The Witch's Thirst

by Deborah LeBlanc

  Taka let out a loud breath of frustration, slammed her purse down on the table and placed her hands on top of it. “Okay...okay. I went to Trey Cottle’s apartment.”

  Arabella and Vanessa let out a collective gasp.

  “Lights were out in the apartment windows above his office, so I threw a rock against one. You know, like they do in the movies. Just meant to tap it, hoping the noise would wake him up. Only I must’ve thrown too hard because the window broke. It woke him up, though.”

  “You did what?” Arabella asked in disbelief.

  “Why—” Vanessa said, then seemed to lose whatever else she meant to say.

  “I wanted to find out where Gunner Stern lived,” Taka said.

  “Why on earth would you do that?” Arabella asked.

  Taka looked at her with a dumbstruck expression. “You were the one who was always saying that Gunner might be able to help us. That you sort of trusted him.” Her voice grew stronger, angrier. “We’ve been sitting around here with our fingers up our butts while everything’s being destroyed around us. I thought you had a good idea about getting Gunner involved, and I wanted to act on it right away. The only problem was I didn’t know where he lived. Trey’s address was all I had to work with, since he lives above his law office.”

  “You broke his window?” Arabella said, mostly to herself.

  “I didn’t mean to break it,” Taka said. “I’d planned on knocking on the door. The problem was the door to his apartment is up a flight of stairs down a short alleyway behind the law office. And the alleyway was closed off by a locked wrought-iron fence. That’s when I thought of the rocks.”

  “Sweet Mother Earth,” Vanessa said, slapping her hands over her face.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” Arabella asked.

  “Well, I figured if I could get Trey’s attention, he would certainly know where Gunner lived. Once I had the address, I planned to go and talk to him about what’s been going on, just like you suggested earlier, Arabella. This wasn’t something I just pulled out of thin air. We’ve been talking and talking about this. I figured it was time to act on it. No disrespect, Arabella, but you always seem scared to do anything outside of the box. So I sorta took things into my own hands.”

  Arabella and Vanessa sat gaping at her, speechless.

  Taka soon filled the void of silence. “Anyway, it wasn’t so bad. Trey invited me inside, gave me Gunner’s phone number and let me use his home office in private to call him.”

  Now it was Arabella’s turn to slide her hands down her face, while Vanessa looked at Taka agape.

  “You went into Trey’s apartment?” Arabella asked.

  “Yeah, I just told you that. Trey told me Gunner lived out by the Causeway, which was too far for me to walk, and I’d forgotten to bring money with me. Didn’t think I’d need any. Anyway, Trey was the one who suggested I call Gunner if I really needed to speak to him that badly.”

  “You were in Trey Cottle’s apartment...?” Vanessa said incredulously.

  “Are you deaf?” Taka asked Vanessa. “I’ve already told the two of you a hundred times that I went there.”

  “You’re an idiot, no question,” Vanessa said.

  “Oh, bite me,” Taka said.

  Arabella held up a finger, signaling for them to stop the quipping. “What happened while you were there?” she asked Taka.

  “Had no problems at all...well, sort of. I didn’t get Trey involved because I know how everyone hates him. He led me to his office, closed the door, and I waited to make sure I couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore before I called Gunner.”

  “What did Gunner say?” Arabella asked.

  “Told me not to go to Trey’s anymore. Said not to talk about anything more over the phone, after I said we really needed to talk to him. Needed his help. He said he’d meet me at Bon Appétit Café to discuss anything we needed his help with.”

  “For the love of the elements,” Arabella said. “Gunner tells you to meet him at Evee’s café and you come back here?”

  Taka shrugged. “Since the Causeway is some distance away, I figured I had time to come back here and fill you in so we could all meet with him.”

  “Then why the hell did you take so long playing word games with us?” Vanessa demanded. “Gunner does have a car, and if you asked for his help, I’m sure he jumped right into it and is probably waiting at the café for us now.”

  In the midst of Taka’s news, Arabella found herself simply staring at the Elder. How could she have been so out of line? Taking it upon herself to track down a sorcerer without the consent or approval of her and Vanessa? That was so unlike Taka it boggled Arabella’s mind.

  Suddenly a cold chill of intuition ran down Arabella’s spine. “Are you sure Trey didn’t hear your conversation with Gunner?” she asked.

  “I told you, I waited until I couldn’t hear his footsteps walking down the hallway before I even called Gunner,” Taka said. “Trey didn’t hear anything. Couldn’t have.”

  “Did you happen to notice if he had a second phone anywhere in the apartment when you went inside?” Arabella asked, suspecting the worst.

  “I didn’t see one,” Taka said. “Why?”

  “If someone has a phone in their home office, where they’re not always located in their apartment, chances are there’s another phone in the house. The living room or the kitchen maybe.”

  “Okay, so?” Taka said, looking at Arabella quizzically.

  “If he has a second phone, and I’d bet my broom on it that he does, chances are that he was listening to your conversation with Gunner on the other line. Probably heard everything you said to him.”

  Taka frowned. “But I didn’t hear anything but Gunner’s voice on the phone. If Trey had picked up another line, wouldn’t I have heard a click or at least heard him breathing?”

  “Trey’s slicker than oil on wet grass,” Vanessa said. “And you’re forgetting that he’s a sorcerer. He could easily have muted any sound he made to make sure you didn’t hear it. Basically, you just stuck your foot in the lion’s den. No, make that all of our feet in the lion’s den.”

  “You don’t know that for sure,” Taka said. “Besides, Gunner said he’d be glad to help any way he could. So despite what Trey did or didn’t do, my vote is that we go over to Bon Appétit and see if Gunner’s there. Find out what he may have to offer in order to help us.”

  “We may never know what he has to offer, because I guarantee you,” Arabella said, “if you used a phone in Trey Cottle’s apartment, he was listening to your conversation. He’ll probably put a stop to Gunner showing up at the café.”

  “You screwed up big time, Taka,” Vanessa said. “And we’re in enough trouble as it is. We can’t control what we have going on right now, and you’ve just turned up the heat a thousand degrees. And that fire is right under our feet. Now what are we supposed to do?”

  “I don’t think Trey can stop Gunner from helping if he really wants to,” Taka said. “Gunner sounded really worried over the phone. I’m sure he’ll show up and offer his support. I’m counting on it because you said you trusted him, Arabella, and that he was a nice guy.”

  “I also said that I needed time to think on it before we made a move.”

  “But you were taking too long,” Taka said. “Something had to be done right away. So many Originals missing. We could lose more. Maybe even the Triad. I was only trying to help.”

  “I understand that,” Arabella said. “But you can’t just take things of such magnitude onto yourself. The three of us have to be in full agreement and understand what we’re getting ourselves involved in.”

  “And because of your stupidity,” Vanessa told Taka, “there’s a good chance Trey Cottle has got his nose right in the middle of it all. He never has anything going on around him that he isn’t
aware of. That egomaniac has snitches around every corner.”

  “So why don’t we just go talk to Gunner and let him know what’s going on?” Taka said. “Even let him know we suspect that Trey may have overheard the conversation.”

  Vanessa shook her head. “Don’t you get it, oh brainless one? If Trey overheard your conversation with Gunner, chances are high that he’s going to be snooping around the café to overhear our conversation.”

  “I don’t know about you,” Arabella said to Taka, “but I don’t have keys to Evee’s café. Do you?”

  Taka chewed her upper lip for a second. “No. I figured I’d meet Gunner in front of the café and talk to him there.”

  Vanessa groaned. “What were you thinking? Talking to Gunner out in the open? We might as well call Trey up and have him come right over and join in the party.”

  Arabella’s frown deepened and she shook her head. “Oh, Taka, what were you thinking?”

  Taka began to tear up. “But...but I was only trying to help.”

  “And I said I was going to take some time to think about it,” Arabella said. “You blatantly went against my orders.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” Taka said, looking forlorn.

  “Arabella may take some time to think things through,” Vanessa said, “but once she has, her advice is always sound. You take off on your own, and you’ve completely tilted this wagon over, and now shit will spill out all the way down the street to Cottle.”

  “You’ve got to get this in your head, Taka,” Arabella said. “Trey Cottle is not to be trusted in any way. If he finds out what’s going on with us, he’s going to take advantage of us in a time of weakness and make our lives more miserable than they are now. You know how he’s always had his nose stuck in the Triad’s business. Sneaking around, watching everything they did. Not out of curiosity’s sake. It almost felt like he was trying to learn something from them.”

  “Why would he do that?” Taka asked.

  “Because he’s a damn sorcerer,” Vanessa said. “And he has his own agenda. Most sorcerers feel they’re above witches anyway. Trey’s never wanted anything to do with witches, yet he keeps an eye on the Triad. The only reason I can figure he’d do that is to learn more spells.”

  Taka nodded. “I know the sorcerers have always felt they were above us.”

  “Then why did you go to him?” Vanessa said. “Why on earth did you go to Trey Cottle’s?”

  “I’ve already answered that a dozen times,” Taka said. “Have you ever considered getting a hearing aid? You might need one. Now I’m going to bed. I’m extremely tired. I’ve done my good deed for the day. If you two don’t want to meet Gunner, then I’d suggest calling him, so the poor man won’t be standing out by the café wondering what the hell has happened to us.”

  “Do you still have Gunner’s phone number?” Arabella asked.

  Taka nodded, dug into her purse and pulled out the piece of paper Trey had given her with Gunner’s number on it.

  Arabella took the paper from her and got up from the table. “I’ll give him a call now. Try to straighten this out.”

  “What if he’s already at the café?” Taka asked.

  Shoulders slumping, Arabella said, “If he doesn’t answer the phone, then I’ll have little choice but to go to the café. But I won’t discuss anything with him there. I’ll set up another place and time to meet. I only hope this ridiculous faux pas doesn’t cause him to get angry with us. Then he might refuse to help.”

  “No way he’d get mad at you,” Taka said. “He’s sweet on you.”

  “That’s true,” Vanessa agreed.

  “Why is it so hard for you to admit?” Taka said. “I think it’s cute.”

  “He is not, so stop saying it,” Arabella insisted.

  “The fact that you won’t admit it doesn’t make it not so,” Vanessa said.

  “Right,” Taka said. “At our age, you can’t just throw that kind of man interest away.”

  Arabella scowled. “You march yourself on up to bed. I don’t want you out of this house again until morning. I’ll get in touch with Gunner one way or the other. Set up a meeting for tomorrow, at a more decent time and place. Maybe. I’m still not sure about getting any of the sorcerers involved.”

  “Why won’t you give Gunner a chance to help?” Taka asked.

  Arabella blew out an exasperated breath. “When I talk to him or see him and feel he has something legitimate to offer, I’ll consider it. Until then, keep your behind in your bedroom. If I have to put a lock on the outside of your door, I will.”

  Taka lowered her head, trying to hide a look of disappointment, which Arabella caught.

  “And one more thing, Ms. Taka Burnside, don’t you ever leave this house like that again without letting us know. You could’ve gotten killed out there.”

  Vanessa snorted. “Killed? You might as well chalk her up for it. Because if Trey Cottle is involved with this in anyway, we might as well be dead.”

  “That’s not true!” Taka said loudly, then looked at Arabella. “Is it?”

  Arabella gave her a weary look. “I have no idea. All I can say is that you’ve really done it this time, Taka. You’ve put all three of us, the Triad and the Originals in more danger than you know. Trey is a force to be reckoned with, and I don’t know if we have the wherewithal to deal with everything that sorcerer might decide to dish out.”

  Chapter 19

  Something inside his chest pounded so hard he thought it was going to explode from his body at any moment. He didn’t know if he had a heart, but that was what he associated the sensation with.

  Everything was building up to such heights that he had to force himself to calm down.

  He sent a legion of Cartesians, which were always at his side, away for a moment so that he’d have time to establish a direct plan.

  He didn’t want any mistakes.

  Nothing going off half-cocked.

  Everything was nearing a conclusion, and he had to make sure it went as smoothly as possible.

  No mistakes. He had to get it right, if this was going to work.

  He’d never used pen or paper before because he’d never had a need for them, as he kept mental notes. His memory held on to every form of minutia. Everything that had happened to him since it all began centuries ago. He made a checklist in his mind, which seemed apropos, for he knew how to check ideas off mentally, without missing one. Not even the nuance of one.

  He planned on killing off the rest of the Originals very soon. Possibly as soon as tomorrow. From there, his ultimate goal would begin. He’d take the Originals, and before the Triad even had a moment to mourn their loss, he’d grab them, as well.

  The Triad carried the most power in the city, which was why he craved them so. Third on his list were the Elders. Although they recently seemed to have become ineffective as witches, much less Elders, he believed they still had some measure of power despite their advancing years, because they were in charge of the Triad. Not only were they responsible for the Triad but they kept control over the entire clan of the Circle of Sisters as well. That had to count for something. Certainly, with that much responsibility, regardless of age, had to come great power.

  Once the Originals, Triads and Elders were taken care of, he intended to sweep the city for all netherworld creatures—the vampires and werewolves, fae, leprechauns, anything that claimed a stake in the netherworld.

  And then would come the humans, in order of power. Out with the voodoo priests and priestesses, for what minuscule powers they possessed. Then he’d go for the humans who controlled other humans. Not that they possessed supernatural powers of any kind, but their control and power over other humans carried its own weight.

  The mayor of the city of New Orleans was definitely on his list. Then the police chief of ever
y district in the city. He’d have his Cartesians destroy them all. Every councilman, judge, police officer, everyone in pecking order of power, all the way down to the principals of schools.

  Then his plan was to take the rest of the population by economic order. The richest, the rich, the heads of companies, down to the blue-collar worker, housewives. Then, of course, the children.

  He’d leave the city barren. Cleaned of all netherworld and human debris before he sent thousands of his Cartesians to reinhabit the city and restructure it to his specifications. New Orleans would be his flagship, then all other cities around the world part of his fleet.

  Once he had proven what his army was capable of under his command, which he considered far beyond genius, all else would easily unfold.

  After conquering this city, he’d no longer have to take baby steps. He’d race from city to city, country to country, as he had done for the past few decades, striking a clan of vampires in New Zealand, a horde of werewolves in New York City. Only this time, he’d have thousands more Cartesians at his disposal, and his own powers would be infinite.

  As quickly as he planned to move, he wanted to save the very top of the human heap for last. A coup de grâce, so to speak.

  He’d finish off the United States first, of course, for in and of itself, the country carried great power. His next directive would send his Cartesians to Washington, DC. First the netherworld creatures that inhabited the city, and then, of course, for any additional boost of power, he’d send them directly to the president of the US. Followed by the vice president, all of congress, the senate, even NASA. Every source of power that held up and led the entire country.

  Once these entities were destroyed, he anticipated the entire world to go into shock. Country after country, and all the powers who controlled them, would be shaking in their boots. Never having heard of such an enemy. And even better, not knowing how to destroy it.

  He knew if he kept his wits about him, he’d soon be moving onto England, Japan, then country to country, continent to continent. All of it. Everything. Until he stood supreme.