch below the dragons belly' can definitely help us. but...what does it mean?" willow wondered.

"i am afraid we will likely need more translation to understand. but i have every faith it can be done," ajani said. "though speaking of the mirror, i have wondered if perhaps there is a link between it and the diary. mae, what would you think of accompanying me back to the flea market one day? perhaps the seller knows a bit about it's history."

"so a lot more research, and patrolling," annika mused. "what other things can we research that might help? with this, and with salem?"