Witching Hour: Blood Magic Book 3

by L.H. Cosway

  “How about I lock it in the shed out back?” Finn suggested, nodding in the direction of the little wooden building behind the garden. “I’ve got a big padlock that I can put on the door to make sure nobody gets inside.”

  “Yes, we should do that. Do it now.” My eyes locked on the mist, which was swirling violently inside the jar as though taunting me, struggling to break free of its glass prison. I could almost feel it urging me to open the lid.

  Yeah, fat chance of that happening.

  “We can do that later. I want to show it to Ethan first,” Delilah said.

  I glanced up at the clock. “But it’s only lunchtime, and Ethan won’t be up for hours. I can’t sit in the house for that long with it here. I’m seriously repelled by it. I feel like I might be sick.” How was it affecting me so intensely? My stomach turned just looking at it.

  “Amanda’s upstairs packing the last of her things to go home. Why don’t you go help her? It’ll get you out of the house for a couple of hours and will give me time to study this thing in more detail,” Rita suggested.

  “Oh, I completely forgot she was going home today. Yeah, okay, I’ll do that.”

  I felt skittish as I hurried upstairs to Amanda. I helped her with her bags, and we got a taxi to her parents’ place. I didn’t even realise Ira had tagged along until I felt him slide into the back seat next to me. It was a tight squeeze, but I didn’t mind. Truth be told, I liked having him around. His presence was quietly reassuring, especially after my reaction to Rita’s trapped mist.

  “He is hot,” Amanda whispered to me on the drive, taking in Ira’s well-built form.

  I grinned. “He’s mute, Mandy, not deaf.”

  “Oh.” Her cheeks flushed as she glanced sheepishly back at Ira. I could be mistaken, but I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch in amusement. Huh. So, he was paying attention. Half the time it felt like he was in his own little world.

  When we reached Amanda’s place, her parents fussed over her and lavished me with praise for nursing her back to health. As far as they were concerned, she’d been struggling with a drug habit. I stayed and hung out for a while, and I suspected they thought Ira was my boyfriend because Amanda’s mum pulled me aside at one point and whispered, “He’s quite a dish, Tegan. You did well for yourself.”

  It made me wonder what it would be like to be with someone like Ira, especially since he didn’t talk. Would he just silently toss you around the bedroom and shag you senseless?

  God, I was such a hussy. My hormones must’ve been acting up. Earlier today I was wondering what it would be like to sleep with Finn and now I was mentally undressing poor Ira. I wondered if Ethan would be jealous if he knew. The thought made me grin.

  When we arrived back at Finn’s I was immediately hit with two distinct and opposing sensations. The first was the repulsion from the mist in the jar and the second was an altogether new one. I could feel Ethan’s presence so forcefully it almost knocked me off my feet. My entire body filled with unmistakable and violent lust for him. Jesus. This definitely wasn’t normal.

  I steeled myself and tried not to give in to the urge that swept over me as I walked into the kitchen. Ethan, Lucas, Finn, Rita, and Delilah all stood around the table staring intently at the jar of mist. My legs practically turned to jelly at the sight of Ethan. It had to be because of his blood.

  I’d imbibed far more than I should have and now I was paying the price, which was resisting the urge to drag him upstairs and tear off all his clothes. This so wasn’t me. It was like a sex fiend had burrowed under my skin, turning me into a horny psycho.

  Ethan’s eyes flicked to mine, and I swore I saw his nostrils flare. Oh no, was he smelling how I felt? I blinked and did my best not to look at him, turning my attention to Rita instead.

  “Are you any closer to figuring out how to get rid of it?” I asked.

  “No,” she replied, frowning. “I’ve tried a whole variety of spells and nothing seems to work. I think I need to hit the books and see what I can dig up. Gabriel, Alvie, and Mum have gone to visit an old warlock friend of Gabriel’s. Gabe’s convinced this guy will be able to help us, but he lives off-grid in a cabin in the woods on the other side of the country, so they’ll be gone for a few days.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s good. Did Gabriel and Alvie find anything at Michael Ridley’s place?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Rita sighed dejectedly.

  Unintentionally, I found myself standing way too close to Ethan. My arm brushed his, and a bolt of lust shot through me. “Sorry,” I muttered, but he didn’t respond or acknowledge me at all. I did notice his posture stiffen slightly.

  It was actually frightening how much I desired him. Rita began explaining something about one of the spells she tried earlier, but I couldn’t bring myself to pay her any attention. I wanted Ethan. I needed him.

  Something came over me as I went up on my tiptoes, leaned in close, and rested my face in the crook of his neck. Then I flicked out my tongue and licked his smooth skin. His body went rigid, and he gripped my arm tightly.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, closing his eyes for a moment as though gathering himself. Hmm, perhaps he wasn’t so indifferent …

  “Let’s go to my room,” I whispered.

  “No,” he said firmly.

  “But I’ve missed you,” I went on, leaning even closer and wrapping my fingers around his bicep. I gave him a long, meaningful look to communicate exactly in what way I’d missed him.

  Ethan moved fast, dragging me out of the kitchen and shoving me into the empty living room. The others were too distracted by whatever Rita was saying to notice us. Ethan pushed me away from him and studied me from top to toe.

  I tried to get close to him again, but he put his hand out, warding me off. “Don’t touch me. There’s something not right here.”

  He rubbed his hand over his forehead, and even though he looked impeccable, there was something in his demeanour that told me he was tired.

  For a moment, my concern for him overrode my lust. He might not have been treating me very nicely lately, but I still cared for him. I wasn’t the kind of person who could be intimate with someone and not feel a certain level of affection for them.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  His steely eyes pierced mine, and then suddenly, everything came pouring out of him. All the things he wanted to say but had been holding in the last few weeks. “Do you understand how difficult it is for me to be around you after what you did? Because of you, I have lost my home, my status, my business. These things were all taken from me. I was outlawed by my own people because I allowed my feelings and attraction for you to override my judgement.”

  My chest pinched with that oh so familiar guilt. “I wasn’t trying to fool you. I was just trying to save Rebecca.”

  His expression hardened. “If you had told me the truth, I might’ve been able to help you.”

  “You wouldn’t have gone against Whitfield.”

  “If you think that, then you underestimate the extent of how I felt for you,” he shot back, and it was like an arrow to my heart. I hated how he spoke in the past tense. Whatever feelings he once had for me didn’t exist anymore.

  “I’m sorry,” I said in a quiet voice.

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it. I lost my home.”

  Tears pricked at my eyes, but I managed to keep them at bay. Ethan looked truly distraught, and I realised his house had meant a great deal to him.

  “How long had you been living there?” I whispered.

  There was a flash of sadness in his eyes. “Almost sixty years.”

  I inhaled sharply. That was practically a whole lifetime for a human. I thought I couldn’t hate myself any more than I already did, but I was wrong. My gaze dropped to the floor. I wanted to tell him I was sorry again, but I knew he wouldn’t appreciate it.

  Ethan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re young. You haven’t yet needed to call a place home, really
call it home. When you’re as old as I am, having a place that’s yours is one of the few things that keep you sane.” His face went soft for a moment before hardening again. “I don’t have that any more thanks to you. And now you come sauntering up to me, thinking that a little seduction will convince me to forgive you. That’s a low move, Tegan.”

  “That’s not what I’d been doing. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but my body wants you. How I came up to you in the kitchen, it felt like I was possessed. Might it be because I drank too much of your blood yesterday?”

  His expression turned thoughtful. “It shouldn’t be that powerful.” He stepped up close to me and let his fingertips linger over my pulse, where it pounded in my neck. “I can sense your need for me so strongly. What is this?” he pondered, eyes roaming my face.

  I turned my head so that my lips grazed his jaw. He muttered what sounded like a Romanian curse word.

  “You are such a fucking temptation,” he said, sounding strained.

  The lust I had managed to tamp down over the last few minutes was unleashed at his throaty declaration. “You can have me, all of me,” I said, completely shameless.

  Instantly, his mouth came crashing down on mine. He shoved the hem of my dress up and gripped my thighs. I let out a low moan and grabbed his hand, moving it between my legs.

  He growled against my mouth, his tongue sliding along mine and his fangs scraping over my lower lip. They might’ve nicked me, but I was too turned on to care. Feeling ravenous, I pushed Ethan down onto the couch and climbed on top of him. His hand found its way inside my underwear, stroking my clit before he plunged two fingers inside me.

  “Fuck,” he swore, then began rambling in Romanian as he trailed kisses down my throat and scraped his fangs against my sensitive skin. My every pore tingled as he coaxed me to a fast release. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get there.

  My core tightened, and I moaned loudly. Then, just like that, he was gone. I blinked and sat up, finding him on the other side of the room.

  “I don’t want this,” he muttered, shaking his head. “This is not what I want.” It was like he was thinking out loud, trying to convince himself.

  “I want you,” I told him fervently.

  “No, you don’t. Something’s wrong with you. You’re not wild like this. You surrender sweetly.” He approached me and ran a finger down the centre of my chest. “Look at you. You’re sweating far too much and you don’t smell right. You smell like you’ve been corrupted.”

  I took stock of myself and realised he was right. I was dripping with sweat, my heart thumping a little too fast. With Ethan close, it took all my willpower not to jump on him again. I shook as I tried to maintain my resistance.

  The door to the living room opened, and Rita and Finn stepped in. “Right, so we’ve decided we’re going to lock the jar up in the shed for the night,” Rita said before her eyes landed on me and Ethan. “Um, is everything okay in here?”

  “No, everything is not okay,” Ethan replied, stressed. “There’s something wrong with Tegan. She’s being overly … amorous.” His exasperation was evident, which was very out of character for him.

  Rita laughed, but she quickly stifled it when Ethan cut her a dark look. Finn came right up to me and placed his hand on my forehead. “Jesus, you’re burning up.”

  “I know. I don’t understand what’s happening to me,” I said, still shaking. When I looked at Ethan, he was glowering at the back of Finn’s head. Evidently, he disliked him touching me. The foreign thing that had taken over my body rejoiced at Ethan’s jealousy.

  Rita knelt before me. “How do you feel? Different from normal? Or are you just, uh, in the mood for a little ...” she trailed off and waggled her eyebrows in Ethan’s direction.

  “Hey!” I exclaimed. “It’s not like I want this. Ethan clearly can’t stand me, and I don’t generally throw myself at people who hate me.” Now his glower intensified, though I wasn’t certain why. “I feel too hot. My pulse is racing, and I can’t stop shaking,” I said, holding out my hand for her to see. “I feel like some foreign lust has burrowed its way into my body and all it wants is him.” I threw my hand in Ethan’s direction.

  Rita put both her hands on either side of my head and closed her eyes. She opened them a moment later and seemed to be having a hard time disguising her amusement.

  “It looks like someone’s given you a lust potion.”

  I gaped at her. “A what?”

  “A lust potion. They generally take your attraction to someone and intensify it tenfold,” Rita explained.

  Just like that, my cheeks went bright red. I glanced at Ethan, but he wasn’t looking at me. He stared at the floor, a multitude of conflicting emotions flashing across his face. As if this whole situation wasn’t already awkward enough.

  “Did you eat or drink anything weird today?” Rita questioned.

  “No, I haven’t …” I trailed off and met Finn’s gaze, my eyes widening in realisation. “The glass of water Marcel gave me!”

  “That scheming rat bastard,” Finn swore.

  “What? What is it?” Rita questioned.

  “When we went to Indigo today, Tegan fell victim to a random coughing fit, and Marcel was conveniently there with a glass of water,” Finn said, his jaw working.

  “But why would Marcel give her a lust potion?” Rita asked, confused.

  “Probably because he wants to stir up trouble,” Finn muttered, raking a hand through his hair. “He knows we’ve made an alliance with the vampires and will do anything in his power to create conflict.”

  Another wave of lust shot through me, and I groaned. This was so unbelievably embarrassing, especially with everyone standing around looking at me.

  “How long is this going to last?” I asked Rita, feeling desperate.

  “Usually a couple of days. There’s no antidote for a lust potion. You just have to wait it out. You’re sweating so profusely right now because your body is trying to expel it as quickly as possible.”

  “Great. So, I’m basically going to be in heat for days?” I squirmed on the couch, my skin feeling too tight for my own body.

  Finn got a weird, tense look on his face before he reached over and squeezed my hand. “You’re strong. You can handle it,” he assured me. “In the meantime, I’m going to pay Marcel another visit. I’ll get some of the boys down at the compound to come with me. The warlock needs to be schooled.”

  I was surprised when Ethan gave him a nod of approval.

  “Maybe you should go home, give my girl here some peace,” Rita suggested to Ethan. “Dee and Lucas have already left.”

  Ethan frowned, cast me one last glance, then, without another word, exited the room. I instantly felt better once he was gone.

  Rita went to get a damp cloth to put on my forehead, while Finn stayed with me. “This is my fault. I never should’ve taken you to Indigo.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up. I’ve got a bad case of the vapours. It’ll pass. I’ve been through worse.”

  A cheeky smile tugged at the edge of his mouth. “Well, if you need a helping hand to keep some of those urges in check—”

  I cut him off with a slap on the shoulder. “Don’t even bother finishing that sentence,” I warned, and he chuckled.

  Rita returned and placed the damp cloth on my forehead. “Thanks,” I said, shooting her a small smile. “I think I’ll take a bath. I need to wash off all this sweat.”

  With that, I stood from the couch and made my way upstairs, trying not to drown in embarrassment that Rita, Finn, and Ethan had all witnessed me acting like a horned up lunatic.

  4.

  I spent over an hour in the bath, just sitting in the water and soothing my nerves and overworked hormones. When I finally managed to drag myself out, I changed into some PJs and crawled into bed. I fell asleep easily but was woken at two in the morning by shuffling noises outside.

  Hurrying to my window, I peered out into the back garden. It took a moment for my slee
py eyes to adjust to the dark. Then I saw who was making the noise; Ethan, Lucas, and Dru were lugging crate loads of glass jars into the shed. What on earth?

  I pulled on a long cardigan and made my way downstairs to investigate what they were up to. On my way down, I peeked in both Ira’s and Finn’s rooms, and both were fast asleep.

  When I opened the back door and stepped out into the garden, all eyes darted to me. Vampire’s eyes were far more striking than human eyes, so much so that they practically glowed in the dark. A chill skittered down my spine.

  Lucas and Dru dismissed me and went back to lugging crates, while Ethan continued to survey me with an inscrutable expression.

  “No need to look so alarmed. I’m not going to jump you again.” Even as I said it, lust swarmed my belly. Marcel’s potion certainly hadn’t worn off yet.

  “I wasn’t worried about that,” he replied flatly.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, peering over his shoulder.

  “We continued our search of the city tonight.” His voice was as cold as the night air around us. “We found nothing of Theodore, but we did find these things everywhere. Delilah said that she and the witch only saw one today. It seems that night is when most of them come out to feed.”

  Oh. So, it was more of the strange mist that was captured in the jars. Repulsion warred with the all-consuming lust inside me. One good thing about Marcel’s potion was that it distracted me from the awful feeling I got from the mist. It moved frantically inside each of the jars, struggling against its capture.

  “There are so many,” I whispered, unable to fathom a way of getting rid of it all. Rita couldn’t even figure out how to kill one jar full, never mind dozens.

  “This is barely half of what we caught. The rest we stored in the garage at my house, but we ran out of room.” A pause as he ran a hand over his face. “It seems to be multiplying, and the human population is fracturing. There have been endless reports of violent incidents in the news. Things are only going to get worse.”

  “What can we do to make it stop?” I whispered.