by J. L. Weil
“As do I,” Abbey responded.
And one after the other, the others recited, until the circle was completed.
Then the fun began.
The vision sucked us all under at once, but as long as none of us broke the circle, we’d be safe. It was when the link was severed that mind and spirit got jumbled, making the trip back to the body a difficult and unpleasant experience.
I trusted the four other girls with my life, even if we didn’t always get along or see eye to eye, but when it came to coven creed, we supported one another. We were sisters.
The process was sort of like traveling, but only in spirit, which also made detection of the invasion nearly impossible, unless there was another witch about.
Shadows, grey as smoke, ringed the edges of my vision. I could sense each of the others, their presence a comfort, familiar. When the fog cleared, I was staring at three figures, ringed inside a circle of blood. A brunette with short, choppy hair stood over a man, who cowered at her feet. Her lips curved into a seductive sneer, blood smeared on her mouth like it was bold crimson lipstick.
A dark violence shimmered in the air around her that had alarm squeezing in my chest.
Lilith—the self-proclaimed queen of vampires.
She was the oldest Bitten in Frisco Bay, and what I considered the most dangerous. It had been her fangs that had ripped the life from my mother, and it would be by my hand that would end the she-devil vampire.
But what concerned me was the plot she has conspiring to track down the witches in the Bay to use them for various purposes. Although, there were many benefits from the Rift, like daywalking and sustaining on human food, their desire for blood and power was a commanding hunger that wasn’t satisfied with the measly offerings from humans or animals. For a vampire, there wasn’t a more potent blood than that of a witch, and those vampires who were old enough to remember the immense pleasure longed for a taste. It was like a forbidden fruit, sweet and succulent.
“Did you find me a witch, one with the blood of a descendant?” Lilith asked the vampire to her right.
His hair was as dark as a moonless night, pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. There was a shifty nervousness to his light sapphire eyes. “We haven’t been able to locate one yet, but we will.”
It was Lilith’s son Aeron. He was a real heartless asshole, much like his wicked mother. The pair frightened me and my circle, and the rising of unease trickled through our bond.
The sneer on her lips dropped, and her hand shot out, faster than my eyes could follow, securing around the human’s neck. She pulled him to his feet, never easing up on her grip. The man gasped, struggling for air, his face draining of blood. Her gaze shifted sideways toward her son. “My patience is running thin, Aeron. For each day it takes, I will kill one of your little pets.” To prove her point, Lilith extended one dagger-like nail and sliced it across the human’s throat. His eyes went wide, a gurgle bubbling from his mouth a moment before he was tossed to the floor like trash.
Everything inside me strained to do something. Anything.
Aeron hissed, his fangs extending in rage, the lean muscles in his arms tightening. “Was that necessary? We were just getting to know each other.”
“The courtship is over, and dinner is served.”
I could smell death. It lingered in the air.
“I find my appetite is not what it was,” he replied drolly, regardless that the veins surrounding his eyes darkened with hunger.
“If you spent half as much time knocking up witches as you do with your male consorts, we might have already found what we’ve been searching for,” she spat before spinning around, her dark purple robes swishing as she dismissed her son.
Blood rushed and roared in my head, pulsing in time with my thumping heart. The spell was coming to an end, our power wavering. The five of us were back inside the little cottage, staring into one another’s pale faces. Each time the spell was performed, we learned a little bit more about what that bitch was planning. If we could stay a step ahead, we would have the advantage. The problem was this kind of magic was draining, and we could never hold onto it for prolonged periods, not without risking each other.
“We must do something. We can’t sit here as more and more humans are sacrificed.” Outrage was ever present in my voice.
“Is there no other way?” Abbey, the peacemaker, asked.
“If there is another, I can’t see it, but what I do see is they will hunt us down like cattle, slaughter us for the power they crave. It will not end with one or two deaths. Skylar is right. I have seen it.” Jenna was a seer as well as a pain in the ass. Her visions weren’t to be taken lightly.
There was sorrow in my voice, but behind it was a firm purpose. “She is searching for all of us, and the golden prize, a witch with the blood of one of the originals. We need to be more cautious. She can’t get her hands on any of us. The outcome would be catastrophic.”
“Lilith can go to the devil before I let her find any of us,” Jenna swore, fire burning in her eyes. “I won’t be a breeding machine for her clan of bloodsuckers.”
“God, I need a drink,” Bailey said, pushing to her feet. Her round cheeks were flushed.
I couldn’t agree more. It was time to break out another bottle of wine. We all felt it—we were running out of time. The vampires were gathering their ranks, and it could be any day that Lilith decided to strike. It was more than a war or prepopulating their numbers. She wanted to reverse what the Rift witches had done, but that hadn’t gone so well the first time. I shuddered to think what would happen to Frisco Bay if another spell of that magnitude was cast.
Later, feeling a little buzzed from the wine, I threw the cloak over my head, hiding my face, and slipped back out into the night. After what I’d seen, my body was on edge. For the first time, I understood why my overprotective brother never relented on his demand I be protected. The other girls didn’t have a warden to look out for them. Then again, neither of them was a direct descendant of a Rift witch.
She was after me, and I wanted Lilith dead.
I made it a couple of feet when something—correction—someone stepped out from behind a tree. The person grabbed a hold of me.
An arm curled around my stomach, just below my breasts and tugged me back against them. Before I could catch my breath or curse the perpetrator, I was off my feet, being taken behind a rundown shack. A hand clamped over my mouth, and all the hours of self-defense my brother taught me kicked in.
I brought my elbow forward, planning to use my weight and throw us to the ground.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” whispered a voice directly in my ear. “Be a good girl and don’t scream. I’m going to release my hand, but I also don’t want to alert every vampire within a mile. Do you understand?”
There was something familiar about the voice, but I didn’t dwell on it. My mind was already conjuring how much pain I was going to cause him the moment he set me free. I nodded, letting him know I wouldn’t scream, but he hadn’t said anything about kicking his ass.
He released his arm from around my upper stomach. Without hesitation, I spun around. My gaze locked onto a pair of starlight eyes.
Chapter 8
“What the hell, Zavier?” I whispered. Every muscle in my body tensed when I realized who my kidnapper was.
A lopsided grin curled on his lips as he caught my wrists in the air. I had been aiming for his face. “You forgot to tell me we were going out tonight.”
I yanked on my hands, setting them free from his grip. “Are you sure? I swear I told you. Maybe you need to listen more, or maybe you were preoccupied.”
“Yes, thank you for the gift, but Tulip isn’t my type. And as much as I would love to argue with you, we have company.”
I blew out a breath that was part relieved and part irritated before leaning against the tattered side of the building. “Was it necessary to scare the shit out of me?”
He shot me a grin co
mplete with dimples. “I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry. Besides, you were about to make a huge mistake.”
“You mean by not kicking your ass? I still might, you know. The night’s not over.”
He shook his head. “I can think of better use of your energy.”
I scrunched my nose. “Does everything you say end in a phrase about sex?”
Dark brows lifted. “Now who’s the one with the dirty mind?”
“Only because you put it there,” I spat.
“Did I?”
I whacked him on the shoulder. The truth was I’d never been so glad to see him. By no means would I’d admit that to anyone but myself. The odds of me being abducted by the vampire queen got cut in half, or less if Zavier was as good as he claimed. I had yet to see him in action, and I was too damn tired to pay attention to his skills tonight.
“How did you know where to find me?” I asked, glancing sideways at him.
“I followed you.”
My mouth dropped. “You followed an invisible person. Wow. I thought I was crazy.”
He smirked. “Crazy loves company.”
Damn those dimples. Why couldn’t he have the face of an ogre? “And you didn’t try to stop me?”
He shrugged. “I figured if you were going to such lengths to sneak out, then it must be important.”
“And you wanted to spy on me?” I added. It was hard to believe I was huddled behind a shed having this discussion with Zavier. I was curious to see what the outcome was going to be. If he threatened to tell my brother…I couldn’t be held responsible for my actions.
He crossed his arms, twinkling eyes looking down at me. “You’re seriously hung up on the stalker theory.”
“If the shoe fits.”
He shook his head. “It took guts coming out here alone, but you don’t lack bravado. What you lack is common sense.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“The moment you stepped into these woods, you made a mistake. And I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve met with those other four witches, is it?”
Floored, all I could do was stare at him for a minute, and then my tongue returned with a vengeance. “That is none of your business. By the way, I don’t make mistakes, asshole. And I don’t need you.”
“I’m a lot of things, including an asshole probably, but tonight, I’m your fucking knight in shining armor.” His voice had risen to match mine, no longer doing the forced whisper.
I shoved at a piece of hair that had fallen into my face. “Wow. You want a freaking cookie? How about I bake you a cake?”
He blinked. “I didn’t know you could bake.”
“Go jump off a cliff.”
He dipped his chin and stretched his head to the side as if he heard something. “Stay behind me,” he ordered.
I opened my mouth, but the glare in his eyes struck me silent. There was something in the way he went from teasing to dangerous warden that sent off a warning signal inside me. Now was not the time to test him.
“We need to go,” he told me curtly.
Cold shivers navigated down my spinal cord, and every nerve ending in my body fired a rush of cautionary sensations. Zavier’s hand slipped into mine as he moved soundlessly with me at his back. He’d only taken a few steps before he halted.
I caught a glimpse of disheveled mocha hair and a hunched-over figure. A vampire was having a late-night snack on a human, slurping the woman’s blood and slowly stripping away her life, until there was nothing but an empty shell left.
Fury rose within me as swiftly as the dense fog off the sea. My fingers curled into fists, red hot anger filling my veins. I was focused entirely on the vampire as I put one foot in front of the other and stalked forward.
“Hey bloodsucker, the feast is over. She isn’t an all-you-can-eat buffet.” Magic radiated from my fingertips. I wasn’t sure what came over me, but after what I’d witnessed tonight and years of pent-up rage, I lost it.
“Christ,” Zavier swore.
The vampire’s head snapped up, blood dripping from his fangs. A deep line of crimson trickled from the woman’s neck onto the ground. He gave a seething hiss at having his dinner interrupted. No one liked to be disturbed during a meal.
Heart pounding, I launched myself forward. Zavier did as well, once again putting himself in front of me.
“What are you doing?” he hissed between his teeth.
“Getting some justice,” I growled, my eyes focused on the leech. Never lose track of them, the number-one rule.
“Is that what you call this?” Zavier cracked his neck. “Well then, I guess we better get on with it.”
I couldn’t believe he was going to help me kick this vampire’s ass. He was such a quandary. From the corner of my eyes, I looked at the warden. He was serious. This was a different approach, and I liked it. After I engaged the rune on my shoulder, the mark lit up, glowing white in the dark.
“Witch,” the vampire hissed.
“Wow, he speaks.”
Zavier chuckled.
Releasing the woman, the vampire flashed to his feet. “Oh honey, I can do a whole lot more than talk. Let me take care of him and I’ll show you.”
“Can’t wait,” I said with genuine anticipation. I wanted to hit something. This vampire’s face would do just fine.
“Do you bait everyone you cross paths with?” Zavier grumbled.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little vampire. I thought you were supposed to be a big, bad warden.”
“One is no sweat, but where there is one, there are more. Trust me, this guy is not alone.”
“That’s right.” The vampire lurched forward, suddenly in my face. I blinked, and two other vampires dropped down on either side of Zavier, another man with blond hair and a female who could have been his twin. Freaky. I was getting some incestual vibes from them.
The scowl on Zavier’s face was fierce and displeased. He wanted to tell me he told me so. I had a feeling I was going to be paying for this later…once we made it out alive. “You don’t want to do this. Trust me. This woman is under my protection,” Zavier barked.
“She’s a witch. And we have our own orders,” the vampire said, disregarding Zavier’s warning.
“Your orders mean very little to me. I’m going to give you one more chance to walk away before I make sure you never see the light of another day.”
“What you don’t understand, warden, is if I don’t bring her back with me, I’m dead. So I’ve got nothing to lose.”
And that made the vampire dangerous.
“She isn’t going anywhere, but you three are going to hell,” Zavier thundered.
I backed away as the vampire’s hand shot at me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Zavier upper cut the female vampire, snapping her head back. She went down like a bag of rocks.
I threw out my hand, an orb of green magic zooming through the air, zeroing on the vampire. The electric ball of light smacked him in the gut, a inch above making it nearly impossible for him to have kids, not that I was going to let the bastard live. He threatened me, and for that, I’d have his life.
The magic would only stun him, but the stake I’d hidden in my boot would do so much more. I bent down, grabbing the wooden hilt and throwing it. The small weapon spun in the air, hitting the vampire in the heart, sinking deep. A startled look crossed his face, and as the composite of the stake worked its wonder, he disappeared in a flash of blinding light.
A hand latched onto my ankle and yanked. There was a third burst of light as I tumbled to the ground, but someone cushioned my fall. Zavier. He stared at me. “I’m not sure if I should be horrified or impressed.”
I heaved a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. “Ditto.”
Shoulders still tense, Zavier lowered his chin and met my gaze. There was an illuminating glow to his eyes. “Both. I’m not someone to be tampered with. It would do for you to remember that the next time you go sneaking off alone. I told you it wasn’t safe
.”
“And I told you I can take care of myself,” I huffed.
“So you did. Not bad, minx, but how about we make a deal? Next time you want to go sneaking off into the woods, you tell me first, that way I can make sure I bring more than one stake.”
I simmered down. “You’re not going to go squealing to Colin?”
“I’m to keep you safe, not gossip or tattle. What you do is your own business. You’re a big girl, but it would make my job easier if I knew ahead of time what we were getting into.”
“Whatever. Let me go.”
“Newsflash, sweetheart, you’re sitting on me, and if you slip about an inch or so down, things are either going to be awkward…or interesting,” he added. His lips slowly curled as he lifted a brow. “Could be fun.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up. I’m not a plaything.”
He lifted both hands in the air on either side of him, his gaze traveling over my body before flicking up. “Who said I’m playing?”
I put a palm to his chest, intending to push myself to my feet, but I gasped as his hand wrapped around my wrist, hauling me against his chest. I turned my bewildered stare back on Zavier, the air catching in my lungs. He took a deep breath, and I realized my chest was pressed to his so close I could feel his heart beating.
His hand fell loosely around my waist, and a heady rush trilled through my body. My fingers bunched on his shirt. To my surprise, they wanted to tug him closer, as if they had a mind of their own. The knowledge had my stomach muscles tightening. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush from the fight with the vampires, but holy crap. I was feeling a mad case of insta-lust.
What was wrong with me? Better question—what the hell was going on with my body?
I had just ended things with Liam, and here I was, having not-so-innocent thoughts about another guy. Never had I felt this kind of intense level of attraction, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for it, no matter what my body was saying.