The Witch's Brew (The Witch's Brew 1)

by Brenda Cothern

  Mikael was rapidly losing blood from the wounds Cat was inflicting. However, once more he was able to shove her away with his broken arm. Another scream of pain escaped Mikael and he realized this was an encounter that he couldn’t win. Thankfully, the light switch to the room was close to his elbow. Mikael quickly elbowed the switch down and plunged them into darkness.

  Leopards had excellent night vision, so Mikael knew that he had only moments to act if he wished to escape. With barely a thought, he shadow stepped and appeared in his apartment’s dark bathroom.

  Thankfully, Cat hadn’t punctured any of his vital organs, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t losing blood quickly. The pain from his wounds was excruciating and every time he moved his vision whited out. With effort, he made his way to his kitchen. Another scream escaped him when he attempted to open his refrigerator to get to his backup supply of blood.

  Mikael realized there was no way he could gain access with his broken arms. He slid to the floor and barely managed to press his communication device to call George. However, in his pain fogged mind he didn’t operate the device correctly.

  “Pull the fire alarm and come to my apartment.”

  Mikael knew George wouldn’t ask any questions. So, a moment later when the club’s alarm started blaring, Mikael actually breathed a sigh of relief. That relief, however, was short-lived.

  ~~~

  Adam heard Mikael’s voice in his ear. The man sounded in pain and Adam relived Mikael’s stabbing as he pulled down the handle of the fire alarm. He didn’t ask any questions about Mikael’s order before he was running up the stairs to his boss’ office.

  “Where is the fire?” George’s voice asked in Adam’s ear.

  “Mikael’s office,” Adam replied. “I am almost there.”

  The noise of the club patrons escaping the fire barely registered in Adam’s mind because his sole focus was getting to his boss and getting the man out. Once the flames reached the upstairs bar and alcohol, the club would be engulfed quickly. That thought only briefly registered in Adam’s mind when he swiped his new key card though the reader to gain access to the hall.

  The office door wasn’t locked even though Adam had seen Mikael downstairs earlier and for that he was grateful. He burst through the door and didn’t initially see his boss. It didn’t even register in his mind that he didn’t smell any smoke before he ran through Mikael’s apartment door.

  Adam searched for the source of the fire with a quick glance. However, it wasn’t flame that he found. Mikael was on the floor in his kitchen and for a moment, Adam froze at the sight of all the blood which covered the man and floor. His shocked state at seeing his boss in such a condition didn’t last long. Adam’s military training kicked in and he rushed forward to Mikael’s side. His harried movement when he went to kneel caused his knees to slide through a puddle of Mikael’s blood. Adam paid no mind, but instead tried to stop his slide before he slammed into Mikael.

  Mikael’s eyes were wide, but Adam didn’t see the man’s expression because he was too busy taking in the multitude of injuries his boss’ body displayed. Mikael’s dress shirt and slacks were ripped to shreds. Gaping wounds and torn flesh could easily be seen through the gaps of material. Mikael’s arms were bent at such an angle that Adam would have recognized they were broken even if he couldn’t see the bones protruding through the man’s pale skin.

  “What the fuck?”

  Adam didn’t know where to start to help his boss. He wasn’t a doctor or medic. His medical skills were that of a soldier who knew just enough to patch up a bullet or stab wound until he could get the person to a real doctor. So, he reached for his back pocket to retrieve his cell phone. He barely had it in his hand when Mikael said something he couldn’t hear. The sound of his boss’ voice made him momentarily pause and he leaned closer to hear the man. How his boss was even conscious, he had no idea.

  Mikael wasn’t sure why Adam was in front of him instead of George. However, all thoughts of getting to his backup supply of blood in his refrigerator disappeared when Adam leaned closer to him. He had no idea why the man was so close and gave absolutely no thought to the norm discovering his true nature when his fangs pushed down from his human eyeteeth.

  He surged forward and sank his fangs into the muscle along Adam’s collarbone. It wasn’t a vein that would flood him with the flow of warm blood he required to heal. Still, it was blood even if it didn’t pump into his mouth. The initial taste of his security employee’s blood burst on his tongue and Mikael let it surge through his system. The first thing he focused on healing was one of his arms because he knew Adam would soon be pulling away.

  Adam froze when he felt Mikael bite him. He was so shocked at the sudden twinge of sharp pain he felt under his security shirt that he didn’t react. However, a moment later he pulled away and stared at his boss. All thoughts of the blood he felt soaking into his jeans and Mikael’s injuries disappeared when he took in Mikael. What he saw just wasn’t possible.

  Mikael’s lips were wet with blood. His blood. Pink tinged fangs shown in the minimal kitchen light, but before Adam could comprehend what his eyes took in, a hand grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him forward.

  Mikael needed more. More of Adam’s blood that he could feel starting to work its magic to heal him. He instinctively grasped the back of the larger man’s neck and used his barely renewed strength to pull him forward. This time, he sank his fangs into the rapidly pulsating vein that ran along the side of Adam’s neck. The first pull of the rejuvenating taste of Adam started to heal his other broken arm. The pain of his bone sliding back into his skin and knitting back together barely registered in Mikael’s mind while he held Adam in place. Pull after pull of Adam’s fresh blood pulsed through him.

  Adam felt the slight, almost painless, bite Mikael inflicted on his neck. He tried to pull away, but his boss held him securely by the nape of his neck. Visions of every vampire novel he’d ever read flashed through his mind and made his chest tighten with panic. However, his training from the military made him smother the panic and refocus on what was actually happening regardless of how unbelievable this revelation was. All of the books he’d read once more flooded through his mind.

  Vampires rarely killed in those stories. Still, those stories portrayed vampires biting to change a human into a vampire. Once more, Adam had to fight the panic that put enough pressure in his chest that he thought he might be having a heart attack. He smothered the feeling once again and tried to recall every small detail he’d ever read in what he thought was fiction.

  The memories of one book where a vampire ripped the throat out of a character when its hunger was out of control made Adam still. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be changed into a vampire, but he was sure he didn’t want and wouldn’t survive his throat being ripped out.

  Adam froze and stopped trying to pull away from him. Mikael wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t forcing pleasure into his bite because he was way too injured to spare the energy to disguise his feeding with pleasure. But, it didn’t matter why Adam wasn’t pulling away. All that mattered was the taste of Adam on his tongue and feeling his employee’s blood flood through his system.

  His other broken arm was fully healed and he didn’t resist bringing his hand up to run his fingers over the short blonde hair that covered Adam’s head. Mikael could feel the tears in his legs closing, but as hungry as he was to take more from Adam, he didn’t dare.

  The last thing he ever wanted to do was drain someone and turn them unwillingly. He would never inflict what had been done to him on someone else. Mikael wasn’t his Sire and never would be regardless of how hungry he was or how delicious someone tasted.

  It was that reminder of how he’d been turned against his will that made Mikael retract his fangs and lick the wound he’d made on Adam’s neck. Gently, he released his hold on the back of Adam’s neck while at the same time he lowered his hand which had been caressing Adam’s buzz cut.

  Adam felt Mikael move away fr
om his neck at the same time the man’s hands fell from the back of his neck and the top of his head. He attempted to scramble away, but the blood under his knees only caused his movement to make him ass plant on the kitchen floor. His hands slid through Mikael’s blood that still covered the pale gray tiles of his boss’ floor. Adam barely caught his balance so he didn’t land on his back. He knew his eyes were wide, but wasn’t sure if it was related to his sudden fear of vampires or the fact that they actually existed.

  Mikael made no sudden movements when Adam fell back to get away from him. He rested his hands in his lap and stared at his newest employee. Adam’s eyes were wide, but Mikael couldn’t tell if what he viewed was fear of him or not. Regardless, he was already planning to have Lawrence remove the memories of what he just done in order to heal.

  Adam continued to watch his boss. Mikael wasn’t doing anything, but sitting there leaning against the cabinets next to his refrigerator. He wasn’t sure what he expected his boss to do next, but that didn’t stop him from looking the man, no vampire, over.

  All of Mikael’s wounds that he’s originally saw were healed. The shreds of flesh he’d seen through the tears of Mikael’s expensive clothes were gone. It was amazing in its strangeness since Adam would never had known Mikael had been so wounded if he had not seen the injuries with his own two eyes.

  “There was never a fire,” Adam said and wasn’t sure where the words came from. They sure as hell weren’t the most important he could have uttered.

  Mikael wasn’t sure what he expected Adam to say, but it sure as hell wasn’t something as mundane as questioning his order to pull the fire alarm. So, before he replied, he studied his newest employee.

  Adam braced himself up by his arms and his knees were partially spread. He sat in all the blood that Mikael had spilled onto his kitchen floor. The man appeared oblivious to the bright red that his hands rested in and that soaked into his jeans. Mikael wasn’t sure what to make of Adam’s current behavior and benign question after what the man had just experienced. So, he decided to see where Adam’s inquiry was leading.

  “No, there wasn’t.”

  Adam just continued to stare at him. Mikael could see the wheels turning in Adam’s emerald green eyes. The longer he met Adam’s gaze, the more he was sure the man wasn’t in shock. No, he was processing everything that had happened since he had burst into Mikael’s apartment.

  “I wasn’t who you intended to call,” Adam said which surety.

  “No,” Mikael confirmed while continuing to scrutinize his employee. “You weren’t.”

  Adam discovering his world was never Mikael’s intention. His discovering that there were more than norms, by him needing blood to heal, definitely wasn’t. Chris and Rita weren’t even brought into their world until Mikael trusted them enough to be part of the secretive part of his family. Those two norms had been with him for years before that happened. Adam had only been with him for a couple of months which was exactly why he planned on contacting Lawrence as soon as this disaster passed.

  Adam’s mind whirled. If Mikael had intended to call someone else to his aid, that only left a small pool of people. People who wore the communication devices which only included the security team and Randy, the bar manager. The thought that he’d been working alongside vampires, a coven was what the books called them, right? made his pulse spike again. It wasn’t the feeling of panic he had pushed down before, but something else. What, he wasn’t sure.

  Mikael not only heard Adam’s heart rate increase, but could see the veins along his neck throb. He needed more blood to get back to full health, but wasn’t tempted to taste Adam again. Well, that was a lie. He wanted to taste his security employee again, but it had nothing to do with needing the nutrition that would make him feel whole.

  “Who else is like you?” Adam found himself asking even though he was sure the entire security team were vampires like his boss.

  Mikael was saved from answering when George and Randy entered his apartment. Both men were clearly in a panic and seeing Adam seated in a pool of Mikael’s blood did nothing to calm them down.

  Adam tensed when George and Randy entered the apartment and came to a screeching stop in the kitchen. Both of his fellow coworkers’ eyes were wide and Adam was sure their expressions had nothing to do with all the blood that covered him, Mikael, and the floor.

  “So, you’re like him,” Adam said with surety when he looked at his coworkers and didn’t miss George and Randy glancing at Mikael.

  Mikael gave a slight nod to his employees. It wouldn’t matter what they said to Adam right now since Lawrence would take the norm’s memories of the night away. It was preferable to keep Adam calm by answering his questions before Lawrence arrived.

  “Yes,” Randy answered at the same time George said, “no.”

  Adam looked back and forth between his coworkers and raised a questioning brow. He felt Mikael’s eyes on him, but resisted turning his gaze toward his boss. Perhaps George was like him and just knew about the vampires. Maybe he was a thrall. Wasn’t that what the novels he’d read called the human servants of vampires?

  “Call Lawrence,” Mikael ordered and George retreated to the office.

  Adam had no idea why his boss needed his lawyer. Still, it made his gut scream a warning. After everything he’d experienced tonight, Adam wouldn’t be surprised if the attorney was another vampire. Maybe the bookish man was the vampire who dealt with humans when they found out about their kind. Just that thought made the alarm bells ring louder in Adam’s head and the warning feeling in his gut get worse. Still, Adam remained outwardly calm.

  “What do you need your lawyer for?” Adam shot his gaze to his boss.

  Mikael met Adam’s stare. The realization that Adam had yet to panic over the events of the last hour or even move from where he was seated in a pool of Mikael’s blood made Mikael question whether he needed Lawrence’s intervention at all.

  “He’s on his way.”

  George’s voice broke Mikael out of his dangerous thoughts about how he may not need to erase Adam’s memory in order to protect his family. However, he didn’t miss the sudden tension that seemed to possess the man. Mikael pushed himself off the floor without breaking Adam’s scrutinizing stare.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up.” Mikael offered a hand to help Adam stand and was mildly surprised when the man took it without hesitation.

  Adam allowed Mikael to pull him to his feet. His gut was still warning him of danger, but he didn’t feel threatened when he slipped on the slick, blood covered surface of the kitchen floor and suddenly found himself in Mikael’s arms. No, he didn’t feel fear at being held in the arms of the vampire even though he was still struggling with the revelation that such beings actually existed.

  Mikael wrapped an arm around Adam’s waist to steady the man when he slid through his blood that covered the kitchen floor. Adam gripped him in return, but the norm’s gaze left his eyes and focused on his mouth. Mikael was initially sure the shift in Adam’s attention was because the man expected to see his fangs again. However, when Adam’s tongue sneaked out of his mouth to lick his bottom lip, Mikael was no longer so sure. He’d seen that motion before and it usually preempted a kiss.

  “I’ll get you some towels,” Randy’s voice interrupted Mikael’s contemplation of Adam’s mouth and he released the larger man from his grasp even though he had no desire to do so.

  ***

  Chapter Eight

  Both Mikael and Adam were still mostly covered in blood while they sat on Mikael’s pale green leather couch. Randy sat worriedly in a chair across from them, but they all sat in silence. The bar manager had retrieved several of the pale blue towels that Adam had used on Mikael a few weeks ago. Currently, the bloody terrycloth was dropped on the floor between the three men.

  George had disappeared a while ago and Adam only spared a thought to where the man, the vampire? Or something else? went after he left. Currently, his thoughts were consumed with why his
boss felt the need to bring his attorney to the club. Every reason that crossed Adam’s mind didn’t bode well for him.

  “Your secret is safe with me.”

  Mikael met Adam’s serious gaze. He believed the man, but still couldn’t take the chance that the norm wouldn’t expose him and his family. Adam just hadn’t worked for him long enough for Mikael’s comfort and to trust him, regardless of how much he wanted to believe his new employee. Being so attracted to the man, especially after tasting him and Adam saving him from a long and what was sure to be painful recovery, didn’t help.

  However, the safety of his family came first. It always would even though Mikael believed Adam wouldn’t expose them. Maybe one day he could trust Adam enough to bring him into their world, but now was not that day.

  “I am sure it is,” Lawrence agreed from the doorway.

  Adam’s gaze shifted from Mikael’s sapphire eyes to watch the attorney cross the room. The smaller man, shit, vampire Adam was sure, didn’t bat an eye at the blood that still was soaked into their clothes and smeared on their bodies.

  Why would he? Adam thought as the attorney took a seat next to Randy and across from him and Mikael.

  “Let’s talk about our secrets, Adam,” Lawrence said quietly.

  “What’s to talk about? Vampires are real and you all are one,” Adam replied with conviction and was surprisingly not as freaked out by the revelation as much as he thought he should likely be.

  “Are they?” Lawrence asked in a curious tone as if he doubted Adam sanity.

  Adam felt a pressure in his head. It was almost like the beginning of a headache and he was acutely aware that he shouldn’t be experiencing a headache all the sudden. The lawyer vampire was doing something to him. What, he didn’t know, but it was causing his head to hurt.