Witchblood

by Emma Mills

  Chapter Fourteen

  The dark-haired girl scrambled to her feet and took off down the alley with a slight limp, but I paid no notice. A second later I was in Daniel’s arms.

  I wrapped my arms round his neck and clung to him, the adrenaline still coursing through my system. I tilted my head up to his and pulled down his neck to kiss him, but he gently pushed me back with a smile.

  ‘Jessie, are you OK?’ he asked. ‘I can smell your blood; it’s quite intoxicating.’

  I paused, realising I’d forgotten all about the wounds. The pain had become a dull throb, but hurt no more than a trapped thumb. I looked down to inspect myself and could see through my blood-soaked slashed top that the skin on my side had instantly healed. I felt my face gingerly and found that it was as perfect as before. Great!

  ‘It seems I’m all healed. Although I thought you said we didn’t feel pain? It felt ruddy painful to me. I thought I was going to die again for a minute,’ I said with a small smile.

  ‘That’s strange. It shouldn’t have hurt. We do feel wounds of course, but not as sharply. Maybe ….’ his words were suddenly cut off by a sudden slow clapping, and we broke apart and swung round to face the direction of the noise.

  We faced two men I’d never seen before. One was huge and bear-like. I imagined he would have once had an olive complexion. He had thick brown hair and the huge shoulders and chest of a bodyguard. This was one man you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alleyway, but unfortunately for me this was exactly where I was meeting him!

  The other man was his polar opposite with blonde, almost white hair, cut short and neat. His face was thin and hard-looking, somewhat rat-like. He was lean and wiry and seemed short next to his companion, yet he was easily as tall as Daniel. They both had the glimmering chocolate eyes of vampires and deathly pale skin. I wondered if they were going to be friend or foe. I looked to Daniel for assistance and he took a quick step in front of me. Oh dear! If he was shielding me, this didn’t look good!

  ‘Jessica, meet Lucius and Aaron, Sebastian’s bodyguards,’ Daniel said formally, nodding briefly towards the men.

  The two men stepped forward, their clapping coming to a chilling stop.

  ‘Well, that was quite a performance. I have to say, we’ve wanted to sort those girls out for months,’ Aaron, said in a silky smooth voice.

  ‘And it’s always fun to watch a good girl fight. I believe you’re the new addition to our little family, and it seems you have some lessons yet to learn, but for a first fight that wasn’t bad,’ the bear-like Lucius said, with a slight European accent.

  ‘We were just going to see Sebastian. I...’ Daniel tried to interrupt, but they silenced him with a quick gesture.

  ‘You are correct of course. He will be very interested to understand your motives for allowing this newborn to reveal herself to those girls like that. He had us follow you the minute you left the club, and as we believe this was planned, he won’t be too happy,’ the rat-like Aaron said.

  ‘Come,’ Lucius said, quietly extending his arms and gesturing ahead of them back down the alley. I looked at Daniel hopefully, but he looked glumly back and gave his head a little shake. Taking my hand, he led me forward as the two bodyguards fell in behind us, shepherding us back the way we’d come.

  ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to help me do this, Daniel,’ I whispered as we walked.

  ‘It’s fine. I‘ll make Sebastian understand. Don’t worry, he likes you.’

  When we reached the club, I expected to be led back along the corridors that I knew fairly well now and towards Sebastian’s rooms, but instead we came to a stop by a door I hadn’t seen before.

  ‘Daniel, you are requested to go and see Sebastian immediately. I have been ordered to escort the girl to the cells,’ Aaron said curtly.

  ‘No, I won’t leave her alone. She can come with me,’ Daniel replied quickly, holding onto my arm.

  ‘You’re already in enough trouble my friend. You do not want to anger him more than necessary, I am sure,’ Lucius said smoothly. ‘We will take care of her; you can be assured of that.’

  Daniel looked into my frightened eyes apologetically, before releasing my arm.

  ‘You’ll be fine Jessie. I’ll come for you soon, don’t worry,’ he said, as Lucius opened the heavy door and held it open for me.

  It was pitch-black, but with my new improved vision I could make out a large metal cage standing in the middle of the room. In fact the cage seemed to take up the majority of the room, and looking past the thick bars, I saw what appeared to be a comfortable bed, plus a table and chair. I shuddered, hoping I wouldn’t be here long enough to need to sleep in it.

  Aaron unlocked a large padlock on the cage door, smiling as he swung it open.

  ‘Your home for the immediate future, little witch,’ he said, a slow smile spanning his cruel face.

  I hung back, still terrified and Daniel gave me a little nudge.

  ‘Don’t worry Jess,’ he said.

  ‘Come,’ Lucius said gruffly, taking me by the arm and leading me in. The door to the room swung shut behind me and I was alone with the two vampires. Something told me that even though Lucius certainly looked the scarier of the two, it was Aaron who I needed to watch out for.

  Lucius had remained outside the cage, pushing me gently inside but Aaron stepped inside with me, blocking the doorway.

  ‘I trust you’ll be comfortable here, until Sebastian decides what to do with you,’ he said with a sinister smile, as he stepped a little closer. ‘Mmm, you smell delightful. I’ve heard from Sebastian that you taste quite unique. I haven’t tasted witch before!’ He paused, looking vacant for a moment, before his eyes flicked back to me hungrily.

  ‘Aaron, we should go’, Lucius said. ‘Sebastian said she was not to be touched, and we need to check on the club. It’s closing time.’

  ‘He only wants her all to himself. He won’t begrudge me a taste, Lucius,’ Aaron said, as the chill of my predicament settled upon me.

  Would I be strong enough to fight him off? I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have a chance with the bear-like Lucius, but he didn’t seem overly keen on the idea, and had so far stayed outside my cage. Aaron may be thin but he looked all muscle, like a snake about to strike. I wouldn’t stand much chance against him either. Then I recalled my conversation with Daniel earlier that evening. Could I call him? Would he hear me? The conversation started up again and I took a step back.

  ‘Lucius, why don’t you go and check the front doors? It will only take five minutes. When you get back I’ll be finished,’ Aaron said coolly.

  ‘You should come too. I don’t like it, Aaron. I’ll have nothing to do with this,’ Lucius said, his gaze flickering over to me, and I thought I recognised a brief look of apology.

  ‘Please don’t leave me,’ I found myself begging him as he walked towards the doorway and into the passage beyond.

  ‘Hey little witch, you have nothing to fear, it doesn’t have to hurt,’ Aaron said.

  I didn’t trust his hungry smile one bit. I wondered if I could edge around him to the cell doorway and somehow escape, but he seemed to read my mind and took a step back, closing and locking the door, before putting the key deep in his pocket.

  Oh Hell!

  ‘Now, let’s have some fun,’ he said, as I backed away from him. ‘I enjoy breaking the new girls in.’

  The backing away didn’t do an awful lot to help my situation, because just as I’d used the incredible speed to scare the girls in the alley, he now used it on me. I blinked and he was suddenly standing next to me, wrapping his cold, snake-like arm around my shoulder and drawing me in.

  I fought him off, and found my fangs appearing, as I ducked from his grasp and darted to other side of the cell.

  ‘Oh, fancy a game of tag, do we?’ he sniggered, before darting towards me and knocking me down easily. I cried out and yelled Daniel’s name, using the seconds I had left as Aaron scooped me up, to try and throw out a ment
al cry for help. Aaron dropped me on the bed and instantly had my wrists pinned at either side of my head, my legs held down with the sheer, solid weight of his body. His cruel, cold face loomed above me, eyes glowing like the burning embers of a fire. With strength I simply couldn’t match, he moved his hands so he held both my wrists together above my head, and with the other free hand reached down and ripped my top free, pulling it roughly up over my bra.

  ‘Mmm, now I wonder if Daniel has told you about this very tasty pressure point, just here,’ he said, no doubt trying to sound seductive but instead having the effect of icy dread, as he traced his sharp, pointed nail down over the contours of my half-exposed breast. He opened his lips and ran his tongue over his fangs as I prepared myself for one last assault.

  This man, this thing, will not do this! No!

  ‘No!’ I cried out, drawing on all the reserves of strength I could muster. With one almighty shove I bucked my body and let out a shriek as pain sliced through my head, and several things happened all at once.

  Aaron was suddenly lifted from my pinioned body, and I opened my eyes, searching for my saviour. Simultaneously I heard deep, rich laughter ring out from the doorway and looking across and through the cage bars, I saw that Sebastian and Daniel had come running into the room. Daniel was looking somewhat taken aback and it was Sebastian laughing.

  ‘It seems she didn’t need our assistance quite as much as you thought, Daniel,’ Sebastian said.

  I followed their line of vision to where I could only guess Lucius was holding Aaron off me, but there was no one there; and then I followed my eyes up. Aaron was suspended in mid-air, his arms and legs flailing helplessly, but as I quickly shuffled back on the bed to a sitting position, my concentration lapsed and he fell the short distance to the floor. It took him less than a second to recover and he came at me, anger pulsing visibly through his veins, as his teeth went straight for my neck.

  ‘Get off her!’ Sebastian’s voice was cold as he commanded Aaron from the doorway.

  ‘She needs teaching a lesson, little witch,’ Aaron said defensively, unwilling to let me go.

  ‘Get off her right now Aaron, before I rip you apart. She’s mine,’ Daniel said through clenched teeth, as he prowled the perimeter of the cage, trying unsuccessfully to find a way in.

  Sebastian calmly removed a huge set of keys from his pocket and within a split second had opened the cage door, grabbed Aaron by the scruff of his neck and flung him across the cell. I watched horror-struck as Aaron’s head and back connected with the heavy metal bars, heard the sickening crack and watched as he slumped for only a second before he was suddenly on his feet again in a feral crouching position, a hiss emanating from his curled back lips, his eyes wide and black.

  ‘Get her out of here, Daniel. Take her to Eva’s room. I will be with you momentarily,’ Sebastian said, turning back to face Aaron’s crouching form. Daniel was by my side instantly, lifting my shocked body and carrying me effortlessly out of the cell.

  As we left the cell and headed towards the doorway of the room, Lucius reappeared, startling me.

  ‘You’re a bit late!’ Daniel spat at his apologetic face.

  ‘I had no choice, you know that,’ he said.

  ‘Of course you had a choice – you’re over two hundred years old. I’m younger than you and I’ve been released,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Uh, can you put me down Daniel?’ I said, wriggling and feeling a little silly being cradled like an infant now that the shock had worn off. OK, I had to admit, it had initially felt rather romantic being rescued and scooped up like a heroine in a movie, but that feeling swiftly felt a little over the top!

  ‘Lucius, get in here,’ Sebastian shouted. ‘I’m afraid Aaron has done me yet another disservice. I think I will have to rethink your partnership. Aaron, give me the keys,’ he continued, walking calmly towards the fearsome Aaron.

  ‘Lucius, you know I am your master,’ spat Aaron. ‘I could, and should be a master level vampire by now. Do as I bid. Attack him. I will have Manchester and you will be my number two.’ He spoke so quickly and with such venom that I struggled to follow him.

  Sebastian and Daniel obviously understood though, because Sebastian immediately took a defensive step back. Without warning Daniel dropped me and I landed on my ass with a thud, but there was no apology. Daniel had instantly leapt the short distance to the cage entrance, blocking the way from Lucius, who had a strange glazed look in his eyes and had taken an immediate offensive position towards Sebastian in the cage.

  At the same time, Aaron sprang at Sebastian with the speed and grace of a cheetah. It all happened so fast that if I’d blinked, I would have missed half the action. Strangely, Sebastian stood his ground, and I noticed that in the split second that Aaron left the floor, flying murderously towards him, his body seemed to visibly harden, his muscles contracting.

  As Aaron reached his target, his hands outstretched ready to break Sebastian’s neck. His fangs fully extended, ready to rip out his throat, Sebastian remained perfectly still.

  A split second later as Aaron’s finger tips reached their destination, I blinked as I saw something unbelievably beautiful. Around Sebastian’s body, a glowing white arc of swirling translucent mist formed, and Aaron suddenly screamed as his body was thrown the length of the cell.

  Once again he smashed into the bars, this time falling, shivering and convulsing on the floor. Wordlessly Sebastian walked over to him, retrieved the keys from his pocket, turned around and walked over to the cell door, where Daniel calmly stepped out of his path, allowing him to close and lock the door on the unconscious Aaron.

  As this all happened in the space of about three seconds, I was still in a somewhat dishevelled heap on the floor. I picked myself up and stood back against the wall, silently staring at Sebastian, who had lost his beautiful glow the minute Aaron crashed into the bars. Daniel stood respectfully to the side without a word, seemingly unsurprised by what he’d just witnessed, but Lucius was a different matter. His eyes had lost the glazed look and he too stared at Sebastian in disbelief.

  ‘You ... Aaron, how ...?’ he stumbled, in a strange, gravelly voice. He stood with his huge, hulking body still blocking the exit, but all aggression seemed to have left him.

  ‘A little party trick of mine Lucius. I will appreciate it if you tell no one of course. A vampire’s best defences are those which are a surprise,’ Sebastian said, as Lucius nodded. ‘You answer to me from now on, and I’d appreciate it if you could go back out front. I believe there was a tussle outside the club at closing time and the police are now involved. See what you can do to diffuse the situation. We do not need any more bad press.’

  ‘Of course, my liege,’ he said as he nodded once again and left the room.

  A quiet moan emanated from the cell and my eyes were dragged back over to Aaron’s still twitching body.

  ‘He’ll survive, though I’ll have to replace him, for he’ll be of no use to anyone,’ Sebastian said calmly, making me jump as I’d not noticed his fluid appearance by my side.

  He briefly touched my shoulder and smiled before continuing his speech.

  ‘Jessica, I am most apologetic for the deplorable behaviour of my staff. I knew Aaron was becoming troublesome and had ideas above his station, but I did not think I was putting you in danger. I merely wished for you to have some thinking time before I spoke to you. Now come,’ he said, as he led the way from the room, closing the heavy door behind us and bolting it.

  ‘He led us back down the passageway and came to a brief stop by the stairs, where he turned to Daniel.

  ‘Daniel, take her up to Eva’s room. I’m going to check on Lucius and will be with you shortly,’ he said, as he carried on down the corridor without a backward glance. I found it so strange that he could be almost warm one minute and absolutely brisk and business-like the next. I shook my head quickly to dislodge the confusion and Daniel turned and grinned at me.

  ‘Well, what an exciting evening th
is is turning out to be,’ he said with a conspiratorial wink. ‘Come on then.’ He opened the door to the stairs and led the way to Eva’s room.

  ‘Daniel, what the hell happened in there? You didn’t look surprised, but I saw Lucius’ face and he was as shocked as I was,’ I asked, within minutes of entering the room and gratefully flopping down on the plush four-poster bed.

  ‘Oh, you noticed that did you?’ he said quickly.

  ‘Hell, yes. How could I not? The guy was turned into a gibbering wreck by some white light that shot out of Sebastian’s body!’

  ‘Sebastian has a defensive aura. It’s a magical ward that protects him. I believe he had a love affair with a witch. She gave him the magical gift.’

  I felt my mouth drop open slightly and as I digested the new information he continued.

  ‘Very few of us know about it. As he said, it’s more powerful when his enemies are unaware of it. It would be extremely unwise of you to mention it to anybody and you need to be even more persistent in gaining Sebastian’s trust from now on.’

  ‘Does Eva know about it?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, she and I were with him the last time he used it, seventy odd years ago. I, like you, was an apprentice then, but it was much easier for Eva as she merely forbade me from mentioning it and I obeyed.’

  Our conversation was disrupted by the door swinging open and Sebastian noiselessly filling the room with his presence. I hastily sat up, and self-consciously smoothed out my hair.

  ‘Daniel, we’ll finish our conversation later, but for now I need to talk to Jessica,’ Sebastian said, as Daniel jumped up from his seated position on the bed and walked towards the door.

  ‘Jessie, I’ll be back later. I have to go and call Eva, update her.’

  He left the room as soundlessly as Sebastian had entered and I glanced warily over at the calm, contained man before me, not quite believing what I’d seen minutes earlier. He sat down on Eva’s antique velveteen chair before the dressing table. I noticed for the first time that the mirror had been replaced. The craftsmanship was immaculate, and I’d never have known it was not the original.

  Sebastian noted my glance at the mirror and smiled.

  ‘I hope you are not planning on any more witchcraft tonight, Jessica? I don’t think Eva could cope with her prize dressing table being destroyed a second time.’

  ‘No, although you know I didn’t do it on purpose. I can’t control it,’ I said, looking down at my lap and twisting my fingers together.

  ‘I know,’ he said softly. ‘Did you know what you were doing earlier, with Aaron?’ he asked just as softly.

  ‘No, I just reacted through fear and self-defence. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Don’t be sorry. Many are scared of me, and that is with good reason,’ he smiled again, ‘but as long as you are loyal, you have no need to worry, my little witchling.’ I smiled hesitantly, and he continued.

  ‘I don’t know how much Daniel has explained, but the power you witnessed earlier was a gift bestowed on me by a grateful witch. Her spell protects me from personal attack and has lived on well past the end of her life.’

  ‘Oh! Is she dead?’ I blundered.

  ‘Yes, sadly she is. Witches and mages are the only humans of the supernatural world. They may extend their lives to an extent, but I have never known a witch to live much longer than a hundred years.’

  ‘You said mage, what is a mage?’

  ‘A mage is another word for a magician or sorcerer. A male witch if you like. They are all humans with supernatural abilities.’

  ‘Right, but you say I’m a witch?’ I quizzed, my interest piqued and my apprehension forgotten.

  ‘You undoubtedly have witch-blood in you, and creating a half vamp witch is not something the council takes lightly, but as we had no idea about you, and you were unregistered, it will be easily forgiven.’

  ‘The council?’

  ‘Yes, the supernatural council. Every supernatural being has to answer to a leader. I’m the leader of the northern vamps of the UK, but then all the leaders have to adhere to the supernatural council’s regulations. Think of them like the United Nations - they have several representatives for each supernatural type.’ He finished with a smile at my rather bewildered face.

  ‘OK, so are there no other half-witch vampires then?’ I asked.

  ‘I think there may be one or two in the US, but they are protected at all times. You have to understand how powerful you could be, and consequently how vulnerable you will be.’

  This was not what I wanted to hear!

  ‘But I’m not at all powerful. I have no control over my actions. I had no idea of any of this until Daniel turned me, and I just don’t know how to use it.’ I sighed, hoping he would believe me.

  ‘Yet, Jessica, yet. You don’t know how to control your power yet, but you now have a lot longer than an average witch to work it out, and that’s part of what I have to discuss with you.’

  ‘The other part being the girl gang?’ I questioned.

  ‘I’m afraid so. You know I can’t allow you to go around acting like a vigilante, don’t you?’ he said.

  ‘Why? Daniel said you have your own laws, and other vampires sometimes end up settling disputes independently.’

  ‘Yes, that’s true, but those skirmishes are usually between vampires, not humans. I’m not overly concerned about your wish for retaliation or revenge, it’s only natural, but I cannot let them live, knowing who we are. You would have been better off killing them. Aaron and Lucius would have cleaned up the mess.’ My blood chilled and I froze as I took in his callous words.

  ‘But I didn’t want to kill them,’ I said, looking defiantly into his face as he raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

  ‘OK, so I may have wanted to kill them a little bit, but I didn’t want to become a monster, like them. I just wanted to stop them, scare them,’ I added.

  ‘I understand, I think, but I cannot allow them to live, knowing about you. It’s too risky. I am however going to give you a choice Jessica, which is not something I generally do, but I do have a soft spot for witches.’ I listened hopefully, but found my hopes were dashed.

  ‘You can choose their fate. It is they who changed your fate, so it seems only right that you get to choose theirs. Either I will have them disposed of, and personally this is my favourite choice as they were starting to wear on my patience; or you can let them live. However, I will have their memories corrected, and they will have no memory of this night.’

  ‘No! They will go on being as cruel as ever,’ I said, my heart sinking to the floor, but knowing I could never have them murdered.

  ‘I can stop them Jessica. They need never hurt anybody again, no one will miss them. Your death will be avenged.’

  ‘No, I can’t. I can’t order them to be murdered. I will not stoop to their level,’ I whispered, as Sebastian shrugged and sighed.

  ‘As you wish, they will live. I will make a phone call and later I will return and we can discuss your heritage. I have some interesting information for you.’

  I nodded glumly, and he left the chair gracefully and started across the room towards the door, pausing briefly to kiss my cheek.

  ‘Rest now, my little witchling. You’ll be safe in here. Only Daniel and Eva have matching keys.’ An instant later he was gone, closing the door behind him, as I heard the scraping of a key in the lock.

  I sunk back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Had I made the right choice? I had no way of knowing. I knew the public out there would definitely be better off without the girl gang terrorising the locals, but at the same time was it right that I should get to take their lives away? I simply couldn’t choose. I couldn’t be responsible for their deaths. I wouldn’t become a monster just because I had a new strength, a new power. After all, if what Sebastian was telling me was true, I was going to grow into a pretty powerful vampire, and I instinctively knew that it would be all too easy to lose my morals and let the power rule. I would not become t
he monster Luke thought I’d already become.

  I was fed up of thinking of Luke and yet my mind refused to give up, and no matter what I was thinking it always returned to him. Why was he so harsh with me, when he was clearly the one to blame for my resurrection? Over the course of the last few hours, I’d come to realise that those fleeting memories when I was half awake, half asleep of him standing on my window ledge, wings spread out were probably true. The memory that I thought was a hallucination of him, when I was dying was definitely true. When he turned his face to mine before my father’s cremation and the church door slamming….these memories all rose together and began to answer some questions.

  I now knew he was an angel placed to watch over my adolescence, but I also knew his growing feelings for me over the last eighteen months were authentic. He did love me. Maybe he loved me more than I thought? Maybe he hadn’t been able to face me dying and in a split second decision, he’d heard Daniel and Eva coming and realised there was another way for me to live? A way which he now regretted, because not only had I become the very being he’d been taught to detest, but in letting me live he had handed me over to another man. He wouldn’t know that I still had my free will. He didn’t know I was a witch. With his feelings about vampires being what they were, he probably felt guilty that he’d given me this life, guilty that he’d failed as an angel to let me die in peace. Guilt could easily explain his anger and sadness, the tear he hurriedly rubbed away. Then again, maybe he did just hate me. Maybe he didn’t love me as much as I had thought? With these thoughts tumbling around my head I felt myself begin to drift.

  A couple of hours later I was startled out of my slumber by the sound of a key in the lock. I’d believed Sebastian when he said no one else but himself, Eva and Daniel had a key, but I sat up, hugging my knees protectively.

  The door opened quietly and in the heavy darkness Sebastian’s figure stole into the room.

  ‘Oh, you’re awake. I thought you might be sleeping,’ he said.

  ‘I’ve been asleep. The key woke me.’

  ‘Right, well I brought you a drink. Daniel has gone to hunt. Don’t look so glum,’ he said, pausing and taking in my expression. ‘He’s getting as pale as you. We are what we are Jessie, and you can only fight it for so long.’ I nodded and smiled, aware that it wasn’t reaching my eyes, but hoping he wouldn’t notice, or care as I took the glass from his hand.

  ‘Now, we have the business of your heritage to discuss, don’t we?’ He smiled and walked over to the window, pulling the heavy curtains back on a dismal, grey dawn. Even though I didn’t necessarily need the light to see anymore, it felt easier and more normal. Situations too easily became intimidating and creepy, or romantic and sultry. Even though strong sunlight gave me a headache and made me squint, I vastly preferred the daylight to the total blackness of a long winter’s night.

  Sebastian sat back in the chair by the dressing table and I pulled the beautiful satin throw around my shoulders and sipped the blood. I realised for the first time that I was grimacing slightly at its taste. It was like drinking a value branded sugar-free cola instead of the full sugar real thing, and yet it seemed the real thing may have made me sick.

  My attention was diverted by Sebastian pulling out several pieces of paper from his pocket. There were quite a few which looked old and I could see they were covered in my father’s scrawling handwriting, but the top sheet was new and covered with notes in handwriting I didn’t recognise. He shuffled them and smiled at me as if he had my future in his hands, which of course he did. So I sat patiently, which was incredibly hard, and waited to hear about my mother.

  ‘Jessie, Eva found this letter in the box from your attic. I cannot let you keep it at present, as I’ll be expected to produce it as proof of your bloodline within the witch community when they arrive, and if any trouble arises within the council. It’s been incredibly useful in helping me track down your mother’s family, so I hope you do not mind me reading it.’

  ‘Is she still alive?’ I asked, suddenly unable to stay quiet.

  ‘No Jessie, she is not. The letter explains, but she died in childbirth, having you.’ I sat horror-struck, unable to speak. It’s what no child ever wants to hear, that she was a murderer before she was even born. ‘Jessie, it was not your fault. She was a witch, and from a very strong blood line, but it seems she’d left her family in the United States and was denying her heritage. She must have known the risks of giving birth without support from the supernatural community, and yet she ignored her upbringing.’

  ‘What do you mean, she needed support from the supernatural community?’ I asked quietly.

  ‘She was a witch, and looking at her blood-line, a very strong one, which is of course why the angels were interested in you.’

  ‘Not that interested,’ I mumbled.

  ‘However, as I said before, witches are human and they have frail human bodies. When a witch gives birth her power splits and surges through her heart, flowing directly into the newborn. This power surge caused a massive heart attack, and it’s undoubtedly this that led to your mother’s death.’

  ‘So, why did she leave? Why did she risk a normal birth here?’ I asked confused.

  ‘I’ve traced your family and I’ve spoken with the coven leader in Malden, near Boston. It appears that your mother ran away as a rebellious teenager.’

  ‘Boston? Isn’t Salem near there, where the famous witch trials were?’ I asked remembering my history lessons.

  ‘Yes, Malden is between Boston and Salem. It appears your mother didn’t want to live the life of the coven leader that she was being moulded for. Her family had no idea she’d come here. They thought she’d been murdered or taken by the Fae a long time ago. They had no idea she had a child, an heir. They are somewhat excited by our news,’ he said, raising one eyebrow sardonically.

  ‘Right, so my family originates from the real Salem witches? And they still exist?’ I asked, more than a little freaked out.

  ‘I’m not sure where your family originates from Jessie, you will have to ask them that, but they are certainly very interested to meet you. I believe they’re sending a representative over as soon as we can organise permits. They agree on keeping your identity a secret for the time being, as we don’t want to cause suspicion within the community.’

  Something suddenly occurred to me as his words tumbled around inside my head.

  ‘You said they had no idea she had a child, an heir. Am I an heir to their coven now? Will I have to leave Manchester?’ I asked, suddenly pining for Daniel and feeling seriously worried.

  ‘No,’ he said laughing. ‘You are a vampire foremost, and however much they may not like it, you’ll never be a part of their coven unless you wish it, and then you’ll have to earn independence from my clan first. Vampires and witches usually keep a respectful distance, and they wouldn’t want to start a war over you.’

  ‘But by the time I’ve earned my independence, they’ll probably all be dead anyway, if they are all human, surely?’

  ‘That is exactly why you are staying here with us, and we are going to protect you. A witch with the ability to outlive an entire coven will be a threat to them. Certain power hungry members won’t like it, and will want to remove that threat.’

  ‘Great! So now I’m going to have to look out for jealous wizards wanting to kill me? Can’t you just tell them that I’m no threat, as my power sucks and I have no control over it?’ I said glumly, wishing Daniel was here to pull me into his arms and make everything feel ok.

  ‘Jessica, you don’t need to worry. I have eyes and ears everywhere. My clan are on full alert. No one from the supernatural community will enter the North West without my approval. You are safe here.’

  ‘OK,’ I said nodding, as he stood up and walked towards me, holding out several thin sheets of lined A4 paper.

  ‘Here Jessie, read this. Daniel will be back soon, and I believe Eva is on her way. I’m locking you in again, but it’s only for your own safety an
d my peace of mind. I don’t want you wandering off to teach anybody else a lesson, now do I?’ he said, smiling his cool, sexy smile.

  ‘When am I staying here till?’ I asked, wondering if he was going to keep me prisoner for much longer.

  ‘Only until Daniel returns. However, if you run off and cause more trouble, I’ll bring you back here for an extended stay.’

  ‘OK. I promise to be good,’ I said, with a little smile and a fake ‘little girly voice’ that I knew would amuse him.

  ‘Very good, my little witch,’ and he left me alone, with my father’s letter.