Heirloom Magic: Every Witch Way (8 page)

“We have arrived,”
Mary said at last, just as Harper was about to demand a break, and suddenly,
Harper wished there were a million more stairs to descend, anything to keep her
from walking into whatever was waiting at the bottom.

Mary didn’t give
her any time to get cold feet as she pushed her way regally into the room.
Harper followed, with Mr. Bell right behind her—probably to keep her from
bolting. Harper found herself in a massive stone cavern where a group of people
were sitting around a large stone slab waiting.

Harper’s legs
turned to rubber as every eye in the room turned towards her, more than a few
of them were glowing red, yellow, and green in the semi-lit darkness.

One of the tallest
men Harper had ever seen in her life stood up and began to shift into a wolf.
Harper took a step back, but Keaton was behind her, immoveable. Harper felt him
grip her arm and hold her in place.

The enormous black
wolf snarled, spittle dripping from his razor-sharp teeth as he advanced
towards her, and Harper nearly peed herself. Each of his teeth were the size of
her pinky finger!

He walked right up
until he was standing in front of her and then began to sniff her like an
overeager dog. Harper pushed his nose away, but he growled at her, so Harper
did the only thing she could think of.

She smacked him in
the muzzle with the palm of her hand.

The wolf growled
and lowered himself down on his haunches, preparing to jump up at her face,
probably to rip her throat out, and Harper took a deep, gulping breath. She’d
really done it this time. She was going to die, and the town was going to die
right along with her.

“Enough,” bellowed
a cold voice, and a pale man wearing a gold suit slid his chair back and stood.
The wolf backed off immediately.

“Thanks,” Harper
muttered, getting her first clear view of her savior. Her blood ran cold when
she saw his face. He was death. She didn’t know how she knew it, but her entire
body screamed at her to run. Goose pimples broke out all along her body, and
Harper’s knees went weak.

She wanted the
wolf back, Harper couldn’t help thinking wistfully as he came forward and
clasped her hand in his own ice cold grip.

Chapter Seven

“It is strange not to see Elizabetta here in your place,” the creature
said, his fetid breath puffing in her face, and Harper had to repress the urge
to gag. She was sure he would be able to sense it, and she knew instinctively
that weakness was not an option right now.

Mary stepped
forward. “Caspian, allow me to introduce Harper, the newest witch in the Jones
line.” Caspian’s eyes stared into Harper’s own, and Harper began to feel an
intrusion knocking at her head, almost like a tiny worm wriggling around in her
brain. She gasped and instinctively pushed the tickle from her mind.

“Very impressive,”
Caspian growled in approval, and Harper tried not to act as confused as she
felt. “Not even your grandmother was able to resist my powers the first time.
Your mind is locked tighter than a steel vault.”

Harper’s mind
raced. He’d been trying to read her mind? Caspian smiled, showing long, sharp,
pointy fangs, and Harper’s eyes widened. He was a vampire. She briefly wondered
if that meant Jasper had tried to read her mind too—the thought was not a
pleasant one.

“We have shown our
proof, Caspian,” Mary interrupted their staring contest with a bored tone.

Caspian shrugged.
“You have brought me a witch, I can ascertain that, and one with a very
powerful aura—but you have not proven to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that
she is a Jones witch.” Mary sighed. “You know that trying to pass off another
witch would void any agreement we have...”

Harper’s heart
began to pound. How in the heck was she supposed to prove her lineage? Her
birth certificate was back in Chicago.

The door opened
and a dark figure swept in, coming to a stop beside her. Harper glanced over,
startled, and relief coursed through her body when she saw it was Jasper at her
side.

Caspian stared at
Jasper with a smirk on his face. “Perhaps we don’t need to do the test after
all. The Jones lap dog has arrived—proof enough,” he mocked, and the group
assembled around the table began to openly laugh. Jasper’s face tightened up,
and Harper felt anger slice through her body at their mirth. Her temper snapped
and every drinking glass on the stone slab, in front of the chuckling
creatures, ignited into fire.

The laughter
quickly died out when the small crystal clear pool across the cavern turned
into a pool of fire, and the small water fall that fed it erupted into a
blazing inferno.

“Enough witch!”
Caspian roared, though he looked more than a little afraid—so was Harper. She
had not intentionally started this fire; she hadn’t even said the spell!

Jasper calmly took
in the wide-eyed look on Harper’s face, hidden from the others by the hood, and
did the only thing he could think of. He reached over and pinched her, right in
the ribs. Harper let out a tiny squeak and jumped, and the flames were
instantly tamed, falling down into the smoking water and extinguishing.

Caspian looked
pissed. “That was a bold move, and not one I think you should repeat,” he
warned her.

Harper nearly
opened her mouth to tell him that she had not meant to, but the smallest jerk
of Jasper’s head warned her to keep her mouth shut.

“Give me your hand,”
Caspian demanded, pulling a ceremonial dagger from his pocket, and Harper
balked. She looked to Jasper, not sure when he had become the voice of reason,
but he was, and he nodded.

Caspian grasped
her hand like she had some sort of disease that he did not wish to catch and
quickly ran the blade across her hand. Blood blossomed across her palm and
began to drip down onto the ground, and Caspian replaced the blade with an old
piece of parchment. The blood ran in small rivulets down her palm, and as soon
as her blood touched the Latin words written upon the page, the letters turned
gold and stood up, flaring to life briefly before they lay back down, inanimate
once more.

“The contract
still stands, her blood is true,” Caspian declared, not sounding thrilled to
discover the truth. Harper let out a small sigh of relief, her body relaxing
for the first time since Keagan had burst into the house. Caspian put the blade
to his mouth and licked the blood from the steel, making Harper’s body curl
away in disgust. It felt like he had violated her somehow, and Harper had to suppress
her gag.

Caspian closed his
eyes like he was enjoying himself immensely, and then his eyes flared open in
surprise. “Demon blood!” he cursed, spitting the blood out onto the ground and
running his sleeve across his lips like it had actually burned his tongue. The
table began to buzz like bees. Pretty soon the cavern was in an uproar, even
Mary and Keaton looked uneasy. “You bring us a hybrid!” Caspian roared angrily.

“What kind of
trickery is this?” a woman at the table asked with a strangled cry as she stood
up from the table and took a step back, and Harper blinked in surprise. “How is
such a mix even possible?”

“Be gone,” Caspian
said at last, waving his hand at them like Harper was an annoying insect.

Harper didn’t need
to be told twice. She followed Mary and Keaton back out the door, with Jasper
following closely behind, never once taking his eyes off the group assembled in
the cavern. Once they got outside the door, Harper’s legs gave out on her and
she sunk down to the cold stone steps, finally letting the trembling get the
better of her.

“I just need a
minute,” she mumbled to the group of supernaturals that crowded around to stare
down at her in concern.

“I’m afraid that
is not something we can afford until we reach the top,” Mary told her quietly,
glancing around nervously, and Harper nearly groaned out loud at the prospect
of heading back up all those stairs. Keaton looked like he wanted to offer to
pick her up, and his hand actually strayed a little bit close before he thought
better of it and snatched it back like she might burn him. Harper had to wonder
if it was the discovery of her demon blood that changed things. She didn’t know
enough about this world to know the significance of being part demon. Jasper
had known about it, but maybe it was a secret.

Jasper let out an
annoyed huff and reached down and scooped her up in his arms. She buried her
face into his chest, surprised to hear the faint sound of a beating heart—weren’t
vampires dead? Harper wanted to protest that he shouldn’t be carrying her, but
she was too mentally and emotionally drained to climb back up all those stairs.
Her shaking legs were never going to make it, and she really just wanted to get
away from those things in the next room.

Jasper held her like
she weighed nothing. When he used his vampire super speed, the air started to
whip past her face so quickly that she couldn’t even draw a breath. Harper
couldn’t help the girly scream that bubbled up from her chest. It was dizzying,
even though Jasper kept her head tucked tightly to his chest. It was several
seconds before Harper realized that he had stopped and was no longer moving,
though her world continued to spin.

“Don’t do that
again,” she gasped, filling her lungs back up with oxygen. When he set her down
on her feet, she swayed and had to clutch at him to keep from falling over.

Jasper gave her an
annoyed look. “Don’t help you up fifty flights of stairs again?” he asked with
a raised eyebrow, and Harper felt foolish being mad at him, though she was
determined not to let him know that. He already had too much to hold over her.

Harper nodded,
“Yeah…”

Jasper looked
thoughtful. “I could just zip you back down to the bottom and let you do it all
yourself… Girl power and all that,” he offered in a sweet tone, though the
threat was clear as day. Harper swallowed.

“Well, I’m already
here,” she said, shaking her head.

Jasper snorted,
turning his back on her as they waited for the wolves to catch up.

Harper stared at
his back and felt bad for the way she was acting. Jasper had really helped her
out down there; she should be thanking him. She opened her mouth, but the words
just wouldn’t come out. Two large wolves suddenly came bounding up the steps,
distracting Harper from her apology, and Harper took a frightened step
backwards. Her head swiveled to Jasper, but he didn’t seem concerned, so she
forced her muscles to uncoil and took a deep breath to make herself relax. It
didn’t work.

The two wolves
stopped before them, their tongues lolling out like big, friendly dogs. Their
forms began to change, and Harper could hear their bones popping and cracking.
Then Mary and Keaton stood before them again, completely naked. Harper blushed
to the roots of her hair and averted her eyes.

“Wolves have no
shame,” Jasper couldn’t resist adding when he saw how uncomfortable Harper was.

Mary smiled at
them before pushing casually past them and pushing the trap door open with a
small grunt of effort. Harper got an accidental glimpse of her tanned rear end
and quickly looked away, even as she hurried to climb the steps before Mr. Bell
decided to go ahead of her and really give them a show.

They climbed out
of the floor, back into the circular room, and Harper had to smother a smile
when she saw that Jasper had somehow gotten behind Keaton as they climbed up.
Jasper caught her smirk and shook his head at her, his eyes promising vengeance
if she dared open her mouth.

“So…” Harper said,
making Jasper look at her sharply. “What do I do now?” she asked instead.

Keaton shrugged.
“Head home, work on your craft, and we’ll call you when the next life or death
crisis pops up.” Harper looked at him, not sure if he was joking or not. He
didn’t so much as break a smile, and it made Harper feel deflated. Was her life
going to be a series of life or death situations from now on?

Harper stood there
awkwardly. Mr. Bell had driven her.

“I’ll take you
home,” Jasper offered as he motioned her out one of the doors, and Harper found
herself not back through the bookshelf to the secret boiler room, but out in
the main lobby of the town office.

People shuffled
around and filed papers, the tap, tap, tap of the secretary’s keyboard seemed
overloud. “Come on,” Jasper said, grabbing her elbow to get her attention. No
one really seemed to notice them as they walked right through the busy office
and out the front door into the bright afternoon sun. Jasper reached in his
pocket and grabbed a dark pair of sunglasses and slid them on his face.

“Did you drive
here?” Harper asked, looking around at the row of vehicles in the parking lot
and only recognizing Mr. Bell’s car.

“What do you
think?” Jasper snapped, pulling a pair of keys out of his pocket and motioning
her around the corner of the building where she recognized Gran’s old truck
right away.

“I thought maybe
you turned into a bat and flew here,” she told him, only half teasing as she
watched him closely to gauge his reaction. He shook his head, and Harper felt a
small stab of disappointment.

“That’s folklore.
Not true,” he said, pausing to hold the truck door open for Harper. It was a
strangely nice gesture, but Harper shook it off, reminding herself that Jasper
was ancient. He was from a time where chivalry was a way of life, not just some
way for hipsters to impress a girl.

Jasper went around
the driver’s side of the truck and fired it up like he’d been doing it his
whole life, and Harper had to marvel at how strange it must be to see so many things
change throughout your life. Harper herself was still having trouble completely
making the switch from VHS to DVDs.

“Would you mind
swinging by the store?” Harper asked when Jasper pulled out of the parking lot.

Jasper nodded and
turned the corner, taking them to Main Street. Harper felt her pulse pick up
when she saw her little shop was packed this afternoon. Tourists mostly, but
she also recognized some of the strange people from her gran’s funeral, who she
now knew must be some kind of paranormal creatures.

“Do you want me to
come in?” Jasper asked when he’d parked them in the closest parking space.
Harper shrugged.

“If you want to,” she
said.

Jasper shook his
head, pulling the keys from the ignition and leaning his head back as he
relaxed.

Harper walked in
to find Mallory and another young woman she didn’t know, both wearing pink
aprons and bouncing around the store helping customers. A third woman, also in
a pink apron, was behind the till furiously ringing things in.

“Harper!” Mallory
squealed, and Harper spun to find the pretty vampire bouncing towards her with
a big smile and a box full of…large claws.

“What is that?”
Harper asked, staring at a razor-sharp, shiny black, curved claw that had the
same thickness as her thumb and was double its length. Mallory looked down at
the box in her hand like she’d forgotten it was there.

It looked like
something off of
Jurassic Park
.

“Dragon talons,”
Mallory said, shrugging her shoulder like it was no big deal. Harper blinked.

“Dragons are
real?” she asked incredulously, and Mallory laughed.

“Of course. What
will you be asking me about next—unicorns?” she giggled, and Harper froze,
staring at the vampire.