“So, what did this Drake want from you?”
“What he wanted had to do with the phone call I made to you that night. Drake wanted me to cast a spell so that they could withstand the sunlight.”
Her mouth dropped open again. “Desiree, that’s not possible.”
“Sherry, as the leader of our coven, haven’t I always taught you that with magic, anything is possible?”
“Yes, but it’s never been done.”
“Desiree has done just that,” Mica said.
“Okay, I’m confused. If Mica’s not Drake’s guard, then how did you two meet?”
“Drake didn’t give me much choice about casting that spell for him, but I somehow convinced him to let me go back to my apartment to get my things. I was all packed and ready to go when Jason Hargrove, the witch hunter, snuck up behind me and knocked me out with chloroform.” Sherry’s mouth dropped open again as Desiree continued. “Jason trussed me up like a Thanksgiving turkey and carted me off to Salem to burn.”
“Oh my God, Desiree…how did Jason find you?”
“Again, I blame my nosy landlady. Drake sent Mica and his friend Caleb to rescue me.”
“Is Caleb a vampire too?”
She shook her head. “No, Caleb’s a shape-shifter. I’ve seen him turn into a ferret and a black panther.”
Sherry noticed how close they were sitting next to each other, and she smiled. “It looks like it must have been love at first sight.”
Mica laughed at her assumption. Desiree flushed and laughed lightly. “Hardly,” Desiree said. She glanced up and winked at Mica. “Oh, I admit there was a mutual attraction from the start, but in the beginning I was afraid of him. He was moody as hell and became angry because he thought I was judging him because he was a vampire. Not to mention the fact that he wasn’t looking for a relationship.” She shrugged helplessly. “Sherry, you know me. I don’t like to be ignored.”
Sherry laughed in agreement, shaking her head. “Okay, what took you so long to get back?”
“Mica wanted to flush Jason out, so we hid in the Forbidden Caverns for a few days.”
“So you two took the advantage of being alone with no interference.”
Desiree flushed again, then cleared her throat. “Hardly.”
Sherry raised an eyebrow at that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Caleb was attracted to me too.” Sherry’s mouth dropped open yet again. “Caleb is not one to take a straight no for an answer.”
“Did they fight over you?”
“Yes and no.”
“Okay, I’m confused again.”
Mica laughed. Desiree cleared her throat. “Caleb took off to a bar and got drunk. While he was there he managed to find an unusual drinking partner.” Sherry nodded for her to continue. “Caleb didn’t know he was partying with Jason Hargrove.”
Sherry rolled her eyes. “My God, girl, what happened then?”
“I cast that spell for Drake, and gave an amulet to Mica. The spell worked beautifully. Caleb came back from his binge and was acting weird. We all went to a truck stop to take showers and Jason started stalking us. We hurried back to the cavern, only to discover that Jason had struck again and torn the cave apart looking through our things. Mica went outside to run a patrol, and Caleb decided to take advantage of Mica’s absence and tried to force himself on me.”
Sherry grimaced. “I take it that that didn’t go over too well.”
“No, it didn’t. I rammed my knee in his groin, then he decided that he was going to attack me as a panther. That’s when they fought. Mica kicked him out and put him on a bus back to New Orleans.”
“Wow, I bet you were glad that was over.”
She laughed at her assumption. “It was far from over.” Sherry tilted her head in question. “It seems that when Caleb was drinking with Jason, Jason gave Caleb the bright idea to call one of Mica’s old girlfriends to run interference. Denise showed up within hours after sending Caleb away.”
“Oh no, not the long lost girlfriend routine.” Her shoulders shook with laughter. “Did you fall for it?”
She nodded. “Yes, I did.”
Mica put his arm protectively around Desiree and spoke. “I almost killed Denise over that. I tried to convince Desiree it was all a lie, but she wouldn’t listen to me. You see, Desiree had put herself in a protective circle and I couldn’t get anywhere near her.” Sherry laughed. “I had to convince Denise to tell Desiree the truth.”
Sherry looked into her friend’s eyes, grinning slyly. “What did you do to her?”
She laughed. “Nothing at first, but when she laughed and thought the whole situation was funny….” She bit her lip and looked a little guilty. “I threw a fireball at her.”
“Good for you. Did you knock her on her butt?”
“No, she dodged it.”
“Well, did you at least make her leave?” They both shook their heads no. Sherry’s eyes rounded. “Why the hell not?”
“Because she was a vampire and the sun had come up, and it really wasn’t her fault. Caleb had called her and talked her into it,” Desiree remarked, and Sherry rolled her eyes. “Besides, that wasn’t the end of the mess.”
“No, let me guess…Caleb came back,” she remarked dryly.
“Yeah, he got back just in time to hear me tell Denise that I didn’t have any feelings for him.”
“Ouch, I bet that didn’t go over too well.”
“No it didn’t.” Desiree blew out a breath, then frowned. “I like Caleb as a friend, and I didn’t like hurting his feelings.” Mica squeezed her hand for support. “Caleb can be annoyingly persistent. If you push him away, he just keeps coming back for more.” She held up her hand and counted off on her fingers. “I had punched him, took him down with a knee to his groin, and took him down with a fireball, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Mica had to threaten to kill him for him to take me seriously and stop. Most guys see me coming and run in the other direction. I am not used to being pursued that ardently. It was kind of creepy.”
“Wow, that was some adventure.”
“It didn’t end there.” Sherry rolled her eyes again and waited for her to continue. “We had decided enough was enough, and it was time to come back to New Orleans. We packed the Express Van, and all I had left to do was to retrieve the blessed amulets I had hidden and we were going to be on our way.”
“You didn’t leave as planned?”
“We didn’t get the chance. Jason Hargrove struck again.”
Sherry grimaced. “What did he do this time?”
“Mica is a rogue vampire. It means he lives here in Drake’s domain under Drake’s good graces. He is allowed to live away from the rest of the pack as long as he leaves his services open to the local vampire king. We weren’t in Drake’s domain, which means by vampire law he could be killed by another clan on sight. Jason turned him in to the local vampire clan and they took them all prisoner. They were to die at dawn when the sun rose.”
“They didn’t take you?”
“No, I was in my circle and they couldn’t touch me.”
“We need to get together and cast a spell to take care of Hargrove. He’s a pain in the ass.”
Desiree winked at Sherry. “I took care of Hargrove. He can’t hurt any of us ever again.”
“Did you kill him?”
Desiree laughed harder at Sherry’s reaction. “No, I turned him into the rat he is, and I put a twist on the spell to make it permanent.”
“So, what did you do after the vampire clan carted the others off?”
Desiree opened her mouth to answer when there was a pounding on the front door. She shut her mouth and looked at Mica, puzzled. “Does anyone know you’re back?”
He shrugged. “Maybe it’s Caleb.” He stood up from the couch. “I’ll be right back.”
They both watched him walk to the front door. “He’s hot,” Sherry whispered to Desiree.
“You don’t ha
ve to whisper,” Desiree chuckled. “He can hear you perfectly, so don’t say anything to me now that you don’t want him to hear.”
Sherry flushed in embarrassment. “He heard that?”
Mica laughed and said, “Yes, he did.”
She rolled her eyes. “Give a girl a little warning next time.” Desiree laughed again.
Mica opened the door and stared in disbelief.
“Hello Mica. Aren’t you going to let me in?”
Chapter Three
Mica opened the door wider and stepped aside. “Come in.” His voice held a hint of caution. “In the past when you wanted to see me, you always sent one of your lackeys. What’s the big emergency that you thought you had to come personally?”
Drake raised an eyebrow at his tone. “Hello to you too.” His voice held just as much sarcasm. “Actually, I came to see Desiree.”
Desiree jumped up from the couch to defuse the situation developing at the front door. “It’s Drake,” she whispered to Sherry. “I’ll be right back.” She hurried to the front door.
Up to this point Sherry had been listening to Desiree’s story with an open mind, but her mind still held some doubts as to what she could logically accept to be real. The idea of a genuine vampire clan and shape shifters living in New Orleans seemed a little farfetched to her. Her mind still rejected the idea, and she would have to be convinced that all this was real, but for the moment, she wouldn’t argue the points with her friend.
She stood and faced the front door. The new visitor, Drake, now commanded all her attention. In her mind, another powerful god had just suddenly appeared from nowhere, and she felt a sudden, instant attraction. She didn’t see anything she didn’t like—she admired every detail. He had long raven-black hair, piercing, hypnotic blue eyes, high cheekbones, a straight nose, a firm square jaw, and a strong sensual mouth. He didn’t tower over Mica, but he was certainly his equal. Her eyes traveled the length of his strong, muscular body. When her gaze finally made it back up to his strikingly handsome face, their eyes locked and he smiled. She caught her breath at being caught staring, but she couldn’t summon the will to look away.
“Drake—Drake!” Desiree snapped her fingers a couple of times in front of his face, with no reaction. Looking up at Mica, she shrugged, crossed her arms over her chest, and cleared her throat loudly. “Earth to Drake,” she remarked sarcastically. When he still didn’t respond, she turned to follow the direction of his gaze and saw Sherry. She looked back up at Mica and blew out a frustrated breath. “This is great—just great.” Slamming her hands on her hips, she stepped in front of him, successfully blocking his view of Sherry. She locked eyes with him. “You can’t have my friend,” she remarked firmly.
He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked an eyebrow at her. “You are in a bold mood today,” he growled.
Mica grabbed her by the arm and tucked her protectively behind him. She tried to step around him, but he held her back. She poked her head around his shoulder. “I mean it Drake. You can’t have my friend.”
“Desiree!” Mica snapped in a harsh whisper.
“Mica, I can handle….” She paused when he turned around and shot her an angry glare. “Uh, I mean….” She glared back at him. “Mica, that’s just not fair.”
“Mica, you need to control your mate,” Drake growled. There was a shocked intake of breath from across the room, and he locked eyes with Sherry again. He softened his tone. “Desiree, introduce me to your friend.”
“Mica, do I have to?” she whispered fiercely.
“Yes,” he whispered back.
She opened her mouth to object, but Mica stopped her. “We’ll talk about this later. Remember we are only allowed to remain here, together, by his good graces. He could always order you go back to the warehouse to live.”
She closed her eyes and sighed heavily in resignation. “I’m doing this under protest,” she whispered stubbornly. “I don’t want to jeopardize what we have.” He nodded.
Desiree stepped around Mica. “Come in, Drake. I’ll introduce you to my friend, Sherry.” He nodded and followed her into the great room. She smiled at Sherry and gave her a ‘brace yourself’ look. “Sherry, this is Drake Bouvier. Drake, this is my friend, Sherry Lambert.”
He took Sherry’s hand in his and smiled, but he directed his question at Desiree. “Is she an immortal witch like you?”
Sherry sucked in a shocked breath. “I can speak for myself.” Her voice was sharp and sarcastic. “I am a witch, but hardly immortal.”
“Another witch, this is excellent.” His smile broadened. She tried to take her hand back, and he gripped her fingers tighter. He glanced at Desiree. “You will work on a spell to make her immortal too.” Desiree’s mouth dropped open at his outrageous demand.
Sherry sucked in her breath again and successfully dislodged her hand. “She will not do any such thing.” Anger tinged her voice. “Who do you think you are, ordering my best friend around like that?”
He raised an eyebrow to her sudden outburst, but the smile never left his face.
Desiree clamped her mouth shut. She rubbed her temples at the sudden tension headache she had. “Sherry, it’s okay. Calm down.”
“I am her king,” he remarked as if stating the obvious. Sherry’s mouth went slack with disbelief. “Desiree and Mica are my subjects.”
She glanced at her friend for confirmation, and Desiree nodded.
Desiree cleared her throat before she spoke. “He is king of this region’s vampires.” She blew out a breath and continued reluctantly. “Mica is one of his subjects.” Drake opened his mouth to interrupt, and she held up her hand. Mica walked up behind her and slipped his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him. “I am Mica’s mate, so that makes me one of his subjects as well.”
Sherry looked frantically around the room. “Where is it?” she demanded. “I know it has to be around here somewhere.”
“Sherry, what are you looking for?”
“That damned hidden camera.”
“Hidden camera?” She rubbed her temples again. “I don’t know what you are referring to—”
Sherry crossed her arms over her chest. “This is all so absurd that it has to be a joke, or some weird reality TV show.” She searched her friend’s eyes again for confirmation.
She shook her head sadly. “I’m not kidding Sherry. A lot has changed in the past week.”
Sherry’s mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide as her friend’s words sunk in. Then she locked eyes with Drake. He smiled and she noticed his fangs for the first time. Up until that moment, the term ‘vampire’ hadn’t really registered to her as being a reality. The color left her face. “You’re a—a….” She swallowed hard. “A vampire?” Black spots suddenly clouded her vision.
“Yes I am….” His voice faltered when she swayed on her feet.
“Drake, catch her!” Desiree shouted.
Sherry barely heard her. The room faded into a black void.
Chapter Four
Drake caught Sherry before she could hit the floor. Effortlessly he lifted her unconscious body and held her in his arms. Her head lolled against his shoulder. “I thought witches knew about us,” he remarked to Desiree.
She shrugged. “Sure, we knew about the existence of vampires. I just don’t think she had ever met one before.” She gave Mica an uneasy look. “I hadn’t until last week.”
Drake looked down at Sherry’s unconscious form in his arms. Concern for her creased his brow. “Why isn’t she waking up?”
Desiree shrugged again. “She’s had a shock. She’ll wake up in a minute—or two.” Her eyes grew wide as she observed the tender look on Drake’s face as he gazed down at Sherry, and how gently he was holding her. “Drake, why don’t you put Sherry down on the sofa?”
He tightened his possessive grip on Sherry as he looked back up at Desiree. “No.” He turned his head to gaze back down at Sherry.
Sherry’s eyes fluttered open at the tight squeeze she receive
d, and she found herself gazing into startling blue eyes that were mere inches from hers. Her heart slammed frantically in her chest as fear gripped her. “Am I still me?” she said in a small voice.
Drake furrowed his brows in concern. “That’s a strange question, even for a witch. I caught you before you could hit your head, so I don’t understand your question. Who else would you be?”
She swallowed hard. “You didn’t bite me, did you?”
He grinned. “No, but I can if you want me to.”
Her eyes bugged as she struggled in his arms. “No, I don’t want you to!” She pushed on his chest with her hands. It was unmovable, just like pushing against a brick wall. “Put me down!”
He broadened his grin as he gently put her back on her feet. “You sure are a bossy little thing. I like your spirit.”
She flushed as she straightened her short skirt, then glanced at Desiree and Mica in embarrassment. “What just happened?” she whispered fiercely to Desiree.
Desiree bit her lip and shrugged apologetically at her friend. “You fainted.” Sherry’s eyes rounded again at Desiree answering her question out loud. Desiree shook her head at Sherry’s expression. “Sherry, I told you earlier that they have excellent hearing. There’s no need to whisper. They’ll hear you anyway.”
Sherry closed her eyes in mortification as Desiree’s words sunk in. I’ve gotta get out of here. Her eyes flew open, she squared her shoulders, and she made a conscious decision to salvage what was left of her dignity. “I haven’t eaten anything since lunch yesterday. I’m sorry if I alarmed anyone. I must have gotten light headed.”
Desiree took the cue. “I’m sorry Sherry. We got to talking and I had forgotten about breakfast. I can have the servant whip something up for us.”
She shook her head. “Why don’t you and I go out and get breakfast and let these guys talk. We need to catch up.”
Desiree glanced at Mica, shrugged, then turned back to Sherry and smiled. “Sure Sherry, I’ll just go upstairs and grab my purse. I’ll be right back.” She left her with the guys.
Mica nodded at his servant, Charles, from across the room. He nodded in acknowledgement and went outside.
Dangerous (Courting the Darkness Saga) Page 2