The two men wanted to rip each other apart, and it was all because of me.
I made an executive decision that was probably going to bite me in the ass later.
“Galen, let’s go to VAMP. After this crazy night I could use a drink, and I think you need to relax and recharge.”
“What? You aren’t…” Mike started, his anger building, but I interrupted him.
“You aren’t really going to try and tell me what to do, are you Mike?” I stood there hands on my hips with the best bitch-witch expression I could muster, daring him to challenge me.
He sputtered with disbelief but quickly recovered and matched my bitch-witch with his cop-face. “No, but we’ll talk later.” He then stormed away grumbling.
I knew he was pissed beyond belief thinking I had just chosen Galen over him, but Galen had been through a lot. I needed to talk to him, clear the air before I fell apart.
After leaving the station, Galen and I walked silently down Saginaw Street until we reached VAMP. The club was open and filled with people dressed in all sorts of fun costumes, along with Goth, Steampunk, and Emo attire.
We made our way through the smoke filled room, oblivious to the crowd. We pushed past the dance floor overflowing with bodies and made our way to the stairs. Galen led me up to the apartment. Thankfully, no other vampires were hanging out up there. We had the place to ourselves.
Galen still moved like a predator, but when he turned and looked into my eyes I could see the haunted shadow, the darting gaze of someone who knew what it was to be the hunted prey. It was like he expected Devlin or Roark to pop out of the walls and grab him at any moment. I understood, hell they had been doing just that for weeks. Taunting him, tormenting him, teleporting in and grabbing him even when he thought he was in a safe zone. He probably no longer felt safe anywhere.
I put my arms around him. At first he stood there just letting me hold him like he wasn’t sure what he should do, then he wrapped his arms around me and put everything into it. I gave him all the comfort I could, shoving feelings of safety and love into him to combat the fear. I knew he was safe, at least for now. Until Roark decided to come back and play in this dimension again.
“Thank you, Anwyn. Thank you for allowing me this time with you. I know after what you saw tonight you should not even want to touch me. It was disgusting what I had to do. And you had to watch…” His green eyes filled with tears as he struggled to regain his composure.
“It was hard to watch. It turned my stomach and made me feel ill. I won’t lie to you Galen, but I understand you did what you had to do to get away from him, so you never have to do it again.” I held onto his hands, even as he tried to make me let go.
“Anwyn, there may always be a next time. I am a vampire and a demon. A demon-vampire that loves sex and blood, bloody sex. It is what I am, how I was made. It may not always be like what you witnessed, but I do crave blood and sex together. And I know that is not what you really want. You do not want to be food.” His eyes were still shadowed but the darting gaze of the prey was gone as he strengthened his resolve and let the predator in him find its way out.
“No matter what you think of yourself I know your heart is still pure. You may have shadows on your soul and your past holds things you are ashamed of, but you don’t have to be the bad guy you think yourself to be.” I kissed his knuckles as I looked into his eyes.
He struggled to let me go. “Do not do this now, Anwyn. I will want you and I cannot make love to you tonight, not after what you have seen me do, not after what I have done. I need time, Anwyn. I understand it if you go to your cop. Perhaps he is the better man. He is the man I cannot be. The man I will never be again. I know he will take good care of you and with him you will never become food.”
My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t believe Galen was brushing me off and sending me straight to Mike. He looked like it was killing him to do so. His green eyes were filled with tears and his face contorted as if in pain. His whole body radiated remorse.
“Galen, you don’t…”
“I do,” he interrupted. His eyes searched mine as he took a ragged breath then said, “I need time to get over the events of the past several weeks, months even. I need to be able to trust myself, by myself, before I can trust myself with you.”
“That makes no damn sense, Galen.” I pulled him into my arms and put my head on his chest. I tried to convince him to change his mind; he couldn’t be saying what it sounded like he was saying.
“It makes perfect sense, Anwyn. You are not dense! You know what I mean.” He shook off my embrace and turned his back to me. “Please leave, Anwyn.”
My heart hit the floor and he stomped on it. Not really but it sure felt like.
“Fine.” I stormed from the room refusing to let him know how much he had hurt me. I had offered to let go of all the misery and pain, let go of the things I witnessed, let go of the pain he had caused so I could be with him. But it wasn’t enough for him.
Tears fell before I was halfway down the stairs, so once again I ran out of VAMP with tears in my eyes. This time I ran straight to the P.I.T crew’s building and grabbed my car so I could go home. I didn’t want to deal with any more crap. I just couldn’t take it. It would be just my luck to run into Mike and have him reject me, too.
Wouldn’t that be just what I deserved?
Chapter 41
I was heading home when my cell phone started playing, “Witchy Woman.” It was Mel.
“Satinka wants us to interrogate Devlin. They’re getting nowhere with him. He just keeps babbling like an idiot.”
“What are we supposed to do, interpret the babble?” I asked sarcastically.
“No Wyn, she wants us to use our powers to see if we get any readings from him. Your vision abilities are coming back and I have persuasion spells I can use.”
“Right, of course.” I sniffled.
“You okay, hun? What happened, did Galen hurt you?”
“Not physically,” I mumbled.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Well then, we’ll talk later. Meet me at Satinka’s so we can deal with Devlin first.”
“On my way.”
“See you in a few.”
I hung up first. Mel understood. She always did. It was good to have a bestie who knew me so well.
*****
The Guardian’s prison area turned out to be an old bomb shelter behind Satinka’s mansion. Built with no expense spared, the concrete underground structure was encased in layers of lead, steel, and iron and decorated liberally with traces of silver—ingrained in the concrete. Apparently, the designer wanted to make sure nothing got into that bunker.
Lucky for us it helped make sure nothing could get out—or use devious magick to manipulate anyone into letting them out. Thanks to the iron, steel and silver, most fae, were, and vampire powers would be nil.
But witches could still do their thing.
Yay for us, I thought sarcastically.
Devlin sat at a table in a small room that very much looked like an interrogation room at the precinct. His eyes were glazed as he stared blankly into space.
“We haven’t been able to get a coherent word out of him since we brought him in. He mumbles constantly about Roark, wanting him, needing him to come back.” Troy filled us in while we observed Devlin through the mirror.
“He has seriously flipped the fuck out hasn’t he?” Mel readied her camera.
“Will that work down here with all the silver and stuff?” I asked.
She smiled a wicked grin. “Yup, still works.” She winked at me. “The wonders of modern technology enhanced with magick. Got to love it.”
We walked into the interrogation room. Devlin’s eyes instantly focused on me. He didn’t seem out of it anymore. In fact, he looked pretty in control all the sudden. Probably not good. Had he been playing crazy possum on everyone?
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favorite little witch. Come to play wi
th me have you, poppet? It’s about time, I’ve been waiting. Hoping you’d come. I missed my chance with you outside the ball. I prayed I’d get to see you again.”
His words were ridiculous, why was he so interested in me? “Why Devlin, why would you want to see me again?”
“Oh poppet, you don’t even know how special you are. So very, very special. They sent me here to distract you. To drive a wedge between you and Galen. I had no idea why, didn’t care. I just wanted to play with Galen. My deliciously beautiful sire. He’s the key to Roark’s heart you know. The key to getting him back here, in this realm. You were just collateral damage, something I paid no attention to. Until, I tasted you outside the ball.”
“Devlin, you’re making no sense. Who sent you? Why? What do I have to do with Galen and Roark?” My brain tried to connect everything he was saying but the picture remained unclear.
“You have nothing and everything to do with Galen and Roark. See, I will never get Roark back without Galen, but the powers that be have decided Galen must die. You can stop his death. You stopped it this time even after I framed him up so well he was sure to be executed for the murders.”
“So you framed him, then used me to make sure he wouldn’t die for it?” Devlin made no sense to me whatsoever.
“Bollocks woman, I think you’re getting it. See my plan was full proof, do what I was told, fulfill their wishes, get what I want, and not be blamed when things didn’t turn out exactly how they wanted. Tormenting Galen was pure icing. Unfortunately, you botched things up too much, I didn’t get Roark back. And you really threw a wrench in my thinking process.
“I started to wonder why they wanted you and Galen kept apart, and why Galen found you to be so utterly undeniable. As they say curiosity killed the cat. Now look where I am.” He laughed lowly. “I lost my focus because of you. Such a tasty little morsel you are. So full of power and potential. You will be the one to finally fulfill the prophecy. They stopped your mummy and daddy you know.”
Prophecy? My mother said something about a prophecy; it had been written for her and my dad.
“What prophecy, what are you talking about?” I grabbed him and the visions came so fast I couldn’t control them.
Cloaked figures stood around a large fire chanting. One figure stood in front of a stone crushing something with a mortar and pestle. The figure turned and walked over to two naked men and two naked women standing before a large altar.
The cloaked figure dipped its finger into the bowl then drew an image between each woman’s breasts then turned to the men and drew a different image above their genitals.
“Your unions will result in those whose destiny will destroy the evil, the darkness threatens to take over. Witch and warrior, flower and stone, power and blood, together, united they will wage war upon the darkness.”
The two couples climbed onto the altar and made love as the cloaked figures circled around them, the chanting growing louder and louder until it roared in my ears and the room spun.
I let go of Devlin. He smiled wickedly.
“I stole that memory from a very old sorceress, along with some of her power. She was a wild fuck, power spilled from everywhere. I couldn’t help but gobble it up and save it for a rainy day. I had no idea at the time the memory would prove to be useful. Not until they started talking about prophecies and the decision to move forward once again with their plans.”
“Who? Who is moving forward with what plans? What the hell is going on?” I screamed at him, careful not to touch him again.
Devlin reared up, breaking the shackles around his wrists. He pushed me down and pressed my back onto the table and kissed me hard. Power breached my shields. “Poppet, you’ll know in time. Now the bindings I put on you have been removed you’ll be seeing more, knowing more than you ever wanted to.”
He kissed me savagely, forcing my mouth open. Energy thrust into me, a cold shock of electricity flowed into my soul. It warmed the deeper it went. He ground his pelvis into mine igniting a fire in my core. “I give this to you. You will need it. It will help keep you sane. Not that it’s ever done much for me. Of course, I was half crazy to begin with.” He snarled with a sarcastic crazy laugh as he continued to grind against me.
Mel finally put her camera down and pulled Devlin off me. I lay there in complete shock while whatever Devlin had forced into me flowed until it found a nice place to settle. It curled up inside me like a cat cozying up by a fire.
I was completely and totally freaking out. I stood up.
“What the hell did you just do to me? What did you put inside me?” I cried.
“You’ll thank me later, luv. When they come for you, when the truth comes out. You will be glad you have it.”
“What is it? Who is coming for me? What the hell is going on? I don’t understand!” I paced around the room freaking the fuck out. I was shaking uncontrollably at this point.
“I am sorry, poppet. I can tell you nothing else.” And with that Devlin’s eyes glazed over and he was gone, back to wherever he had been before our arrival.
Mel put her arms around me. “Are you okay, did it hurt?”
I pushed her away from me. “Did it hurt? Did it fucking hurt? What the fuck, Mel? Why didn’t you stop him, why didn’t you get him off me? He could have killed me. All while you snapped your fucking pictures!”
She looked dumbstruck. “I don’t know. It didn’t feel like a threat. I felt nothing. There was no feeling or energy to cause a violent reaction. I’m sorry. And the pictures. Oh my Goddess, Wyn. The energy flowing in this room. There was so much of it. Nothing to match any of the other magick signatures I have captured on Devlin before. It’s like he’s a chimera, or a storehouse of magick…”
I interrupted her, “That’s fabulous, Mel. I’m glad your scientific research of magick signatures has been advanced. Meanwhile, I’ve been violated. He put something inside me, Mel. Inside me. I. Can. Feel. It! It’s like it’s alive. Inside me.”
She put her arms around me again. “Shh girl, we’ll figure it. I promise.”
Chapter 42
Two days later I propped my elbows up on Mel’s work table in the basement of the P.I.T. building and watched her work. I couldn’t believe everything we’d been through in the past couple of days. I prayed to the Goddess life could get back to normal now. The murderer was caught, Galen was cleared, and the big bad hovering around Flint seemed to be quiet…for now.
And whatever Devlin put inside me was quiet. I could still feel it curled there, resting, waiting. For what I had no idea. I tried not to think about it too much.
“So after everything that happened, you never did get to tell me what interesting tidbit of intel you discovered with your camera Halloween night.”
Mel’s eyes instantly lit up, she loved talking about her magick tech gadgets and her discoveries.
“Gurrlll, I made some very astounding discoveries about magick signatures. I assumed all Others have distinct signatures—which is partially true. Witches, wizards, sorcerers and sorceresses all have a magick signature with them at all times—even if they are not using magick, even if they are not actively casting. Are you following me so far?”
“I think so. You’re saying our magick signatures are like fingerprints or DNA. It’s always the same and each one of us has a unique signature.” I was thrilled I got it. Guess having my powers back made me more capable of following Mel’s tech talk.
“Yes, exactly. The signature is always the same no matter what we do. Our powers can grow and change but the signature will remain the same on any spell, incantation, ward, or anything that we do. I assumed this would be true for all Others.”
“But it’s not?” I asked quizzically.
“No. I found out vampires, werewolves and other shifters project a different signature when actively using magick than they do when they are at rest.”
“Asleep?” This time I wasn’t following.
“No, just at rest. Like not actively using magick. Say a
vampire isn’t vamping out. No fangs, no pheromones, no glamour or anything, they appear to be human. When they are like that their signature is completely different than when they transform or are actively using a vampire power. The same is true for weres and shifters. If they are not in one of their shifted forms or using some magick particular to their Other form then the signature is almost that of a human.”
“So you are saying when they appear to be human their magick signature pretty much says they are?”
“Kinda. The magick just barely registers, but when they are actively using it the signature is completely different. That’s why it has been so hard to trace some of these spells. I had to catch vampires in action to get their true signature. Of course, Devlin is still a mystery, when using magick I captured at least six different signatures from him.”
“Oh. You know he mentioned something about stealing memories and magick. That would probably be helpful, too, wouldn’t it?” Mel’s eyes gleamed as she looked at me. I continued, “What about the fae? What’s their signature like?”
“They are like us. It looks like anyone born into their power keeps the same signature—witches, wizards, fae, demons, etc. Except for the hereditary shifters, everyone has the same magick signature they are born with at all times. But those born human who are later transformed into a were or vampire, their signatures are two-formed just like them.”
“Amazing.”
“I know, right? You wanna know the other weird thing I found?” she asked with a big smile on her face then proceeded before I could answer. “Vampires’ magick signatures hold traces of Other types of signatures.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well Galen’s holds evidence of demonic magick while Satinka’s shows traces of fae, shapeshifter, and something else I can’t figure out.”
Something clicked into my head. “Well that fits with what Galen told me.”
Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) Page 24