by Lane Hart
"A warlock?" she whispers, but is still too loud for public.
"I hate that word, but yeah…I think so."
Every time I hear a siren I jump, thinking they’re coming after us. Finally, we make it to Seventeenth Street and the corner of Constitution.
And there it is. A big fucking Glen Haven Baptist Church bus. Baptist churches are the preferred denomination of the majority of D.R.A. agents, since they’re the most conservative, adamant that any nonhuman is an abomination.
"That's our ride," I tell Cyn, giving a slight nod in the direction of the bus.
"You're kidding. And isn't that the…oh my God, that's the D.R.A. office," she says, turning her back to the brick building. The one that has a flag flying with their logo of a bald eagle and stars and stripes out front. Those fuckers might as well fly a skull and crossbones.
"Let's go, quickly but not looking obvious like we're in a hurry," I tell Cyn as we stroll along with Max. The doors to the bus open when we approach. I take in a deep breath before I climbed up them, having no clue what I’m getting us into, and hoping I don't regret it. Not like I have any other options.
A blonde man in casual clothes waits at the top, his short hair so light it’s almost white. He’s small for a man, and young. I'd guess he’s in his early to mid-twenties at most.
"Jason, Cyn, and Max, come aboard, and make yourselves comfortable. We've got a long drive ahead of us."
How the hell did he know Cyn and Max’s names? Did these fuckers bug my apartment or some shit?
Looking toward the back of the bus I expect to see two rows of seats, but nope, it's been renovated to look more like an RV. There’s a dining table where a teenager sits in front of a laptop playing cards with a Hispanic man probably in his early twenties. Beside him is a very young dark haired boy with headphones on holding a DVD player in his lap. Across from them is an empty couch and an older, grumpy looking guy with a shaved head, leaning back in a captain's chair. Behind him is a small kitchen, what looks like cubbies for a few bunk beds, and the door to a bathroom at the very back.
"Sebastian?" I ask the white haired guy, and he sticks out his hand to shake mine.
"That's me, and I'm the psychic. Let me introduce you to the rest of the group. The Asian kid on the computer is Seth, and he's our IT expert, even though he's only eighteen. Beside him is Ryan, our wizard in training. Mateo, or Matt as we call him, is our potions master, and finally there's Alex. We're still trying to figure out what he excels at, other than being an asshole. The five of us make up the North American warlock coven, even though I'm German. I was sent here by my father, the head of the European coven, to round up our little group."
Each of the guys give a friendly head nod or wave except for Alex.
"So why do you guys want to help us?" I ask, still skeptical.
"You're one of us, and we need your help," he says before looking down at the watch on his wrist. "Alright, Alex, take us out."
"Aye, aye Captain," the bald man says sarcastically with an eye roll before he stands up and gets in the driver's seat. Alex looks like he’s the oldest, probably about my real age, but is following orders from a much younger man. Maybe that's why he seems so angry.
Cyn and I sit on the small couch across from the dining table when the bus starts moving. We haven't even made it to the end of the block when there’s a loud boom behind us, shaking the bus and making Cyn and I both jump out of our skins and Max whine. We look out the back windows and see the D.R.A. building going up in flames.
"What the fuck? You did that?" I ask.
"Yeah, we did. Congrats boys! One down, seventeen to go," Sebastian says with a smile, holding up the detonation switch before taking a seat in the empty swivel chair.
"You're going to blow up all the D.R.A. offices?" I ask in amazement.
"Yes, of course."
Cyn's face has paled even more than normal and she looks sick as she covers her gaping mouth, clearly aghast at what has just taken place.
"The D.R.A. has been around more than four hundred years. It's time to take them out. They've been killing all the supernatural species they can find, almost to extinction. That's about to change."
"And you want me to help you blow them all up?"
"Yes, but mostly we need you to convince your niece and her family to help us with the second part."
"The extinction?" I ask in confusion.
"Have you ever been around a witch before?" Sebastian asks.
"Yeah. My mom and sister."
He laughs and shakes his head. "No, an unrelated witch."
"No, not that I know of."
"Believe me, you'd know if you had, but witches are even rarer than warlocks. Not one of the five of us has ever met a single witch."
"What about your mothers?" I ask, knowing they couldn't all be orphans.
"Warlocks are warlock made. Witches only have witches," he says simply.
That can't be right.
"But I'm …"
"The exception. One of only two aberrations that we know of, both born in the same city, exactly ten years apart. You were a twin to a female, the other was a maniac that had his own mother and sister killed. Oh yeah, and he's your niece's baby's daddy."
"How do you know about my niece?"
"Her father and his smoking hot vampire girlfriend tracked my father down a few months ago, asking about spells for her and her baby."
"Tom? He has a vampire girlfriend?"
"Yeah. So, now we need your blood for a locator spell."
"Excuse me?"
"Your niece shares your blood. Yours will take us to her."
"Won't it just keep pointing you towards me?" I ask.
"Not if you focus it toward her, you know…write her name on a piece of paper and mix it with your blood," he explains, like its common knowledge.
"What do you want with my niece? Why should I help you find her?" I ask.
"You don't want to meet your sister's daughter?"
"Well yeah, but I don't know how she'll feel about meeting all of you. What do you want from her?"
"She's a witch.”
"And?"
"And her and her daughter may be the only two witches left in the entire fucking world. Witches are a hundred times more powerful than your average warlock. She can do things we can't even imagine."
"What do you want her to do?"
He sighs and leans his head back in his chair, crossing his ankles in front of him. "I thought we could get to know each other better before we got into the heavy stuff, but fine. There's a D.R.A. holding facility in Atlanta. That's where they've been taking captured supernatural beings for the past several years. They don't execute them there like they claim. They experiment on them and study them."
"That's horrible," Cyn says softly.
"It is. And we want to bust them out. All of them. The only problem is some of them may be fucking lunatics, and we have to take them down before they escape."
"What's Kate got to do with any of that?"
"Her blood can stir spells that will help us take them out and immobilize certain individuals. But you can do some of that too, can't you?"
"Spells?" I ask.
"Yeah, a stunning spell is one of your go-to tricks, right?"
"Maybe."
"You're the only one on this bus that can do those, but your niece can make them stronger, and do even more."
"Why can't you guys do them?" I ask, looking at the other passengers.
"We're warlocks, made by weak warlocks. You're a warlock, made by a powerful witch. And your niece's daughter was made by a powerful witch and a warlock from a powerful witch. A witch and warlock mating has been unheard of for hundreds of years, even with the curse."
"What curse?" I ask. This is all new to me since my mother was too scared to ever speak a word about what we are. I was surprised when I found her spell notebook after she died, hidden in the back of her closet, camouflaged in a box with other old, ratty books.
; "Well, I guess curse is a strong word to use, but it…urges warlocks and witches to mate," he says with a smirk.
"By urge you mean?"
"In close proximity, the two are drawn together like magnets, with one goal, and only one goal in mind. Reproduce immediately."
"They want to screw each other?" I ask, appalled.
"Yes. But once the witch receives the warlock's seed the magnetism goes away, and hopefully she becomes pregnant, since witches are always fertile."
"And you want me to lead the way to my niece so you all can try and screw her and impregnate her? Are you fucking insane?"
"No, we're not going to approach her," he laughs. "But we need you to. You and her are blood, so you won't have that magnetism problem. You're the only one that can get close enough to talk to her about donating her blood to us without that effect."
"I don't know about getting my niece involved. I just met you and I sure as hell don't trust you."
"Phones Sebastian," the teenage looking Asian, Seth I believe his name was, says quietly.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Can I see your phones?" he asks, holding his hand out for them.
I hesitate but finally hand him mine, and Cyn follows suit. Sebastian reaches behind him, opens the side window, and throws them out.
"Satellite tracking," he says before I can yell.
Seth gets up and brings two phones over to us. "Use these from now on. All our numbers are in them in case we get separated," he says.
"You can call Tom if you want. Ask what he thinks," Sebastian tells me.
"Really?"
"Yeah, here's his number," he replies, pulling a slip of paper from his wallet. "Be sure to tell him about that spell you used to stop aging."
I dial the number and listen for several rings before he picks up.
"Hello?" the familiar masculine voice answers. It’s been decades, but that voice is burned into my memory. The last time we spoke on the phone he told me my perfectly healthy sister was dead.
"Tom?"
"Who's this?" he asks gruffly.
"Jason, your almost brother-in-law."
"Jason? Holy shit! We've been looking for you. How did you get my number?"
"I’m with this guy, this warlock, Sebastian. You know him?" I ask, looking at the man in question and trying to read him.
"Yeah, white haired German kid. He found you? I thought he was full of shit with the psychic nonsense."
"Yeah, and he wants me to do a locator spell to find Kate."
Nothing but silence.
"What the fuck? Why?" Tom finally asks cautiously. I guess this is why they just didn’t ask Tom if they could come visit. His answer would’ve been hell no.
"Says he needs witch's blood for spells. Wants to bust out supes in a D.R.A. facility and blow up the rest."
"That was him? The D.C. office they just showed on the news?"
"Ah, yeah. We’re leaving the city."
"Damn. Has he found what I'm looking for yet?"
"I don't know. Have you found what Tom's looking for yet?" I ask Sebastian.
"Yeah. You," the white-haired man replies with a wide grin.
"I'm what you're looking for?" I ask Tom.
"Not exactly, although we have been looking for you. I've been trying to find Kate an immortality or anti-aging spell."
"Oh. Well, I have some experience with those."
"You do?"
"Yeah. I'm still twenty-one…and practically invincible."
"You're joking! Oh my God. Finally! Kate and Sam are going to be ecstatic. We've searched all over the fucking world and you, her own damn uncle, had it the whole time!"
"Yeah, all she needs to do is kill someone, steal their blood and bam, forever young," I say, then freeze, remembering Cyn could hear. I turn to face her and she looks even more ill. The warlocks are also looking at me a little more cautiously with gaping mouths and wide eyes.
"Who the fuck did you kill Jason?" Tom asks.
"You remember the bastard that ran my mom off the road and fled?"
"I knew you had something to do with his death, and then we never saw or heard from you after that."
"Yep, that was me. If the good die young then I'm going to live fucking forever."
"Damn, Jason. Wait, you had that spell back then? You could've saved her?" Tom asks in a panic, referring to my sister Liz of course.
"Yes, if you'd called me in time. I hated you for not giving me the fucking chance. But the more I've thought about it over the years…hell, Liz never would've agreed to end someone's life to save her own."
"You're right. She wouldn't, and I'm not sure if Kate will be able to either."
"Up to her. So, are we coming to visit my niece or not? I take it you're where she is?"
"I don’t know. Of course you can, but those warlocks…let me talk to Kate and Sam and call you back."
"What's the number for this phone?" I ask Seth. He rattles off the digits which I repeat to Tom.
"Head south towards Mexico and I'll give you the specifics if they agree."
"Okay," I tell him, then hang up. "Head towards Mexico. He'll call back with a yes or no."
I reach and pull Cyn onto my lap to try and provide some comfort to her. "I’m sorry. It's not too late to change your mind," I tell her.
"Actually it is," Sebastian speaks up and says. I give him a look that says I'd love to see him try to backup that fucking statement. "What? She knows our names and faces, what we are. She can't just up and leave. Matt?" he asks, and the man stands up and hands him a vial of purple liquid.
"Drink up," Sebastian says, offering it to her, but I jerk it out of his hand.
"She's not drinking anything."
"She is, or we'll drop you both off here and let you fend for yourselves. I'm sure your pictures are all over the country by now."
"What is it?" I ask.
"We call it the oath potion. She makes an oath not to tell anyone anything about us, in any form of communication."
"It's fine Jason. I'm not going to tell anyone," Cyn says, then takes it from me, uncorks it, and throws it back like a shot of liquor.
"And if she does, she dies," Sebastian smirks. That’s it. I stand Cyn up from my lap and grab him up by his neck, jerking him out of his seat.
"I don't need magic to kill you," I warn him through clenched teeth, inches from his face.
"Hey, we're on the same team. That was for your sake more than ours. Her future is still fuzzy. If the two of you breakup she won't badmouth you. You're welcome…to try and…make it…on your own," he chokes out as his face turns shades of red and then purple.
I throw him back down into the chair knowing it’s too damn late. I can't leave with Cyn now or the D.E.A. will find us within days, if not hours.
"Why don't you two get comfortable in the back and rest a little while? It's been a stressful day," Sebastian says, rubbing his neck.
I need more space than this bus can offer to get away from that jackass, but I'll take what I can get.
I reach for Cyn's hand and start toward the back. After cleaning up my busted nose that's already healed in the tiny bathroom I lead her to the beds. It'll be tight but we can both fit in one bunk. I take my shoes and hat off and slide in the cubby first, then make room for Cyn, pulling her so that she's flush against the length of my body. I wipe the tears from her eyes and kiss her, wishing we could go back to the weekend when things weren't so damn complicated.
Chapter Eight
Cyn
Jason's mouth and body pressed against mine is exactly what I need to calm my nerves. We’re wanted, which I could’ve handled until we left the city with terrorists. I just learned Jason had killed someone to stay young, and that I swallowed a potion that will kill me if I ever talk about anything on this bus. But at least we’re both safe for the time being, and seem to be heading to find his niece, which will be good for him.
As our kiss deepens I become more aroused, wanting and needing to feel Jason inside me, but not
with a room full of men and boys a few feet away.
"It's time to go to the next base, don't you think?" he whispers against my lips, moving his hands to my jeans.
"Yes."
"Me first," he says before unsnapping my top button and pulling the zipper down on my jeans. His big hand slides down underneath my panties and immediately sends me soaring. I climb higher and higher until I break, my entire body shaking, my pants escaping into Jason's mouth. His palm cups my face as his tongue becomes more possessive and frantic. I know he's hurting and needs the same release, so I start to work on undoing his pants.
"No," he says breathlessly, covering my hand with his. "Too messy for here."
I reach and pull the curtain that blocks the view of the bunk, before sliding down the bed. "Then I'll use my mouth," I whisper to him, unzipping and releasing his long, hard erection from his pants.
"Oh God," he says softly, but he doesn't protest. Instead he raises up and straddles my upper body, bracing himself on his knees on either side of me, with his palms above my head like the last time. I ease his cock into my mouth and then let him move above me, in and out, setting the pace he wants and needs to get off.
Just as I feel him swell in my mouth with his oncoming orgasm a phone rings.
"Ah, Jason, that's you man," I hear someone say.
"Not now! Oh fuck," he moans, then cradles my head with his hand, holding me against him as he comes. Swallowing his release I send my hands up underneath his shirt, feeling his hard sexy muscles as he relaxes and recovers above me.
"Oh God that feels good," he says, raising up off of me and rolling against the wall so I can move back up. Once I’m in reach he pulls my face to his, kissing me tenderly until the phone rings again, causing him to groan.
"Give me the fucking phone," he says, and a hand with the cell phone appears inside the curtain.
"Hello?" he says between pants.
"Jason? Why are you breathing heavy?" I hear the man ask through the phone.
"Tom? What's this I hear about a vampire girlfriend?"
"Kate wants to meet you, so I'll text you the address," the man says, ignoring Jason's question like Jason ignored his.
"Okay. We'll see you in a few days."