Chapter Seven
I knew in that moment I could never tire of seeing her smile. That was when my brilliant plan came to me.
“We can get married!” I thought it was a fantastic idea. The look Claudia gave me suggested she did not agree. “I’m getting very tired of having you look at me as if I’m dimwitted,” I grumbled.
Excerpt from Roman Draksel’s blog
Aiden’s fitful sleep left him even more miserable the next day. The witch hadn’t come back to see him the day before. Ivy had brought him food and asked him if he was okay. It was stupid question after her sister had tried to drown him. He’d ignored her question and told her to take the food with her. She’d insisted on bringing it into his cell, so he’d tossed the entire tray against the wall at the far end of the room. Ivy had accused him of acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum, and she’d been right. He’d known she was right immediately, and the realization had only made him act even more childish by ignoring her.
He’d paced the small confines of his cell for a while but he was still weak and hungry. So, he’d laid down on the uncomfortable cot, feeling like an idiot for throwing away food when he was hungry. Then he’d tried to figure out why he hadn’t drained the witch when he’d had his hands on her. He knew why he hadn’t tried to drain Ivy. She was too innocent, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Finally, he laid there and tried to figure out why he was so aroused when Tempest was in the room. Falling asleep to that thought certainly affected his dreams—that and his hunger. Among his favorite dreams were the one where she was delivering a pizza to him naked and the one where he was eating chocolate cake while she gave him a blow job. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to eat chocolate cake without that image playing through his mind again.
After waking up hard, hungry, and moody a few times he decided to give up on sleep. Without windows, he had no idea what time it was. Unfortunately, other than brushing his teeth there wasn’t a whole hell lot to do. He was so bored when the door at the top of the stairs opened, he practically lunged at the bars of the cell to get closer to any activity.
Ivy smiled when she got to the bottom of the stairs. “Good morning.” She was carrying a tray with his breakfast on it.
“I’ll at least agree it’s probably morning,” he grumbled.
She balanced the tray in one hand and unlocked the cell with the other. “A little help might be nice,” she pointed out cheerfully. “Hopefully, you won’t throw this one against the wall. I don’t have time to clean up after you today.”
He took the tray from her and set it on his cot. “I’d better help you or you might use some voodoo stuff on me.” He sat down and started eating.
She came into the cell and sat beside him on the cot. “Voodoo?” There was a great deal of amusement in her voice.
“Whatever you call it,” he replied with a mouthful of food. His tray had a ham, mushroom and cheese omelet, fried red potatoes, a blueberry muffin, and a slice of cantaloupe. It was heaven, and he didn’t care about manners. He was starving.
“I’m not sure one would call my talents voodoo. I’m an empath with some minor telepathic abilities. While I pick up on the emotions of others really easily, I can only read people’s thoughts if they project them. Tempest practiced it with me when we were growing up. She would think of something and try to send the thought to me. Now, she can do it without too much effort. It comes in handy when she wants to tell me something she doesn’t want anyone else to hear. When we were kids, we used it to get our stories straight when we were in trouble. Sadly, it only works when we’re close to each other and our parents quickly learned to separate us right away.”
“You talk to each other with your minds?” he asked. It seemed hard to believe, but after the last couple of days it was much easier to accept.
“Sort of. Tempest has no telepathic abilities. She’s not very empathic either. It’s funny since she’s the most powerful woman in our family, but she doesn’t possess the only two abilities I have.”
Aiden stopped eating. There was so much to learn from Ivy. There were women with psychic abilities. Those were the women his family could mate with. Ivy and Tempest’s abilities were far beyond anything he’d ever seen.
Witches, he thought.
“We are not witches!” Ivy argued.
Aiden looked shocked and pissed. “I thought you couldn’t read minds.”
“Except when the person projects their thoughts,” she explained patiently. “You were without a doubt projecting that thought. Actually, you project most of your thoughts.”
He shrugged, not really sure what he did to project his thoughts but aware he needed to watch what he was thinking around her.
“What about your men? Is Tempest more powerful than them as well?” he asked, a little embarrassed at how sexist he sounded. “I didn’t mean it to come out sounding like men are always stronger than women. I mean usually they are, but I suppose your sister proves that’s not always true.” Now, he was babbling like an idiot.
Ivy laughed and shook her head. “It might be best if you stopped now before I have to get Tempest down here to surgically remove your foot from your mouth. We don’t have male children. Obviously, we need men to father our children, but they don’t usually have any special abilities.”
He chuckled at the irony.
“Why is that so funny?” she asked.
“My family only produces male children,” he explained. “I wonder what would happen if one of my cousins took one of your family members as a mate. Maybe I should fix you up with one of them. Of course, I can only think of a couple who aren’t total douche bags.”
Ivy looked uncomfortable. “Does Tempest know about this male offspring thing? And do you really call the women in your family mates? Seriously. That is kind of creepy.”
“Why would Tempest know we only have sons?” he asked.
She shrugged and avoided his gaze.
He decided to let it go. “Yes, we use the term mate to describe the women in our family. When I’m around humans, I remember to say wife, but you aren’t human so I figured it was okay. Are you ready to tell me what you are?”
She looked down at her watch and quickly stood. “I have to go. I’m late for an appointment.”
“Wait!” he called out as she moved to his cell door. “Why am I here, Ivy? I’ve been in this cage long enough. What do you want and when are you going to let me go?”
She hesitated and shook her head. “It really isn’t my place to tell you, Aiden. Tempest will be down here to talk to you soon. She probably would have told you yesterday, but she was a little upset with you.”
“She mentioned wanting a daughter with me, but that doesn’t make any sense. The witch hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you. I promise she’ll explain today. Things have been very hectic around here,” Ivy explained. “She’s really not a bad person, but she’s under a lot of stress. Also, you throw her off-balance. I’m sure you’ll like her once you get to know her.”
“I like you, Ivy, but your sister is a bitch.”
She gave him a knowing smile. “I’m an empath, so I’m well aware of how you feel about my sister.”
“Enlighten me,” he told her as he waved his fork in the air.
She locked the door to the cell first and stepped back, bringing him to the realization that he wasn’t going to like what she said. “You like me, but in a protective sibling like way. As for Tempest, you like her in a very different way.”
“Different how?” he asked cautiously.
“It certainly isn’t platonic,” she replied with a sweet smile. “I think you find powerful women more than a little attractive. You like making her mad. I think you like it a lot. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re already looking forward to arguing with her today.”
He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it and closed it again. Standing, he walked closer to the bars. Finally, he turned away from Ivy and cursed under his breath.
“I didn’t me
an to make you angry,” she assured him, reaching through the bars to put her hand on his arm.
“I’m not angry,” he insisted as he looked over his shoulder at her. Realizing how stupid it was to argue about his feelings with someone who’d told him she could read them, he continued. “I’m not angry with you, is what I meant. I am thoroughly pissed at your sister,” he admitted as he turned toward her. “Well, mostly I’m mad at myself for wanting to pick a fight with your sister so much.”
“Would it make you feel better if I told you I think Tempest likes you, too?”
She was teasing him. He could tell by the way she was smiling.
He shrugged but wouldn’t meet her eyes. If he was honest, it did make him feel better. “Who taught you and your sister to do all this psychic stuff?” he asked as he sat and started to pick at his breakfast again.
“No one taught us. We were born this way. My mother says it’s better if you learn to use your abilities on your own because everyone’s power is different.”
“So it’s genetic?” Just like us, he added silently. “Your entire family is born this way?”
She nodded. “Some are more powerful, like Tempest, and some are weaker than me. It’s strange we share DNA but are still so different.”
“I don’t understand. We aren’t related.” His eyes widened. He suddenly remembered Tempest telling him they shared genetic anomalies when he’d first spoken to her. His head injury was likely the reason he’d forgotten their conversation until now. “You’re related to Claudia. Is she your mother?” He sure hoped that wasn’t the case because it would be more than a little disturbing to admit he’d been flirting with a close relative. He didn’t even want to think about admitting to the dreams he’d had about Tempest if they were closely related.
“The only Claudia in our family history died more than three hundred years ago,” Ivy told him.
“So she’s dead?” He cringed when he realized how relieved he sounded.
Ivy’s obvious confusion reinforced what he already suspected. These women wouldn’t live forever. It also made him realize Tempest hadn’t shared all her findings about him with Ivy.
“Sorry, that was a dumb question,” he quickly added.
“It’s okay. Tell me about your Claudia,” she prompted. “I may have another cousin I’ve never met.”
He shrugged. “I really don’t know anything about her.” It was the truth—for the most part. “Tell me about your ancestor. Maybe I can figure out how we’re related.”
Suspicion clouded her eyes. “You’re fishing for information and trying hard to fill your mind with mundane thoughts, so I won’t accidentally pick up on anything,” she accused.
“Why should I share all my secrets with you and your sister when all you do is hide things from me?” he asked.
“Fair enough,” she agreed with a nod. “Claudia is the first woman listed on the family tree. According to the family journals she was a healer. Her daughter, Romana, is the one who started the journal. Claudia’s daughter described her as a loving woman with a bit of a temper. She was involved with a wealthy man who sent her away after he got her pregnant. Romana’s journal says Claudia never spoke ill of the man, but she insisted it would be dangerous to go back to him. I think Romana was speculating about what had happened.”
“She named her daughter after him,” Aiden mused.
“After who?” Ivy asked. Based on her widened eyes, he must have projected his thoughts again. “I never heard his name. It’s not in the journals. Claudia kept the information to herself. She insisted it was safer. So, we are related?”
Aiden nodded. “It would seem so, but I don’t know how that’s possible. It’s a pretty distant relationship.”
She looked at her watch again. “I really do have to go. I’m late as it is. Is there anything that would make you more comfortable in here? This must be terrible for you, but I can get you anything you’d like.”
“Television, books, or magazines would be nice. Anything to keep me from being bored.”
“How about video games?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t really like them. I would like a sketchbook and some pencils for drawing.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” she assured him before heading up the stairs.
He let out a frustrated sigh as he realized he’s just let his chance to escape slip through his fingers. She’d admitted she wasn’t as powerful as her sister. She had told him what she could do. He could have drained her energy and been on his way. With a sigh, he admitted he’d been right before. He’d feel too guilty doing something like that to Ivy.
She laughed from the top of the stairs. “If it makes you feel any better, you project your thoughts so well, I would have known what you were planning before you tried anything.”
“Some predator I am,” he grumbled.
Safe Hex With a Vampire Page 7