Hexed and Dangerous (The Wicked Witch of Future Past) (A Wicked Good Witches Paranormal Romance Book 9)

by Starla Silver

  Riley’s face pinched inward, some pieces falling into place. “This isn’t anything for me, this is for you.”

  “Yes. I have not detoxed as you’d put it. And I cannot wait a day more. The cold human blood is no longer enough to sustain the thirst, and I cannot allow myself to have the fresh-from-the-vein kind or, well, things will get ugly fast. The kind of ugly in which I end up at the pointy end of a wooden stake.”

  Sooner than later, this was inevitable anyway. Funny, how he was so sure of his outcome, but also sure it was not to be this day. Or week. Even though it would mean a lifetime of suffering as he loved Melinda from afar, and she moved on from him. He needed to wait until she was leaving this world, to leave it too.

  “This is because of all the human blood you had to drink because of what I did to you, isn’t it?” Riley’s voice got tight.

  “Yes.” His one-word explanation was simple fact only, not accusatory in any way. “Let’s forget you are the reason why, Riley, and agree now, that you’ll take on the job of helping me dry out. I cannot leave Sorcier until I do.”

  Riley took a breath and nodded. How could he say no? He was responsible for the vampire’s bloodthirsty state, he needed to fix it. Although he had a terrible feeling he was getting the easy part of the job.

  “This is really going to suck ass, isn’t it?”

  William shot him a gaze that warned, you have no fucking idea…

  “So when do you want to do this?” asked Riley.

  “Now. We start now. You will lock me in this cell for seven days.”

  “Wow. That long?”

  “Yes. It must be this long to ensure it works properly. If you look in the fridge, you’ll see each box has a number to correspond with each of the seven days. You must follow this feeding schedule to its exactness.”

  “Okay.”

  “No deviations. No matter what happens, inside, or outside this cell.”

  Riley swallowed a dry pocket of stale air.

  William pointed to the cell next to his. “That will be your room for the next week. Once you lock me in, you’ll have two hours to kill until it’s time for my next blood pack. You can move whatever belongings you need to be comfortable. I might suggest some headphones.”

  “Headphones?” Dread followed that word.

  “After the first day, there will be yelling. Snarling. Growling. Obscenities. Wall punching. A general vampiric tantrum of epic proportions.”

  “Um, okay.” The words, are you sure I’m right for this were about to come out of his mouth…

  “Riley, I will be like any junky trying to come down off a drug addiction. You must promise me, right here and now, I do not care if the world is ending, you will not let me out of this cell until after the seventh day. Until after I’ve gone through all the blood in that fridge.”

  He nodded, as confidently as his freaked out mind allowed.

  “Yeah. Okay. Got it. I got it.” He swallowed hard. “What’s in the potion bottles?” There were three in the fridge alongside the blood. Although their consistency looked eerily similar.

  “Werewolf blood, should I become, uncontrollable. Or attempt escape.”

  “Aren’t’ these cells secure?”

  “Yes. But never underestimate the strength and thirst of a starving vampire.”

  “Point noted.”

  The way William spoke, he was already starving.

  “Do not hesitate to use the werewolf blood, Riley. Because if I escape and you hesitate, it’s your neck I’ll be sinking my fangs into first.”

  “Right…” and didn’t that suck all remaining air from his lungs.

  William stepped into the cell. “I will apologize in advance,” he stated as Riley shut him in.

  “Why? I did this to you.”

  “Exactly.” The vampire’s stare went wild, and dark. “Most of my anger will be aimed at you.”

  “Guess I’ll be getting a dose of my own medicine,” muttered Riley.

  “If you hated me before,” seethed William, “you will loath me once this is done. Now lock the damn door. And hand me the first blood pack.”

  So Riley did.

  If suffering alongside the vampire somehow cleaned his slate and earned the forgiveness everyone kept insisting there was no need to ask for, he’d do it. He’d take every last shot the vampire threw at him, just as the vampire had been forced to do by him.

  And thus began seven days of hell…

  CHAPTER 17

  Lizzy’s body refused to obey a single command.

  What was going on?

  Where was she?

  Why could she not see anything but darkness? Or move? Or blink? Or even breathe correctly? Whose voices were around her?

  Panic blasted through her mind, and only her mind because everything else refused to work right.

  Panicking isn’t going to do you any good, she screamed at herself.

  But I can’t move.

  I can’t open my damn eyes…

  Charlie…

  His was his voice she was hearing.

  Talking to who? A man, a familiar voice but she could not place it.

  Why were her eyes refusing to open? She needed to see what was happening.

  What is that beeping?

  It all slammed back into her mind at once. She and Lucas had been driving home and she’d dozed off. The next thing she remembered was waking up just as his truck crashed into a tree. And then… now. Waking up in darkness. With a body refusing to work right.

  Logic told her she must be at the hospital.

  That’s what the beeping was. Some machine in the hospital. And Charlie was talking to the doctor. Dr. Walter was his name. Okay, see, don’t panic. This can’t last long. They probably had to sedate me, and I’ve not fully awakened yet.

  However, words meant nothing. Actions did.

  Minutes passed. She assumed. And then a few more. The minutes beginning to feel like hours. How long did it take to wake up after being knocked out? How long before something worked other than her thoughts?

  Not only my thoughts, I can hear too. And thank God for that, because if I couldn’t hear I think I’d already have lost my mind. Ha… it’s about the only thing you can lose right now. Better pray you keep that!

  The sick humor was lost the minute she begged her body to move, in any manner.

  Not a damn thing obeyed her.

  God, not this. Not this again. Anything but this.

  Imprisoned inside a body that wasn’t working properly. Hadn’t she done this already?

  Lizzy screamed in her mind for her mouth to move, to call for Charlie.

  Not a movement or sound. Vocal chords in some permanent resting state. Except there was a sensation in her throat. No, further down. Her lungs. Air being pumped in and out.

  Oh my God, I’m not even breathing on my own. Just how bad had the accident been?

  A trembling hand slipped into her own. Soft lips kissed her palm.

  Charlie…

  Lizzy focused on the fact that she could think, hear, and feel. This was better than nothing and must mean she’d wake up from this nightmare soon. If she didn’t get herself into a panic that gave her a heart attack first, that is.

  “Lizzy? Can you hear me?” Charlie spoke to her, the desperation for a response, telling of the grim situation. “Can you hear me, Lizzy?” He stroked her arm in a loving caress.

  She tried with every fiber in her being to respond in any manner.

  A movement.

  A twitch.

  A blink.

  A groan.

  Anything! To tell him she was awake in here.

  But only silent screams came out.

  How the hell was it possible for her physical body to completely shut down, and her mind to remain on, and working? Thoughts and conscious the only things working correctly.

  Perhaps in a sick way it was better she could not see Charlie talking to her. Adding the sight to the sound might be more than she could handle. To see the
hopelessness etched in those eyes staring back at her.

  Because that’s all she heard in his words. And that’s exactly what she was.

  Helpless. Hopeless. Stuck. A prisoner once again.

  Was this her lot in life? Had the time since freeing herself from her ghastly prison been borrowed time? Was she not meant to live her human life?

  “Lizzy… I’m so sorry,” Charlie stammered. “I tried to heal you. It didn’t work. And now the doctor says you’re in a coma. Please come back to me. Please wake up.”

  Lizzy Deane did not hear his plea to wake up. Her thoughts didn’t make it past coma…

  She’d exchanged one prison for another.

  From a ghastly form in which she had some freedom, albeit little, to imprisoned inside her real body, the only thing free now, her mind.

  A nightmare come to life.

  A nightmare returned.

  She might as well have died and gone to hell.

  This was it for her. Her own personal version of hell.

  Was she doomed to forever be a prisoner?

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Whatever was making that sound was speeding up.

  A door swished open, footsteps shuffled around her bed.

  “What’s happening?” demanded Charlie. No response. “Dr. Walter? Please…”

  “Um, nothing. Nothing at all.” Clearly a lie. The doctor pretended to look over some charts.

  “You would not run in here if it was nothing.”

  The doctor sighed. He peered down at Lizzy and shook his head dejectedly.

  “I’m sorry, Lizzy.” He moved his gaze to Charlie. “This is the hardest thing any doctor can ever tell someone, other than …” Charlie cut him off.

  “Please don’t tell me she’s dying…” an unfair request.

  “You might change your mind.”

  “What could possibly be worse than dying?” But the worse hammered at Charlie like a thick iron nail stabbing into his heart. He bounded up from his chair, gaze fixed on Lizzy in horror. Please don’t let this be true. “Are you… sure?”

  Dr. Walter nodded. “I’m sorry. This chart indicates the right kind of brain activity. Lizzy is awake.”

  “Why won’t her body work then?”

  “Coma’s can be complex, Charlie. I will not lie or sugarcoat. We need to run more tests.” He turned back to Lizzy. “Be sure, Lizzy, we will do all we can to fix this. And we won’t do anything that causes you additional pain, or discomfort.” He grabbed her other hand and squeezed lightly, letting it go and leaving the room to prepare more tests.

  Charlie leaned over her and gently kissed her cheek. “You will not be alone. You will never be alone. I promise. I promise.” He stroked her cheek, repeating his promise a few more times.

  This was an outcome a thousand times worse than death for anyone. But for Lizzy, this was a nightmare come to life. Charlie blew out a tormented breath. How was he going to tell everyone else? How was he going to handle this without going mad? Jesus! How was she?

  He attempted calm, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Least of all the woman imprisoned on the hospital bed.

  “Lizzy. I need you to stay strong. Try not to panic.” Even though it’s what he was doing. “I don’t care what the doctor says, or finds out, I will fix this. Anyway I can. And I will not leave you alone for a single moment. You will not go through this alone.”

  He slid back into his chair by her bedside, sure to keep her hand in his. Constant contact of some form, he thought. Either touch, or voice. He’d talk to her so she knew she was not alone.

  She had to be going insane. How could she not be?

  He stroked her arm, kissed her palm, searching desperately for any response.

  Nothing.

  “This is your worst nightmare,” Charlie stated the abhorrent truth. And he needed to end the nightmare, now, before it went on a minute longer. But how?

  There was one way… and without a second thought to reason, or consequences, a growl pushed through his teeth and he was on his feet leaning over her with teeth pinching into the delicate skin of her shoulder. And just as instantly he tore them away before he drew blood, or released any werewolf venom into her body.

  He backed away, disgusted by what he’d just done.

  “Oh, God, Lizzy. I’m so sorry.” He’d gone into a complete panic and out of sheer need to heal her, had almost bitten her. Or had the ring stopped him? He wasn’t even sure and it didn’t matter. He’d stopped, that was all that mattered at the moment.

  Charlie rubbed her shoulder gently, apologizing over and over. He found his seat again, a defeated breath falling out of his mouth. “I almost bit you. I’m so sorry, Lizzy. I panicked. You deserve the truth, and I won’t be anything but honest with you. You deserve the truth.”

  He imagined, terrifyingly so, his panic was only making hers worse.

  He needed to help, not freak her out even more. Charlie sucked in a few calming breaths, trying to get past this panic and initial horror of what was happening. He needed to stay strong and calm, for Lizzy. This was all about her, and what she needed.

  “I was really hoping you were asleep. Dreaming. Nice dreams. If there was any magic I could use to undo this, I’d break a hundred rules, Lizzy. But I swear to you, I will not do anything that forces you into a life you do not want. I will not force my will, or wants, on you. I almost bit you and I’m so sorry. I almost took away your choice.”

  This was it, dreaded Charlie.

  This was the trial Nina had been compelled to warn him of.

  If he’d thought everything he’d gone through in his life to date was difficult in some way, it was nothing. Now, it was nothing. This was the new measure of terror. And temptation. One bite would save her and heal her… it would also turn her into a werewolf for the rest of her life. A choice there was no going back on.

  With the understanding that the woman he loved was lying on this hospital bed living out her worst nightmare, a true living hell, Charlie concluded there was no greater evil in existence he would ever face.

  Lizzy wished she could respond in any way.

  His voice soothed her panic, even though he was clearly losing his mind and had no clue how to handle this situation.

  She wasn’t sure who had it worse.

  The woman with no options. And no say. And no working anything, but her mind.

  Or the man sitting at her bedside with all the options, and no idea the right thing to do, for her?

  Another harsh reality was breaking through her tiny little world of darkness.

  If there was no medical way to fix her, or no magical way, this left only two options: let Charlie bite her, or let Grayson bite her.

  Either way, werewolf or vampire, she’d be healed from this nightmare but her life, forever altered, and one of the men she loved would be broken and left behind. She’d literally be poisonous to whichever man she did not choose. There would be no changing her mind or realizing she’d made a terrible mistake… this choice was for keeps.

  How long did she have it in her, to wait?

  How did she decide it had been long enough?

  How did she even share her choice with anyone?

  What if death came for her before she had the chance to speak again? There were suddenly so many things she wanted to say and no way to do so.

  And what if fate dealt her the devastating blow of being a living corpse lying in a hospital bed? What then? Because that was not a future she was prepared to accept.

  Werewolf?

  Or vampire?

  Two options. Two entirely different futures.

  She imagined being at hell’s door, not that she was far away, and pictured herself with only seconds to determine her future. Who did she choose? Which life did she want?

  Did she remain with Grayson, her past, and a possible forever future, and the vampire she once thought of as her one true love? A man who’d suffered so tremendously for her.

  Or grab onto a future with
Charlie? A werewolf who’d stolen her heart so fully, almost overnight. And could give her the one life she’d always wanted, as a witch, a teacher. And possibly even a mother.

  Grayson Moone or Charlie Howard?

  ##

  Thanks so much for reading. I’d like to take a moment to thank every reader who takes an extra minute to leave a review on Amazon. Your time and opinion is appreciated! Thank you for letting others know what you think about this book and the series.

  Book 10, Dead Witch Walking, is Coming Spring 2016.

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  I’d also like to take a moment to thank the following Beta Readers!

  Lori Schmelz. Denice Donnelly. Deborah Hawley. Peggy Culver Johnson. Lauren Scheidt.