The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (top 10 novels of all time .txt) 📗

                “Hello...”

                I heard the voice in my dream. At least, it felt like a dream.

                “Hello… Miss… Sorceress? Annabelle?”

                I opened my eyes and saw a blonde woman standing in front of me, dressed in clothes from a Northern Europe from long ago. She stood across from me, the forest crowding close by.

                “Yes?” I said.

                “Hi.” she waved. “I’m… Norn.”

                “Norn is your name?" I asked. "Because of my studies of Norse mythology… "

                “It’s… more of a title.” she said, cutting me off. “My sisters and I… we’re all Norns.”

                “And what’s your name?” I asked, probing deeper.

                “We… “ she began, clearly uncomfortable. “We don’t… we’re not supposed to… “

                “Okay.” I said, letting her off of the hook. “But I’m not gonna call you ‘Norn number one’ or anything. Let’s see… “ I trailed off, scrutinizing her closely. I snapped my fingers. “Got it! You remind me of the blonde woman from Abba, so I’ll call you Agnetha.”

                “Very well.” she smiled.

                “So, what are we doing here?” I asked, looking around.

                “We… “ Agnetha began, “I have been sent here by… mutual friends… to show you something. Something to help you understand.”

                I shrugged. “Show me.”

                “Okay.” Agnetha waved her hand and an image of me appeared in the air between us. “Here you are.” she said. “And here is Vincent.”

                She waved her hand again, and Vincent’s face hovered near mine.

                “Yay!” I said, smiling.

                “Now, you and he have a history that goes back ten thousand years.” Agnetha continued. She pulled her hand away from our faces, and myriads of other faces appeared in her hand’s wake. Lines went back and forth between the two lines of faces, and soon I realized that all of the faces were us, and these were the hundreds of lives lived in some way together.

                The past life tree rotated in front of me until I was looking at Vincent and I’s daces once again.

                “But you two are not alone.” she said. “You have friends… “

                Agnetha waved her hands again, and soon everyone… Raina, Jack, Hatsu, Katsu, all of the Fae I’ve met, multiple humans, and… hovering close by Vincent and I… Angelique. Some faces were bigger than others, but all were connected to me.

                “And you and Vincent aren’t the only two who have a past life connection.” she said, pulling with both hands. What looked like millions of lines… some thicker than others… started crisscrossing each other over and over and over again.

                I walked around the three-d multi-incarnational map, my jaw hanging open. So many faces, so many lives! I saw many… many… lives that connected to either Vincent or Angelique, over and over and over.

                I also saw lives that weren’t connected to either of them. In these, I wound up being connected to Raina, Jack, my Mom, and a few Fae. Not all were romantic, but the ones that were glowed with a peculiar glow.

                Lots of those with Gaia I observed. Including a few on my side with the same incarnation for her… her current one.

                I looked farther and farther back in time until just a few remained... Vincent, Angelique, Jack, Raina and myself. They all went back ten thousand years.

                I looked farther back, and only one name remained with mine. One out of all of them.

                Angelique.

                                                                                                *                *                *

                The sun was shining on Jazzy’s last day. She got up before dawn…  woke Tiffany, who had spent the night by her side… and sat to watch the sunrise, the last she would see for four hundred years or so. I had crossed their path earlier, but left them undisturbed… this was a private moment for lovers.

                It had been some months since Tiffany had arranged for Jazzy’s wild weekend, and I was ready for something to happen. I had been training with Angelique to no avail… I still couldn’t make the full connection of the five elements with spirit. I had almost given up, but saw the current weekend as my chance to start over.

                Making a vampire can either be a lonely experience or one filled with pomp and ritual. Vincent and Angelique, having been sired by the same vampire centuries apart, shared the experience of being made and abandoned.

                Jazzy would have a better experience.

                She and Tiffany spent the day nude, so that the sunlight could bathe their bodies every moment it was out. They walked back to Seamus’ castle arm in arm right after the sun sank over the horizon.

                “I will see you soon, my beautiful one.” Tiffany said, kissing Jazzy’s human face one more time. Jazzy smiled, and then went into the room beyond, shutting the door.

                “How are you doing?” I asked Tiffany.

                “Good.” she smiled. “She’s been wanting this for some time.”

                “I’m happy for her.” I replied.

                Tiffany, Gaia, Raina, Vincent, and I waited outside until well after darkness had completely descended upon the land. We were all smoking our herbs of choice as the night stretched on.

                “So, how long does this take?” Raina asked.

                “Every vampire’s different.” Vincent said. “Some go through body death and rebirth in a matter of an hour or so, others take more time.”

                “What about their first meal?” Gaia asked next. “Don’t they tend to eat before they come out and say hello?”

                “I’ve already arranged for a suitable first meal.” Vincent said. “Sex slaver, kidnaps young girls to sell into prostitution and sex slavery. He’s awake, so he’ll suffer.”

                Good. “So, it should be any time now.” I said.

                I was immediately cut off by the door opening. Seamus walked out, smiling.

                “May I present,” he said with a flourish, “the vampire Tara Brennan.”

                Jazzy walked out, and the change was striking. Everything about her… her skin, her black hair, her blue eyes… were the same, it just looked more vivid. She seemed to slide over the light reflecting off