by Jen Pretty
“Hey, it's me. Just wanted to let you know, umm… I
guess I’ll talk to you later,” I said and hit the button to hang
up. “What am I supposed to tell her?” I asked Nick.
He just raised his shoulders in an ‘I dunno’ gesture.
Helpful.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t call back right away, and I
would think of something.
Up in the hotel room, I found the room service menu
and waved it at Nick. He shook his head.
“Do you eat?” I asked. He hadn't eaten on the plane.
He reached into his duffel and pulled out a bag of blood.
“Holy crap, how did you get that through customs?” I
asked.
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He just smiled and grabbed a water glass out of the
bathroom. I watched in rapture as he slit the corner of the
blood bag and it glopped into the glass, smearing the clear
sides with thick coagulated goo. “Dude, how is that
appetizing?” I asked.
“It isn’t. It’s like fast food; disgusting but fills you up.”
He took a long gulp of it and then set the glass back down
and licked the red stain from his lips.
I felt less hungry but ordered some French fries, and
a glass of soda from room service then flicked on the TV.
“You know I grew up without TV?” I said to break the
suddenly awkward tension between us.
“None at all?” he asked, sitting beside me on the bed.
He smelled like copper pennies and when he smiled his
teeth were pink, but otherwise, he seemed normal.
“Nope. The foster house didn’t have one. It still feels
weird to turn it on and see the pictures. The first time I
watched a movie was when I was eighteen. I took myself
to the movie theatre with my first paycheck.”
“That's crazy,” Nick said.
“I know.”
Nick looked at his watch.
“What time do we have to go?” I asked.
“Soon, but there is plenty of time for you to eat first.”
He said, standing up and opening the door. I was about to
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ask what he was doing when a serving cart stopped at the
door.
“Oh, thank you!” the woman pushing the cart said as
she pushed it into the room. The smell of hot french fries
made my stomach growl. I guess watching Nick drink
goopy blood hadn’t ruined my whole appetite.
“Thanks,” I called to the woman as she walked back
out into the hall and Nick shut the door.
I wolfed down my dinner in five minutes flat and then
dug out something to wear to the club. I hadn’t brought
much, but a pair of skinny jeans and a tank top with a pair
of heels made me look dressed up enough. Nick changed
into a cool t-shirt and loose-fitting jeans, then topped it
with a black fedora he pulled out of his duffel bag. I
remembered him wearing it when he was DJ-ing at the club
back home. It made him stand out in the crowd.
“You ready?” he asked, holding out his arm for me. I
locked down my magic and slid my arm into his.
Outside a cab waited, Nick opened the door and let
me in, then got in beside me in the back seat.
Bodies already packed the club when the cab pulled
up, and a lineup circled the block. The air was crisp and
damp like rain was coming when I stepped out onto the
street. Nick took my hand and walked me up to the
bouncer. My magic tried to slip out towards the bouncer,
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and I knew he was a vampire too. He let us in with a smile
and Nick led me through the busy dance floor towards the
bar.
The crowd was thick, and the air was stale, but the
music was fast and upbeat. People packed the bar, but Nick
pulled me through the crowd and yelled towards the
bartender, raising a hand in greeting. The man behind the
bar set the drinks he was serving down and came over
towards us.
“Nick! Thanks for coming!” The man yelled. My
magic pulled and swirled and I knew the bartender was also
a vampire. It seemed this city was full of them, or maybe
just the bar. “My God! You weren’t kidding!” he yelled,
staring at me. Nick slung his arm over my shoulders and
smiled.
“I told you! We have to keep her safe tonight. Tell
Tony, no magic pricks.”
The bartender gave Nick a double thumbs up and
then swung over the bar like it was a normal thing to do
and shuffled towards the door through the crowd.
“What does that mean?” I yelled at Nick over the loud
music.
“No witches or warlocks in here tonight. Just humans
and vampires,” He smiled. I wasn't sure how much safer I
was with vampires and humans, but in Nick I trust.
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He led me up to the DJ booth and motioned to a chair
then he plugged in a thumb drive from his pocket and got
to work on a laptop. It was neat to watch him work from
this angle. In movies, DJs spun records on turntables. He
popped on a set of headphones and flipped a switch on a
microphone.
“Hey, boys and girls. This is Anick, and I am ready to
pump you up, you ready for some hot tracks?”
They yelled their approval, and the music switched to
a song that was popular on the radio but it had a different
beat and was sped up. The people in the room went crazy,
dancing and jumping around.
It was halfway through the song when I felt my magic
surge. I looked around, trying to find the source and then
noticed the light, airy look of a risen woman in the far
corner. A few blue sparks lingered, but she was just a
wraith walking around. I stood up to get a better look and
Nick noticed.
“What is it?” He asked.
“Do you see that?” I pointed, but the wraith
disappeared in the crowd. There was no way she was here.
She should be with her body. Unless her body was here
too?
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CHAPTER EIGHT
“Did you see that?” I yelled louder to Nick, but he had
headphones on and was staring at the laptop in front of
him.
I slipped out behind him and into the sea of people.
As I passed the speakers at the front of the stage, my ears
pounded with the music. The people swarmed the DJ
booth. It was just a wall of bright-coloured clothes and
flailing limbs I had to push through and dodge.
Lost in the sea of people, I wasn’t even sure which
way I was going when a strong arm wrapped around my
waist. I thought it was Nick because my magic pulled
towards the contact, but when I turned my head, a stranger
stood before me. His features were coarse, and he was
much taller than Nick. I tried to pull out of his arms, but
he was dragging me forward with steady steps. I fought
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against the restraint of his arm; clawing and digging, tearing
flesh with my nails.
As we cleared the crowd, I realized there was a door
ahead, and he was pressing me towards it. I screamed, my
&n
bsp; voice muffled by the music. My feet kicked, but my heeled
shoes didn’t make much of an impact. The door loomed
closer, panic making my magic slip, blue sparkles spilled
out to splash on the floor ahead of us, and a moment later
Nick and two huge men blocked the path. One man was
the vampire bouncer we passed on our way in. Nick’s eyes
glinted with rage, his mouth was a harsh slash and his fists
were balled like he would take the man down.
The bouncer from the front door reached out and
pulled me from the steely arm that held me. In the same
moment, Nick and the other large vampire grabbed hold
of the one who tried to drag me away and wrestled him out
the very door he had been pulling me towards. A few of
the nightclub patrons watched the bouncers take him away
before returning to their drinks and dancing.
The music never even faltered.
The doorman set me on my feet and put one hand on
my back, gently leading me to the bar. I had about a million
questions, but it was so loud in the club, and my mind was
running so fast I kept my mouth shut.
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“What will it be, Princess?” The bartender who spoke
to Nick when we came in asked as I slid onto a stool at the
bar.
“Martini,” I said, still stunned from my near
abduction.
He moved down the bar, and I lost sight of him as
people crowded in, leaning over the bar to get his attention.
He returned with my martini in his hand, ignoring all the
other patrons standing at the bar.
“My name is Joe, by the way.”
“Selena,” I replied.
He smiled and leaned in closer. “I’m sorry about the
snatcher. Tony can usually pick out the shit heads and
leaves them standing outside.”
I wanted to ask questions about that, but it was so
loud, and I felt vulnerable without Nick nearby. I scanned
the room, hoping to spot him but he was nowhere in sight.
“He will be back in a moment. Just taking out the
trash,” Joe said.
I spun back to look at him, he just smiled and then
slapped the bar and took the order of the guy beside me. I
watched him mix drinks, pouring various alcohols into
glasses, mixing and shaking.
Sighing, I picked up my martini and downed it,
holding the little wooden skewer with one finger. As I set
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the glass down a body moved in beside me. My magic
pressed towards it, and I turned my head to find Nick’s
eyes tracing my features. His face had lost the angry, tight
look and was now looking at me like he wanted to say
something. He kept opening and closing his mouth, but no
words came out. I looked back at my drink, uncomfortable
with the intensity of his gaze. I popped the olive from my
drink into my mouth and then downed the last of it before
setting the empty glass back on the bar.
Nick’s hand rested on my knee, and he turned the
stool, so I was facing him.
“I’m sorry,” he yelled. Then he took my hand and led
me around the bar and into a back room where the walls
muffled the sound. He leaned against the door and looked
at me.
The small room housed an old wooden desk covered
with files and folders. I paced around the desk inspecting
the photos that covered every square inch of the walls. I
tried to focus in on them, but my mind was spinning.
“Why did you wander off?” he asked in a quiet,
inquisitive voice. It wasn’t accusatory, but I felt like I had
done something wrong.
“I thought I saw a wraith,” I said.
“Where? In the club?” He stepped forward, moving
in towards me.
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“Yeah, it was probably just my imagination.”
He didn’t look convinced, but the more I thought
about it, the surer I was that I had seen nothing. I couldn’t
have. Only a necromancer could raise the dead.
“Come on, let's get out of here,” he said, reaching for
my hand. Magic sparked as he touched me and I felt my
magic want to flow through him. He puffed out a breath,
and I clamped down on the magic to keep it from spilling
into
him.
Our eyes locked, and I felt a connection to him, like a
magical thread tying us together. I wanted to pull on it, but,
unsure what it meant or why I felt it, I didn’t dare.
He turned to open the door, but I stopped him.
“What did that vampire want with me?” I asked.
Nick turned back and leaned against the door. He
sighed heavily. “Some vampires are assholes. I guess you
know nothing about us with your upbringing, but we can
bite people and wipe their memories, so they don't know
we bit them. Most vampires follow the laws and use bagged
blood or bite willing victims, but some don’t care…” He
paused and looked up at me. “And Necromancer blood is
perfection… so I’m told.”
Shit.
“You ready to go?” he asked.
“Yeah, let's go.”
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The cab ride back to the hotel was silent. I got lost in
thoughts of being a snack for a vampire and from the look
on Nick's face as I watched him out of the corner of my
eye, his own thoughts consumed him.
Back in the hotel room, I took a shower and changed
into the most comfortable clothes I had brought — Fleece
pyjama pants and a hoodie — then climbed under the
starched hotel blankets.
Nick was sitting in a chair with a glass of not tomato
juice staring at the floor.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, propping up the pillows.
He looked up at me like I had surprised him with my
words. “You aren’t afraid of me now, are you? After what
happened tonight?”
“No, should I be afraid of you? I don’t know what to
be afraid of anymore. I spent so long keeping my head
down and hiding from everyone I don’t even know why I
was hiding in the first place.”
“You don't have to be afraid of me. I promise.” He
got up, leaving his glass behind and sat on the edge of the
giant bed. “I would never hurt you. They didn’t tell me it
would be like this. They prepared me to help protect a
necromancer, but they never said I would feel this way.”
I was too afraid of his answer to ask him what way he
felt. So, I changed the subject.
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“What happened to the vampire who tried to take me
away?” Nick looked away, back at his glass of blood and
his jaw ticked like he remembered the anger that had
splashed across his face in the club.
“We staked him,” he said.
All the air whooshed out of my lungs. “Because he
tried to drink my blood?” I asked.
“No, because he would have kept trying to drink your
blood. He was an addict, and I didn’t want him chasing us
across the continent. You deserve to feel safe.”
I nodded and squished down into the bed,
pulling the
blanket up to my chin. Half of me was curious if vampires
could be wraiths and the other half of me never wanted to
find out.
“Peran and Kai are back,” he said just before the door
joining our room to the next swung open and a laughing
Kai walked in with a grumpy-looking Peran hot on his
heels.
“What's up, guys?” Nick asked.
Peran got one look at me, and his scowl turned on
Nick. “What happened?” he asked the vampire.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” he replied. Peran didn’t
look convinced. He stared at Nick for several more
moments. “How was the morgue?” Nick asked, breaking
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the stare off. He moved back to his chair beside his glass
and took a long sip of the thick red liquid.
“I have confirmed a witch or warlock is killing people
here.”
I glanced at Kai who didn’t seem the least bit bothered
by the fact they were discussing murderous warlocks. He
was parked on the end of the bed, about two feet from the
TV watching the news about the murders. Several woman's
faces were lined up on the screen, they were all women, but
that is where the similarities ended. They were of different
ages and appearances.
“They were witches?” I asked.
“All from the same coven,” Peran replied from behind
me.
I dragged my eyes away from the photos. “Why would
someone do that?”
“In this case, it seems someone had a grudge. None
of the ones I raised today recognized him, but they all saw
the same man.”
I shuttered, imagining raising more than one
murdered wraith. Peran was a lot stronger than I was.
“So, how will you catch him, if you don’t know who
he is?” I asked.
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“I sat with a sketch artist who made a drawing of him.
That picture is being spread to all everyone in the magical
community now. We will find him.”
I nodded, but for some reason, the images on the
screen pulled my eyes back.
“The latest victim, Melanie Carthen, was killed earlier
this evening and OPP are warning women not to go out
alone at night.”
“I saw her,” I muttered.
“What?” Peran said.
“Nothing, I just… I thought I saw a wraith at the