Spellcasters by Kelley Armstrong Read Free Book Online

union.”
    “Don’t forget,” Leah said, “Eve wasn’t just a witch. She was also a half-demon. A true supernatural.”
    “Really?” I said. “A supernatural who can’t pass on its powers to its children? More an aberration than a race, wouldn’t you say?” Before she could answer, I looked over at Sandford. “Yes, I agree that I cannot conceive of any witch screwing around with a sorcerer while there was anyone else with a dick on the planet, but beyond that, there’s the biological impossibility. A sorcerer sires only sons. A witch bears only daughters. How could they reproduce? It can’t happen.”
    “Is that a fact?” Sandford said.
    “Of course it is,” Leah said. “Paige knows everything. She went to Harvard.”
    Sandford snorted. “The most overrated school in the country, and now they even admit witches. How the mighty have fallen.”
    “You couldn’t get in, huh?” I said. “Sorry to hear it. However, if you do have proof that a witch and sorcerer can procreate, please fax it to my place. Otherwise, I’ll assume I
am
right.”
    “Mr. Nast is Savannah’s father,” Sandford said. “And now, with her mother gone, he wants to ensure she has the kind of power she deserves, the kind of power Eve would have wanted for her.”
    “Good argument,” I said. “Like to see you take that one before a court.”
    “We won’t need to,” Sandford said. “You’ll surrender custody long before we reach that point.”
    “And how do you intend to make me do that?”
    Leah grinned. “Witchery.”
    “What?”
    “You give us Savannah or we’ll tell the world what you are.”
    “You mean—” I sputtered a laugh. “You plan to accuse me of practicing witchcraft? Oh, that’s a great plan. Or it would have been, four hundred years ago. Witchcraft? Who cares? It’s old news.”
    “Are you sure about that?” Sandford asked.
    “The practice of witchcraft is a state-accepted religion. You cannot discriminate against me on the basis of my religious beliefs. You should have done your homework, Counselor.”
    “Oh, but I did.”
    He smiled and, with that, they walked out.

C HAPTER 4
T HE F URIES D ESCEND
    W e walk a fine line, as supernaturals in a human world. Human rules and laws often have little meaning in our lives. Take Savannah’s case. A young girl, a witch, immensely powerful, pursued by dark factions who would kill to woo her to their side while she is still young and malleable. Her mother now dead, who will protect her? Who
should
protect her? The Coven, of course. Sister witches who can help her harness and control her power.
    Now look at it from the perspective of human law and social services. A thirteen-year-old child, her mother missing, turned over to a great-aunt whom she’s never met, who in turn pawns her off on an unrelated woman barely out of college. Try going before a judge and explaining those circumstances.
    To the rest of the world, Eve was only missing, and would remain so, since no one would ever find her body. This had made it easier to take de facto custody of Savannah because, technically, I was only caring for Savannah until her mother returned. So long as I provided a good home for Savannah, no one was about to argue that she should be handed over to child services and enter the foster-care system. To be honest, though, I wasn’t sure how well my claim would hold up in court.
    The idea of battling a telekinetic half-demon, while daunting, was well within my sphere of understanding. But fighting a legal case? My upbringing prepared me for no such thing. So, faced with this custody suit, I naturally chose to research, not the legal side, but the supernatural aspect, starting with learning more about Cabals.
    I had heard of Cabals, but my mother always downplayed their existence. According to her, they were the supernatural world’s equivalent of the bogeyman, a seedling of truth that had been twisted and blown out of proportion. They were unimportant, she said.