Love's a Witch (5 page)

Wasn’t alcohol supposed to suppress sexual urges? Damn werewolf metabolism. I crossed my legs and untucked my shirt. Jake snorted in the bench seat in front of me. I growled back.

There was no hiding my scent or increased heart rate in a car of supernatural beings. I only hoped the open windows and bad singing up front were enough to keep Amber distracted. I was in no mood for the comments she’d have for me right now.

Walking up on the two women bent over an empty bag of chocolate just minutes ago had my curiosity twitching. Amber had said it was girl talk. Considering every time a female said that, it was usually involving a male, I was irritated. They had been talking about turning Mary. It had to be that. My Alpha female gave no command to turn Mary. Maybe Amber was actually abiding by the Pack laws forbidding us from turning someone, unless they were near death, or a potential mate. At least there were some laws she respected.

We blew by a Mac truck and three FedEx vans. Then our ride started to shake as Amber merged to the far left lane and began leaving everyone driving around us in the dust. Laws Amber didn’t like, she didn’t follow. She had been working within the system and under the radar when she was still in her father’s Pack out of respect.

I had to wonder how difficult it was for her to follow orders. The girl was a leader. Amber would create her own rules. Let’s hope she was well-fed when she decided what my role would be. My foot shuffled on something that crinkled and I kicked it back farther. I was not in the mood to discuss the trash heap we were driving in. We lived in filth to remain financially stable, and it drove me crazy. Jake wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the finer things in life. I would kill for a good steak right now. And with that, I was hungry again.

No one in the van seemed to be willing to talk, which was fine with me. Amber continued to sing, and the rest of us tried to ignore the tension. Whether our fearless leader was trying to put us at ease or punish us was anyone’s guess. Were there eighties stations in every freaking city? If I heard “Hungry Like the Wolf” one more time I might bite the radio.

“Need to stop and fill up. Gas light just came on.” Amber rolled the van up to a single pump station. We would be lucky if it had candy produced this century.

“How about we hit up a spot with some food?” At least then I could get one of my hungers taken care of.

“Mary, are you hungry? Hun-gry like the wooooolf?” Amber sang it.

I have never hit a female, but one more verse of that song and I would seriously reconsider my stance on the issue.

“I don’t want anything. Let’s just go.” Mary didn’t look at any of us.

“Okaaaay. I am going to hit the little hybrid’s room. Jake, since you know where this Bed and Breakfast is, did you want to finish the drive?”

“That is fine. Craig, come out and stretch your legs with me.” Jake didn’t look behind to see if I followed. I was the only member of the Clan who wasn’t in charge. It was a bit annoying at times like these.

We both walked around to the driver side of the van while Amber booked it to the inside of the gas station to grab a key from the attendant. By the look of the license plate attached to the key, I could tell it was going to be a fine facility. Being able to pee standing up had its advantages at times like this.

Jake wanted to talk to me without Mary hearing. If this was about my erection in the van, he could go to hell. The man was mated. I wasn’t the only one pitching a tent from time to time.

We kept our voices low. Which is how I would be talking to them from now on if I didn’t want our sneaky little witch listening in. I wouldn’t trust her sleeping patterns again.

“Did you need the directions I wrote down?”

Jake just pointed to his head. “The miasma never forgets. I wanted to talk to you about your intentions with Mary.”

“Jake, I am older than you. Don’t play the concerned father here.”

“I am not playing at anything, Craig. You know well enough that if Mary wants to become an official member of this Clan, her entrance needs to be through therianthropy.”

“Don’t you mean lycanthropy? But who cares about the terminology. Not turning her is also an option. Millions of people stay human every day.” I couldn’t believe we were arguing about the formal term when the end result still meant bleeding Mary to near death.

“This is true, but millions of people are not best friends with Amber. Do you really think it is safe for a human around my mate?”

“Good point.”

Jake clicked the pump until he hit an even sixty-five dollars. Sad thing was, in this behemoth of a vehicle it wouldn’t fill the tank. “And I hope you understand that if you sire her, the little bit of magic you keep in your pocket will not be able to block her out.”

“What?” He was just guessing. He didn’t know.

“You are no witch, Craig. A little bit of magic cannot keep your emotions a secret from anyone but yourself.” Jake replaced the pump and put a hand on my shoulder. “When you are ready to face what we all already know, we will be here to support you.”

Jake walked away.

He didn’t know anything about my borrowed magic. He was just guessing. He only thought he was in control because I was blocking him. I pulled a dose of the dragon’s blood and swallowed the metallic tang it left in my mouth. I hoped I wasn’t lying to myself.

Chapter Seven

Mary

Jake took over the drive to allow Amber more freedom to dance and to keep us from crashing when the eighties started blaring through the speakers. The time was crawling by without drawing or reading to keep me occupied, but I didn’t have any books I hadn’t read over and over, and I would rather have let the entire van snack on my blood than pick up pencil and paper right then. Why didn’t the thought of Craig taking a bite of me sound painful? My brow furrowed as I chewed over that one.

Shotgun held its advantages. One of them was a window that opened. I rolled it down with the hand crank to get a bit of cool air at the thought of him chewing on different places on my body.

Jake cleared his throat from the driver’s seat. “The bed and breakfast should be another two miles up the road. We have not had lunch, but we can still stop if you wish to eat.”

Everyone looked at me. The weak little human who needed to be taken care of.

“
I’m
starving. I wanted to get something to eat, but I got shot down.” Craig’s voice broke the awkward silence. “Either we are getting something delivered the second we get there, or Jake is using his mojo to get her to make us lunch. Hell, I’ll jump out and start eating the wildlife if that’s my only choice.”

Jake turned his head to shoot glare arrows at Craig. “You know we can’t get caught poaching again after the rabbit incident.” His eyes lifted to the mirror and looked at Amber.

“How was I supposed to know it was their pet? Especially as a wolf. Jake, I swear…as my mate you should really let that go. I mean…OH MY GOD LOOK OUT!”

Amber jumped up to jerk the wheel, but the thump had already happened. A woman was stuck to our window like a bug.

Jake stopped the van immediately. Vampire reflexes and decent breaks had me strangled by my seatbelt as we stopped. Per usual, the rest of our quad flew out before I even had myself unbuckled.

The only thing I could discern about who we hit was that she was a woman. She was filthy. Slight frame sprawled on the hood, the woman wore a long skirt and a lot of dirt. Her hair was coated in something swirled with brown and white. More appetizing glop was served in prison cafeterias. There were deep scratches on her face and arms that we could see beneath the ripped fabric of her shirt. The skirt looked like a cat had tried to scale her but changed its mind and slid back down with its claws extended.

“Please tell me she’s not dead.” I only let myself breathe again when I saw her chest rise and fall. I almost wished I hadn’t. The stench was horrible.

“Her pulse is strong, Mary. She is just unconscious.” Jake worked her into his arms as he spoke. “And she does not smell all that pleasant. I am not putting her in the van. The rest of you get back in the van. I am running her up the road to the B&B. Perhaps the owner can give us a hand and call the paramedics.”

Jake waited for us on the porch. Good. We could soften the blow of the unconscious stinky lady. Nothing like showing up at my new teacher’s house carrying a woman we hit with our car. Problem was the owner wasn’t there. Half the house was probably missing too. The front door was hanging by one hinge that snapped the moment we went inside. We propped it against the side of the house.

Amber and I came up to the house at the same time but she shoved me behind her and walked in ahead of me. Craig locked up the van before joining us.

What would have been a fabulous parlor was now covered in the snow of gutted antique couch cushions. Wood splinters and glass littered the floor. Windows were shattered and lots of lamps were lying on their sides allowing the glass bulbs to erupt from the shades.

“Somehow I don’t think the owner is busy putting mints on our pillows. How long ago did you make the reservations?” Amber let the words ring loud against the obviously empty house.

Jake held the limp figure. There were no safe places to put her down. “I spoke to her three days ago to confirm the reservation.”

“Well, whatever happened to her, I doubt she would care if we use her tub and some water. We should get this woman cleaned up and I think we need to check out a couple of these scratches.” At least I could take charge in this part. I knew what a human needed more so than these yahoos.

Amber took her from Jake and we left the boys to work on clearing a path on the first floor while we walked up the stairs and found a bathroom. Towels were tossed all over the place. I found a couple to use that didn’t have splinters. The tub was clean enough, so we ran some warm water and got her undressed.

“She’s got these turgid little spikes of yuck in her hair. What the hell is that?” I had to poke at her hair out of morbid curiosity.

“Mary. Turgid? You have been reading too many bad romance novels lately.”

I stuck my tongue out. “I haven’t read anything lately. The closest I have come to the written word was the coven’s Book of Shadows. While there were some sex magic spells, I promise you, it wasn’t something that got me all hot and bothered. Did you see those men?” I shuddered.

We got a good temp to the water and filled it enough for a soak. We had to pile the torn up shower curtain under her back to reduce the danger of drowning her.

The water started to swirl with dirt and blood. I found an upturned small waste basket and after patting the debris from the bottom, filled it with water from the sink. We worked pouring the clean water over her in small handfuls. It was like uncovering a mystery. She was a brunette. She had long hair. It grew and grew as we started to unearth the strands from the horrible goo that covered her. Her body started to stir as she was waking up. I leaned over her and wiped a piece of a towel over her face. She jerked and grabbed my wrist. Her nails dug in hard enough that blood dripped down my arm.

“OW!” I tried to pull back, but she had one hell of a grip.

Brown eyes, wide and frightened, locked on mine. She looked at my arm where I was starting to bleed, then back up at my face.

“Sister. You’ve come. Thank the goddess.” She went limp in exhaustion, but it was a peaceful release of words. She threw off one hell of an aura. The colors were fast and furious, dark grey swirls spoke of her confusion, but an orange glow showed she was relieved. She was obviously still out of her mind. I was the last person to protect anyone.

The woman kept mumbling random nonsense. “Dark times are coming. Find the circle. The circle will lead the way. Where the newly formed stars join the lives of the sisterhood…”

“Sure, okay. Just relax. And don’t drown.” I was trying to talk to her and hold her head up without dipping my arm in the mucky water. Her body slumped as she lost the last bit of consciousness she clung to. For a skinny chick, her head sure was heavy.

“Need some help with your arm?” Amber’s voice sounded off. She was staring at the blood that was down to my elbow now.

“Amber, I swear, if you lick me I will not speak to you for a week.” My shirt was already ruined, so I used the edge to wipe up the excess and staunch the flow.

“Fine. Let’s get her dried off and see if we can find her a mattress that hasn’t been shredded.”

It took a while, but we did find a bed that had only been slashed on one side. A quick flip and some sheets we found in the dryer, and we had her wrapped up and resting comfortably. The windows were broken, but we were on the second floor. A breeze blew in and the sun was starting to set. The cooler temperatures were welcome, since any A/C was going right out the door or window as the case may be. We’d need some fans in the morning.

Downstairs we found the guys in the kitchen. Jake was finishing some sweeping with half a broom. He had to bend at the waist with the handle broken so far down the shaft.

Craig was at the stove. Something smelled heavenly on the burner. He lifted the lid with a dishcloth, leaned over the pot and breathed in the steam. Nodding he replaced the lid, wiped his hands with the cloth, and tucked it in the back pocket of his jeans.