The Vegan Vamp

by S. E. Babin

  Not a single person had seen anything else falling out of the sky, though it still swirled ominously over head. None of us had a good feeling about it, but most people had chosen to ignore it. Shaw, Jeremy, and I knew that would be a huge mistake.

  "What can we do about it?" I wondered, mostly out loud.

  "Not sure there's anything. None of us have any real counteractive magic. No one in town who's a heavy hitter has even mentioned anything about it. I think now all we can do is investigate it and try to figure out where it's coming from. Anything else and we risk making it worse."

  Shaw always erred on the cautious side, whereas Jeremy and I were a little braver.

  I broached the other topic. "Since we can't do anything about the storm right now, what about Jeremy's tree?"

  Silence fell around the table like an anvil.

  "I don't know if there's much we can do about that either," Jeremy said.

  "I refuse to believe an angry clairvoyant has any say on whether you live or die," I spat out.

  "Isn't that the whole point of having clairvoyants around?" Shaw pointed out.

  "Their magic is known to be confusing. A butterfly could fly in the path of a reputed fortune and screw everything up," I argued.

  Jeremy shook his head. "Pretty sure that's not how it happens."

  Shaw looked lost in thought. "There has to be something. Sterling is correct on one thing. Clairvoyants are notorious for not seeing the whole picture. Maybe we need to find out why your tree gets destroyed. Or even how. Maybe once we have more information we can prevent it."

  Jeremy set his mug down with an angry clack. "I don't know why you are trying to prevent the inevitable," he said, his voice harsh. But his gaze… it was fearful.

  "And I don't know why you aren't!" Shaw snapped. "We can't just take someone at their word. Especially over something like that. And especially since you were trespassing on her property at the time. Maybe she was just making it up to scare you."

  I shook my head. "I doubt that's it. Hank knows her and the guy she married. They're on the up and up. But it still doesn't mean she's right."

  "Maybe we should ask around and see if there's any protection spells or something that we could put on the tree," Shaw suggested.

  Jeremy perked up at that. "Do you think there's anything powerful enough?"

  I was staring at Shaw. "No. Uh uh. No way in hell am I visiting that crazy bitch."

  "Morgana isn't so bad," my friend said, but the way his grin widened as he said it, I knew he agreed with me. He was just amused at my discomfort.

  Morgana Comey and her weird brand of sisters were the most powerful witches in the town. Possibly anywhere. I'd only been in her shop a couple of times. Once for amusement, the second because my sister needed something. Both times, the feeling of her and her sister's magic made my skin crawl. Wolves could sense magic, though not as well as some of the other supes around here. But we weren't as sensitive as most people with it. Their magic was so powerful it made me itch to crawl out of my skin, to shift outside of the phases of the moon. It made me feel wild. I was not a man who liked to feel out of control so I made a vow never to step foot into her store again.

  "She's worse," I said to Shaw. "I am not going in with you."

  "You have to," Shaw insisted. "If everyone isn't there, she won't give us what we need."

  I was almost positive he was lying and told him so.

  He held his hands up. "I swear. She changed some policies after someone used some pretty shady magic against one of her friends."

  I scoffed. "Morgana doesn't have friends. She has heads in bottles she confers with when she's in her dank basement doing shady voodoo shit."

  Jeremy snorted at that one. "She doesn't practice voodoo," he said. "And I'd be careful talking about her."

  "That creepy witch seems to know everything."

  Shaw grinned at me. "Then you know you have to come now." He waggled his eyebrows. "Especially if she's listening to us right now and knows you're trying to chicken out."

  "I hate you," I told him for the second time that day.

  "Yeah, yeah. We know. We hate you too, brother."

  And that was how I'd ended up in front of Morgana Comey for the third time in my life. She was beautiful. This made her even more terrifying in my mind because how can someone that damn pretty be so freaking scary? I didn't even care too much for tattoos but they made her look exotic and powerful and frightening. I stepped into the store a few minutes ago only to get hit right in the face with power. It was even worse than before. The magic stung my skin and made my eyes water.

  "Canine," Morgana called out before I could even see her. "Is that Sterling Luna?"

  The word I muttered under my breath would make my mom wash my mouth out with soap and I was in my mid-twenties. I let out a little sigh. "Yes, Morgana."

  "Well, well, well," she crowed. “I never thought I'd see you back here. I figured you were a little too scared to come back." I still couldn't see her and that shit was major creeping me out.

  "I'm not scared of anything," I said on a growl, but I honestly felt like I was about to pee myself a little.

  I heard her tongue cluck. "I'd tell that to your quaking bladder, Sterling," she said and laughed her wicked laugh.

  My friends were behind me cowering like a couple of old ladies at their doctor's appointments. Neither one of them had said a word yet. "I have friends here with me," I said and grunted when one of them punched me hard in the back.

  "Oh, I know," Morgana said, "but there's plenty of time to play."

  I rounded the corner in her constantly rearranged shop and stopped dead. The damned woman was barely dressed. She grinned at me and hopped off the counter before sauntering over to me. She wore a yellow spaghetti strap cotton dress that didn't conceal much of anything but showed off almost every tattoo she owned. I had no idea she had quite that many. Her black lace bra was showing. Of course it was black, wasn't that the color of her soul? She wore black combat boots with bright blue socks and her hair was tied up in an elaborate style with multicolored ribbons threading in and out of it. Morgana pierced me with her deep eyes and smiled her supermodel smile.

  I wanted to run out of her store and never return. My cowardly friends were still behind me, but Morgana didn't seem to care. Her eyes were only on me. "So how can I help the independent werewolf clan today?" she asked, stopping just inside my personal space. She smelled like mint and a bunch of other herbs I couldn't identify. It wasn't unpleasant, just... odd. She snapped her fingers. "Let me guess. Someone..." she peered around my shoulder, "is in trouble." A delighted grin lit her face. "Oooh. Big trouble. The life and death kind." She sucked on her teeth for a moment. "That's my favorite kind of trouble." Morgana spun on her heel and beckoned me forward with a crooked finger. "And you're here for my help. The ribbons in her hair swayed as she walked, almost hypnotizing me. What was up with this woman? Part of me felt like writing to Portia to ask her to please for the love of all that was good and right in this world to hook her up with someone. Someone she preferably wouldn't murder within the first week.

  "That's going to cost you," she said.

  I could hear my friends shuffling behind me and I turned to shoot a glare their way. "Cowards," I hissed. "This wasn't even my idea.”

  "That makes it all the more delightful," Morgana said in her throaty voice. "I love people who come here against their will." She turned back around to face me. "It makes bargaining all the more delicious."

  Jeremy finally had the balls to speak up. "How do you know my situation?" he asked quietly.

  "I know a lot of things. I could tell you, but you'd have to pay for it," she said, giving my friend the most unnerving stare. "Are you prepared for that price?"

  Jeremy was definitely not prepared and so he erred on the side of caution and shut his damned mouth.

  "I thought not. Come back to me when you are."

  I could practically feel Jeremy shudder behind me, though I did not
ice Morgana said when he was ready and not if. I wasn't going to touch that one with a ten foot pole.

  "So you already know what we need?" I asked her.

  She studied me with that unnerving stare. "Oh I know what you need, Mr. Luna. But I also know what you're here for."

  This woman made me want to snarl. "I'm not here for clever word games, Morgana."

  Morgana let out a throaty laugh. "So happy you think I'm clever." She waved her hand. "I heard you've tangled with the clairvoyant. Even the dumbest of us know what a mistake that is. Never brush too close to one unless you want to know the day you die, eh?" She winked at Jeremy. "And our little tree barker here seems to have made that mistake. Though you're lucky it was Grace. She's as sweet as apple pie. She just has some trouble controlling her visions, that's all."

  "She didn't seem like apple pie when she threatened to cut my balls off," Jeremy muttered.

  "That's because Grace is pregnant and you threatened her territory. That had nothing to do with being clairvoyant and everything with being a mother." Morgana rolled her eyes. "But listen, I'm in a good mood today and I hope to bargain quickly to get you out of here. I know what I want."

  "You didn't ask for a budget," I said.

  Morgana snorted with amusement. "For this particular case, I'm not interested in your money. I want something... different."

  "I am not having bondage sex with you, Morgana."

  Her eyes widened in surprise before she burst out laughing. "Good one, Sterling, though you flatter yourself." She came into my space again. "I'm into so much more than bondage. I'm afraid your weak little wolf heart couldn't handle it." Morgana stilled for a moment, inhaled, and stiffened. "Oh," she whispered. "Oh my. How delightful. You've gone and gotten yourself a soulmate haven't you, Sterling?"

  I froze. "Excuse me?"

  "You have the scent of the bond all over you." A puzzled frown lit her face. "I thought you could..." She stopped talking abruptly and a genuine smile landed on her face. It was breathtaking. Even though it seemed to be at my expense. "This going to be wonderfully wicked," she said mostly to herself. "You're going to have a troubling few weeks it seems, Mr. Luna."

  I didn't even want to know. "Don't care," I said, dismissing it immediately. So Cherry was my soulmate. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But what was strange was I couldn't sense the bond. Werewolves knew immediately when a bond was formed. It allowed us to access the clan or pack's magic. It was still pretty early with us. Morgana must just be sensing it early. "What do you want from us to make the protective charm for Jeremy's tree?"

  "I want a favor."

  "It depends," I said cautiously. "Some things are off-limits."

  "To be decided upon on a future date," she said.

  I stilled and watched her carefully. Morgana was not a woman you wanted to be indebted to. "Absolutely not," I said.

  She inclined her head. "Then I bid you all adieu. Mr. Barkwood, my sincerest condolences on the future loss of your dwelling."

  "Morgana," I said through clenched teeth.

  "We can work out the details of it, but I need it to be quite open-ended. You can rest assured I will not ask you to kill anyone, nor will I ask you to risk your lives."

  Shaw finally spoke up from the back. "And who are you asking the favor of?"

  Morgana eyes sparkled. "Oh, you clever boy. From all of you."

  "Three favors?" I asked, balking at the request. "For a protective charm?"

  She scoffed at me. "It's not a charm," she said. "A charm isn't going to do anything to protect Jeremy from the hellstorm he has about to rain down on top of his head. It's a spell, and one I will personally cast. Jeremy will be safe and so will his dwelling. If this bargain is struck."

  I turned to my friends. "We should go somewhere else."

  "No one else has the juice to do what you need me to do." Morgana sounded almost desperate, though her insolent tone hadn't changed. She needed something from us. But she was right. There wasn't a more powerful witch in this town and I probably couldn't even find one within the human population.

  From the looks on Jeremy and Shaw's faces, they both agreed.

  "One year," I said. "You have one year to use all of your favors."

  She shook her head. "That isn't enough time."

  "We are not giving you an open-ended deal and having your shadow hang over our heads forever."

  "Five years," she countered back.

  "Eighteen months," I said. "That's our final offer."

  She sucked on her teeth for a moment. "You didn't consult with your friends."

  I crossed my arms against my chest. "I don't need to."

  Her eyes flashed with anger. "Eighteen months. Done." She held out her hand. I took it and a zing of painful magic rushed down my arm. "The bargain is struck," she said, even as she reached out to Jeremy and Shaw to do the same.

  "The bargain is struck," we repeated.

  We walked out of her office subdued and silent, none of us knowing what the hell to make of what just happened. Morgana never dealt in favors and it was nerve-racking for her to start.

  She told us she would be by before the end of the day to cast the spell Jeremy needed to protect his dwelling. We only had her word on it, but Morgana had never broken a promise to anyone in this town. Not that anyone knew about, anyhow. But this time, Jeremy's life depended on it.

  Ten

  Maron

  Today was the last date. I didn't mean to put someone up on a pedestal really, but this man had to be perfect. He had to. The universe had to have at least one poetry writing man who liked to walk on nicely lit roads, didn't it? I didn't feel like I was asking a lot. Chet and I had never gotten around to talking about poetry or anything of the like, and I had a feeling Sterling hadn't read a word of poetry in his entire life.

  Tonight I was dressed to the nines and I had my hair done down at one of the local salons. They always said redheads shouldn't wear red, but I never believed in any of that dribble. However, when I tried on a skintight red dress at the boutique next to the salon, I loved it, but I couldn't stop staring at the emerald green dress right next to it. So even though I wanted to be all daring, I knew I'd look better in the green. When I put it on, I actually gasped at myself in the mirror. The dress was off shoulder and wiggle style, meaning it clung to my waist and hips and flared out a little bit right below the knee. It was stunning. My lighter eyes were set off by the deep color and my hair glowed a deep, burnished auburn. I was a girl who loved me a pattern, but even I was not immune to the beauty of a good solid color dress. I paired it with nude high heels and made sure my makeup was mostly neutral except for a smokey eye.

  I looked better tonight than I had in months. I'd chosen to wear my own jewelry tonight and hooked on a pair of deep citrine earrings and a metalworked ivy bracelet, both sturdy and gorgeous. A quick spritz of my favorite perfume and I sailed out the door ready to meet Dimitri, a man from somewhere on the other side of town. He was a distant relative of one of my mother's friends and he had lived here for his entire life. Provided he read the file on me, he wouldn't be surprised by how I ordered tonight.

  But if he was really my soulmate, none of that would matter.

  Sitting in front of the restaurant he'd chosen, I waited a few minutes before getting out as I tried to steady my heart rate. This was going to be awesome. He was going to be witty and well-spoken and, even more importantly, he was going to be on time. He wouldn't insult me, would be able to order wine without just pointing to it, and he would tell me I looked beautiful.

  I glanced at myself in the mirror, added a little more nude lipstick, and said out loud, "This is going to be amazing."

  A tap on the window made me screech in alarm. I turned to see who'd done it only to start cursing immediately.

  "Go. Away," I said to the handsome werewolf practically leering at me through the glass.

  "Is that any way to greet an old friend?" he asked.

  "Friend?" I sputtered. "Is that what you
call instant hate?"

  He blinked in surprise. "Instant hate? Was I really that terrible?"

  I stared at him for a minute. "Are you truly that dumb?" I decided I couldn't hold this conversation through a window, so I hit the button to lower it. "Do you ever stand in front of the mirror and wonder if you're an idiot? Because you really should do that if you haven't. The answer might truly surprise you."

  "Harsh, Archer," Sterling said. "You really are a ballbuster."

  I practically growled at him. "Why are you here trying to ruin my date?"

  "Whoa, weirdo," he said. "I just happened to spot you on my way in." He leaned down and grinned at me. "On my date."

  Something unpleasant reared its ugly head as I heard his words. This guy had a date? Of all the people in this town, the worst one had managed to find someone else to go out with him? Was this date in addition to the other one he’d been set up on? If so, Portia needed a good talking to. I glared at Sterling though the parking lot was dimly lit, so I imagined some of the effect was gone.

  "You actually managed to convince someone to go out with you?" I snorted. "She must really be desperate."

  Sterling clasped a hand over his heart. "As much as this might pain you, you weird vegetarian fiend -"

  "Vegan," I corrected.

  "Also, a liar," Sterling continued. "This is our second date." He blew on his nails and rubbed them on his shirt. "And things happen to be going pretty darn well." He winked at me. "She could be my soul mate."

  I wanted to grab him by the collar of his shirt and slam his head against the window of my car. "Well," I said instead, "isn't that just wonderful? It really is true that there's someone out there for everyone, isn't it?" I fluffed my hair, hit the window button to close it, and shoved the door open, forcing him to jump out of the way. "I'm sure she has a wonderful personality."