The little goat bounced around at my feet and butted my shin with his little head. I reached down to scratch him behind his nubby little horns as I yelled, “Gram those smell delicious. Have you frosted them yet?”
I scooped the little goat into my arms and headed toward the kitchen. He gave a little “eep” noise of content as he snuggled against me.
“Doing that right now, Wynnie. I knew you were coming so I made your favorite.” She always knew when I decided to drop by.
I smiled as she stood with her back to me hovering over the huge island in the middle of the fully remodeled old kitchen. It had all the modern updates, but it was done in a style complementing the old Victorian architecture with a fancy paneled refrigerator hiding among the cupboards and new appliances reflecting the old era. It even contained an authentic punched tin pie cabinet which came with the house when my mom and dad purchased it decades ago.
Most of the updates happened when I was a teenager though the appliances were brand new. When I was little we used authentically old appliances which sometimes didn’t work and the refrigerator had been an awful brown color. The damn thing made more noise than a car with no muffler and it was the first thing replaced.
The basement got updated as well. Thankfully it started life as a cement poured basement and not a traditional dirt floor Michigan cellar. That not-so-little detail saved thousands on upgrades and made it so much easier to use. Now Grams had a nice pantry for her canned goods and an extra fridge and freezer for when she made holiday goodies. The woman loved to cook and bake, especially during the holidays…any holiday. Homemade treats were her gifts of choice and no one ever complained because Grams was just that good.
Every witch possessed their own unique talents. My mom mastered potion and spell casting. My best friend, Mel, leaned more toward tech witch and budding sorceress. My powers lay in the realms of knowledge. Gram…I believed she was a kitchen witch. Sure the woman was powerful as all get out. She could dematerialize and walk through walls and shoot witch balls from her hands, but her true and best talents lay in the kitchen where she created food that truly made people happy. Hers was a unique and very useful talent.
I kissed her cheek as I walked around her to lean against the island.
“Who’s this little guy? He’s got to be the smallest goat I’ve ever seen.” I wondered what Gram had gotten so upset about this time; she hadn’t had a goat in a long time.
Good thing since her goat farm outside of town was pretty full. But the witches running it were spectacular. They loved all the goats and took good care of them, using their milk to make spa quality goat’s milk soaps, along with other bath and body products. They also made the most delicious gourmet goat cheeses imaginable. The farm became quite popular and sold products to many local stores and restaurants as well as at their own online store. Granny’s goat farm (as I jokingly called it) helped support the local witch community. A goddess-send in this rough economic climate.
It was probably an odd thing having a Gram who had a goat every time she got upset but when you’re a witch some weird things just become the norm.
“He’s a baby pygmy goat. I have not figured out what to name him yet.”
“He’s so small. Are you taking him to the farm?”
“No, I think I’m going to keep him here. He’s very friendly. Even Snowball and Mischief like him. I found them all curled together taking a nap earlier.” She chuckled as she pulled another tray of goodies from the oven and set them over a hot pad on the counter.
“Wow those two cats never like any of the newbies, especially not the goats.”
“I know. I think it’s a sign I should keep him here.”
I gave little goatie a last little rub on his head then put him down so I could grab a cookie. “He’s sure the cutest goat I’ve ever seen.” I watched him scamper off before asking the question I always dreaded asking. “So how’s Mom today?”
“I don’t know. It’s odd. She’s been agitated. Pacing and muttering to herself. She’s like that a lot as of late.” Gram seemed a little worried.
“Do you think something is wrong?”
“With your mother? I don’t know, but I feel something in the air… it feels…heavy. Off. I don’t know how else to describe it.” Tiny worry lines wrinkled around her mouth and eyes as she spoke.
As old as Gram was she didn’t have many wrinkles, which by the way, I had no idea how old she really was. Witches aged differently than humans. Gram looked no older than fifty but must be much older since my mom would have to be close to fifty, she did not look a day over thirty. Mom had me in her twenties, and I’m close to twenty five. I guess there were some very good things about my witch lineage, we aged very gracefully…and super slowly and kept our youthful glow.
“You’re not the only ones feeling the unease Grams, but no one seems to know what it is,” I said as I nibbled on a freshly frosted ginger cookie.
“Have you had many calls to work on?” she asked quietly.
She was fishing. I knew she read the paper everyday—even though most of it was online now. The Flint Journal reduced printing to only three times a week. She wanted to know about the vampire attacks. Of course, the paper hadn’t used the word “vampire,” P.I.T kept that under wraps. However, Gram was like most Others. Very intuitive. She knew when something was supernatural in origin even if the humans had no clue.
“I mainly get called to the big stuff. I’ve been working on the murders, I’m sure you’ve read about them in The Flint Journal.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Of course. Another filthy vampire on a rampage killing innocent young women.” She continued frosting the cooled batch of cookies.
“Gram…” My attempt at stopping the tirade about to break out if we didn’t change the subject…soon.
“I know, I know, save the bleeding heart liberal vampire speech, Anwyn. I’ve seen what those leeches can do firsthand. Long before what happened to your dad, I’ve seen their nastiness. The mess with the Hysteria and your father…sealed my opinion of them. I know you think it’s a new millennium and things have changed, but as long as vampires need human blood to survive they will kill innocents to slake their thirst.”
She spoke furiously, but kept right on drizzling white frosting in thin little lines across the cookies as if nothing was wrong. Her culinary skills were truly magickal.
“Gram we’ve all changed. Not too many witches hide in the woods huddled over cauldrons anymore. Weres and shifters no longer keep their furry forms secret. Vampires don’t need to kill in the dark when they have willing donors lined up to fulfill their needs. It is a new millennium, a new generation. Times are different.”
She turned and frowned at me. “Times may be different but people and Others are not. We are what we are, Wyn. Sooner or later you’ll learn.”
I grumbled, grabbed another cookie and hugged Gram to calm her down. Then I turned away and walked down the hall to say hello to my mother.
A cat like hiss met me as I walked into her room. She turned to me. “Bloodsucking bitch, you’ve been near her. That vampire whore! Traitorous daughter, do you screw them too? Do you fuck those fanged freaks?” she spat at me.
I had never seen her so enraged. Her eyes were wild and her nostrils flared. She lunged at me in attack mode. My own mother wanted to hurt me? Why? I flung the closet door open putting it between the two of us. I huddled behind it, wedged up against the wall.
“The prophecy was mine. Written for your father and me. We were meant to fulfill it. But that fanged bitch ruined everything,” she continued on, babbling under her breath.
I had no idea what she was talking about. I huddled halfway behind the door figuring out an escape that wouldn’t get either one of us hurt.
She stopped babbling and reached her nails out to me again. “I won’t lose another to one of those leaches. Stay away from them! All of them.”
Her nails raked across my shoulder then I caught sight of her hand raised and ready for
another slash. Gram ran into the room and grabbed my mom’s hand saving me from a clawed up face.
“What did you do to her?” she asked wide-eyed as she held my mother to her, hugging her tightly.
“I didn’t do anything. She was like this as soon as I walked in.” My mother was known for being off, but this was crazy. She spat and hissed at me like a wild animal. My grams held her tight so she couldn’t get to me. I feared my own mother.
“You better leave, hun. I’ll call you later if I figure out what’s wrong with her.” Tears brimmed Gram’s eyes.
I knew it killed her to see my mom like this. As much as I wanted a normal life I was sure Gram wished more than anything her daughter was normal, happy and healthy. I also knew it tormented her no matter how much power she had as a witch nothing seemed to pull my mother out of the darkness she had descended into the night my father died.
I refused to shed tears as I left my childhood home. I drove though Flushing ignoring the subtle beauty which often awed me. I turned onto Coutant and followed it until it turned into Kelly on the other side of Elms. I kept going not seeing my favorite places I usually checked out along the short but scenic drive in the area which used to be farmland. I turned and turned again then pulled into my driveway. I sat in my car for a while, finally letting the tears fall freely.
What was wrong with Mom? She mentioned vampires and a prophecy. I hoped Gram didn’t let her have access to the newspapers or the computer. The last thing Mom needed to know about was a crazy vampire on the loose killing women. It would just add more fuel to her vampire hating fire.
After about ten minutes I dried my tears and decided to go inside. I barely undressed before falling into bed completely exhausted.
Chapter 9
Rod Stewart’s shriveled little body chased me down an endless hallway telling me if I thought he was sexy I should let him know.
I ran as fast as I could but he kept getting closer and closer and just when his awful little skeletal hands grabbed for my breasts…I woke up.
Oh, thank the goddess! It was just a dream.
But why could I still hear Rod Stewart’s awful voice talking about being sexy? Please make it stop!
Then I realized through my sleep clouded haze it must be my cell phone. The damn ring tone had been changed again. And of course, it had to be Malone calling. It was always his ring tone playing some awful annoying song I hated and it usually had something to do with being sexy. Last time it was Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy, before that it had been the Devinyl’s I Touch Myself. Arrg!
I wondered how he got a hold of my phone and changed the ring tones without me knowing. Hmmm.
Damn, Rod Stewart still screeched at me. Had. To. Make. It. Stop. Where was the phone?
Found it on the floor next to the bed.
“Uhhm yes,” I grumbled sleepily.
“Wake up sleeping beauty; we have a situation down at VAMP. I need you here ASAP.”
“What’s going on, another murder?”
“No, two vampires going at it in the middle of the freakin’ street with humans watching the whole damn thing, one is an out of towner, the other lives here. Says he knows you. His name’s Galen,” Malone’s voice had an icy edge to it.
Crap! This was the last thing Galen needed, being hauled in by the cops. And I bet I knew who the other creep was, Devlin. The British ass who’d chatted with Sati at the club the other day. He had it in for Galen. I knew it. Somehow I had to get the blood sucker to keep his fang filled mouth shut.
A spell, I needed a silencing spell—like yesterday.
“Hello, Annie girl, you there?”
“Yeah, sorry. Still waking up. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Don’t do anything stupid. Satinka Tala and her men will keep everything stable and safe for you guys until I get there to question them. Have the Guardians take them inside VAMP and get all the humans out of there. Do not try to question them on your own. Okay?”
Silence.
“Okay, Malone? This is why I was hired.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay. I’ll leave the bloodsuckers for you.” There was an icy edge to his tone again. Malone had issues with vampires, I didn’t know what they were or why, but I knew they were there.
“Good,” I clicked the end button and scurried around my place looking for one of my mom’s spell books. I knew there was a silencing spell in the purple one, if I could find the purple book.
Ah hah! I found it under the potion pot.
After scanning over the spell I grabbed all the ingredients from my shelves, thank Goddess I actually had everything needed, except an image of the person I needed to silence. Crap I didn’t even know his whole name. I think Devlin was his first name, hard to tell with vamps.
Oh, well it would have to do. Spells were more about intent than ingredients anyway.
I cast my circle, lit the candles, drew a primitive image of Devlin and wrote his name across it, cast all the ingredients along with the image in the pot and chanted the spell three times while concentrating on my intent to keep him silent about Galen’s connection to the murders.
Once done, I pulled out the image, drew an X over the mouth and bound it with black ribbon. I sshhed at it then stuck it in a spell bag.
“So be it, and so it is.”
I hoped that would do it as I opened the circle, blew out the candles and scurried to find some pants to put on.
****
The roads were practically empty. I hit 75 south to 69 which took me right to the main downtown exit at Saginaw Street. Usually it took fifteen to twenty minutes to drive. This time of the morning I drove it in less than ten minutes.
Once I hit the bricks on Saginaw Street I slowed down and looked for a place to park. My inept ability to parallel park would not be an issue along the empty curb across the street from VAMP.
Malone waited outside for me.
I arrived in record time, or so I thought, but Malone bitched about how long it took me to get there. Of course, I had taken some extra time casting the spell.
“It took you long enough to get here. And you couldn’t bother with getting properly dressed for an interrogation?”
“What are you talking about?” I looked down at my clothing. Oh my Goddess! I had managed to put on a pair of jeans and some flip flops but I was still wearing my lacy pajama tank top…that was see-through. I hurriedly crossed my arms to cover my boobs which were nipping out in the crisp autumn air.
“You got great tits, Annie, but I don’t think everyone in the club needs to be seeing them. I think I got a hoodie in my car, wait here.”
I stood there shivering in the cool night…morning…whatever air while I waited for Malone to get back. I must have been fifty shades of red at that point, but I was too damn proud to cower in my car while I waited for him. Good thing no one else came over to me. And geez, did Malone have to see my boobs? Probably made his night, he stared at them enough through my clothes, seeing them almost bare was probably an answer to his prayers.
“Here ya go, you need to put those nipples away before you poke an eye out with those things.”
I turned another shade of red and took his sweatshirt and hurriedly slipped it on. It smelled like him. Clean, manly…sexy. Always with his scent. He was such an ass, but he smelled so damn good. The hoodie fell right above my knees and made me feel like a little girl playing dress up, it hung so huge on me. But it was warm and covered my almost naked breasts.
“So you coming or what?” He stood there waiting for me.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, no caffeine in my system so I am not functioning fully,” I mumbled.
“Uh, huh, we’ll have to get you some cause we need you on your game, Annie girl. There are dangerous vampires in there who caused quite a scene tonight. We need to know if their fight has anything to do with the murders.”
“I doubt it, probably just a territorial thing. You said the one guy was from out of town, right?”
“Yeah, he’s one of those pompous English
vampires. They act so damn superior to everyone else.”
“Yeah, probably pissed the local off.”
“Speaking of the local, why’d he ask for you specifically?”
“Uhh, well, all the local Others know I am the Preternatural Liaison, so they know when something goes down I am the one to call to keep things on equal ground between humans and Others.” I fidgeted, why didn’t I want Malone to know about me and Galen? It was no big deal, right?
“Yeah, that’s not the vibe I was getting from him. Sure there’s not more to it? You banging this bloodsucker or something?”
I gasped completely shocked, this was going a little far, even for Malone. “I am not banging anyone. Not that it’s any of your business.” Holy crap on a broomstick, he hit the nail on the head. I was not sleeping with Galen, but Goddess knows I wanted to.
I swear Malone looked relieved. “It’s my business if it interferes with your job or this investigation and I…” he stopped himself, there was something else, another reason he didn’t want me banging Galen. He left it unsaid, which was probably a good thing because I had a feeling I didn’t want to hear it.
We had to cross Saginaw Street to get to the club from where I was parked. A huge area of the brick road was covered with blood.
“I thought you said it was just a fight, it looks like someone was slaughtered out here. The bricks are covered with blood!”
“I don’t know. Bystanders say it was just a fight. From what I seen of the two vamps neither one was hurt bad. Of course they heal so fast it’s hard to tell.”
I walked carefully around the blood not wanting to step in any of it as we continued to the club.
I walked into VAMP and the energy in the room sizzled. So thick it stuck to me like something viscous. The back of my neck tingled with unease. My skin felt like it was coated with something slightly sticky. Vampire pheromones ran rampant and the human cops all looked queasy.
“Malone, get all the human cops out of here. I told you to keep humans out of VAMP.”
“I didn’t know you meant keep the cops out. I thought you just meant civilian humans. We had to have some of our guys in here.” He paused and looked at me. “And what do you mean human cops? All of them are human, aren’t they?”
Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) Page 6