“Really? What creatures?”

I watched how Alexandra settled into a full-lecture mode, while everyone else listened with varied levels of attentiveness. The one who sat with her boyfriend even began to play something on her smartphone, and her boyfriend’s attention was obviously more on her and her long legs than on Alexandra.

“Vampires. Of all supernaturals, they are most dangerous for many reasons. They are much stronger and faster than humans and possess many abilities varied from a vampire to a vampire. More than that, they are cruel monsters, only kept in check by their own very few laws, the main of which I already told you. The only good thing about them is that they are relatively few, and seeing two of them together is as rare as a solar eclipse.”

“What? Monsters?” I frowned. “Aren’t they supposed to be just people turned undead?”

No matter what Alexandra said now about vampires, I knew better than to believe her blindly after knowing JJ and, somewhat, Avarice. The latter might’ve been a greedy bitch, but monsters the two of them were not. And after that, who knew what else Alexandra was wrong about? For now, though, I had nowhere to cross-reference her with.

I had an urge to tell Alexandra she was wrong, but I held my tongue. I was still on trying to keep my connection with vampires hidden, especially if witches saw them as evil.

She shook her head. “Technically, yes, but I’ve never heard about a kind vampire. Be it their bloodlust or their power, they are all corrupted to their cores. Which leads me to the second rule, Diana. If you ever see a vampire on a street, especially at day—which is possible, they aren’t all afraid of the sun—pretend that nothing is out of ordinary. Don’t let him think you saw him as anything more than a normal passerby, even if he will be covered in blood from head to toe.”

At my confusion and alarm from her stern words, Alexandra softened a little with visible efforts and even gave me a small, somewhat patronising smile.

“Vampires use an ability we call glamour to mask themselves as normal humans for everyone’s eye. Witches, though, have an innate ability to see through any illusion except for the most powerful ones.” Alexandra pointed at her eyes for emphasis. “Vampires don’t like to be noticed when they don’t want to be. It’s best for us to not attract undesired attention. The same goes for all sorts of spirits, though they are very rare in the big cities. Creatures like leshiys, domovoys and so on. There are many kinds of them, almost everything you heard in myths. Just pretend you didn’t see them, unless they approach you first.”

“I’ve seen a vamp once.” Polina’s voice attracted my attention. I turned to see her chewing on her manicured nail with a frown. “A total creep. Looked at the passersby like he was shopping for beef.”

I shivered. “Alright, got it—vampires suck, stay away from them. What else is there?”

Other coven members showed small signs of humour at my words, but Alexandra stayed serious. “Shapeshifters, but you won’t discern one from a normal human, or an animal, unless you look at their auras. Either way, they keep to their own and, unlike vampires, don’t attack unprovoked.”

She took a deep breath and took a break to drink from a glass of water on the table next to her. After slackening her thirst, she spoke again, “These two rules: secrecy and keeping your head low, are the most important for all of us, Diana. While witches can do things that no other supernatural can, a vampire can kill us before we can even begin to channel magic. But now that you know them…”

I watched how Alexandra reached towards a bag sitting next to her and brought out a thick notebook. She reached it towards me. “This manual contains all information on the basics of spellcasting, as well as safety rules. Please, stick to them, even though using magic for the first time can feel very exciting. I wouldn’t want you to suffer from it.”

Excited it was, indeed. I swallowed in anticipation as I accepted the notebook from Alexandra’s arms. It was bound in leather and decorated with images of stars. There was no title.

“You can call me or other coven members if you have any questions about the contents,” Alexandra said.

“Yeah, we should exchange contacts!” Maxim said. “Oh, and we have a group VKontakte, too.”

From there on, our gathering turned from the study track and onto chillin’ and vibin’ track. After I got everyone’s VKontakte pages, Yakov made tea for everyone willing and the conversation turned on topics of mundane businesses and everybody’s interests.

There were many questions for me. People avoided to ask about anything related to my becoming a witch or my family, though I could read curiosity in their eyes, but eagerly asked me about everything else. My interests, my occupation, my thoughts about being a witch. I replied to these eagerly, and my coven members responded with the tales of their own.

I learnt Alexandra liked astrology, even though she didn’t believe in it, and named the coven after the constellation. Many other coven members had mystique-related hobbies too: tarot, fortune-tellings, and others.

By the time we had dispersed at late evening, I had a horoscope for the next week (it promised me good business deals and many things to do in little time), had been assured that my life line looked very long and thick, and had been offered to read an urban fantasy novel written with inspiration from reality.

I got home, feeling inflated from how great the life was for once. I was intent on reading and trying out Alexandra’s manual as soon as I could. When JJ came out of the office to greet me, I beamed back at him, ready to share my excitement.

Then I remembered Alexandra’s unkind words about vampires, and my mood dimmed a little. It was just so racist. JJ met my reaction with a raise of his eyebrows.

“Is there anything wrong, ma chèrie? Please, tell me about how did I steal your smile so I could bring it back.”