by Lelana Croft
He let out a gruff chuckle and took a step back. I had been so focused on what he’d been doing, I hadn’t realized the other two vampires had surrounded us.
I felt Katie back up to my one side and Patty on the other. We created a small circle as they all began to walk around us like Indians in the old west, circling some poor family’s wagon.
It was hard to keep my attention focused on them as they kept taunting us, leaning into our space, brushing against us to try to stir up our fears.
I felt Katie’s and Patty’s bodies press up to mine as the circle got tighter and tighter.
Holding my breath, I readied myself for whatever might be coming my way.
A flash of light momentarily blinded me and I heard the sound of the male subordinate vamp scream, then disappear. The female froze and then dropped to the ground, looking up at the sky for something none of us could see.
Another flash of light and she was gone, too. What the hell was happening?
I looked over at Sebastian who had stopped and put his hands on his hips, as if he was waiting for something. We all looked around and waited to see what it was that had removed the other two.
The flash returned and then stopped right between us and Sebastian.
It was Miles, and he was glowing.
“Don’t you have some other place to be, Sebastian? Or have you gotten so bored that you’ve decided to harass young ladies now?” Miles said, as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Sebastian sighed heavily. “You always have to ruin my fun. We weren’t going to hurt them. Just toy with them a little.”
“I’ve seen what you consider ‘toying’. I don’t think they’d appreciate it. You should head home now. It’ll be light soon.”
Sebastian looked over at me and winked. “We’ll finish this up a little later.”
“Don’t count on it!” I yelled.
He took a leap and disappeared into the night sky. Miles turned around and looked us over.
“You ladies all right?”
“We’re fine. And we could have handled them ourselves,” I snarked. I hated it when a man felt like he had to come in and rescue me. I knew I could have taken all three of them.
Miles cocked an eyebrow and smiled a half grin. “Oh, I’m sure you could have. I have no doubt about your abilities. It’s your judgement that I question.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I bristled.
“I thought I told you ladies to go straight home? But obviously, you didn’t, did you?” he said as he moved over to my ear and whispered tautly, “Bad judgement.”
“You’re not the boss of me. Or Katie or Patty. We were hungry and wanted breakfast. I don’t need permission to do whatever I want to do.”
Miles huffed and went over to look at the dead girl.
"Don't listen to what Sebastian said, Katie. People do like witches. I know I'll always like you no matter what and people who know me, know I don't just like anybody,” Patty said, trying to make sure Katie didn’t have hurt feelings over what Sebastian had said.
Katie shrugged. She didn't seem to care what Sebastian had thought and was staring at her hands as if she had just discovered what they were.
"I didn't know I could do that. I mean, I've tried to use my fire before, but I've never been able to pull that off. I don't know exactly how I did it," Katie said.
I hated to tell her, but it was probably because of standing so close to me. I was trying to maintain my powers and not use them, but it is impossible to do that when you're under stress. Since my power can enhance another's supernatural power abilities, it happens quite frequently that my close proximity would unintentionally create a massive increase of another's power. I had to be careful with that. But what surprised me was that I hadn't felt my ankle burning when it was happening this time. Of course, that could’ve been because of the intense environment we were in, so I’d been unaware of the pain.
We walked back over to the girl that was in front of the car. It was obvious that she had passed while we were defending ourselves.
Patty pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911 to have someone come and pick up the body. I knew that I'd probably be putting makeup on her soon.
We waited for the police to arrive, along with the meat wagon. By that time, the sun was rising and we were all completely spent. I decided that I didn't feel like going out to eat any longer and just wanted to sleep off the previous night, so we agreed to just go home.
While we were waiting, I decided to question Miles. He obviously had his own powers, but I’d never seen speed like that before.
“So, you wanna tell me what all that was? And how did you know we were out here? Were you following us?”
Miles stood tall as he looked at me. The warm sun peeking over the horizon almost gave him a golden glow.
“I was just saving your asses, that’s all. And no, I wasn’t following you. I was actually following Sebastian, but I hadn’t caught up with him until I found him here messing with you. I sensed something was up when we came out of Arcane, but I couldn’t find it, so I decided to investigate. That’s when I found his leftovers and just followed the trail of negative energy.”
“Leftovers?” I asked.
“Do you remember when he was at the bar, he all left with three women? They were all tourists here in town, according to Ted.”
“Who’s Ted?”
“He’s the bartender. The three women were at the bar and flirting with Ted. He knew they weren’t locals and they told him they were from New Orleans,” Miles explained.
“So why would they go with Sebastian and his crew? I mean, yeah, this is a small town, but it’s still ridiculous to leave with people…er…beings that you don’t know.”
“Agreed, but some people just aren’t that smart, it seems. I guess they thought by being in a small town, that they were more adept at reading people. The problem is, Sebastian and his following aren’t people. They can easily glamour someone into doing whatever they want.”
I nodded. I knew how easy it was for humans to fall into being glamoured. I was glad that being half angel kept it from happening to me.
“Did you find the other two women?”
Miles frowned. “Yeah. They’re…”
We were interrupted by Sheriff Bowers.
“You said there were two more?” the Sheriff asked him.
He nodded and he and the Sheriff walked up to the front of the car, so Miles could show the Sheriff where to look on the county map for the other two bodies.
Katie and Patty came back and stood next to me, waiting for the okay to go home.
“I had no idea Miles had powers,” Patty said.
“I felt it, but didn’t know what it was exactly. I mean, Sebastian’s powers were strong and smelled bad. Miles always smelled good and I could sense something, but never could put my finger on it. Guess I know now what it was,” Katie said, as all of us were looking over toward Miles, admiring his form.
“What exactly is it, though? I mean, what are his powers? And what is he?” I asked.
Patty and Katie both shrugged. I wanted to know more, but at the moment, I really just wanted to go to bed.
The Sheriff finally gave us the go-ahead to leave.
We went to get into the SUV to head home. Miles came back over and I rolled down the window and asked him why he hadn’t taken out Sebastian.
“I’ve thought about it, but I don’t kill if I don’t have to. That’s not my way. I didn’t kill his subordinates, I just put them where they couldn’t get back to you,” he said, then paused and inhaled deeply. Before walking away, he said, “not only that…he’s my brother.”
Chapter 13
I think we all were stunned at the news that Sebastian was Miles’ brother. They were polar opposites.
“How is that possible? I mean, they have different last names and are so different,” Patty asked.
I shook my head. I knew we were all tired, but I wondered about her sometimes.
>
“They could have had two different fathers. Maybe Sebastian was adopted or something. It could be any weird kind of reason,” Katie replied.
I wanted to know, even though I really didn’t want to get any closer to either of them, but my curiosity was getting the better of me.
Katie looked at me in her rear-view mirror and smiled sheepishly, “I know someone who could get the answer, if she wanted to.”
“Yeah, yeah. But right now, all I want is sleep,” I said as I laughed at her implication, “I’ll think about it.”
They dropped me off and headed home as I trudged my way up the stairs and to the front door. Leaning against the door, I closed my eyes briefly and I could already feel myself being pulled into that huge, comfy bed, waiting for me at the top of the stairs.
I was startled when Adonis decided to appear out of nowhere, right in front of me, halfway up the staircase.
“Long night?” he mewed, as I worked to lift my legs up each tread.
“That’s an understatement. I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now, I just need to sleep.”
I peeled off my clothes and fell into bed, making sure to have one of my daggers with me and tucked it under my pillow.
The bed enveloped me as I closed my eyes and pulled the covers up to my chin. Nothing felt as good as sleep.
Thank goodness for heavy drapes. It was one p.m. before I stirred awake. I opened one eye and could see Adonis curled up into a little ball on the other side of the bed. He was adorable when he wasn’t being a smart-ass.
He must have sensed me looking at him because he opened one eye and looked back at me. “’Bout time you woke up.”
I groaned and stretched before sitting upright. My mouth felt like I’d licked a gravel road and I was starving.
The shower called to me and I shuffled in and turned on the water as hot as I could stand. I was as good as new in twenty minutes.
I sent a text off to Katie and asked if they wanted food. I grabbed us some sub sandwiches before heading over to Elemental. While I was waiting on the food, I couldn’t stop thinking about Miles and Sebastian.
What’d happened to make them so opposite? Or were they really different? So many questions ran through my mind.
I probably shouldn’t care. It’s not like I planned on staying here over the year I was required to anyway. I just needed to get through it and mind my own business.
Then again, it would be kinda boring to just work and play video games for the next year. I decided that I’d make the best of this.
Plus, I still needed to find out how I fit in with Katie. How was it that I was her guide? I didn’t know magic. Most of the time, I avoided shifters. Unless I needed them to do some of the dirty work that I’m not supposed to.
This time, it was different. I didn’t sense anything negative with Katie. Maybe it was because she was a half-breed like me. Being a shifter witch probably came with its own set of challenges. She had a lot of positive energy. And I considered myself a pretty decent judge of character.
When I walked into Elemental, Patty was asleep on the red couch. Katie tossed a stuffed chicken toy at her before opening the fridge for three bottled waters.
We made a place up at the counter and began to scarf down our food. There were so many questions I had about so many things. First, I still had to figure out about the young girl drained of blood and the mummies. Then, Katie and how her magic related to me and finally, there was Miles and Sebastian. It was almost too much to think about, considering this was such a small town where nothing bad was supposed to happen.
“Were you able to get any sleep before opening?” I asked Katie.
“Not really. I made a strong pot of coffee and told Patty to sleep and then once she got up, I’d take a nap if we weren’t busy. Thanks for picking up some food.”
“So did your spell book, or whatever it is, tell you what exactly I was supposed to do? Or was it just touching me that broke whatever spell was on it, so you could now have access to the rest?” I asked Katie as Patty rubbed her raccoon eyes and shuffled over to her sandwich.
“I haven’t gotten that far yet, so I’m not sure. At this point, even if it was only to remove the spell, that was more than I’ve ever been able to do on my own. I’m just glad it worked and now I can finally figure out how to use my powers. Although, last night startled even me.”
I nodded. “Yeah, about that…I didn’t get a chance to tell you before Miles got there and ruined everything, but my powers probably enhanced yours. The only real powers I have of my own are healing and memory walking and even then, it all depends on how much healing needs to be done. Last night when I tried to heal that girl on the road, something was blocking it. It’s like there was some kind of wall against my healing powers that kept me from healing her.”
Katie looked at me with a bit of a side eye, “But what does that have to do with me?”
“Well, I also enhance the powers of others. So, if you are near me and are using powers, I enhance those powers to make them stronger. If you were at a bit of a distance, I could send the enhancement to you and you could also use it that way. Maybe that’s what the whole ‘guiding’ thing is about,” I said, using air quotes.
Katie shrugged. “Well, we can experiment after we eat if you want. I AM curious to know more about the whole thing with Miles and Sebastian. I wonder who is the oldest, and if it was different fathers or different mothers?”
Patty yawned before taking a big bite of her sub. “I think you should take Miles up on his offer for that winery tour. He’s so hot and he likes you.”
I rolled my eyes, but she had a point. “I wonder if Sebastian has anything to do with the girl that had her blood drained, or the mummies?”
“Miles would know,” Patty urged as she smirked.
“Maybe. It depends on how close he is to Sebastian. Do you think he knows all the things that Sebastian is involved with or what he does? Probably not. Most people don’t keep tabs on others like that,” I thought, as the ankle monitor became noticeable again. “Well, if I do decide to take Miles up on his offer, I am not doing it as a date. I have no intention of dating right now. I just don’t have the time or inclination for a relationship.”
Katie and I finished our sandwiches and she asked me if I could show her how I’d enhanced her power. I told her we should go outside, if she wanted to use the fire. I didn’t want us setting the building on fire, if she couldn’t control it.
We went out back where we couldn’t be seen.
“Okay, I’m gonna back away and you bring up your fire as strong as you can. Just aim it over there,” I said, pointing to a pile of bricks that was away from anything flammable.
She turned and summoned as much power as she could. She shot out a small straight stream of orange flames that landed about twenty feet in front of her. It was impressive, but not like what she’d done last night.
“Okay, that’s pretty good. Now, do it again. Only this time, I’m gonna send my powers to you,” I said, the anklet already tingling. I knew I’d only be able to do this for a second and it would probably sting, but I wanted to show her what was possible.
She nodded. “Ready?” Then she summoned her power again.
I sent a quick blast over to her and her flames shot out over one-hundred feet and with the force of a flame thrower. It also sent a burn down to my ankle that reminded me why I didn’t want to do that.
“Holy shit! That was amazing!” she said as she walked back over to me. “That could really come in handy, if we ever run into Sebastian or his grunts again.”
I giggled at the thought of Katie setting that woman vamp on fire who’d touched me.
“What happens if you are closer or touching me? Does it make it stronger? Can we try it?” Katie pleaded.
I took a long deep breath. If I did it again, most certainly Tony would be on the phone, crawling up my ass for using my power. I really didn’t need him to hassle me because I hadn’t had the chance to use m
y memory walk to the intensity I’d wanted to on Marilyn since Tony had adjusted the anklet down. I didn’t want to piss him off either. Or get him in trouble for giving me a little more free reign.
“Well…maybe tomorrow. I have to be careful and not use it too often. It can be…complicated,” I lied. I didn’t want to share the real reason I was down here. They didn’t need to know I was considered a fugitive under house arrest and banished to the country, in the hopes I could stay out of trouble. Not that it mattered, trouble seemed to find me no matter where I went.
I decided to head home for a while and see if I could find out anything online about Marilyn Hastings. My search online pulled up only a few articles that were from recent years, showing her generous donations to the city for everything from new park benches to building the best nursing home. But I needed local historical records.
Maybe Hobbs would know where I could get this stuff. Now that I worked for the town, maybe he had access to some things that I couldn’t get as a regular citizen.
I decided to stop in at the morgue and see if the other two bodies that Sebastian had left had already been dropped off, and see if Hobbs might be working. Even though it was Saturday, I figured he’d most likely be working anyway. He appeared to live for his work. I admired the dedication.
I drove around the building to see if I could see his car. The place looked empty. I assumed all three women that Sebastian and his groupies had killed were inside. I parked around back and went through the basement entrance. Going from the sunlight into the dark basement made it hard to see. I let the door close quietly behind me and waited as my eyes adjusted to the dark hallway.
Walking to the exam room, I pushed through the cold metal double doors and looked for the sheet-draped figures on the rolling tables.
My eyes scanned the room. There were two on one side and one on the other.
Only there was a problem…one of the sheets was pulled back.
The body was gone.
Chapter 14
The screech came from behind me and I whirled around. She’d turned full vampire and was in full-on feed mode, and there’s nothing worse than a new vampire, needing to feed.