Blood Ties (26 page)

I decided to test how much my telekinesis skills had improved. I stood the bottle up and shook my body to loosen it, and thought about how happy James made me feel. A light wind began to flow around me and wafted over to the bottle. It rolled around on its bottom edge and then started to levitate higher and higher. I couldn’t believe it; I was actually holding it steady in midair. However, the bottle crashed back down when the quiet air was broken by a voice.

“You’ve gotten much better with that. Just a little more practice and you should be a pro,” Adrian said.

I was embarrassed. “How long have you been standing there?”

He came toward me. “Long enough.”

“I thought you had a computer to buy.”

Adrian slipped into my personal space. “It’s in the car. I came as soon as I could. Thought we could spend some time together…like we did in New York.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood stiff. I could tell he was not himself. His eyes were scarily piercing, and to me he felt like he was pressurized. Instinct told me to make myself scarce.

“That’s okay. I didn’t mind being alone. It wasn’t necessary for you to come back so soon.” I started to walk away, but Adrian flashed in front of me, blocking my path.

“I’ve been thinking about us a lot lately. We have something special between us—a connection. We need to talk about it.”

I started feeling queasy. “Adrian, I think you misunderstood the nature of our relationship. We’re friends. Just friends.”

“I know you have to say that because of James, but I know the truth. You want me just as much as I want you.”

The fleur-de-lis started to blaze on my palm, inundating it with searing pain. “Adrian, I don’t want you. I’m with James. You can never have me like that. What part of that don’t you understand?”

I could tell my words still didn’t register with him. He thought I was pretending to be hard to get. I tried walking away again, and this time Adrian grabbed my arm. “Ow, you’re hurting me,” I said, struggling to break free.

“Oh, so we’re playing games now. How about chase?” He let me go. “I’ll give you a head start.”

I stood there for a moment, not knowing what he really wanted me to do. When I looked past his eyes, into his mind, I could see what he had there. A voice in my head screamed for me to run, to get away as fast as I could.

With my new powers, I ran swiftly, my feet barely touching the ground. However, Adrian was a more seasoned witch than I was. And today he managed to harness his lust to summon a magical power out of his normal range of abilities: flying. The air suctioned under him as he shot up vertically. I could hear the whir of the breeze as he grew nearer. Adrian flew over my head, blowing my hair forward with his tailwind, and landed right in front of me.

“Don’t you have any feelings for me?” he asked, sounding sincere. His head was tilted down, his eyes looking up. He was coming to the painful understanding that I really did want his brother instead.

“No, I don’t have any feelings for you. Sorry.”

With those words I delivered a fatal wound to Adrian’s heart. It killed him to be rejected by the only woman he’d ever cared for. His emotions took a sharp turn, going from raw pain to unbridled fury. He pushed me backward with such force that I flew about fifteen feet.

“I have done nothing but love you since the day I met you. And you—you bitch—strung me along like a puppet. You are not getting away with that.”

Adrian pounced on me. He was heavier than his thin body suggested, and he weighed me down. He was turning into that monster I’d seen at the killing ritual. His nails started to claw up as he ripped my shirt apart, and left deep cuts. He kissed my chest savagely and covered my mouth so I couldn’t scream. My fangs came down, and I fought to open my lips so I could bite him. I tried to use telekinesis to get him off me, but my terrified state blocked it.

“I’m taking what’s due me,” he said with a little froth in the corner of his mouth. He ripped the zipper out of my pants as if it were made of papier-mâché. He moved his sweaty hand away from my mouth. I bit wildly at the air, hoping to land my teeth in his flesh.

During the wrestling match, I was able to slam Adrian in the nuts. He rolled off me, clutching himself. I staggered to my feet and booked it to the house. Meanwhile, Adrian fought through his pain, ran me down, and tackled me. I landed on my stomach with him on my back, a puff of dirt rising around us. He straddled me, his knees digging into the backs of my spread thighs. I thought they were going to break. When Adrian got full control over me, he got between my legs and started pulling my pants down. Then I heard the sound of his belt unbuckling.

Suddenly there was a massive
thump
, and I felt Adrian’s weight abruptly lifted off my legs. I looked to my side and saw Julie beating his ass. She was in full shape-shifter mode. She tossed him about, taking him from the dirt to the trees and back. Adrian had used the bulk of his magical energy to fly, and had no real strength left to fight her. All he could do was give in to the whipping and get knocked out.

With a mouthful of dirt and a couple bruised ribs, I pulled up my pants. I watched as Julie shifted back to normal. “Thank you,” I said.

“Don’t thank me. When Ilan came to me, it was understood that I would protect you if you were in grave danger—no matter what. That means if I ever have to choose between my life or someone else’s and yours, I am soul-bound to save you. I can never override that. My protection will be automatic and unyielding. And like I told Amari, I will hold up my duty. I have no choice in it.”

Julie threw Adrian over her shoulder and carried his battered body to the house. Right before she slipped inside, she turned back to me. “But don’t get it twisted. This doesn’t change anything between you and me.”

I stood there—alone, vulnerable, and violated. More than ever I needed my friend to console me. How could she be so cold-hearted and merciless, especially at a time like this? But I remembered an old African proverb that fit Julie and me to a tee: the ax forgets; the tree remembers.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Probably the toughest time in anyone’s life is when you have to murder a loved one because they’re the devil.

—Emo Philips

N
o one had to say a word. James knew what had happened as soon as he walked through the door. The chemical traces of Adrian’s hormones gave it away; they were all over me.

I was in the parlor, wrapped mummy-style on the couch. The sedative Aunt Evelyn had administered had anesthetized me into a comatose sleep. James stood at the door at first. He stared at me, not wanting to believe I’d been attacked and he hadn’t been there to protect me. He then slowly approached as if he were identifying a loved one at the city morgue. He paused and squatted down next to my head. He carefully pulled the wool blanket down to my neck. My puffy face and bruised body told him the full story. As he digested the awful truth, his fangs jutted out, and the entirety of his eyes became volcanic red. His wrath grew exponentially with every shivering breath I took. The house vibrated with him as his body quaked with hatred.

Despite being asleep, I could hear everything as if I were dreaming it.

James’s adverse reaction sent reverberations through the house, causing pictures to fall off the walls and windows to crack. Aunt Evelyn knew she had to take immediate action before he ruined her home. She whisked over to him with a whir of current swirling under her feet. “James, bring yourself down. Now, young man.”

But James didn’t give a shit about anything Aunt Evelyn had to say. He looked straight past her, expecting to see Adrian entering the room at any moment. “Where is Adrian?” he grunted.

Aunt Evelyn grabbed him by the chin and turned his face to hers. “Don’t worry about him. Maintain control.”

James wasn’t himself; a vengeful sentinel had taken his place. He snatched Aunt Evelyn’s hand off his face. “What? Am I to be passive right now? Take a noble stance perhaps? You may be in control of this endeavor as a whole, but if you think I’m going to sit idly by after this defilement, you are out of your mind.”

Aunt Evelyn sympathized with his raw emotion. The woman he loved had just been the victim of a brutal beating and near rape at the hands of his own brother. But Aunt Evelyn’s first priority was me. And she was well aware of the devastating consequences James’s volatile anger could have on our undertaking. If left unchecked his focus would be siphoned to Adrian, and he wouldn’t have the capability to shepherd me.

James stormed to the basement with Aunt Evelyn helplessly trying to pull him back.

“Look at me,” she implored, stepping in front of him. “Adrian—he’s not a problem anymore. Just relax.”

I twitched and moaned, trying to wake up from this nightmare. But I couldn’t shake off the drug. All I could do was listen.

“Get out of my way,” James said. I had never heard him sound that way before. His voice had taken on a nefarious, otherworldly timbre and pitch. He pushed Aunt Evelyn aside forcefully, but not enough to hurt her.

Determined to get Adrian, James ripped the basement door off its hinges. His heavy footsteps left deep indentations in each stair as he descended. Large blood droplets from the beating Julie had administered led James to Adrian’s limp blow-up mattress. However, Adrian was nowhere in sight.

The tang of Adrian’s overabundant testosterone mixed with my fear-engorged epinephrine must’ve have been all over him, because it was so heavy in the room. When James caught a whiff of it, he was so deeply affected, his rational mind totally left him. All that was left was a time bomb with one second on the clock.

James wasn’t speaking anymore; he was making primal, guttural sounds. He tore into the sheetrock as if Adrian were plastered behind it. When he saw there was nothing there except studded beams and wires, he raged out even more.

The other witches and wolves, who’d been instructed by Aunt Evelyn to leave me be, ran from all corners of the house when they heard James’s resonating screams. He grabbed whatever wasn’t nailed down and threw it about the room. Scraps of shattered lamps, torn furniture, and broken vases piled up on the floor. In the middle of his fit, James noticed the door that separated the main part of the basement from the laundry room. He barreled through it, finding only a washer, a dryer, and half-used boxes of detergent and fabric softener.

By that time the others had rushed down the stairs. Running at full speed, all of them went after James. They slammed him against a wall to subdue him.

“Goddamn you, Adrian!” James yelled, now growing hoarse. He managed to push the others off. However, he took out his frustration on the closest warm body. James picked Hari up by his collar and held him high in the air with one hand. James said in a low and controlled voice, “Where is he?”

“Enough,” Aunt Evelyn said as she threw invisible projectiles—basically magic bullets—at James. His body jerked as they pelted him, but that didn’t stop his cyclonic response. Julie crashed into him, causing him to drop Hari. Aunt Evelyn and Addison immediately started chanting. They conjured a magical vice grip that clutched James, forcing his arms to his sides.

He fought against the restraint. “Why are you protecting him?”

“We’re not protecting him,” Addison said with tears in her eyes. “We’re protecting you.” She squeezed her hands, tightening her magical grip on him. “You know it’s forbidden for a witch to kill another.”

“Not true. We can kill Catherine,” James said.

Addison was not going to let James get away with that incorrect explanation. “Don’t even try it. Stop trying to convince yourself this display is okay. You know the Council made an exception for Catherine. Adrian is your brother. The Council will not condone your plans to do him harm. Father especially will never forgive you for the murder of his child. And you know there is no telling what he would do to you.”

“I’ll risk it,” James said.

“
We
can’t risk it,” Aunt Evelyn snapped back.

James knew he had to put on a show if he wanted to be released from the invisible straightjacket. He said, “See? I’ve calmed down. Now can you let me go?”

Addison and Aunt Evelyn looked at each other. Aunt Evelyn shrugged—her way of conceding to Addison that it was safe to release James. The two witches nodded in agreement and set him free.

James’s plotting against Adrian had made him quite crafty. He appeared to stretch out his arms innocently, all the while scanning their eyes. He was searching their minds for Adrian’s whereabouts. But the group had veiled their thoughts long before he’d arrived home. James smirked at their forethought.
Touché
.

However, he was not deterred, and knew his next move had to be quick. Before the witches and wolves could intervene once again, James waved his hand, casting a spell on the room. It hazed over, and he could see the last glimmers of Adrian. However, he couldn’t get a full picture for some reason.

James had been quick with his room swipe, but Addison’s observation of him was quicker. She said, “We veiled the room, James.”

That didn’t matter, because outside the window James spotted the murky residue of Adrian’s essence. He pulled back his lips and exposed his long fangs. In a flash of light, he bolted up the stairs and out of the house. The other witches didn’t even have time to process what had just happened.

I woke up from unconsciousness as James streaked out of the house. The front door slammed shut just as I sat up. I pulled the curtain back and saw James outside. He was blood-hounding Adrian’s fading vapor trail. The other witches and wolves flew out the door behind him.

James’s nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, but Adrian’s scent disappeared at the end of the driveway.

“He’s gone, James. Let it go,” Addison begged.

He saw me watching the happenings from inside the house. Though groggy, I pressed my hand against the window, urging him to come in.

“I’m going to check on Grace,” he said. The others got out of his way as he walked right through the middle of them. He was halfway to the house when he made a declaration.