Werewolves & Wisteria Read Online Free PDF Page B

read.”
    “I’ve read all the journals,” I said. “I didn’t read that.”
    Gates’ gaze wandered as she considered. Then she looked directly at Charlie.
    “That book is no longer with you, Thorn,” he said. “But Gates is correct. There’s blood magic, book magic, and bane magic. You were born with it, and Stark was not. You can work some spells seemingly out of nothing, but he needs certain elements. Usually at least one from a magical source, which is why warlocks are notorious murderers and thieves. They need body parts from those who have blood or bane magic, or else things they’ve imbued.”
    “And bane magic?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. Vince was still downstairs, occasionally letting out a howl that was still loud enough for us to hear.
    “Persons capable of wielding like they have blood magic, but usually due to some malady,” he said, tilting his head. “And usually at a high price or with several conditions, as you can see with your gentleman guest. Werewolves don’t wield anything, though they are imbued, and their mental capacity is often crippled by transformation. A made demon, like Stark, can wield a massive amount of power. However, he needs a bridge to eat, and he can be bound to a sorcerer, or summoned or banished, just like any other demon.”
    “But what about you?” I asked. Charlie shifted, but didn’t answer. Lyssa didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. “You were born a demon. Demons can be either blood or bane magic?”
    Lyssa looked at him, and he glanced anxiously at the living room, but he didn’t leave. It was odd to see a man as powerful as he was considering running from a fight, but then, he was trapped in the body of a cat. I was beginning to appreciate exactly how demeaning it was to put him in such a position.
    “Demons can be born?” she asked. “I thought it was purely a malady. The only way demons can make more demons is by tricking others into the Other Side. Demons can also make… baby demons?”
    His whiskers twitched in annoyance. “I’m unfamiliar with the mechanics of it, if that’s what you’re asking. But yes, I was a baby demon at one time.”
    “And you know this how?” Lyssa asked. Her eyes had gone a little wide, and I wasn’t sure why she found the idea so shocking.
    “Because I have no memory of a life previous to this one, Alyssum,” he said. “And before you ask, no, I don’t know how old I am. Time passes differently when you’ve grown up in a place where time doesn’t exist.”
    “Then what’s your earliest memory?”
    Charlie hesitated, and I felt my heart skip a beat when he looked at me. It was like he could still remember it, but only faintly. When he had tried to put together a spell to make himself human, he had told me that a memory needed to be gifted to him by a friend. The more emotionally charged the memory was, the better.
    Charlie had ended up using that spell on me. And that memory, the first of his time in this world, was the one he had given to me.
    “Leave him alone,” I said, diverting my eyes from both Gates and Lyssa. “Anyway, you were saying about that book?”
    “You can’t have it back,” he replied without skipping a beat.
    “Why?”
    He looked me squarely in the eye, both grateful and defiant. “Because it’s not your book, Thorn. And it’s important.”
    That’s all he would say about it. Gates suggested that I order him to tell us about the book, or even better, order him to just give us the book, because he was bound by the rules of familiars when he was a cat and he would have to follow my order. I had grown to respect him too much, though, and I refused to do it.
    We all jumped when a loud thud rang out, but it didn’t come from the basement.
    It came from my bedroom.
    Gates was a cat again, and Charlie was running toward the noise.
     

Chapter 4
     
    Charlie burst through my bedroom door, and I was right on his heels. I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like