“This is my sister and business partner, Jenna. The love potions and charms are her specialty. I bet she can help you to find just the right thing.” I hoped she didn’t think I was trying to offload her to someone else. It would have been easy to sell her the fudge. However, Jenna could probably figure out the real problem with just a few questions.
Jenna held her hand out to the customer and smiled. “Hi, nice to meet you…?”
“Oh, I’m Mandy. Nice to meet you, too. I was asking your sister about the aphrodisiac fudge. My boyfriend seems to have lost interest in me since we started our second year at UNO. I was hoping to find something to bring him back to me. What would you suggest?”
“I heard you say you’ve been together since high school. Do you think he’s into someone else? Or is school getting in the way?” Jenna always knew the right questions to ask.
“Well, he doesn’t really talk to me very much. We have several classes together, and he’s been missing the morning ones. He doesn’t have a problem with the afternoon classes. I went by his dorm room this morning after class, and he was passed out.” Mandy was ringing her hands.
“Do you think he’s been partying? Has he pledged a fraternity?” Jenna walked around the counter and took the girls hands in hers.
“No, he didn’t seem drunk or hungover. He hates frats. I think he’s been staying up really late a lot lately and coming back before the sun comes up. I asked him where he’s been lately, and he won’t tell me. He wouldn’t even tell me how late he returns. His roommate told me.”
I looked to Jenna and mouthed, “Vampires?”
Jenna nodded slightly.
“Could it just be he’s made some new friends who aren’t any good for him? He may not be drinking or doing drugs, but he could be into other things which are just as bad. Why don’t you find a way to bring him here to the store? I can scan his aura and get a better feel for what’s going on.” Ohh, Jenna was smart.
If the guy’s been hanging with vampires, we could tell. Or, a wolf could tell. They can smell vampires on humans. If it’s not vamps, then we could sell her the love potion. At least, then, she could move on and know he’s just not that into her anymore.
“Really? You can see auras and know what they mean? Wow, that’s cool!” Mandy’s spirits were starting to lift with the belief we could help her.
“Sure, just let me know the date and time so I can be here. Once we know what’s going on, it will be easier to figure out exactly what you need.” Jenna gave the girl her most dazzling smile. The one she used when she was luring in her targets.
Too bad it didn’t work on vamps. It would make it so much easier to get them to line up for slaughter.
“I do have a love potion you could try. Or maybe you could just give him a gift? Let him know you care about him and miss him? We have several protection charms. If he’s out and about late at night, he might not realize how dangerous the city is.” What was Jenna doing? She couldn’t sell her one of the witches’ charms.
“He’s a big guy. I doubt anyone would mess with him. How about Thursday night? We have a class together, and it ends around five. I could try to get him to come over here before he leaves to do whatever it is he does at night?”
“Sure, I’ll be here.” Jenna walked the girl to the door.
Once Mandy left, Jenna turned around. “Do you think he’s hanging with vamps? Would they even let him go about his usual routine?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s being initiated by the acolytes or something? Either way, we gotta get one of Rico’s guys to come over and sniff him.” Oh, that really sounded bad.
Jenna laughed. “Really? Are you going to ask Rico to send over a guy to sniff another guy?” She continued to laugh and almost snorted she was laughing so hard.
“Hardy, har, har. You know what I meant.” Okay, I really did say it wrong.
“I want to hear what you’re going to say. Go on, call Rico.” Jenna handed me her phone.
“Nah. I’ll use mine and call Damien. You’re more than welcome to listen in. Unless, of course, you want to call Rico?” There was something going on with the two of them, but Jenna hadn’t told me they were officially dating or anything yet. I hoped she was ready for a solid relationship.
“Nope. I want to hear your conversation with Damien.” Jenna smirked.
“Fine.” I pulled my cell phone out of my back pocket and dialed.
Damien picked up on the second ring. “Hi there, gorgeous. To what do I owe the honor?”
Now I could giggle. “Hey there. I was wondering if you could help us with a customer?”
“Ah, how could I help? Is it a wolf customer?” I could hear the questioning tone in his voice over the phone. I had never asked him for help with a customer before. Sure, I had asked for protection from a few customers, but never help with one.
“I think this guy might be mixed up with vampires. We wondered if you could sense vamps or not on the guy this Thursday a little after five? His girlfriend is worried about him. She’s going to bring him by.”
“Sure. How about we go out to dinner after I meet this customer of yours?” That came out of nowhere.
“You mean, like a date?” Was Damien really asking me out?
The other guys moved so stinkin slow. He’s only been flirting with me for a couple of weeks.
Did I even want to go out with him? What would Ivan think?
“Yes. You and me. No one else. Dinner. I could take you to a jazz club after. How about it?” Damien was an extremely good-looking guy. I’d be crazy not to accept.
“Sure, sounds like fun.” I only hoped Ivan wasn’t hanging around Thursday.
Even though we weren’t a couple, we did have strong feelings for each other. We just couldn’t be together. He couldn’t stand the taste of my blood, and I couldn’t stand the idea of how he got his blood. If only he could survive off the blood of animals.
I hung up the phone, and Jenna’s mouth was agape. “What just happened? Did he ask you out on a date? Did you just accept? What about Ivan?”
“Yes, he asked me out, and I accepted. I told you, there is nothing going on with Ivan. We can’t be together.” I really didn’t want to talk about Ivan. He was a sore subject for me.
“Kat, Damien’s a great guy. Totally hot, too! If he is what you want, I say go for it. Just don’t lead him on. The same things you said to Indie and me apply to you as well. Don’t cause any problem which could sever our ties to the pack, okay?”
“I know. Don’t worry. It’s just dinner and a jazz club. How much trouble could that be?” If nothing else, it would give me a chance to see if there was any chemistry between us. This was going to be a good thing.
8
Damien
“You just asked her out on a date, and she said yes?” Rico was astonished I was heading out to meet Kat for our date.
“Yup.”
“But how? She didn’t put up a fight or come back with reasons why you couldn’t date?” Rico rubbed his jaw.
“Rico, I didn’t wait months before asking her out. I only just started flirting with her. We hadn’t really hit the ‘friend zone’ yet. You waited so long before asking Jenna the first time, you had already been relegated to the friend zone.” I chuckled thinking back to how Rico agonized for weeks about asking her out. He waited too long.
“She kissed me a couple weeks ago.” Rico hadn’t shared his juicy news regarding a kiss before.
“Wait, she kissed you? How many times have you been out on dates since?” I didn’t think they’d been out together. Or least, not alone, over the past few weeks.
“Well, there hasn’t really been time.” Rico was a fool.
“Dude, you haven’t asked her out after she kissed you? Are you stupid? You’ve probably alienated her. You can’t let a girl kiss you and then NOT ask her out. Especially one you’ve been pining over for months. What’s wrong with you?” I shook my head. This guy could really be dense.
“I thought sh
e’d turn me down, like she has in the past. The kiss was just a moment of vulnerability, nothing more.” Rico shrugged and began cleaning under his thumb nail.
“Call her, now. Ask her out for this weekend. If you don’t, you need to move on. You’re obviously not that into her if you can’t even pick up a phone and ask her for dinner.” I honestly didn’t understand how Rico could run our pack, along with a million dollar investigative firm, and not ask a girl out.
“I want to. I really do. It’s just…well…she’s kinda ticked off with me right now. I doubt she’d even answer my phone call.” Rico threw his hands in the air.
“Romance her. Send her flowers or chocolate or whatever it is she likes. Just do something! For crying out loud, dude. Stop moping around for a girl you haven’t even asked out! You’re an alpha! What’s wrong with you?” If he didn’t knock this off, I might have to challenge him for the role of alpha, before someone else does. He certainly isn’t acting like an alpha lately.
“You’re right. Man, I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately. I never take no for an answer in business. Why am I being so wimpy now? She wants me, I know she does. This is probably why she’s so upset with me.” Rico took off to his office, hopefully to order some flowers for Jenna. She deserved it for putting up with my stupid alpha all these months.
Speaking of which, I should probably stop off and get Kat some flowers too. Nothing too common. As I walked to my car, I wondered what type of flowers were her favorites. It had to be exotic.
Getting out of the car, my stomach turned a few times. I had never been nervous for a date. What was wrong with me? I swear, these girls were going to be the death of my pack if we didn’t get our acts together and soon.
First, I had to sniff out a guy for Kat. Make sure he wasn’t mixed up with vamps. I really hoped he wasn’t.
With flowers in hand, I walked to the front of the Voodoo Doll’s store.
When the little bell above the door ringed, several heads turned in my direction. Great, the whole family was here to watch. Just what I needed when I was already nervous.
“Kat, these are for you.” I handed her the bouquet I picked up at the local florist shop.
The girl swore these blue flowers were a mixture of exotic and popular. Plus, most women would love them. I hoped she was right. I hadn’t bought a woman flowers in years.
“Thank you, Damien. They’re gorgeous.” Kat lifted the flowers to her nose and took a long whiff. “Gardenias, several different blue gerbera daisies, and I’m not sure what the third flower is. I love it! Thank you.” She leaned in and kissed my cheek. I knew I had done well.
“The third flower is a Dutch Amaryllis.” I smiled and realized I hadn’t greeted the other girls yet when I felt their eyes on me.
“Ladies, nice to see you all again.” I hugged each one in turn.
“Nice flowers. How’d you know blue Gerbera Daisies were Kat’s favorites?” Jenna asked.
“Really? I just guessed. I know blue is her favorite color, and those flowers made me smile when I looked at them.” What luck! I had actually gotten something right.
Dating has never been my forte. Sure, lots of women have been interested in me, but I just never seemed to hit it off with them. This date is already going better than any other first date.
“Let me put these in some water.” Kat walked to the back room, and I looked around to see if there was anyone here who smelled of vampire.
“Jenna, wasn’t there someone I was supposed to meet tonight? Have they shown up yet?” Before she could answer me, I heard someone enter the store.
As I could turn around, I smelled the stench of death. If I hadn’t known better, I would have suspected vampires. Since I knew we might be visited by an acolyte, or acolyte in training, I knew exactly who it was.
“Mandy, it’s good to see you again. Is this your boyfriend you told me about?” Jenna walked to the couple who had barely entered the store.
“Yes, this is Brad.” Mandy was beaming when she looked at her boyfriend. He on the other hand, looked like he had been bamboozled into coming here.
“Nice to meet you, Brad.” Jenna put her hand out, and Brad shook it.
Leaning in to Indie, I whispered, “He’s been around a lot of vampires, and recently too.”
Indie shook her head and sighed.
When Kat reentered the room, I took her hand. “He’s a vamp snack at the very least. Brad reeks of death. What do you want to do?”
“Nothing, for now. Let’s enjoy our date.” As we walked out the door, I nodded to Jenna. I was sure she would understand what it meant. If not, Indie could tell her.
“That poor couple. I hope he opens his eyes and sees the beautiful girl he has before he loses her, or his life.” I led Kat down to Bourbon Street. We were going to have a normal night. One filled with a nice creole dinner and maybe a dance or two at a jazz club.
When we walked into the restaurant where I had a reservation, Kat smiled and squeezed my hand. Maybe I just needed someone who liked the same things I did?
“Thank you, Damien. This has been a really great night.” Kat’s face was glowing. The moon shone down on her, and I couldn’t breathe. I doubt there was ever a more beautiful woman than Kat Deveroix.
“I should be thanking you. This was the best date I’ve ever been on. There is one more thing I would like to do with you tonight, if you don’t mind?” There was more than one thing I wanted, but I had to be patient and take this slow. I wasn’t going to mess this up by rushing anything.
“What do you want?” She took a step closer, and I held my breath.
“Shift. I want you to try shifting.” I knew Kat was a shifter, she just needed to know it herself.
“How? I’ve never done it before. If I can shift, why haven’t I shifted yet?” She was beautiful when she scrunched her nose in confusion.
“You grew up human. It’s odd you never shifted. I’ve actually never heard of anyone not shifting.” I scratched my head.
“There have been a few shifter babies abandoned who had no clue who they were. Each of the ones I know of figured it out before they hit puberty. I’m not sure why you haven’t accidentally shifted yet. It’s odd.” I knew shifter DNA was always dominant. There wasn’t a single case of someone with the genes who couldn’t shift.
“Try focusing on your inner core and calling forth your wolf. It’s there. Multiple people have said you have the blood, right?” Ivan tasted her blood and said she was a shifter. If he said she was, then she was.
Ivan, what would he think about us out on a date? Did he know? Were they over?
“What if I’m not a wolf? Could I be something else?”
“You could, but it’s doubtful. I can sense your wolf form trying to get out. It’s like you have blocked her somehow. Give it a try.” A distant memory of something about this was trying to resurface. I couldn’t quite grasp it. Maybe if she tried to shift a few times I would remember it.
Kat fisted her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. I could tell she was really trying hard. The redness in her cheeks was growing, and she even had a few drops of sweat drip down her face.
“Ahhhhh! Why can’t I do this? What’s wrong with me?” Kat threw her hands in the air and paced in a circle.
I walked up to her and pulled her to my chest. “Shh, it’s alright. Focus isn’t going to work. We just need to try something else. How about anger?”
She laughed. “If anger was my trigger, I would have shifted so many times over the years. I had an issue with anger before I ever turned thirteen. Music is what calmed the beast, so to speak. By the time I was sixteen, our band was doing pretty well, and I put everything I had into it. The anger melted away.”
“Before the band, you blew off the handle easily?” Anger always forced the shift. Something else was going on here.
“Yes.”
“Try getting angry. Think about the guy who attacked you the other day in the store. Get your ire up as high as you can. Maybe bec
ause you buried your wolf it wouldn’t come out? Now you know who you are, it should.” I stepped back a few steps just in case she did find a way to shift.
Kat’s nostrils flared, and she pounded a fist in her hand. I could feel the anger coming off of her. Not sure what she used to bring this much anger to the surface, but she was definitely channeling some serious energy. If this didn’t do it, I’d have to ask Joseph if he had any ideas.
“Nothing! Why can’t I do this?” Kat’s arms were flailing all over the place and she started her pacing again.
When she walked near a rock, she kicked it so hard it left a dent in the car it hit. I had pulled her into an alley with a few cars parked in it.
“Kat, it’s going to be fine. We just need to do some research, that’s all.” When I pulled her to my chest, she put her hands up and tried to push away from me.
I kissed the top of her head, and her hands didn’t push so hard. When I kissed her temple, she sighed. Her hands were still on my chest, but they weren’t pushing anymore.
I lightly kissed her cheek, and I felt Kat relax against me. I continued peppering her face with light kisses until I made my way to her lips. It was never my intention to kiss her on the first date.
She sighed into my lips, and my blood pulsed. I took her lips and made them mine. Kat wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer to her. When I realized my hands were moving down her back, I pulled my lips away from her. We both moaned our displeasure.
I put my chin on top of her head and pulled her even firmer against me. I didn’t want to let her go. If I had wondered about a connection before, I knew now beyond a shadow of a doubt, we had some serious chemistry. With my heart pounding, I took a step back and looked down into her brown eyes.
She put her spell on me. The way she looked up into me, the trust I saw in her face, I knew I had to figure out a way to help her get in touch with her wolf. I wanted nothing more than to see her shift and go for a run with her, maybe even hunt. My wolf called to her.
Council of Magic Page 5