Witch Way to Turn

by Karen Y. Bynum

  She gripped the doorknob. “I need…food.”

  “Come with me, then.” He held out his hand. “We’ll go to the cafeteria.”

  “I’d never make it in a room full of buzzing.”

  “Bree, please–”

  “Go.”

  “Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll hurry.” He took off down the hall.

  “Myles,” she called after him. He froze, back still to her.

  “Make sure they’re willing.”

  He nodded.

  When Breena unlocked and opened the door, Jenny bounded into her bedroom, leaving Breena slumped against the front door.

  Everything went quiet, except for the buzzing coming from Jenny’s room. It wouldn’t stop. She had to make the noise go away. It had to stop. Had to.

  A dark fever seared her to the bone. Breena knew what she needed. Ever since Orin had fed on her, he’d awakened something…deadly inside her. It terrified her. She’d become Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. What could she do? She wanted to leave, get far away from her sister. Far, far away. At least with the flight attendant, Myles had helped her stay under control. This time, she’d sent him away, or Ms. Hyde had. Either way, she was alone...and hungry.

  Forcing herself to face the front door, she clutched the knob. Everything was clear. Nothing made sense. She needed to feed. Jenny played just down the hall.

  But she’s my sister.

  “C’mon, Breena,” she muttered. “Do it. Open the door.”

  She couldn’t make herself turn the handle.

  Why should I?

  She’d fed before. Twice. What would one more time hurt? So what, if it was her sister? She would never hurt Jenny.

  You could kill her.

  Breena could stop whenever she wanted…she controlled her own life. Just a little taste then she’d be satisfied. Besides, she could ease Jenny’s pain. Take it away.

  It’ll come back.

  Breena turned away from the door, fists clenched at her sides, ears ringing like church bells.

  No!

  It was too late. She couldn’t fight the hunger. It had won.

  In the next breath she stood by Jenny’s side. Her sister sat with legs tucked under her on the bed, playing with her cellphone.

  “Bea, your eyes–”

  Breena lunged, pushed Jenny flat against the comforter. Her hands gripped her sister’s throat. She couldn’t squeeze too tightly or the life would be gone before she’d had a chance to feed, but she also couldn’t let her get away.

  Her sister’s soul sang a tantalizing tune of sweet innocence. Jenny’s big brown eyes stared up at her in silent terror, but she made no move to fight. Didn’t even try to get away. Breena closed her eyes and felt her breath catch in her throat. Her mind flashed to the night Stan attacked them. Jenny had fought then. Breena was just like him, taking what she wanted. She groaned.

  I can’t do this. Can’t do it. Have to fight it.

  The room spun, a merry-go-round of agony. Breena would explode if it didn’t stop spinning. Reaching up, she covered her ears with her hands as she rocked back and forth.

  Maybe this was what it felt like to spiral utterly out of control. All Breena knew, her skin itched as if it crawled over her bones. Her body ached with the burn of hunger. Controlling it…holding back was no longer an option. She felt like a nuclear bomb, ticking down to the last three seconds.

  Then...poof!

  One instant she’d summoned every scrap of humanity she had left not to feast on her sister’s soul. The next she stood in the parking lot outside the Betty Lou compound.

  Sweet Mary, mother of Jesus.

  She hadn’t killed her sister.

  Breena didn’t stop to think. She just ran. Not willing to take any chances, she pushed her famished body as hard as it would go.

  When the dry ache in her throat began to itch, she figured it was safe to slow down. At least now she could partially see through the murky hunger. It hadn’t totally vanished, but hauling ass had gone a long way in the distraction department.

  With no idea where she was or how long she’d been running, she took in her surroundings as she struggled to catch her breath. She’d ended up under a bridge. Like a troll in a fairy tale. From the size and sound of it, she assumed the interstate loomed above.

  She slumped bonelessly to the ground and buried her face in her hands. How could she have done that? Granted, she’d stopped herself before she’d even tasted her sister’s soul…but, seriously, how could she even have come that close?

  A scuffling sound brought her out of her painful reverie. When she looked up, three very large, very scary guys surrounded her. A white guy. A black guy. And an albino?

  The white guy had scruffy brownish-red hair, which hung around his shoulders. The black guy’s raven hair was short, and his eyes as dark as his crew cut. The albino stood out to her the most. Not just because his was the palest skin she’d ever seen–even paler than a vampire off day-walking pills, and she’d seen quite a few in the Betty Lou cafeteria–but because his eyes were pink.

  She’d seen those eyes before.

  “Where ya headin’?” Scruffy blocked her path.

  “Apparently nowhere, dumb-ass.” Even through the fear, her sarcasm found a way to shine.

  “Damn straight, sweetheart,” Albino said, “we’ve got unfinished business with you.”

  “Unfinished? Am I supposed to know you douche bags?” She tried hard to remember them. The white guy and the black guy looked vaguely familiar… As they approached her, their rotten hamburger stench took her straight back to the attack on campus, and she placed them at last.

  “Ah, I’m hurt you don’t remember us.” Albino motioned to the black guy. “Jay, refresh the witch’s memory.”

  The sound of flesh tearing apart filled the silent night air as bones snapped and locked into place. Jay hadn’t even bothered to take off his clothes, ripping right through them. Even on all fours, the wolf stood nearly as tall as Breena.

  He was all teeth and headed full-speed in her direction.

  By the time she’d thought about apparating to safety, the black beast had knocked her to the ground. His teeth sunk into her arm and she screamed. The pain of the bite shot through every nerve ending in her body. The wolf stood over her, his foul dog breath and razor-sharp leer inches from her face.

  Albino stooped down to look her square in the eyes. “Not so hard to catch when your boyfriends aren’t drooling all over you.”

  “Go to hell.” She spat at him, hitting him on the chin.

  Albino wiped the spit off and nodded to Jay. The wolf pushed his paw into Breena’s wound. Biting her lip, she grimaced. Why couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut? She found it harder and harder to breathe as the weight of the wolf on top of her shifted.

  “I like my girls with dirty mouths.” Scruffy squatted down on the opposite side of Albino.

  “You’ll have your turn, Aderon.” Albino shoved Scruffy, but not hard. Almost like they would’ve bumped chests if they’d been upright. “It’d be a dying shame not to play with our food first. Wouldn’t it, boys?”

  “Right on, Felix.” Aderon did a cool-guy nod at Albino.

  The wolf howled his approval before he moved next to her, his dark gaze on his boss.

  “What? No tears? No pleading?” Felix, the albino, pushed off the ground to stand over her.

  Breena stared up at him from her place on the hot asphalt.

  “Maybe you want a real man to fuck some sense into you?”

  “You’re a damn dog.” She would’ve spit again if her throat hadn’t been so dry and he wasn’t so far above her.

  “Change back. Then wrap this around her neck,” Felix ordered the black wolf. He unhooked his belt, yanked it out, and threw it to the ground by the wolf’s paws. “We’ll all have a go at her. Teach her a lesson.”

  The wrenching, tearing sound came from the wolf as his body contorted and bent in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Fur disappeared, skin stret
ched over bone and pointy teeth flattened. Then he sat hunched beside her, naked and terrifying. He put the belt around her throat, and cinched it closed. Pulled. She gasped for air.

  Maybe she deserved this. Maybe she deserved to die.

  She didn’t want to, and this wasn’t the way she would’ve chosen. But how could she go on knowing at any minute the hunger could force her to kill? To kill someone she loved.

  If she were dead, it would surely be better for Jenny. And she wouldn’t have to break Myles’s heart or deal with what Orin had done. Suddenly, death seemed the easiest way.

  She could surrender, let herself go. Die for something. Or she could fight, and live for something.

  Large dark hands came into her peripheral vision. The belt tightened around her neck. Air slid over her lips, like a deflating balloon.

  Felix looked at Aderon. “Hold her arms.”

  Scruffy scooted closer to her and pinned them to her sides.

  While she lay there in the dark alley, watching a pink-eyed bastard werewolf stalk toward her as if she were dinner and a show, Breena realized part of her wouldn’t take this shit lying down.

  And the other part was starving.

  Chapter 24

  Albino’s breath reeked of rotten meat. He hunched on the ground, his face only inches from Breena’s nose. She flinched. He reached out and yanked the belt strap to the side, which forced her to look directly at him. The leather pressed against her skin, choking her.

  Felix stared down at Breena’s wounded arm and his eyes were so intense they almost glowed. She recognized that look.

  God, no!

  He tore a chunk of flesh from her wound with his teeth. Blood coated his lips as they curved into an insane smile.

  She tried to scream, but the restraint around her throat trapped the sound. Tears flowed from the pain.

  “That’s more like it.” Chewing, Felix smacked his lips for effect. Then he licked the blood from his lips. “Damn, you’re tasty. You’ve been holding back. You’re more than a witch, aren’t you?”

  She didn’t respond. Too many emotions crowded her addled brain.

  “Answer me.” He landed a fisted blow to her bitten arm.

  Another scream caught in her throat and anger billowed through her. Her thoughts swirled together. To survive, she knew what needed to be done. Her ears grew as her head swam with pain.

  “What the hell?” Felix looked at Breena’s now-pointed ears.

  His soul rang out from within him, calling to her. The hunger raged. It had been suppressed for far too long.

  Breena gave in. She needed to feed and, above everything else, she wanted to live.

  The desire to devour his soul seemed to give her a burst of energy. Wrestling against his hold, Breena managed to free her good arm and flatten Felix to her chest. As her lips surrounded his, she took a deep breath. The more she inhaled, the stronger she felt.

  She flipped him off her and onto his back. They were alone.

  Good.

  Now, she looked down at him. His gaze pleaded with her to stop, but she latched her lips to his again and breathed all the more deeply.

  Even if she had wanted to stop, she couldn’t. She needed this, wanted it.

  Each breath gave her strength. She fed until no sign of life remained, and Albino no longer struggled.

  Sweet Jesus.

  She’d taken his last breath from him. What had she done? Who was she? She’d taken someone’s life. His life! Granted he deserved it, but she wasn’t a murderer. Was she? When had it come to this?

  I’m no better than Orin.

  They were predators. Hungry and wild and doing what they must to survive.

  She stood, turned away from him.

  What do I do now? What do I do?

  Should she try to hide the body? Unhooking the belt from her neck, she let it drop to the ground. She sucked in a deep breath. Fresh air.

  “Feel better?”

  Breena jerked around to see Dandi staring at her.

  “You should’ve seen their faces, Ash. Pale as ghosts. I could’ve heard their hearts race a mile away. You scared the living crap out of them. I have to say, it was a fine bit of bait and switch. Didn’t think you had it in you.” She gave Breena an approving nod.

  “Bait and switch?”

  “Yeah, luring them out here, letting them think they were in control. I mean seriously, the arm thing was hard-core. And then, bam!” She clapped her hands together. “You pounce.”

  “I hate to break it to ya, Dandi, but none of this,” she waved a hand toward the body, “was premeditated.”

  “What?” Dandi looked truly surprised. “They for-real attacked you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Boy, you’re lucky, then.”

  “Lucky? You’ve got to be kidding me. I just killed someone.” She couldn’t believe those words had come out of her mouth.

  “Yeah, lucky. I wouldn’t have stopped the dog in time because I thought you had it under control. Your hunger saved you.”

  Letting the vamp’s words sink in for a minute, she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her hunger had saved her.

  Of course, she wouldn’t have been in this mess to begin with if she hadn’t been running from the hunger. So really, hadn’t the hunger put her in danger in the first place?

  “How’d you find me, anyway?” Breena tried desperately to look anywhere but down at the soulless corpse lying at her feet.

  “A couple girls from the gym invited me out. I was in the parking lot when I saw you run off. So, I followed you.”

  “You’d rather hang with me than party?” Breena’s turn to be shocked.

  Dandi gave her a scary grin. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t all that hungry. Besides, I could use a girlfriend who’s not a potential hook-up.” She sized Breena from ear to foot. “Guess you’ll have to do.”

  “Gee, thanks.” She tried to smile back, and her ears retracted. Her inner beast seemed satisfied for the moment but now Breena had become fully aware of the excruciating pain of her open wound.

  “Shit,” she cursed under her breath.

  “Here, let me help you.” The vampire moved in closer to Breena, her sharp white fangs sliding down. Dandi brought her own wrist up to her mouth and bit. Two small holes appeared and red dotted her skin. “Drink.” She offered her wrist.

  “Um, no thanks.” Breena knew she was in no position to refuse, but she shuddered at the thought. The last time she’d taken blood from a vampire it had saved her life, but at a cost. “I’ll heal. I fed already.”

  “The little bit of soul you ate isn’t going to do the trick, not on a werewolf bite. If you don’t drink my blood, you’ll take forever to heal.” Dandi rolled her eyes. “Sheesh. Just do it, Ash.”

  The blood mocked her as her arm throbbed. Some of the oozing liquid from her injury had dried around the skin. The wound went deeper than she’d first thought. She saw bone.

  Her heart sank at the sight.

  Bone!

  Breena staggered sideways, but Dandi grabbed her good arm and held on.

  “I don’t want another blood-bond with a vampire.” Breena gritted her teeth against the pain.

  “For goodness’ sake, Ash, it doesn’t work that way. We’re not exchanging blood. I’m only giving you some of mine. It’d be an entirely different story if we swapped three times. Besides, do you want Jenny seeing you like this?”

  It was too much for Breena to think about, but she knew Dandi was right about her sister. “Fine.” She held out her hand.

  “Don’t thank me or anything.” The vampire stared down at her arm. “Oh, now look what you’ve done. You waited too long.” She bit her wrist again and placed it quickly in Breena’s outstretched hand.

  The smell of blood turned Breena’s stomach, and putting her mouth on Dandi’s wrist made her think of licking a weathered swing-set. Bitter, rusty iron. At first she gagged as she swallowed, but then Breena’s skin tingled around the wound. She drank harder, faster. Breena
thought Dandi was enjoying this a little too much–the vamp’s fangs shot back out.

  The pain of muscle and flesh re-growing took Breena to her knees. Dandi squatted on the ground with her, keeping her wrist pressed to Breena’s mouth. The vampire’s other hand flattened on Breena’s shoulder. It was a sentiment she hadn’t expect from Dandi, but it helped her feel safe. She could see them being friends. Someday.

  After a few minutes, Dandi pulled back. “If you don’t want to have a blood-bond with me, you’d better get out of my way.” She looked over at the ghost-white body. “It’s not as potent when they’re already dead, but it’ll have to do.”

  As she stood there watching Dandi suck the blood from the albino’s neck, the final bit of flesh spread across her arm. The fat and muscle grew back, puffing her skin out to normal size. By the time the vamp finished and wiped her mouth off on his shirt, Breena had a nice pink color on her otherwise perfectly healed arm.

  “You should bottle the stuff,” she joked. “It works wonders.”

  “Yeah, kinda illegal. Duh.” Dandi walked toward Breena. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  “What about the body?”

  “I’ll call a cleaning crew.” Dandi reached into her pocket for her cell. “Oh, crud muffin.”

  “What?”

  “I must’ve left it back at the apartment.”

  “Here.” Breena handed the tan vampire hers.

  Dandi looked at it in a disapproving way. “This thing is a relic.”

  “I just got it last year.” It had been top-of-the-line when Larry sold it to her.

  “Exactly. It’s not even touch screen. Pitiful.” Dandi shook her head and mashed digits like she’d never pushed a button before, hitting each one with her index finger. Finally, she dialed the number. “You realize you’ve got voicemail and a ton of missed calls, right?”

  Dang.

  Breena had meant to listen to the message, but other things had gotten in the way. She nudged Felix’s foot. Yup, still dead.

  Dandi handed the phone back to her. “They’re on their way. We should go.”

  As Breena spun around to follow Dandi’s lead, she noticed a flash of something bright green in the bushes across the street.