Love's a Witch (9 page)

“Well if this was such a big thing, why didn’t they snatch me up? I was walking around completely oblivious.”

My breath hissed through my teeth as Craig wrapped my hand. Strips of a dish cloth were ripped off during pauses in the conversation. They turned pink with my blood between the green and white stripes.

“You hadn’t come into your full power yet, and you were hanging around with Amber. If anyone sensed your underdeveloped skills, they would have stood down against Amber’s strength.” Craig looked up. “Not many vampires would take her on.”

Made sense. “Is this harvesting thing why you were always rushing into my room? Did you think someone would grab me?”

“It was a possibility. You suffering from second degree burns was also a concern.” Craig mumbled the last part. Was he trying to take my mind off of this? Pointing out how vulnerable I happened to be was not the best way to do it.

Needing to think about anything other than ways I could hurt myself, I found I was staring at him again. The more I looked, the more that beautiful red billowing color began to trickle into the air around him.

“Like I said, we have time. We can start your training tomorrow. Tonight…let’s get some rest. Here…” Kari ducked down to the side of the island I was sitting on. “Ah, there it is. This book has had me obsessed lately. I don’t usually read romance, but I can’t get this one out of my head. Could be a good distraction. Go ahead upstairs. Read, relax. I will bring you some tea. Don’t worry, this time it will be regular old chamomile.”

She plopped a worn paperback into my good hand. I flipped it over and somehow managed not to drop the thing. On the cover was a woman in a corset. This was the book from the vision I had drawn. Getting out of that kitchen could not happen fast enough, but something made me hold onto the book as I ran upstairs to my room.

Chapter Twelve

Craig

A book? Mary had run out of the kitchen because of a book. And this was the woman who wanted to watch us shift? She wanted to turn into one of us? Mary puts up a brave front, but when she does things like this, her humanity blinks over her head like a giant neon sign.

“She was scared of a book.” I was getting sick of saying the same thing over and over. It was obvious no one was going to respond.

I was also saying we should get our asses out of this freaking place, but nobody jumped up to start packing. I had to find something to keep myself busy. Cleaning out the van seemed like a good way to spend my time.

The tires were at optimum pressure, and I topped off the fluids. They were leaking through the bottom of the engine almost as fast as I was filling them. I had the rate of fluid reduction tracked in my laptop, and I figured half a quart of oil every few days would keep us from running dry. I had a case of synthetic in the trunk next to the full sized spare. Yeah, I like to be prepared.

I hated that we were on the run with no end in sight. I hated even more the fact that we were staying with a witch who was a target for harvest. I knew some witches had been missing around Indiana, but I hadn’t realized how far the harvest reached. There wasn’t much time for the thought to bounce around in my head with Amber hanging over my shoulder.

She started tapping her nail on the van and I washed the windows faster. I caught my palm on the edge of one of the cracks in the glass. Damn woman just told me I missed a spot when the blood smeared. I wiped it off with a rag and tossed it in the back seat.

This girl had tried to dominate without even knowing it for so long. On the one hand, I really enjoyed watching her grow in power and strength, on the other I really needed to get us a place to stay that was freaking sound-proofed. The libido of a werewolf with the endurance of a vampire was obviously a very loud and persistent combo.

“Amber, I think it’s best if we give the girl a bit of time to adjust. She’s had a lot of supernatural sludge thrown at her.” I checked the tread on the tires with a penny. I couldn’t see good old Abe’s head yet, but we should sell this one before the tires went completely bald.

Amber’s look was as pointed as her tone. “Hell, I had to adjust quicker than this, and I had a mate to deal with. Although…” Her voice trailing off like that was really getting on my nerves.

“If you have something to say, my queen, how about you just spit it out? With all the people looking for our heads, even
your
life expectancy isn’t what it once was.” I wiped my hands on a rag, and stuffed it in my back pocket. I stretched to my full height, but I knew being bigger than Amber wouldn’t intimidate her, not even a little.

“You know I think you’re her mate.” Amber plopped herself down on the front passenger seat of the van. All the doors were open. Even the van looked like it was trying to fly away from here. If only I could shift into something with wings, I might be able to escape this conversation. She used that word again. Mate. If only it didn’t feel so right.

“You’re guessing. And she’s human. She doesn’t understand what it all means.” Amber started to interrupt, but I waved her off. “Not really anyway. It’s a lot to explain to a human. Doesn’t she have enough on her plate?”

You would think there was an entire Pack living in this van given how full of trash it was. Or a group of rowdy frat boys, but they were a bit synonymous with animals anyway. The trash bags I had installed on the backs of the front seats swung empty in the breeze. I gave up and tossed them in the large black garbage bag in my hand. No sense in having my attempts at cleanliness mock me too. Amber had that under control.

Tissues, Taco Bell napkins, Snickers bar wrappers—we needed to eat better too. I should buy a cooler when we headed out again. A few veggies might be a nice change of pace.

Then my hand curled around a stiff piece of paper. It felt like the sheets of Mary’s sketch pads. My stomach turned at the thought of one of her drawings getting messed up from our sloppiness. That girl had serious talent. I put down the garbage bag and flattened out the sketch.

There was a lot of red. It was a fire drawing. But not quite. This was a lot more abstract than what I usually saw from her. My hands worked their way up, smoothing the paper from the bottom to the top. Those looked like legs. Hmm.

“Craig, quit hiding in there, and let me give you the best example I can, of why inter-species dating is awesome. Me! What do you have?” Amber always fought her way through whatever obstacles she had. Now she was fighting to see what I was doing.

I touched the nearly empty vial in my pocket. I had maybe one or two doses left. But with Amber on my ass about this whole mate thing, I had to wonder if the Clan magic was too strong for the mild herbal spell.

Amber hopped off the seat. “I am trying to make you see that you want my best friend in a happy slappy sexy way.”

“How’s it working out for you?”

The middle finger she pointed at me made me chuckle, but the sound stopped dead in my throat when I realized what the drawing was. It was a couple. They were obviously more than friends. His hands grabbed, the woman’s mouth was agape, her back arched, and the man was biting her neck. It was me. It was me biting Mary. It was the most erotic thing I had ever seen. My dick bobbed in agreement. I pulled the picture to my chest to hide it.

“What
is
it? Wow. That is hot.” Amber’s voice came over my shoulders.

“It’s nothing.” I kept my back to her and tucked the image in my front pocket. Just having that picture next to my dick made it harder.

“Liar. Sexy pictures should be shared with the class, but I won’t fight you right now. I’m hungry. Have you seen Jake?”

“No. But can you both find a spot in the woods or something this time? The noise is horrible.” I shut the van door and tied a harsh knot in the garbage bag.

“Jealous?”

“Annoyed.”

“Might want to work some ear plugs into the budget, buddy. But after what I just saw, you’ll be making some loud sexy noises yourself.” My queen shrugged her shoulders to let me know she could care less about my discomfort and made her way back towards the house. “I’ll be dammed if I am making it in the woods. The bugs out here are bigger than the birds.”

Chapter Thirteen

Mary

There had to be another explanation for that red pulsing aura. Maybe it has multiple meanings. Studying with one of the coven witches I’d learned black could be anger, or hate, or a very strong fear. I wondered if sometimes there was such a thing as an evil aura. I never did get an answer on that one.

I kept telling myself the red could mean something else as I paced. The book was still in my hand. I wanted to throw it across the room, or shove it down Kari’s throat. I wasn’t ready to deal with this whole Craig thing. Why couldn’t they just turn me without a mating? Don’t these people know how to date? Sure, Craig’s sex in cowboy boots, but wanting to have him tie me up and ride me senseless didn’t mean I was ready to talk about forever.

When Kari walked in the room, the noise of the tea set didn’t register over the noise in my brain. I caught the sparkle of the silver tray in the shaded lamp light, and even then it still took me a full thirty seconds to form words.

“Why did you give me this?” I showed her the book in my hand, waving it back and forth for emphasis.

“Are you the reason I couldn’t stop reading it? I should thank you. I never thought about reading those sexy books before. I may have to head to the bookstore after…if…” She stopped her words and picked up on a different train of thought. “I have more of an appreciation for them now. Is it one of your favorites?” Kari went about setting up the tea like she hadn’t just handed me proof that my drawing could be more than fantasy.

“No, I’ve never read it before. But…um…I have seen the cover before. I kind of drew it on the drive here.”

When my arm lowered and Kari understood I wasn’t about to beat her with the paperback, she set the tray down on the small table by the window. She sat on the only chair, so I plopped down on the settee at the end of the bed. The book was still glued to my hand.

“You drew it?” she asked. “Care to elaborate?”

“I think I had a vision. I zoned out and then my hands worked on their own. The image in my mind had all the same tells as my dreams. It was so vivid, so real, and I had to draw it. I tranced without trying to. Is that even possible?” I hated to think of myself hanging out with Amber and going slack-jawed over and over again. I thought the training with the coven had helped me control the visions. It seemed more like they opened a floodgate.

“Mary, after who you came here with, do I really need to remind you that anything is possible?”

I accepted the cup she offered with my free hand. I had to mentally command my other to release the book.

What was wrong with me? Kari took a sip, and looked way too calm for someone who was on a secret harvester kidnap list. But having Kari around put me at ease. I wondered about her sanity, but it was par for the course with all my friends. Kari fit right in.

“I just never had that happen before. I don’t really understand my powers, but they haven’t changed since I was a teenager. If that’s turned upside down on me too…” I pressed my bandaged palm against the cup. The warmth felt good.

“There is something we can do if you are interested. To help you know yourself better. It may help you relax.”

I eyed her carefully. It didn’t take psychic powers to realize the fun quotient would be low.

“Fine. Do I need to get naked? The last coven really liked to get naked. And trust me, it wasn’t a group you really wanted to see naked.” I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. I liked Kari well enough, but I’d much rather see Craig in the buff.

The smile she gave me was contagious. “I wish we’d met under different circumstances, Mary. You and I could have so much fun together. If only…” The grey started leaking into her aura again, but she pulled herself back together. “Never mind. The time surrounding us is not near long enough. But to answer you, no, there is no nudity involved. Your blood, however, is.”

If there was one thing I had come to understand in these last months, it was that you had to respect the power of blood. Blood had the power to turn my friends into supernatural beings, had the ability to sustain Amber and Jake beyond death, and it was the reason Kari was being hunted for some blood slave ring.

“Well, since I’m already bleeding, it’s not as much of a sacrifice tonight. Let’s do it.” I needed to quit being such a wuss.

In a few minutes Kari had a circle of white pillar candles surrounding us, then surrounded us in a ring of salt. The tea set was between us as she settled across from me on the hardwood floor. The lack of an altar had me startled. The last coven I was with had one smack dab in the middle of every circle.

“No altar?”

“We aren’t asking for assistance from the gods tonight. This,” Kari made a vague gesture to include the tea and candles, “is about helping you focus. I want to help you draw from every side of yourself. I’m just pouring the tea.” That’s what she did. I set my old tea down and accepted the new cup offered. She palmed my grip in hers.

She made sure my cup was balanced inside our hands before peeling back my bandages. One hand supported the bottom of the teacup. The other moved my wound over the steam. I felt the moist heat penetrate not just my wound, but my whole body. The chamomile tea did more to calm my nerves this way than when I drank it.