Liz pulled away. “What? What do you mean, possessed?” She looked around the room at everyone’s awestruck faces. “No, seriously, what the hell just happened?”
“Elizabeth, I believe I have found the source of the influx of vampires, but they’ve been tampered with somehow,” Genevieve answered. “It’s Marcus. I have no doubt now.” She walked over to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad Abby was able to send the entity that possessed you across the veil.”
Danielle was standing off to the side with a blank stare. She had yet to say a word. The expression on her face was unreadable. That meant the gears in her head were most likely turning and she knew something. I’d have to talk to her later to find out what was going on in that mind of hers.
“Across the veil? Never mind. In this instance, I believe ignorance is bliss,” Liz said, sliding off the table.
“Oh no you don’t. Not until you’ve drunk more of the healing potion just to be safe,” Mom said, grasping her arm.
“Okay, Mamma.” Liz drank two vials of potion, scrunching her nose, then handed the empty bottles back to Mom. “Can I go rest now?” she asked.
“Of course, dear. I’ll be in to check on you in a little while. Why don’t you take a warm bath to settle your nerves?”
Liz nodded and left the room after thanking us for helping her. She looked exhausted, and rightly so.
I asked if we could all go to the kitchen and have a chat about what was going on with Marcus and how he was able to infect or possess vampires.
***
“Abby, as you know, Marcus spent a lot of time with that demon. I believe he gained some of his power while working with him,” Genevieve said. “I do believe Elizabeth was poisoned, I saw it with my own eyes, but the possession was something else altogether. She was meant to die so the entity could rise, possibly using her body as host.”
“Do you think Delphine has anything to with it, gaining hosts I mean?”
“It’s quite possible, seeing as Marcus is the one who is in possession of the talisman. He could be assisting her, but at this point we have more questions than answers.”
Before I could respond, a groggy Danny walked into the kitchen scratching his head. “Hey, Genevieve. Why do you look so worried? Is everything all right?”
I rolled my eyes. He had slept through the entire ordeal with Liz and we weren’t quiet by any means. “Danny, grab some coffee and take a seat. We’ll fill you in.”
He looked at me strangely, then poured himself a cup of coffee and sat beside me. “So, what did I miss?” he asked looking around at everyone, and this time Danielle just shook her head and looked into her coffee mug. Men could be so oblivious sometimes.
I didn’t have to say anything, because Mom and Genevieve decided to tell him what had happened. Danny just sat there slack-jawed, then asked why no one had woken him up. I wanted to slap him in the back of the head but thought better of it. We didn’t get much sleep last night and honestly, he needed to rest.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” he asked, shocked. “How the hell did Marcus pull off something like that? Do you think he might have done something to my dad?” He looked to Genevieve.
Danny was positive something had happened to his dad. Every time he brought Harold up, my heart hurt for him, but I felt conflicted. Part of me wondered the same thing, while the other thought maybe he just wanted no part of the demon or Delphine. But that didn’t explain why he wasn’t answering Danny’s calls or staying in his own home. It was all a mystery and we needed to find out what was going on, at least for Danny’s sake.
“Right now, I believe anything is possible,” Genevieve replied. “I know that’s not the answer you’re looking for, but we will have to investigate the matter further. We need to call upon Catherine and Allison.”
Danielle got up from her chair and touched my shoulder. “Can I talk with you for a minute?”
“Sure.”
I told everyone we’d be back in a few and headed upstairs to my room.
Before opening the door to my room, I peeked in on Liz to see if she was all right. She was fast asleep, snoring. I closed the door and walked across the hall with Danielle behind me.
We sat on my bed. “What’s up?” I asked, knowing this had something to do with what happened to Liz.
Danielle fidgeted with my comforter, then looked up at me. “When we were killing rogue vamps last night, I saw something. I didn’t think anything of it until that thing came out of Liz.
“Before that vampire exploded on me, he was shrouded in a dark aura. I just assumed it was because he was evil. Now, I think it was something else. Abbs, it looked a lot like the smoky thing that escaped. I’ve seen things like this, back when I was a ghost, and those entities aren’t just entities; they’re lost spirits who became corrupted by evil.”
“Oh shit. You mean, like a poltergeist or something? Or are they demons?”
“Something like that. They can become demons once they kill and have a host body.”
“We need to tell Mom and Genevieve. Now. This is bad. I mean, what the hell is Marcus trying to do? Raise an army of demons and help Delphine escape too? I just don’t get it.” I stood from the bed and pulled Daddy’s book from the drawer. Now was as good a time as any to bring it up. We needed all the power available to us—we were in big trouble. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Danielle stood, then hugged me. “Sorry, Abbs. I should’ve said something earlier. I just didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out and find Marcus’s ass together.”
Chapter 4
“Mom, we need your help. Is Genevieve still here?” I shouted from the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“Yes, she’s here. What’s wrong?” Mom met me at the bottom of the stairs and I handed her Daddy’s book. I wasn’t wasting anymore time. I needed answers and I knew we would find them in that book.
Mom looked down with a shocked expression. “Where did you find this?”
“In the attic, but that’s not important right now. We have something to tell you guys and everyone needs to have seat. It’s not good—it involves Marcus and demons.”
She nodded and we walked back to the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Danny stood to greet me and kissed my cheek. “You okay?”
“Yes and no. We just have a lot to go over and a ton of planning to do.”
Mom and Genevieve were sitting next to one another going through Daddy’s book. I took that as a good sign, hoping they could read some of the spells I didn’t understand.
“All right. Danielle, tell them what you just told me. I don’t want to screw it up.”
She took a deep breath when everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. She told them about the vampire she’d killed last night and what she thought to be a dark aura, that it was almost exactly the same as the entity that was pulled from Liz. Then explained how lost souls became demons once they were corrupted by evil. She believed these souls were possessing the vampires to make their kills in order to gain hosts. Lastly, that Marcus was most likely attempting to build an army of demons. Once she was done going over all of the details, everyone sat there in shock except Genevieve.
“The poison was from the infected vampire’s bite due to possession,” Genevieve said to no one in particular. “I must locate Marcus before he’s able to go any further. Ladies, our powers are still bonded. I want to try a locater spell before I leave.”
Mom nodded in agreement, while the rest of us agreed as well. It was the only possible solution we had to go on.
“What can I do?” Danny asked.
“You can join us, adding your powers to our own. Although you are not bonded, it will still give us an added boost of magic,” Genevieve answered.
“I suggest we drive to the old Springs Hallow where our magic is the most powerful,” Mom said. “We’ll be able to draw from our ancestors’ powers.”
“That’s a great idea, M
om, but who’s gonna watch over Liz?” I asked, getting up to make myself another cup of coffee.
“We’ll need to wake her and bring her along. She can’t stay here unprotected, even with my wards in place,” Mom replied.
Genevieve agreed. “I believe this is the best way to locate him and uncloak his magic. We’ll have to perform the ceremony at midnight when our magic is at its strongest.”
“Why don’t we bond Danny on sacred ground before we perform the location spell?” I asked, sliding back into my seat at the table.
“Very well,” Genevieve said and Mom approved.
Danielle nodded, but sat quietly in thought. She seemed scared and I couldn’t blame her. Demons. Again. Didn’t we just send one back to hell? I only hoped it wouldn’t come to that and we could stop Marcus before he was able to gain any footing. And where exactly did Delphine fit into all of this? Another freakin’ question I desperately wanted answered. I needed to search Daddy’s book thoroughly and learn as much as possible before tonight.
***
Genevieve called James, her second in command, to let him know what was going on. She told him that under no circumstances was anyone to go out hunting rogue vampires until we got to the bottom of this situation—it was too dangerous and Liz was out of commission for a while. They were essentially on lockdown until further notice.
Mom placed a call to Catherine and Allison asking them to meet us at the old Springs Hallow just before midnight. After discussing it with Genevieve, everyone decided the more magic we pulled together the better. The witches were more than happy to help, especially after learning about what happened to Liz. Then when Mom told them about the possibility of Marcus raising demons through possession of vampires, they were ready to leave right away.
Since we’d vanquished Balthazar, Catherine and Allison had distanced themselves from the coven’s council. Although they were still council members, they had refused to go along with the summons of our family and stood by our side even when the council ordered them to bring us in. Catherine was a longstanding member of the council and told them all to basically kiss her ass, that there was more going on than just the talisman and they should be grateful to our family instead of investigating us on false allegations. I planned on asking them about Harold when they arrived, hoping to get them alone before Danny could bombard them with questions. We needed their help to start an investigation of our own.
“Mom, do you know what this means?” I asked, pointing to a spell in Daddy’s book. We were sitting around the kitchen table having lunch.
She read over it for a moment, then glanced back at me. “It’s a spell to cast away demons with the magic of God’s light, much like you did today when you opened the veil. Except you didn’t need a spell—you’re much more powerful than you think, Abby.”
“Okay.” I dragged out. “But that thing wasn’t a demon yet. It was a wannabe, just a damaged lost soul turned evil, right?”
“According to what Danielle said, yes. But the spell will work just the same. It opens the veil.” Mom pointed to the words I still didn’t know how to read.
She flipped through the pages until she came upon something that made her eyes bulge.
“What is it, Mamma?” I asked, putting my sandwich down and leaning over to see why she was making a face.
Holy hell! It was a picture of the thing we saw today, but much larger. It spoke of how they were made and how to control them. Danielle was right, except Marcus was controlling these things by searching out lost souls. Who looked for lost souls to add to her talisman? Delphine! That was the connection. I nearly fell out of my chair.
“Abby, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Mom asked, looking at me in shock.
“If you’re talking about the Delphine connection, then yes.”
Danielle stopped chewing and jumped from her chair and so did Danny. They went straight to Mom to see what she was talking about.
“Finally. We know why he wanted the talisman,” Danielle said.
Danny kept reading over Mom’s shoulder taking it all in. He seemed to be boiling mad, his face was turning red as he drew his eyebrows together.
“Well, now that we know, it should help us tonight. As soon as Genevieve returns we’ll give her the news,” I said.
“I need to call Catherine and tell her what we found in your father’s book. I know there’s more,” Mom said, getting up from the table.
“Okay. I think we should finish lunch, then rest for a while. We have a long night ahead of us, unless you think we need to search through the book a bit more,” I said as Mom was leaving the room.
“No, you kids go ahead and rest. We have enough information for now, but Abby, you found that book for a reason. I believe your father led you to it.” Mom had tears in her eyes, then turned toward the foyer to make the call.
Danielle, Danny and I just stared at one another in awe. I knew the book meant something, but this was just crazy. Not crazy in an insane kind of way, but in the fact that Daddy might be reaching out to me from the talisman again or through ancestral magic, God’s light, who knows? It could also be our link to getting the talisman back since Daddy’s soul was trapped there. My thoughts began to race at the possibilities and I lost my appetite. It seemed the others did too.
“I think I’m gonna go check on Liz and lie down for a while,” Danielle said.
“All right. Do you need me to wake you up later? Around nine?”
“Nah, that’s okay. I’m sure I won’t sleep that long. I just want to stay with her and make sure she’s all right.”
“Okay. Just knock on the door if you need me. Love you.”
“Love you too, Abbs.” Danielle reached over and hugged me, then went upstairs.
Danny and I stayed behind to clear the dishes and clean up the kitchen, then headed up to our room.
Once we walked into the bedroom, Danny closed the door behind him. “Do you really think there’s a link to Delphine?”
“Absolutely. She’s just like that soul-sucking demon, always looking for more power. Liz is extremely powerful and why wouldn’t Delphine work with Marcus to gain more souls to add to her collection? He may not know that she would steal them the first chance she got and use one as a host herself. They’ve made some kind of deal. We just need to figure it out.”
“That makes sense,” he said, sitting next to me on the bed. “This whole thing just pisses me off. I know we shouldn’t be thinking of what we could’ve done, but I really wish we’d had a chance to take him out at the hotel.”
“Yeah, but at the time I was in a bad place and he was too fast. I had to get outta there.” I laid my head on his shoulder. “I don’t want to think about that night.”
“Hey, look at me. Your darkness is gone and what you did was in self-defense, okay?” He tipped up my chin so I would look at him. “It’s over and done with now, so there’s no use in beating yourself up about it.”
“Okay. I love you, Danny.” I touched his cheek, then he covered my mouth with his and I melted into him.
Pushing me back on the bed, he continued to devour my mouth awakening my magic in full force. I became lost in him once more, throwing my hands around his neck. It didn’t take long before he pulled my T-shirt over my head, exposing my pink lace bra. When he stopped to look at me, I could see the need in his expression. I wasted no time reciprocating, quickly undressing him.
If we were about to go through hell and back again with the shadow man, I wanted Danny to know how much I loved him—needed his strength. Our days were never promised or even a guarantee and I was going to cherish every moment I had with him.
Danny moved along the length of my body, nipping and sucking the most sensitive parts. He picked me up from the bed and held my body against the wall, holding my hands above my head, kissing me deeply. His lips grazed the side of jaw, down my neck, then he took my right breast in his mouth, scraping his teeth across my nipple. With a sharp intake of breath, I tried to move my hands, but he
held them steady, looking up and shaking his head, then paid homage to my left breast.
My magic was exploding all around us, seeping from my pores. I was about to shatter from his touch alone. I thought I was gonna lose my mind when he let my hands go and knelt in front of me, then spread my legs apart. His sapphire gaze made me tremble from head to toe. I looked down at him, smiling devilishly and he took that as an invitation for more. I delved my hands into his jet-black hair, throwing my head back in ecstasy. When I couldn’t hold on any longer I jerked his body up and wrapped my legs around his hips, crushing my lips against his. Sparks flew from my fingertips when he made me his.
He gently laid me back on the bed and began to devour me once again—he couldn’t get enough and I wasn’t complaining. It was all I could do to put a pillow over my head to keep the sound of my screams from escaping the room. I wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into Danny, but I had missed this and looked forward to more.
“I think we should rest now,” I said, looking up at Danny from my perch on the bed, still breathing heavily from our marathon lovemaking session.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go for another round?” He glanced back at me, panting with a sexy grin.
“If everything goes as planned, we’ll have plenty of time for your ‘Abby cure.’” I slapped him playfully on the chest and snuggled up to him for a nap. “We should set an alarm for at least eight o’clock.”
“Whatever you say, my sex goddess.”
I just looked up at him and smiled. I loved the man more and more each day. How I had ever let him go was a mystery. Not really, I was just an idiot in a dark place, but I was so thankful to have him back in my life, even though it took a tragedy to bring us back together.
“You’re a nut job. Get some sleep. We’re gonna need it for tonight.” I reached over and set the alarm, then laid my head on his chest. The rhythm of his breathing had me nodding off in no time at all.
Magic Unleashed (Delphine Rising Book 2) Page 3