Venom & Vampires: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection

by Casey Lane

  The man looked at Cade and then over at me. “Your girlfriend baking you a cake or something?”

  “Something like that,” Cade said.

  The man stared at Cade. Then he turned back to me. A smile lit up his face.

  “Hi. I’m Mason. It’s nice to meet you.”

  I smiled back tentatively, unsure how to react, but he did seem friendly enough. “Hi. I’m…”

  Cade interrupted me. “It’s time for us to go.”

  “Wait,” Mason stepped forward and grabbed Cade’s arm.

  “Let me go,” Cade growled.

  “We need to talk.”

  “No,” Cade said. “We don’t.”

  I looked between them. Their gazes were locked. Neither moved. Something huge had happened between them. It had to be about a girl. Who was she?

  “Um. I think we should go,” I said because it felt like they were about to get into a physical fight.

  Mason turned to me first, a smile back on his face, and I could swear it was genuinely friendly. “It was nice to meet you.”

  I nodded and brushed past him, trying to push Cade toward the door. A spark of electricity shot up my arm. I frowned. Was I attracted to Mason too? That was odd. I touched Cade, feeling another current up my arm. I ignored it, feeling confused, and pushed him back the way we’d come in.

  “Excuse me,” Mason said to me.

  I stopped and turned automatically. Mason was frowning at me and he looked like he wanted to say something. I waited. I was curious.

  “It’s time to go, Sera,” Cade grabbed my wrist this time, electricity and heat flowing through me, causing my stomach to ricochet into summersaults.

  Cade pulled me out the door. I let him, but I felt like there was so much left unsaid. What had Mason been about to say to me? Other than that, I wondered what had happened between the two men. From what I’d witnessed, I doubted Cade would tell me.

  Cade walked around to the front of the cabin pulling me with him. He let me go when we reached the car, but then he walked past it over to the other side of the house. Before I could go after him, Cade was already walking back toward me.

  “Jasmine,” he said holding up a branch in answer to the question I hadn’t had a chance to ask yet.

  Then he walked past me and got into the car. I followed him. I glanced back at the house. I swore I saw Mason watching us from the window.

  I climbed into the car. Cade handed me the jasmine. I took it, reaching down to put it in the bag with the rest of the items.

  “We need to do the spell. Now,” Cade said.

  My eyes snapped up to his. “Now? But I think Mason’s watching us from the window.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We’re pretty safe here and once you make that Witch’s Bottle, you’ll be even safer.”

  I glanced back toward the house. Did he think we were safer because Mason was right there in the house? Surely a vampire would just kill him too.

  “There’s not much time before dark,” Cade reminded me.

  “Can’t we just drive down the road a little?” Performing a spell in front of Cade was going to be hard enough. I didn’t want to look crazy in front of someone else too.

  “No. We’re better off right here,” Cade followed my gaze. “He can’t see what you’re doing from there. Don’t worry.”

  “But what if…” I had a thousand worries. I didn’t know what the magic would look like when it happened. What if Mason saw something unusual?

  “Who cares what he thinks. Just do it. It’s why we came here. We’re running out of time. There’s no point in debating. Do it.”

  Cade was right. I nodded. I opened the piece of paper my grandmother had given me and looked over the spell. Cade watched. That made me nervous, but I didn’t say anything. This spell was supposed to protect him too, after all.

  I laid all of the items out on the dashboard. I double and triple checked all of them. I was ready to make the Witch’s Bottle. I tried to ignore everything else: Cade, Mason, and the vampire that was probably lurking in the woods around us. I had to focus. We needed this to work.

  I filled the jar with bottled water. I wrote our names on the small sheet of paper. Then I dropped all of the items that we had collected into the jar one at a time. I rechecked the list to make sure the ingredients were all there. They were. I shook the jar slightly, mixing them. I waited for a sizzle, a pop, or something magical. Nothing happened. It just looked like a bunch of stuff in a jar getting soaked in water. I tried not to feel discouraged. There was still more of the spell to do. I really hoped that once it was done, I’d feel like it had worked. Would the only test of the spell be when the vampire found us and tried to kill us? How exactly was it supposed to protect us? That was the one thing the spell didn’t specify. It was a detail I wished I knew so that I could test it before we relied on it to keep us safe.

  Onto the next step: I lit the white candle with a lighter. I looked at Cade. This was it. I’d officially be a witch with this next part. He nodded at me to continue. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then I bent the candle to drip the hot wax over the seal of the entire jar.

  I said the incantation. “Protect us with light. Protect us with love. Protect us from harm. Night and day. This shield shall keep the dark away.”

  The memory of my grandmother saying a similar incantation over me the night my mother died crossed my mind. I pushed it away. I had to finish the spell. All that was left was to perform the act of love. I frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” Cade asked.

  I hesitated, but he’d already seen the spell. He had to have read it. I wished it wasn’t so embarrassing to say.

  I just said it. “It’s supposed to be sealed with an act of love.”

  Cade’s face froze. “What?”

  Maybe he hadn’t read that part. Our eyes met. I had to look away.

  “My Grandmother gives the example of a kiss here,” I pointed to the bottom of the spell and felt my cheeks start to burn in embarrassment. I could feel him still watching me. “But she doesn’t specify if I have to kiss someone or if I can just blow a kiss or like hug someone or...”

  Cade cleared his throat and even still his voice sounded suddenly gravely. “You want me to kiss you? That’s the final part of the spell to keep you safe?”

  “Yes,” I laughed nervously, without meaning to. “Well, maybe we can just get by with blowing a kiss. Maybe it doesn’t have to…”

  I didn’t get a chance to make more excuses as Cade’s lips met mine in a quick peck. I gasped and my eyes flew to Cade’s. As soon as our lips touched, there was an explosion in my body. His green eyes held mine for a brief moment. He looked surprised. I automatically leaned toward him. His gaze flew to my mouth and then my eyes closed as Cade’s mouth crushed down upon mine and he pulled me into a tight embrace. My lips molded to his and we melted into each other. I was on fire, but I couldn’t get enough. I pulled Cade closer even though the car seating made it a little awkward. It didn’t matter I wanted more. I wound my hands in his hair as I deepened the kiss.

  All of my thoughts ceased. He shuddered against me as he kissed me hungrily. I met his kisses, feeling the electricity I’d felt only briefly before, pulsing throughout my body. A growling moan escaped Cade’s mouth and it matched my own. He kissed me harder and I felt his teeth scrape my lips. Cade immediately pulled away.

  There was a rush of cold air between us. He scooted back into the driver’s seat and turned his face from me, still breathing heavily. My cheeks burned red and I looked down at my feet. I had to catch my breath too. Electrical currents were still running throughout my entire body. Was this because I was a witch? Or was it because Cade was kissing me?

  He was still turned way. I looked back down at my toes. Awkward. I saw the forgotten Witch’s Bottle on the floor of the car next to my foot. I picked it up. Had it worked? That had been a phenomenal kiss, definitely worthy of a magic spell. Too bad the Witch’s Bottle still just looked like a jar with a bunch
of wet items inside. I looked at Cade, but he continued to stare out the window.

  I had to say something. “Okay. I think that was enough to seal the Witch's Bottle.”

  Chapter Six

  We had less than an hour until dark. I paced around the cabin’s living room looking for a place to hide the Witch’s Bottle. If the vampire did make it into the house, we didn’t want him to break it. More likely, I didn’t want to knock it over by accident and shatter it as I ran screaming from the vampire.

  I could hear the sounds of the shower coming from the bathroom. Cade was probably lathering soap all over his chiseled body right about now. I could have been with him if we had continued what had almost been started in the car. I could almost picture it, the soap cascading down his broad chest and…

  Thank goodness Cade had ended that kiss when he did even though my body was still reeling from the explosion of chemistry between us. That had definitely been more than enough of a show of love to seal the Witch’s Bottle. It had passed way beyond a kiss and into utter raging lust.

  The problem now was that things were really awkward. The ride home had been both silent and tense. The five minutes it took us to get back to Cade’s cabin had felt endless. It wasn’t just the threat of a vampire lurking beyond the tree line. That kiss had changed things between us. There was definitely something there, a spark. Heck, it was more than a spark – a raging fire. I was pretty sure Cade felt it too except that he was suddenly stonewalling me.

  I frowned. Well, unless I was wrong and he didn’t feel anything. He’d practically shut himself in the bathroom as soon as we’d walked into the cabin. There was no reason for a sudden need to shower other than that he’d wanted to get away from me. Logistically speaking, who decides to take a shower when there’s a vampire outside waiting to kill you?

  Maybe I should ignore the kiss too. Cade was so beyond the kind of guy I knew I should hook up with and besides, I was not a hook up kind of girl. I wanted the real deal. Edison could be the real deal if he’d ever really notice me as more than just a coworker. Edison had a good job, although so did Cade. Still, Edison lived in Los Angeles. Cade lived in San Diego. Everyone knew that long distance relationships rarely worked and my career was in Los Angeles. Plus, with Cade, a real happily ever after would probably never happen. He had somehow wrapped himself up with my grandmother and her coven and he seemed totally fine with that and the fact that vampires and witches even existed. If I survived all of this, I wanted nothing to do with the supernatural ever again.

  I mentally shook myself. I obviously needed the break from Cade to regroup too. I’m here hiding from a vampire, I reminded myself. How could I be so wrapped up in lust when I was in mortal danger?

  I looked at the Witch’s Bottle in my hands. Cade seemed to assume it was going to work, but I was still really worried. I’d done every part of the spell, but despite the electrifying intensity of the kiss that had helped seal it, I wasn’t sure that I’d actually performed magic.

  I looked into its depths, but felt nothing. I hoped the spell had worked. If it even gave us a small amount of protection, it would be worth it. I just had to find a place to put it. There was a hall closet next to the front door, but that seemed obvious. Then again, why would a vampire look for the Witch’s Bottle? Wouldn’t he be too busy trying to kill Cade and me?

  The shower stopped. My stomach twisted up in knots. I opened the closet and placed the Witch’s Bottle in the back corner behind some old hunting boots. I shut the door and ran to sit on the couch. I looked around, but there were no magazines or books to read. The newspaper.

  I sprinted to the kitchen and found it on the table. I fled back to the living room and sat down on the couch. I stared at the top headline of the paper, but I could not manage to read it. The bathroom door opened. Then my mind went completely blank as Cade stepped out of the bathroom only wearing a towel. Water dripped down from his hair and slowly onto his chest where it wound down his torso to the towel that clung to his hips. I gulped. Was he trying to torture me?

  My eyes quickly snapped upwards from the towel to Cade’s green eyes. “Um, so…”

  “It’s almost dusk,” Cade said.

  I looked behind me and out the windows. He was right. Fear replaced lust immediately.

  “You should start carving some stakes. We need to get ready,” Cade said. “There should be a sharp enough knife in the kitchen.”

  I nodded, but felt confused. I thought Cade believed in the Witch’s Bottle. What had made him unsure all of a sudden? I met his eyes again.

  He stared back at me. “Start getting ready. You can do it.”

  I nodded. He looked at me for one last second and then he walked into the bedroom. I started breathing again. I ran for the kitchen, putting away the image of Cade in a towel into the back of my brain for later analysis. Right now there wasn’t enough time.

  Fifteen minutes later I’d managed to sort of carve two stakes. I glanced toward the bedroom door, but it was still shut. Did Cade have some sort metrosexual skin care routine that took longer than mine? I started on another stake. I planned to make some holy water after this and open up the soup cans. The more supplies we had at the ready, the better. I was still hoping that the Witch’s Bottle did something, but now I was worried. Cade’s sudden lack of confidence in it had thrown me.

  I looked back at the bedroom door. Seriously, what was he doing? I got up and crept toward it. He was okay, right? I stopped, my hand reaching for the doorknob. He was probably getting dressed.

  “Cade?” I called.

  There was no response.

  “Cade?” I was a little louder.

  I ran back to the couch. I popped open a can of soup and grabbed a stake. I knew I looked ridiculous, but there was something wrong. I crept toward the bedroom door. There was still no sound from behind it.

  “Cade?” I called again.

  No answer. I put my hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath. This was it. I flung open the door and threw the contents of the can of soup along with it. Soup went everywhere…except on a vampire. There was nobody in the room, not even Cade.

  I scanned the room again. What was going on? I looked over at the two windows in the room, but both were closed. I moved toward the closet, dropping the empty soup can and clutching the stake in my other hand. I flung open the closet door. It was just Cade’s clothes, but no Cade. I turned around. I looked under the bed, but there were only dust bunnies...and the white towel Cade had worn a few moments ago. What was going on?

  I looked back out the windows, but there was nobody in the yard. I walked back into the living room. No Cade. I checked the bathroom even though there was no way I could have missed him walking out of the bedroom. He wasn’t there either. I ran into the kitchen. No Cade. I checked the closets. He wasn’t there either. I checked the bedroom one more time. I sat on the bed. I was careful to not sit where the soup was already staining the comforter, not that it mattered. I had to face facts. Cade had left me to die.

  I don’t know how long I sat there, but the sun had started to sink by the time I stood up. I didn’t even bother to clean up the soup. Cade deserved to have the whole house smell of rotten soup when he returned to the cabin. I tried not to gag as the thought that the smell of my rotting corpse might be mingled with it.

  I walked back into the living room and tried to think. The pain in my chest was making it hard to think logically. How could he have just left me? I had totally misunderstood everything. Maybe that kiss was a goodbye. Maybe he hoped the Witch’s Bottle worked so that he wouldn’t be guilty of letting down my grandmother, but he didn’t trust it enough to save his own life. He was a coward. He was…probably going to live a long life.

  I, on the other hand, was going to die. I sat down on the couch and stared at the coffee table in front of me. I had three stakes, two cans of soup that said they had garlic in them, and four bottles of water I still had to figure out how to bless. I also had the Witch’s Bottle, but I had my doub
ts about it now.

  Shadows grew across the living room. There was no time. I picked up the knife and carved another stake, my mind numb as I simply repeated the same strokes until it was done. Then I said a simple prayer that I’d learned in Sunday school over each of the bottles of water, hoping that was enough to make them holy water. Lastly, I cracked open each of the soup cans. I left some supplies on the living room coffee table and took the rest into the kitchen. I had no idea what was going to happen when the vampire showed up and a few supplies in two rooms seemed like a logical choice. Maybe if I couldn’t get to one set, I could get to the other.

  I went to sit down at the windows looking out over the front lawn. I had a stake in my hand as well as an unscrewed bottle of water on the floor next to me. I stared out at the woods. Dusk had fallen.

  That’s when I noticed it. Cade’s car. It was still there. Horror gripped me. Had he not even made it to the car? I searched the lawn, looking for him. Was he lying out there, injured? I didn’t see anything but grass. Had he been dragged into the forest? I didn’t notice a trail of blood. I gripped the windowsill. I was tempted to run outside after him.

  That wasn’t smart. The vampire wanted me, not Cade. Maybe he would let him go or maybe he’d be a bargaining chip. Then again, Cade might still be alive. Maybe he’d left on foot, although I couldn’t even make myself believe that. The logical reason Cade hadn’t driven away in his car was that he’d never had the chance to get to it. My heart constricted and tears formed in my eyes. Even if he had left me to die, I didn’t wish the same fate on him.

  The Witch’s Bottle. I ran to it and pulled it out from behind the boots in the closet. It was still there, looking as boring as ever. Maybe it hadn’t worked for Cade or maybe he was too far away from it when he got attacked. I returned it to its hiding place and shut the closet door.

  I walked back to the windows and sat watching the moonrise. It was a full moon tonight. I wasn’t sure if that boded well or not. All too soon it was dark, although the moon illuminated the yard well enough to see some details.