by Wendi Wilson
“So what, then?” I said, feeling helpless. “We give up? Go into hiding?”
Coco shook her head. “Maybe the council can help.”
I chewed my lip, thinking this over. Frankly, I’d forgotten asking the council for help was even an option. Where the hell were they when we needed them? The dean acted like they might come to our aid, but my dad seemed to think they would just “dither and pontificate,” to use the dean’s words, while Warren cut his path of destruction through our lives.
“We can’t depend on the council,” I said, shivering as a chilly breeze sliced across the porch. “We need to do this ourselves.”
I said we, but what I was really thinking was that I needed to do this myself. The cavalry wasn’t coming. I couldn’t count on anyone else. Nothing would satisfy me until I could figure out how to use my witchy powers and take Warren down.
“You’re getting all worked up again,” Coco said, her cool hand snaking around to pull me in tighter.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“I heard your heartbeat pick up.”
“Not fair.” I stuck my bottom lip out, giving her a fake pout to lighten the mood. “You have all these superpowers, and I don’t.”
Coco gave my arm a squeeze. “Just give it time, Pipes. I’m pretty sure when you figure out how to fully access your powers, you’ll be even more badass than you already are. Unstoppable.”
MY MOM DIDN’T DIE-DIE. That was the good news.
Two days later, she bolted upright, gasping as she tried to draw a breath. My father, who hadn’t left her side for a second, cradled her and talked her through all that she was experiencing. She didn’t need to breathe, but she did need to drink blood, and lots of it. They’d gotten some—from God knew where, and I was afraid to ask—and I watched from the corner as she sat slurping bag after bag, the color finally bleeding into her cheeks until she no longer looked like a morgue victim.
I kept my distance while she healed. I assumed that, as a human, my very presence would make her transition even harder. When I’d seen that my father had everything under control, I made my way to the kitchen, intent on doing the dishes or cleaning or anything to keep my hands busy and my mind from running through all the reasons why this was my fault, something I’d been doing for the last several days despite Coco’s insistence that it wasn’t.
As I started the hot water running and got out the dish soap, a figure stepped behind me. “Why don’t you let me do those?” Levi said quietly. “You can go lay down.”
“Because I need something to do. I need to be of use somehow. I’m not some damsel that has the vapors and has to retire.” I said the last in my best southern belle accent, trying to be funny, but it fell flat since I was pretty sure Levi could tell I was one misstep away from a full nervous breakdown.
A breakdown that nearly hit me when I realized I couldn’t do dishes. I had a cast on one arm that I’d somehow forgotten about.
He moved to stand beside me, leaning against the counter until he could see my expression. One large, gentle hand brushed down my back. “Is this about trying to compel Warren?”
I plunged a plate into the water and tried to wash it with one hand like an idiot. “No. It’s about being a frail human in a world full of superhumans. It’s about everyone I love being a freaking vampire. It’s about feeling useless.” Dropping the sponge into the sink, I gripped the counter, my knuckles turning white as the emotions rolled over me. “I just wish Warren had turned me into a vampire already.”
Levi gripped my shoulders and whirled me around, his gray-green eyes searching mine. “Piper, don’t say that. You don’t want to throw your life away.”
“What life?” I said. I was bordering on hysterical, but I couldn’t help it. “My parents are vampires. Coco is a vampire. You are a vampire.” Searching his eyes, I added more quietly, “If I don’t turn, you’re all going to watch me grow old and die. Then I’ll never be your mate. I’ll just be a cold body in the ground. A memory.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re eighteen. We have a lot of time before that happens.” He rubbed his hands down my arms in an attempt to soothe me, but I couldn’t be soothed, not yet.
“Do we have a lot of time? Because lately it feels like I have no time left at all. Vampires try to kill me pretty much on the daily. Or they go after someone I love, which is worse. One false move, and I’ll just be dead. Or maybe you’ll be forced to turn me like my dad had to do with my mom.”
Levi pulled me in close, pressing me to his chest. “I love you just the way you are, Piper Williams. I don’t want you to wish your life away. And I don’t want you to worry about what’s going to happen down the road. I’m going to be there, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
I rested my cheek on his chest and let my body sag into his embrace. “I just want to be on the team,” I whispered. “I’m sick of being the only one.”
“You are not the only one.”
When I looked up, True was in the doorway, staring at us. To be honest, I hadn’t had a lot of time for her. She’d been spending a lot of time with Desmond, which was totally fine with me. After that awful stint with Xander, I was not about to stand in the way of her finding a decent man. Now, she looked like a woman on a mission with her expression set like she was hatching some genius plan.
She cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at me. “Girl, have you forgotten that your other best friend is still human?”
I let go of Levi and shook my head. “Haven’t forgotten you, True. Not by a long shot.” When I held out my hand, she walked over and took it. Her other hand held some sort of package. “What’s that?”
“This,” she said, her eyebrows disappearing into her curls, “is what I’ve been doing all week. It’s the answer to all our problems.”
“What do you mean?”
True smiled wickedly while she carried the package to the table and began to pull back the brown wrapping. As the paper disappeared, an ancient, leather-bound book appeared. Gold filigree sparkled on its surface in strange symbols I’d never seen before.
“True, is this…?”
She beamed up at me, white teeth sparkling in the kitchen light. “This is my aunties’ spell book, and it’s about to change everything.”
Chapter Nine
Somehow, Camp Shadow Lake felt more like home than my actual home. Maybe it was seeing my mother brutally murdered by her supposed boyfriend in the middle of our kitchen. Maybe it was the vision of her lying in the basement, for all intents and purposes dead for several days.
Or maybe it was the fact that everyone I cared about was at the camp, and we were living like one big happy family.
Whatever the reason, I was glad to be back. The fresh air and peaceful atmosphere did wonders for my stress, and that, coupled with a new training schedule that made me feel like I was actually doing something, helped me feel… hopeful. Hopeful for a future where everyone was happy and no one else I loved was brutally murdered by power-hungry vampires.
My eyes flicked over to True, who walked down the path beside me as we headed for the mess hall. Other than me, she was the only one left who had the option of rising from the dead—everyone else would be dead-dead if Warren or one of his goons attacked and got the upper hand.
True proudly carried her family’s spell book, or grimoire, as it was technically called, against her chest as her eyes met mine and she smiled. We’d spent some time reading through it, but most of it had been nearly impossible to comprehend. We needed an experienced witch to translate for us, which was why we were headed to the mess. We had an appointment with Chef Zelda.
“This is going to be so cool,” True said as if she’d read my mind. “Once we figure out what the big words mean and how to pronounce them correctly, nothing will stop us!”
She pumped a fist into the air, making me laugh. True stayed… well, true to herself, no matter how dreary the situation. Shit, she’d been completely burned by Xander—used, comp
elled, fed on, and God only knew what else—yet, here she was, just as bubbly as ever. Her optimism was contagious, and my smile grew into a large grin.
“We’re already pretty badass,” I said, nodding my head, “but once we have control of our magic, we’re going to be like X-men, or something.”
“Like Wanda from the Avengers,” she agreed.
“Like Bonnie from The Vampire Diaries.”
We looked at each other for a moment before we both burst into laughter. That comparison to our situation was a little too on-the-nose. Young, brave humans living amongst hotter-than-hell vampires? Check. Badass witches? Check.
If someone transformed into a werewolf, though, I was going to lose my shit.
“Good mornin’, dearies,” Zelda greeted us as we walked into the mess hall. “Do you girls want a cuppa coffee?”
“Yes, please,” I said, my body perking up at the prospect of coffee.
“I’ll take some orange juice, if you have it,” True said.
“Of course. You girls get settled at a table, and I’ll be right out.”
She disappeared into the kitchen, and True and I sat down at the nearest table. She set down the book, gingerly opening the cover so we could stare at the artwork sketched on the first page. A circle filled with strange symbols dominated the page, and neither of us knew what it meant. Doodles of the moon in its various stages, stars, and triangles filled in the rest of the page.
“That be your family seal, True King,” Zelda said, tapping a finger against the circle after setting down our drinks. Her finger trailed along the other sketches, and she said, “It appears as though your ancestors were traditionally Lunar Witches. Their power was the strongest during the full moon, and that was when they performed most of their rituals and spells.”
“Cool,” True said, her eyes widening as she stared at the page.
It was pretty cool. It made me wish I had a book so Zelda could tell me about my family history. I was just about to ask if there was any way to trace my lineage when True let out a low whistle.
I followed her line of sight to the window, my nostrils flaring as I took in the scene outside. Levi and Desmond were on the lawn outside, circling each other in crouched fighting stances. They were both shirtless, their skin glistening in the early morning sun.
“Isn’t that uncomfortable, with the sun shining on their skin like that?” I asked in an attempt to distract myself from salivating over Levi’s abs.
True’s eyes sparkled with keen interest, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips before her teeth bit down on the bottom one. I snapped my fingers in her face, and she jerked back with a laugh.
“What? Desmond is too yummy to ignore.”
“That’s part of their training,” Zelda said in her soft, lulling accent. “Building up a tolerance to sunlight means it can’t be used against them as a form of torture.
I nodded, thinking of Coco and Mom. As fairly new vampires, they’d been spending most days indoors. While the sun wouldn’t kill them, it made them very uncomfortable. Coco had described the sunlight as feeling like a second-degree burn when it touched her skin. Maybe they should be spending more time outside so they could build up some tolerance.
“Back to the grimoire,” Zelda said, pulling our attention from the window. “I can teach ya how to read this, True, but you’re gonna have to practice most of these spells on yer own. Our time together is better spent learning to harness yer magic and using it to defend yerself.”
We both nodded, grateful for anything she could teach us.
“Okay, so first ya need to be able to find yer power and grasp it. I want ya to close yer eyes and breathe. In for five, out for five.”
She counted as we inhaled and exhaled, slow and steady, several times before telling us to look inward. To find the strands of power deep in our souls and grab hold of them.
I had no idea what that meant. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t feel anything. I opened my mouth to ask for clarification, but True’s squeal cut me off.
“I can feel it,” she gushed.
“Good,” Zelda said. “Now, take control of it. Push it into your hands, straight to your fingertips. Once you do that, you’ll be able to wield it easily.”
“I’ll try,” True said, and I opened one eye to peek at her as she screwed up her face in concentration.
Suddenly, a gust of wind whipped through the mess hall. My hair blew around my face and, as I watched, True’s glass of orange juice lifted into the air. My eyes widened in wonder, burning with the need to blink. But I kept them open. I didn’t want to miss a second of this.
Suddenly, the wind stopped, and the glass clanked down onto the table, tipping over and spilling its contents everywhere.
“Very good, True,” Zelda said, pulling a hand towel from the pocket of her apron to clean up the mess.
“I did it,” True said, then looked from the spilled juice to me. “I did it, Piper!”
“That was awesome,” I said, feeling a little jealous.
“You’ll get it, Piper. There’s a lot of magic in ya. You’ve accessed it before. Ya will again. I promise you that,” Zelda said.
I nodded, closed my eyes, and tried again. I hoped she was right. I hoped that soon, I would be able to wield my magic at will, using it to help us win the war that was coming.
I had a feeling we were going to need all the help we could get.
“I COULDN’T DO IT. No matter how hard I tried, I felt nothing.”
I knew I sounded a bit whiny, but Levi listened without judgment. We were lying on the cot in the bunker, which had become a bit of a safe haven for us. We knew we could go there to be alone, and no one would interrupt.
Levi leaned his back against the wall, and I was nestled between his legs, my back to his chest. His strong arms were draped over my stomach, the fingers of both my hands interlaced with his.
“Maybe you’re trying too hard,” he offered.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you used magic before—the visions, compelling Xander, breaking your own compulsion—and all of those things were automatic. You weren’t trying. The power just came to you naturally.”
“You’re right, but I need to learn how to use it on command. I can’t just sit back and hope it’ll appear when I have a need for it.”
“I know,” he said. “But maybe trying to force it isn’t the way.”
“It’s so frustrating,” I growled. Taking a deep breath and letting it out on a sigh, I turned my face into his neck and kissed it, saying, “I’m tired of thinking about everything. I need a distraction.”
“I’m down with that,” he whispered, smiling before he captured my lips with his.
Heat blossomed inside me as we kissed, and I twisted over onto my knees and pushed my good hand into his hair while keeping the casted one out of the way. Inching forward, I swung first one leg, then the other over his thighs, pushing them together so I could comfortably straddle his hips.
A groan vibrated in his chest, encouraging me to grind myself against him as our kiss grew even more heated. His hands landed on my hips, his fingers squeezing almost painfully as he guided my movements.
In that moment, I felt more powerful than I ever had. Levi’s mouth left mine, grazing a trail across my jaw and down my neck. I lifted my head to give him full access, his lips and tongue sending shivers coursing through my entire body.
If he bit me right now, I wouldn’t complain.
Far from it. I found myself wishing he would. To feel the sting of his teeth on my neck, to sense his pleasure in the act, to give him a part of me he hasn’t experienced yet—my blood—I wanted it all.
“Bite me, Levi,” I moaned, pressing my neck harder against his mouth. “Please.”
A sudden sting of pain shocked me, followed by the feel of his mouth suctioning against my flesh. Pleasure raced through me as he purred with satisfaction, and I ground my body harder against his.
A tingling sensation formed at
my center, my nerve endings sparking with energy as something built inside me. I rocked against Levi as his mouth continued to suck at my neck, the heat between us growing to near-explosive levels.
Then the world went cold as I suddenly found myself alone on the cot, Levi standing as far away as he could possibly get from me while still being inside the bunker.
“I’m sorry,” he said, wiping my blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “Piper… I’m so sorry.”
He sounded despondent. Guilty. Terrified.
“Why are you sorry?” I asked, using my good hand to grab the blanket from the end of the cot and pressing a corner to my neck. It was barely a scratch, nothing like the bite from Warren.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said, his voice taking on a faraway quality. “One minute, I was kissing you, and the next…”
“You did exactly what I wanted you to do,” I finished when he trailed off.
“No. Don’t let me off the hook so easy, Piper. Biting you was unacceptable. I hurt you, which I swore I would never do. I don’t know how you can stand to look at me right now.”
Dropping the blanket, I leapt from the cot and strode toward him. He looked like he was about to bolt at any second, and I panicked.
“Stop,” I ordered, and he froze, his eyes rolling wildly in their sockets.
“I can’t move,” he murmured. “You’re using compulsion, Piper.”
“Sorry,” I said, gasping. “You can move. Just don’t run away from me.”
His whole body seemed to relax, his shoulder drooping before he looked at me in awe.
“That was amazing. You did it.”
His words were encouraging, but his tone still held a note of self-hate. I tilted my head, studying him as an idea formed in my head. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was right.
“Did you want to bite me, Levi? Tell me the truth.”
“Yes, I did. But I never would’ve done it. I don’t know what happened. This is why I said we have to be careful.”