by Kiki Howell
Focusing back in on the grimoire she opened the old leather bound cover; inside it was all handwritten, some in English, some in another language. The spells she could read and the journal entries about trying them were fascinating. She’d never read anything like them and wished she could sit down in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee and read away for hours. Anything from finding something lost, to binding the evil in a person and banishing it, and everything in between was in there. Some were very personal. A number of them seemed easy. Others were way too complicated for her brain, with many lines of chants she couldn’t read and lists of things needed that she had no idea what they were. The animal correspondences, the meaning of herbs and flower and foods, it all simply had her mesmerized.
Secretly she hoped things with Isaac and Winter worked out so that some day she could pick the woman’s brain about all this stuff, maybe even borrow a few books, sit in on a spell or two. Oh hell, not only was she a Vampire who would run naked under a full moon with a Werewolf, but now she considered dancing under the tiny ball of light with a Witch too. Pulling her hand back a moment, she wondered whether the book itself held some magic. She could feel the spark of electricity in it when she touched the book to turn the pages and it captured her completely.
Shaking off the energy but leaving the book out, she went back to the shelves and examined the items she hadn’t broken. While jars of herbs lay all over the floor and made the room smell like a restaurant and the perfume section of a department store combined, things like mirrors and scarves and crystals were all still neatly stacked. A few cauldrons and candles of different sizes sat on the shelves, all well preserved, obviously well used, not in any way dusty or neglected. She picked up what looked like a knife with crystals embedded in the handle, only to get a shock almost immediately. The knife hit the floor and made enough noise to wake her mother from the sound sleep she had been snoring through.
The snores hadn’t bothered or surprised Amberlyn though. The woman’s nose looked like it had been broken multiple times. Her face resembled that of a boxer and a forty-some year old smoker. Once, a long time ago, she’d found a picture of her mother, young, frail, and scared looking, in a box hidden in the back of the woman’s underwear drawer. Even then, like now, something told Amberlyn that given a different life, the woman could have been beautiful, maybe even loving and kind. It was sad the world would never know the person she could have been.
Just as her mother started to get her bearings after being so abruptly awakened , yelling from above them broke through Amberlyn’s hundredth wayward thought. Feet moved heavy across the ceiling. There was screeching. Doors slammed. A full fight had obviously broken out over their heads.
“What is going on up there,” her mother cried out. “It sounds like they are going to come right through the floor.”
The woman had sat up now, pressed her back to the wall, in a fetal position with her arms wrapped around her legs.
“I don’t know. Maybe someone is here to rescue us. Shush. Let me listen.”
With her Vampire hearing, she heard Kane’s voice along with Isaac’s, Achim’s and Willa’s. They threatened the Witches. It must have been a surprise attack. Then she heard Winter say that she had bound the Witches’ powers temporarily until they could get Amberlyn and her mother. They’d come for her, and they were all alright. Relief almost made her faint before she felt something like an adrenaline rush kick in.
“Kane! Isaac! Achim! Willa!” she cried out their names and soon heard footsteps move toward the door.
Several bodies or boots or something hit against it before Winter spoke, “It’s been spelled to stay shut against even Vampire strength boys. Step aside.”
Amberlyn heard a sizzle like a there was some electric key being used. Her mother jumped up, grabbed Amberlyn’s arm as she cowered behind her and whispered in her ear, “Did she say Vampire or have I lost it.”
“They’re all good people. No one will hurt you.”
“I must’ve heard wrong,” her mother shook her head but stayed where she was. Amberlyn stayed behind the podium, unsure what would happen with the door, if it would just open or burst into tiny pieces. She thought amusing how humans doubted their own ears, their own senses even when the paranormal creatures were revealed to them. Guess her mother found Vampires so unbelievable, that even having seen her daughter with fangs she could still come up with some excuse in her mind for why they were there. No wonder they’d all been able to stay a secret so long. What with glamouring and spells and all, the human’s minds could be easily changed, even if they didn’t doubt their own senses. They need never really know.
After all the noise, the door merely swung open like a small child had pushed it. Though the way the crowd of those who loved her stood, no one had touched the damn thing. Kane rushed through it, toward her. She stepped out from behind the podium and forced her mother to let go of her arm.
Kane’s arms pulled her into a breathtaking hug. Soon Isaac and Willa were right there as well, touched her, and asked her if she was okay. Assuring them she was, she turned to Achim who just stared at her. A smile from her dimmed the worry lines around his eyes.
“He’s not worth it, “ Amberlyn told Achim. “A real monster, my human father, the world doesn’t need.” She kissed her grandfather’s cheek then and threw her arms around him when he lifted his head to look at her.
“I love you, my dear Amberlyn,” Achim said as he kissed her cheek.
Me too’s and Love You’s were said all around until she noticed her mother looked overwhelmed, frail as always, as she held white-knuckled onto the podium. The fear the woman felt was evident in her grasp on the stand, but Amberlyn’s Vampire senses felt it coming off her in waves. She ignored it.
“Everyone, this is my biological mother, Evelyn.” Amberlyn waved toward the woman. Then, she quickly turned back to her clan, “She knows nothing really, remembers little from last night.”
Amberlyn shook her head to let them know her mother had no idea what they all were. After introductions were over, Winter suggested they all go quickly.
“My holding sp…uhm, well, my special binds on those special people upstairs may not last very long on some of them who are stronger than me. They will be able to break through them on their own soon. Come on.”
“Wait,” Amberlyn said as she left Kane’s arms. “Winter, I just want to thank you for helping me. You don’t know me at all.”
“Isaac has told me all I need to know about you. I was happy to help. They are my family, but that doesn’t mean I’m like them.”
“Truer words have never been spoken.” Amberlyn threw her arms around the Witch as she looked at her brother. “I like her, bro.”
The smile that lit up Isaac’s dark face, one always shadowed by a hood, was priceless. Smiling herself as she laced her fingers with Kane’s, she bid her mother to follow them.
“We can all go back to Drake’s. I trust Winter and Kane to know where it is,” Isaac said as they moved up the stairs. It was a big step for him to offer such a thing. She heard Kane’s heart skip a beat at the announcement.
Things had already gotten better, even if only in their private circle. At the moment she had hope for the first time in a long time.
When they got to the place deep in the woods where the cave entrance was, Isaac stopped and turned to Amberlyn.
“What do you want to do with your mother?” Isaac asked. His hand lent his support on her shoulder. “I can only imagine this would be hard for you. If I saw mine again—“
“No,” Amberlyn interrupted her brother, “This is different. Yours was a mother to you when she was given a chance. Let me say goodbye, then glamour her and have them take her away like the original plan.”
“Fine. I will call in two Vamps to do so. Take a moment. Kane and I will stay. Sorry, we don’t want to leave you alone, the rest, except for Winter, will go in.”
Isaac turned to the crowd, grabbed Winter’s hand, pulled her to his s
ide, gave her a quick kiss and announced, “Go in. We have a pressing matter to deal with first, then we will join you.”
Amberlyn turned to her mother. “Listen…mom. It was nice to see you, and I’m glad things will be better for you now that…uhm, your husband is gone. Where do you want to go? Do you want to go home or do you want to start over somewhere new?”
“I want to stay here with you, Amberlyn. I know you must hate me, but I’d like just a few days.”
“I’m sorry mom. There is a war going on here and it’s not safe. Pick a place to go, and maybe someday I’ll be able to visit you?”
“But, Amberlyn, please…” her mother begged.
Amberlyn looked at the woman’s puffy, red eyes. With her ability to make a human do whatever she wanted, she forced her mother to respond to one question at a time. At the same time, she steeled her own heart – or wherever these painful feelings had come from – against anything else her mind could dish up.
“Where is the one place you’ve always wanted to go?” Amberlyn asked once she had her mother under her control.
“New York,” her mother answered in a flat tone, obedient, as Amberlyn knew she would be. She was easy prey. It’d taken very little effort to manipulate the woman’s thoughts. “I want to get lost in such a big and busy city. I’ve always dreamed of being a fashion designer you know?”
No, I didn’t. How could I? A bit of hurt and anger welled up inside Amberlyn. If only the woman had had the guts to have taken them there years ago. She would have loved to have the opportunity to get lost in a big and busy city rather then live the way they had. She would have been happier to have slept in a shelter with only a bag of belongings to her name, one meal a day, whatever, as long as they were away from that man who’d called himself her father.
When she’d left home years ago without a destination, this little town where she ran into a Vampire had not been her first choice either. But now the place felt more like home than any other place ever could have.
Her brother Devin arrived with two Vamps he’d lined up to take Amberlyn’s mother to whatever location Amberlyn told them. Watching the woman who gave her life, but then never cared for her, walk away forever, glamoured, forced to say goodbye, the struggle of it was bearable for Amberlyn, but only because she was in Kane’s arms. Once again, she closed the door on her past, cursed her father and the bad Witches and turned to lay her head on Kane’s chest, the only place she wanted to be.
The moment didn’t last long though when she walked into Drake’s place deep in the cave. Nothing looked as it once had and all eyes were on her.
“What’s going on?” Amberlyn asked cautiously, not able to handle anymore surprises. But, the looks on her families faces told her she better figure out how soon. They all looked like the cat who eaten the canary.
“Well,” Willa started in, her voice high, her hands wrung together, “while Kane and Isaac and Achim were out looking for you along with Winter, I had a lot of nervous energy and a great idea, I think. We want you and Isaac to be able to stay in the Willows for now, close to family, but safe and able to freely be with the ones you love. So, I hired a few handy men, had a few Vamps glamour them in and out of here today just to hide the location, to do a bit of construction. Don’t worry, I paid them well for their troubles even if they are not aware of them.” Willa laughed a giddy little laugh.
“I will apologize right off the bat that the walls are thin though. So sorry.” Willa stopped to give an exaggerated wink. “But, these walls were constructed around two double beds to create two separate bedrooms, one for you and Kane and one for Isaac and Winter. That leaves this area for a sort of livingroom. I had blood restocked in the fridge and food brought in for Winter and Kane. I tried to think of everything you could need, but let me know if I missed something. Now, many in the Willows would think me mad to trap two Vampires in a hidden cave with a Werewolf and a Witch, but I think you guys can work it out. We just love you, Amberlyn and Isaac, and we want you happy until we can figure this whole thing out. And, we trust in your judgment. You are both fine adults who Achim and I are very proud of. We also want you close, as I said and we want your help with the war, in the ways you can help, safely. So, what do you think? Can you live here, rather than some other town in hotel rooms, until we get a handle on this situation?”
“Wow, I don’t know what to say?” Amberlyn stuttered, and looked at Isaac for help.
“It is amazing, Willa,” Isaac said as he stepped forward and took their grandmother into a huge hug.
“I asked Isaac, just to make sure it was alright before I took his and Winter’s little hideaway away from them. They were both more than happy to share this one safe haven we have,” Willa added.
“Thank you. All of you. I don’t know what to say. Kane?” She turned to him to find him smiling.
“Thank you. I am more than blown away by the show of support. It means everything to us.” He kissed Amberlyn’s forehead, still smiling from ear to ear, a way he rarely did.
Chapter Five
It seemed like forever and a day to Amberlyn, but she finally got those she loved out of the place. Not that she didn’t love them back or appreciate them saving her life and all today. She couldn’t be more grateful to Willa for having created a safe love nest for her and Kane. It was just the cutest thing to watch her so excited to have done it too. To have a place to live, to be together, well, her mind still tried to process all of that.
After having watched her abusive father die, having said goodbye to the mother who’d never protected her, but suddenly tried to be a mother, and being kidnapped by a bunch of lunatic Witches, she just wanted to fall into Kane’s arms and put the world far from her mind. There was something to be said for celebrating life with a good, hard fuck. She intended to use her Werewolf well for that tonight. She had all kind of pent up emotions to get out. She could think of nowhere better to let loose than under her naked Werewolf.
As she stood in the bedroom, Kane’s started to immediately run his hands over her body as he kissed her with a renewed passion. His mouth came at hers hard, harsh, demanding, each kiss born of the gut-wrenching thoughts of loss. She knew how he felt all too well.
“Just remember, there, Wolfy,” she whispered between kisses when she should have caught her breath for the next one. “Thin walls. We are going to have to be quiet about this. I mean, I know Isaac and Winter are probably in there doing…well, stuff…” she left off, cocked her head to the side wall in a flirtatious way, “But I don’t want to hear it. They have to feel the same.”
She started to feel light-headed. They kissed, talked, but she truly could have cared less about what her brother was doing as she eased her body into Kane’s tight embrace.
“No problem. I can have you quietly. You just remember no screaming when I make you come there, Vampy.”
Amberlyn pushed him down onto the bed. She didn’t often pit her strength against his. They were fairly evenly matched depending upon the day on the calendar. Full moons, he took the upper hand, but when she’d just fed, like tonight having indulged in the blood Willa had brought, with the moon only a sliver, she was the tougher of the two. She didn’t rub it in though. It didn’t bode well for the alpha in Kane and she would do nothing to ever diminish him in any way. She wanted to build him up, to show him all he was to her and all he could be on his own.
Right now, she just wanted to get him so excited that he would take her rough, almost ruthless. She wanted him to thrust in and out of her until their bodies melted into one rush of passion. She needed that, needed him.
The wolf’s eyes behind the human form made Kane’s green eyes glow a golden-brightness. He laid back on the bed in a sexy sprawl, his legs spread apart. His erection showed through his jeans and tightened the denim over the long bulge. A fire coiled through her stomach, made her wet and ready, and burned away any lingering inhibitions. He found her beautiful, scars and all, but still, she turned down the lights, lit a candle and stoo
d before Kane.
Their eyes caught. She felt him focus in on her, his lusting looks like unyielding caresses. With her finger over her lips to remind him to not say anything, she started to wiggle her body like a snake for her charmer. Slowly, she lifted off her top; let the thin lacey tank sweater she had on fall into Kane’s lap. He pulled the material up to his nose, sniffed and growled; a low rumble in his chest meant for only her ears. By now she was used to him sniffing everything.
A shiver went through her, made her hotter rather than cold. She played with her lace-covered breasts, ran her finger lightly over them, thrilled in the correlation between the brush of her fingers over her own nipples and the tightening of the muscles low in her belly.
“Are you wet?” he mouthed.
Walking up to the bed, she placed her hands on his wrists. It was a quick motion, one at Vampire speed to keep him off guard. Once she had him pinned to the bed, his chest rising and falling, turned on by her actions, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Maybe soon I will let you check.”
She danced away, pulling out her best belly dancing, hip shaking moves. She did not even care, if she could dance or not, because she loved the feeling she got from knowing he watched her, wanted her. With an excruciating slow pace, she peeled the bra from her flesh, bared her white skin and pinkish nipples. They were hard, erect and she played with them until he moaned aloud.