“I know the feeling. Trust me. Hence why I came to get away. I wanted to have some space to think, and I came here to forget some. So, you are a witch, aren’t you?” he asked me. Something told me to trust him, and I told him the truth. I didn't want to lie to him in the first place. He didn't seem like a bad guy. He took a sip of his drink, and his eyes closed. He must love feeling the burn as the alcohol goes down his throat.
“Yes, and I was born this way. What are you, since you don’t feel like a witch or vampire?” I asked, since I couldn’t put my finger on what he was.
He smiled. “A spider shifter who just went through a horrible break up like you. And by the looks of it, your day was worse than mine.”
My eyes widened. “ I’ve never met one of you before. Then again, you guys keep to yourselves, so I doubt I would have ran across one of you. You are all strong warriors, too.”
“We are private, and AngelWitches like you are a different story. My colony has heard of you, too and the seers speak highly of you all. You are supposed to help us one day, and I am the leader of the Spider warriors. I don’t understand why my ex wanted a low level one, since I’m the best at it. And we do keep to ourselves since our bites can be addicting, especially to certain species and ones like you. Very addicting. And that is why I don’t understand why I was dumped. We are the best lovers,” he said. Now I have to make him mine. I have to show him I am the better choice.
He knew I was an AngelWitch, too? Seriously? How did he know? I didn’t tell anyone, not even the coven. I couldn’t since the bad witches took over. I even lived there before I moved into my apartment. I missed the feeling of living with one. It was nice, and we even traded spells and went to the same schools. I never told them about the fact that I was more than just an average witch; it was supposed to be a family secret. My mom never told me I was one either. I knew I was different since my magic was stronger than the rest while I was in witch school.
His bite could be addicting? My mind started to wander off, remembering the times Derrick bit me. I enjoyed it when he drew blood. It was a good feeling.
I looked at him and said, “I didn’t tell you anything like that. How did you know? Not even my old witch coven knows.”
He smiled. “I’m your AngelMate, and yours forever. You are the reason why my relationship failed. I was meant to be yours. I’m under your spell. I came to this bar since I wanted a drink, and I knew you were the best at serving them. You are my mate. The one I have been dreaming about since I was little. It was meant to be.”
Wow. He couldn’t be serious. Soulmates didn’t exist, did they? If so, it was meant to be with him. Maybe he was why all my relationships failed? No way.
Chapter 3
Maybe the wine affected me more than I thought? And where was the bartender with my drink? It shouldn’t have taken him that long to make it. I needed it at this point, since my life was even more fucked now that it was in jeopardy. It called for a drink. That way, I could do something to calm my nerves. I didn’t know if they would find me again, and I kept looking around, hoping they wouldn’t show up and ruin my night even more. I also wondered about the contact Knox said would meet me there.
I was also a little afraid of the witches since they used body parts in their spells and I would never hurt a soul. I would never practice their dark rituals since it required a sacrifice to the darker gods. Gods of war, rage, pain, and hate. Their magic usually required a sacrifice of some kind and words that they couldn’t take back. Their spells caused death, illnesses, injuries, and extremely bad luck. I’d even thought of hurling a few of the spells at my exes, but the price would be too great. I just sat there, with defensive spells and used harm spells only if my life was in danger—that was the only exception. I would never let them touch my book. Like no, my powers were earth based. I had the power to control fire and call dragons. Each witch of the Fire Dragon coven got a dragon who would follow them since birth and everyone could see them. Also, special witches even got an angel as their guide. I had both. Gabe was also my angel, and he was on stand-by, watching over me somewhere. Gabe was usually hidden and couldn’t be seen unless he wanted to.
“But you’re not an angel?” I said.
How could I believe it? How would he know the thing I tried to hide? Like how? He wasn’t a witch or angel. He was a spider shifter, and yet he was my mate. I thought I would be with another witch or angel. Although, I wasn’t complaining since it was different.
He smiled at me. “I don’t have to be one at all. Your soulmate can honestly be any species, not necessarily an Angel but some other supernatural. Yes, you’ll need an angel to come into your power, wherever he is but he can also be different comma too. I knew it was you since I have been dreaming about you. Mom thought I was crazy, but I knew it was you. Ever since I saw you waiting tables when I was drinking after a shitty break up. And you gave me a drink with my favorite alcohols and something extra to help. I saw you and knew that was why. I know it won’t be easy, and we might even butt heads. I still I belong to you and you me. I’m not like the rest, and I will never hurt you. Now that I have you, I’m not letting go ever. We were meant to be. And I will do everything I can to prove it to you. I’ll be better than the rest. I will never choose another person over you either. You are way sexier than any girl I have ever seen, and any guy would be lucky to have you. Knox also got me and told me about you once he found me. He told me to come here and wait when I needed a good drink. At the time, I had just been broken up with, so I came to see if Knox was telling me the truth about you. He obviously was, since I’ve never felt a connection like I have with you. I know you are mine.”
He was right, and the more I thought about it, the more things clicked. I dreamt about him, too! Luckily, the bartender came over and brought me a drink. It was one of the regular ones, too and one who knew me really well. He winked as he handed me the cool glass. My favorite drink, a jack with coke. Thank god. I needed it, since this day was draining. I was emotionally spent. I put everything I had into the relationship with my ex, and he threw it back like it was nothing. Like I was nothing but one of the strings of girls he was with. Player. He bragged about having a girlfriend for every year of his age. He was nothing but drama, total bullshit and a headache. A waste of my time. I downed the cocktail I loved so fast that the moment it hit I relaxed some. I needed it and even asked for another, which I downed quickly as well. I put my head down, letting the alcohol sink in.
I looked around and there were people all around, with no sign of my ex. I dodged that bullet. It felt like this world just wanted to hurt me today. But having him around made it all better. I had a feeling he would stick around forever. No more meaningless people that lead to nowhere. The real deal.
He smiled that sexy smile that made my knees weak and said, “That rough of a day, huh? It had to be for you to be downing your weight in alcohol. I’ll prove to you that I am yours, I promise you that. Your drink helped me feel better. Maybe you are what I needed all along, and my relationship was meant to fail. Maybe we were meant to be. I’m glad you are real.”
He leaned in even closer to me. I let him, since he was hot and the connection between us was so strong. I needed him close. The alcohol helped, but it was him that comforted me most. And he smelled, oh so, good. Musky, yummy, like a cologne I loved so much. A scent that was so good I wanted to just cuddle up to him and be his forever. Mine.
I was having a good moment with him as he lifted up my chin with his hand and kissed me. His lips were soft to the touch.
I got lost in him. Every thought vanished. He made me actually feel butterflies and chased away the hurt the moment his lips touched mine. I loved it. And a connection happened between us stronger than it was before. It made my heart beat faster. It felt like home. I have never felt this way about anyone, especially someone I just met. He made every nerve ending catch fire, like no one else before him. He felt safe and warm. Every time he touched me, it was evoking something in me I ha
ven’t felt before. Damn. I haven’t felt this way ever. My loneliness disappeared. He was mine, and I am his! He pulled back from me. I didn’t want him to leave. Instead, I wanted him to stay and let me feel him.
“My name is Syphon, by the way,” he said and smiled at me, realizing the same as I did that this was it. At least, I hoped. He was mine forever. With him, the witches couldn’t touch me. He would help me heal along the way, and I would help him heal, too.
“Ember. Nice to finally meet you, and you are an amazing kisser. I swear It’s not the alcohol talking,” I said. I wrapped my hand around him, feeling the heat when a prickling sensation happened. It suddenly turned dangerous, not good, since this place was supposedly safe. Them. They are here. I could feel them before I saw them. They wanted my blood and book. But with Syphon by my side, I was now untouchable.
“Look what we have here, girls,” a nasty, bitchy voice said. “The one we have been looking for and her big book. We have finally found you, and it was so easy, just follow the insect. And your fire breather lost us. You were hard to find until we had the tracker, which took a while. He will definitely get us more since he is under our control and learned his lesson about falling in love with your abominable species.”
Great, they found me again. The Poison Apple Bitches.
I didn’t hide my book enough like I should have, and that is when they attacked me. They wanted to use it to dominate the coven and become all powerful. They had a spell to allow them to chase me, even though it was a powerful concealment spell. It hid magic signatures, making me appear normal. So much for coming up with a plan for it. I was screwed. I had to get away from them. I couldn’t let them get the book at all—I had to protect it.
I had to get away from these witches. No matter how hard I ran, they always seemed to find me. I wanted a life already, a coven to call my own again, and an actual future that didn’t involve death, enslavement, or running anymore. I hated having to hide my powers instead of using them. The fire wanted to sear them and blast them into the wall behind us. But I can’t exactly do it there. It sucked. I wanted them to pay for killing my mom and ruining my very life. My existence was dangerous.
They wanted to chase me for the book I had. They wanted to be the baddest coven, and I’d never let them use the book since it required me to use it. They couldn’t use the powers within, and they couldn’t call dragons like I could. These witches in front of me all had evil smiles on their faces, looking at me like they wanted to kill me and eat me. Eww. I’m not on the menu. Not ever. They couldn’t take their black magic somewhere else and shove it up their asses.
Ivy, wearing her usual black silk shirt, black leather pants, and black boots. Thorne, in a black corset shirt with long sleeves, black pants, and combat boots. And lastly, Dannika in a dark blue shirt, blue jeans, and blue combat boots. Beautiful, evil, and deadly. I hated them all. They were the bane of my existence, and I wished to see them gone, but I wasn’t powerful yet.
“Seriously? You can’t have my book, you evil bitches. I’d die before I would ever give it up to you evil old hags. How did you find me, when I have a strong concealing spell?” I asked
Dannika smiled. “It’s not hard to actually get an AngelWitch tracker on you, and we can find you no matter what. We aren’t the only ones after your species either. You shouldn’t exist, anyway. Like, your mom was a witch and your dad is an angel. They had you as a mistake. But it’s only a matter of time before you are mine, body parts and all. Your ex is a tracker and he has been giving us new girls left and right.”
Syphon glared at them. He was now pretty sober and alert. They must have a fast metabolism. Me, I was trying my best to be tough.
Syphon said, “Actually, she is mine now, since she is my soulmate. I’ll make sure you can’t get her and bring her into her power as an AngelWitch. The spiders need her more than the witches do since we have bigger problems than your coven being powerful. My father would just love to hear about how you tried to stop us, and we can definitely kick your asses. We have more in numbers than you witches,” he said, making the threat clear.
One’s expression morphed to shock, and the other smirked. Evil.
“He can’t do anything if we get her first, and that insect knows not to interfere with our plans either. Don’t even think about getting in our way,” Dannika said.
Syphon said, “I’m the next in line to be the spider king, and we need her help more since she is from our legends, too. The ones with wings are the future, and they will save us from destruction. You don’t have any right to take her away from us. At all. She is my mate, and I will protect her.”
“She was ours first, since her mom was a bitch who tried to interfere with the fact that Ember was supposed to be ours to control. She was supposed to be given to us in exchange for the coven being safe from the evil,” she said.
The moment she called my mom a bitch, my eyes turned red like an ember. Red hot rage filled me, and a power I have never felt before came out of my hands. AngelFire, the stuff of legends. It was mine, and I took it and hurled it at them. It knocked them back.
Syphon surprised me by grabbing me before they could even do any damage at all while the power receded. His webbing shot out of his hand, and he created a strong forcefield. It blocked the witches from hurting me. Their spells bounced off it, and it looked pretty strong, too. Neat. They didn’t give me time to react either, and his eyes turned black when he used his power.
“We need you more than the witches. We need to get you out of here. I found you since I have seen you here multiple times. Also recovering from a break up, I was glad to get a drink from you. There has never been a good time to talk either. I could feel you since your magic called to me. I was drawn to you like a light, and I came here on the off chance you were here, and something told me to try again. I could feel your fear, too and I wanted to soothe you. You are mine, and I do need a Queen to help me rule the spiders in the future. I have been searching for something long lasting. I’m sick of all these dead ends. Let’s go, so we can talk somewhere more private. I need to keep you safe, and you can meet my parents too.” Syphon led the way, and we were off. I get to meet his parents and we haven’t even started dating yet. Damn. It would be cool to see where he lived, since I’d never seen a spider shifter place. It would be fun to see their world. I wanted to know him now that I had him in my life. I’d never let go of the special connection we had. I even wanted to know about his break up story. I needed to know who he was—and what he was made out of—now that he was mine.
The witches were behind us, but I didn’t worry, since I had never felt safer in his care. I followed him, and he opened the door to a fast sports car. He got in the driver’s side, and we sped off, leaving the witches in the dust. Safe for now. I’m sure Knox and Gabe are worried, but I know they will trust me not to do something stupid. I would be able to see them once it was safe. They came when they were needed and not before, since they knew I could make my own decisions. I was a powerful fire witch.
Syphon had his eyes focused on the road, and I was admiring how sexy he was yet again. I couldn't believe he was mine. He made my heart beat so fast. Maybe he really was mine? Then again, I was happy to see what happened. Especially after the witches were stopped. They needed to be defeated.
"So how long have you been running from them, since they have been after you for a while?" he asked.
"I have been running away from them ever since my mom was killed, thanks to the bitches you met back there. They didn't like the good ones, and they took over the coven. That’s why I ran, once they realized she gave the book to me," I said.
"I'm sorry. At least they can't hurt you now. Why are they trying to kill you? Is it the AngelWitch thing?" he asked.
He did save my ass, so the least I could do was be honest. Honesty was always the best policy. Honesty was especially the best when it came to relationships. Even my ex didn’t get the memo. He never trusted me, and he thought I was sleeping with ev
eryone since he had major trust issues. He always wanted to catch me cheating, even though I wasn’t doing anything.
I said the truth, “They want me for my Book of Shadows, since it’s powerful. The coven that has it will have power over dragon shifters...”
His eyes widened. “Dragons exist? That is something new...”
“Yes, they do. I have one named Knox. In fact, every witch from my former coven did, and he is there for me through everything. He helped me escape from the witches and conceal me. Then again, he is probably with the other dragons until he senses I’m in real danger,” I told him.
“That is nice to know. And I do want to meet him one day,” he said.
Driving with him was easy, his presence was calming to me. I also had a strong need to feel him and touch his skin against mine. It was almost torture not being able to touch him. I couldn’t explain this feeling either. I have dated before, but I’ve never felt this toward anyone.
“I can introduce you to him when we are out of danger,” I said.
He smiled. “That would be great. I would love to see more stuff with you when this is over. Spider Shifters are unique since they can take blood like vampires and form a bond with a person. It can feel good for the person being bit, and addicting. Just putting it out there. We can bond on a deeper level, and more than a normal one. I’ll even tell you about my break up later tonight.”
I smiled. “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. I might eventually take you up on that offer since I have been bitten before. I love it.”
He was sexy, so I wouldn’t mind it if he did. Though it was weird to feel this way over someone I just met. I just wanted to be his and no one else's. Period. I didn’t care what I had to do to keep him. I would do whatever it took to ensure we worked. I needed this more than anything. We both did after the disasters of the last two relationships. We had a lot to talk about when this was over.
Ember Page 3