Intoxicating Magic

by Deanna Chase

  I took a deep breath and forced myself to ask the questions I didn’t really want the answers to. “Why was Beau there? Who turned you?”

  He waved to the other room, indicating the other two vamps. “We were supposed to be turned into daywalkers to be his security between the war Asher and Allcot are waging. Only Allcot got to him first.”

  Chapter 23

  “Allcot?” I jerked. “You mean Asher, right?”

  Rox sighed and shook his head sadly. “No. Though only because he got there first. Asher was closing in on him as well. The war those two have going—it’s epic. They’ve been at it for decades. And because of the gift Beau had, he was caught in the middle.”

  My feet were moving backward before I could process what I was actually doing. “No. Allcot didn’t even know Beau.” But Carrie’s face floated in my mind. His girlfriend—fiancée—was related to Allcot’s consort. Allcot could’ve known him. It would also explain why Carrie disappeared right after Beau’s death.

  The thoughts tumbled through my brain at a rapid rate until my head was pounding. I grabbed my head at the temples and bent over, trying to block out the implications of what I’d just heard, but then I couldn’t reconcile some of the past events. I stood up.

  “Why would Allcot kill Beau and not me?”

  He gave me a sad look. “Because, my dear, your brother was never going to turn him or any of his underlings into daywalkers. Allcot couldn’t risk other vamps being turned that could be used against him and his employees. There was some speculation that you might have some of your brother’s powers, but only enough to watch you. No one expected a female to inherit his gifts. After you turned Laveaux, Allcot decided to keep you in his stable, to get you to turn him and anyone else he wants. You’re too valuable to him now.”

  I said nothing as I let that sink in. “Are you saying Allcot killed Beau because he didn’t want Asher to have access to his abilities?”

  “Yes. But what Allcot didn’t realize is that Asher has always wanted to eliminate the fae of your line. What you’ve heard about him is probably true. Allcot had other plans. After he learned about your brother’s gifts, he wanted Carrie to bring Beau to New Orleans to work for him. When Beau refused, Carrie warned him there would be consequences. Allcot always gets what he wants.”

  Rox was right about one thing at least—Allcot did always get what he wanted and he went to extremes to get it. But would he really have killed Beau? Wouldn’t he just continue to manipulate him until he got what he wanted?

  But Allcot had gotten what he wanted, hadn’t he? Beau Jr. would end up loyal to Allcot for the rest of his life. Despair filled me and my breathing turned labored. I didn’t know what to believe.

  It was too much.

  Suddenly I was very angry. What made this vampire any different than any of the others? How could I trust him? He’d had me kidnapped and tied up, for fuck’s sake. I couldn’t believe anything he said.

  I stood up straight and stared him in the eye. I didn’t even flinch as I said, “And what exactly is it that you want from me?”

  His helpful demeanor fled, replaced by stone-cold determination. “You’re going to complete the deal we made with your brother.”

  The other two vampires appeared in the doorway, arms crossed over their chests.

  I glared at all of them. “And what deal would that be?”

  Rox rose and loomed over me. “The only reason I agreed to be turned into a vampire was because I wanted to protect your brother. In turn, he was supposed to turn me into a daywalker. Like Vince and Talia.”

  “Beau changed them?” I whispered, barely able to breathe from the horror of this conversation… of the entire day.

  “Yes. They offered to be the test subjects. But Beau couldn’t change us all at once. He had to rest in between. By the next day he was dead.”

  Something flashed in his eyes I couldn’t quite place. Frustration? Irritation? I couldn’t tell, but it pissed me off even more.

  “No.”

  “What?” His eyes turned red with off-the-charts vampire fury.

  I sucked in a breath. Maybe I’d gone too far. I was the one outnumbered here. I did my best to keep my voice steady, free of censure, even though I wanted to rip his head off. Even if what he’d said about Allcot was true, that did not give this psycho the right to have me kidnapped. “It’s been a long day. I need to get home to my magical tree to recharge. I couldn’t change anyone tonight even if I wanted to.”

  He eyed me and then after a minute, he nodded. “Yeah. You’re looking rough around the edges.”

  Rude-ass jerk. No matter what a girl looks like, a vamp wanting to be changed into a daywalker should probably try to stay on her good side. And that means keeping his unsolicited opinions to himself.

  “You’re not going anywhere, though,” he said. “Not right now anyway. You can recharge here.”

  “But my tree—”

  “Don’t even try it.” He cast me a disgusted look. “You forget I knew your brother. You can use the oak tree out back if you need your precious nature. But you’re not leaving here until you turn me.” He strode past me toward Grace and Shorty. Just before he disappeared into the back of the house, he said, “And don’t even think about not bringing me back.” He put his arm around Grace. “My girl here will torture you within an inch of your life and make sure you never forget her.”

  Grace looked at him with such love I almost vomited. God, they were twisted.

  Shorty laughed and followed Rox into the back of the house, leaving me alone with Grace.

  Immediately I noticed the lessening of vampire energy in the room. I still felt it, but it wasn’t coming from Grace. I couldn’t feel her at all. How was that possible? Unless… shit, she’d been turned too. Just like Vince and Talia. By Beau, and that was why their energy hadn’t affected me. That had to be it.

  She stalked forward and I couldn’t help the flinch when she reached for my arm. It wasn’t even that I was trying to get away from her fiery touch. It was that whatever was storming inside her terrified me more than anything her boyfriend had said. I hadn’t seen it before, but it was there now. And she was the recluse among the crazy.

  She stared at me, her lips twisted. “Don’t want me to touch your precious skin, huh? Well, too damn bad.” Her vampire hand clasped my upper arm. The heat combined with her bone-crushing grip weakened my knees, making me stumble as she dragged me across the room. “I’m taking you outside to fill up on nature or whatever the fuck it is you need to make my Rox whole again. I swear to God, if I have to stay indoors with him one more fucking time when I could be out in my bikini trolling for snacks, I’m going to lose my fucking mind.”

  Holy crow. It was as if she’d had a personality change now that their secrets were out. I had to find a way out of there. Fast. But I couldn’t do it in my current state. If I could get outside to that tree, I could maybe form a plan.

  We walked through an old kitchen that was covered in dust, not a dish in sight. There were fast-food drink cups piled in a corner along with empty bottles of cheap whiskey. No surprise there. Vamps couldn’t exactly get drunk, not really anyway, but the strong bite of alcohol seemed to satisfy part of their hunger cravings.

  “Go.” Grace pushed me out the back door and then stood there watching me.

  I placed my fists on my hips and glared at her. “What are you looking at?”

  She eyed me pensively. “You’re just so… vanilla. I can’t believe you’re the one with this power. At least your brother had a little bit of edge. You look like you should be working in a library or something.” She wrinkled her nose.

  Edge? Beau? He’d been a California fae who ate tofu and read labels for preservatives. He’d driven a Prius and had a kick-ass vegetable garden. I frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Look at you. All you need is a cardigan and you’d be ready for Bible study.”

  Well. That was going too far. Maybe I didn’t push
the boundaries with my wardrobe, but I was hardly a church mouse. I could kill her with my bare hands. Literally. But I decided to keep that to myself. If she wanted to underestimate me, then so be it. “I meant Beau.”

  She stepped out into the small backyard. “Oh. Right.” A cat-that-ate-the-canary grin spread over her flawless face. “Let’s just say that before he met Carrie, we spent some time together.”

  The image of Beau making out with this smug vampire made me want to vomit. Had she been a vampire already? Were Beau and I more alike than I’d thought? All this time I’d been thinking he’d hate my association with David and Allcot, and yet he’d clearly had his own circle of vamps.

  And that’s why he hadn’t told me. I’d have acted exactly the way I’d expected him to act. Judgmental, disgusted, horrified. I didn’t feel that way anymore. Or at least mostly, though this group was testing my patience. I backed up, resting against the oak tree. The cool energy filtered into me, easing the headache I’d been ignoring.

  Grace stalked forward. “What? Nothing to say about my confession?”

  I shook my head. “Whatever, or whoever”—I swept my gaze along her body, doing nothing to hide the contempt in my expression—“he did, it isn’t my business.”

  She shook her head and laughed. “You’re such a bitch. Too bad we need you or else I’d turn you right now. It’s hard to find anyone with a backbone these days who’s worthy of joining our little club. Can’t take just anyone, now can we?”

  Saliva welled on my tongue, and I had an insane desire to spit in her face. She was the worst kind of vamp. In it for control over other people, to terrorize and take whatever she wanted. Her perfect skin and perfect body were no substitute for the ugliness radiating from her insides. Had she been like that when Beau knew her? I couldn’t picture it. Couldn’t see him being friends with her, much less turning her into a daywalker. There was more to the story, and someone knew what it was.

  Carrie. She had to know. Maybe even Allcot or David.

  Frustration overwhelmed me. My brother had kept his secrets and now I had to pick up the pieces. “Go away,” I said quietly.

  “What did you say?”

  “You heard me,” I barked. “I’m well aware of a vampire’s hearing ability. If you want me to get enough strength to turn Rox, I’m going to need some peace and quiet. I’m never going to reenergize with you looming over me, baiting me with your effed-up stories. I just need some damned sleep.”

  “If you think we’re going to—”

  “Grace?” Rox said from behind her.

  She whirled. “What is it?”

  “Come inside. Let the faery sleep. First thing in the morning she’ll do as we ask.” He held his hand out to her.

  “You can’t be serious.” She tossed her long hair to the side in clear agitation. “We can’t leave her out here by herself. She has wings, Rox.” She spat out the last part as if she couldn’t believe how stupid he was.

  He just smiled at her and then waved at Shorty, who was eyeing Grace with pained desperation. He looked like he’d been punched in the gut. Did he have a thing for her? But as I watched him, the expression vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. “He’ll keep an eye on her. Don’t worry,” Rox said and then turned in my direction, his gaze boring into me. “If she doesn’t want anything to happen to her fae lover, she’ll cooperate.”

  Fae lover? Did he mean they had Tal? I’d left him with Phoebe and Link. He was safe. He had to be. But they’d kidnapped me. Why not him? Or even Phoebs? Shit. I didn’t know what to think.

  Grace glanced between the two of us and my thoughts must have shown on my face, because she let out a bark of laughter as she took Rox’s hand. She gazed up at him adoringly. “You always know just the right thing to say.”

  ***

  I sat in a patch of dirt at the base of the tree, eyeing Shorty. He was walking the small perimeter of the backyard in a continuous loop. Perhaps he was taking his appointment a little too seriously, because I hadn’t moved in the past hour. In fact, I might have dozed off for a while there.

  “What do you get out of this?” I asked him, every nerve completely aware that he was behind me and ten degrees to the left.

  He appeared in front of me in a flash of vampire speed. “What do you mean, what do I get out of this?”

  “Exactly what I said. What’s in it for you? Are you expecting to be turned into a daywalker? Or are you just the backup, like the minions who work for Allcot?”

  His eyes clouded over with uncertainty. After a moment he glanced at his feet. “They’re my friends.”

  My eyebrows rose. “How so?”

  He scowled. “What are you trying to pull, faery?”

  I held my hands up. “Whoa. I’m not trying to start anything here, I’m just curious. I mean, if I’m going to be tied to this little group, I’d like to know what I’m getting into.”

  “You’re not going to be tied to anything. Once you change Rox, he’ll make a trade and we’ll be free of you and the rest of this bullshit.”

  Trade? Trade what? Me? To whom? Allcot? Asher? Some other effed-up group I didn’t know about? “Free to do what?”

  “Live!” He shouted the word at me. “Ever since your brother up and got himself killed, we’ve been in this fuckin’ limbo of hell, Rox and Grace fighting about what to do next, Asher calling all—” He stopped and stared at me, wide eyed. “Never mind. I just want to be done with this nonsense. I don’t want to be involved in a political war any longer.” He stopped pacing and slumped down onto an old stump.

  I pressed my lips together tight, willing myself to stay quiet. It was hard, though. I had a lot of questions. But something told me the minute I asked him anything else, he’d clam right up. Instead, I made what I hoped was a sympathetic noise in the back of my throat.

  He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “But it’s not going to end, you know.”

  I waited a few beats, but when he didn’t elaborate, I asked, “Why not?”

  “Your nephew.” He let out a long-suffering breath. “Even if you died today, there’d still be a battle over him once he comes of age. And because he’s under Allcot’s protection, it’s going to be epic. Asher will never let that go.”

  Ice-cold dread shot straight to my heart. Beau Jr. He was at the center of all this. Not me. Yeah, they wanted me to do their bidding, but in the end, the war would be waged over my nephew. The reality of it settled over me with a hard finality. I’d known all along he was in danger, but I’d only been focused on keeping him hidden. Safe. Alive.

  I’d reluctantly accepted that he’d be safest under Allcot’s care, but I could see so clearly now that keeping him there was a surefire way of losing him faster than anything else.

  As long as Allcot had access to the fae who could turn vamps into daywalkers, Asher would never give up. The last thing he’d do is let Allcot gain any more power.

  I had to get Beau Jr. out of there. Had to find a way to end this power struggle between the two master vamps. The only problem was I had no idea how to do that.

  And I sure as hell couldn’t do it while being held captive by Shorty and company. I turned to him. “What would you do to end this right now?”

  He stared at me, startled. “I don’t…” Frowning, he rubbed his forehead. Then his expression brightened. “I’d work both sides against each other until the water boiled over, and then I’d skip town and let the pair of them battle to the finish.”

  “Hmm. Interesting.” That definitely wouldn’t work for me since Asher had already tried to kill me a few times. But his words combined with the look he’d had on his face right before Grace had left us for the evening did give me an idea. “So…?”

  “Yeah?” He plucked a stray blade of grass and fingered it.

  “Why haven’t Vince and Talia shown up?”

  He looked startled at the question, but then shrugged. “They do their own thing now. Only come around when Rox has a job for them.”

  �
�So it’s just you and Rox and Grace usually?”

  His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”

  I waved a hand, trying to look casual. “Just curious is all. I was actually wondering if you had a girlfriend.”

  His expression went flat and then he cut his eyes to the house. “She… left.”

  “Oh,” I said sympathetically. “Breakups are hard.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant. We didn’t break up. She just left one day. Went out and never came back.”

  Yikes. He looked so dejected I actually felt a pang of sympathy for him. “Do you know why?”

  He was completely silent as he stared at the back door of the house. The night was still as I listened to myself breathe, waiting for him to answer.

  Finally he turned to me, his eyes full of fury. “Because that morning she walked in our bedroom and found Grace crawling all over me. Naked.”

  Bingo.

  Chapter 24

  Shorty was vibrating with barely repressed rage. I wanted to reach out and soothe him if for no other reason than to calm my own nerves. I needed him to keep talking, but if he was going to lose his shit on me, it wouldn’t do me any good.

  Fortunately he got enough of a grip on himself that the tension drained from his face and he sat back down on the stump, pretending he wasn’t upset. It was enough for me.

  “Ah,” I asked carefully. “Had you invited her there? Grace, I mean?”

  He turned steely eyes on me. “No.”

  Short and to the point. And interesting. Had Grace and Rox had issues at some point, or was she just a troublemaker in general? I was going with the latter. “Did your girl know that?”

  He shrugged. “I guess not.”

  “You didn’t tell her?”

  The look he gave me could’ve melted iron. “I would have if she’d come back.”

  “Oh.” The word hung in the air between us. Finally I said, “I see.”