"We're not married yet," Eden said as she pulled Bianca's arms out from beneath Dana's paws.
"Only cause you're insisting on a big white wedding."
Dana cocked her head to the side, finding it hard to imagine Eden in a big white dress.
"You can do that?" Luke asked.
"Why wouldn't we?" Tony responded as he strode over to Eden and passed her what looked like a pair of handcuffs, which she fastened around Bianca's wrists. The other woman had been silent until now, but having seemed to finally realise the trouble she was in began to squirm.
"Vampires, churches, I just guessed there was some truth in it." Luke shrugged, and if she'd been in human form, Dana would have had to stifle a laugh at his expense. It truly was amazing how ignorant some paranormal species seemed to be of one another.
"We can go in churches," Eden said softly, before her expression hardened. "Bianca, stop." The command in Eden's tone was almost palpable, and Dana wondered if this was the compulsion she'd heard that older vampires had. "You might want to shift back now, you might struggle to call a meeting otherwise."
With a mere thought of her human form, Dana returned to it, straightening up and glaring down at the now dazed vampire that had tried to attack her mate. "Just let me call Arabella," she said, walking over to the bed to scoop up the phone she'd abandoned there.
"Dana!" Luke admonished, and she turned towards him to find his shirt off and being held out to her. Shaking her head, she took it from him, pulling it over her head.
"No one really cared," she muttered.
"I did."
"But Eden's a shifter and Tony's mated. Neither of them are interested," she protested, pouting at him. She had a point and he knew it, she just wanted him to admit it.
"I don't know...can't say I've ever tried tiger blood before." Eden smirked and Dana let out an involuntary laugh at the same time as a low growl came from Luke's direction. She looked at him oddly, surprised that he was taking on some of her characteristics already. Maybe that meant she'd get magic too. She glanced at her hands, already disappointed that there were no tell-tale yellow sparks there.
"You wouldn't dare," Luke ground out.
"No, she wouldn't," Dana replied, moving towards him so she could press her hand against his chest in an attempt to calm him. She looked up into his eyes, seeing that something lurked close to the surface. It almost looked like her when her tiger was surfacing, but that seemed unlikely. It was far too soon for him to be taking on tiger characteristics, she hadn’t expected that for at least another few months.
“Can we get a Council meeting called already? Don’t know about you, but I’d rather get some sleep before I have to go to work tomorrow,” Eden said, the other female vampire standing blindly behind her shoulder.
“It’s Sunday tomorrow,” Dana replied, not looking away from Luke.
“So?”
“And you don’t have a job.”
“Keeping vampires in line is a full-time job,” Eden muttered. Well if they were anything like shifters, then Dana would have to agree. As far as she was aware, Eden was still a Vampire Elder, though how long that would last if they found out about her shifter side, she wasn’t sure.
“Fine.” Dana sighed, finally sending the message that would call a meeting, prepared for the fact that she wasn’t going to be popular in the slightest. Pulling Ari and Alden away from their mates was the easy bit too. She was more worried about Drayce’s reaction to having his Saturday night interrupted. The dragon was morose enough on a normal day. Then again, she’d be a bit like that too if she was the last of her kind.
13
Luke looked around the large chambers, surprised by just how imposing they were, and by the fact that everyone seemed to be deferring to the petite redhead that had bounced in with an amused look on her face and being trailed by a larger man that just made Luke think of a bear.
“You shouldn’t be here, Bjorn,” a man’s voice said from the shadows. He’d been there when they’d arrived, sat in the shadows and saying very little. Almost as if he didn’t want to participate and just watch instead.
“Bjorn knows how it goes in here,” the redhead snapped.
“Don’t forget your place, Arabella,” the man warned.
“And don’t forget yours,” Dana replied, more command in her voice than Luke was used to. “Bjorn used to sit on the Council, he only stopped because he had to, does it really matter that he’s here now?”
“Of course it doesn’t,” the third female Council member said as she walked in, her long white hair swinging behind her as she walked. “Oh, congratulations Dana.”
“Thank you,” Dana replied smiling.
“How does she know?” Luke whispered to her.
“Nathalie’s a unicorn, she can sense these things,” Dana replied quietly. The four unseated Council members, the three women, and a tall blond man, took their seats, leaving Luke stood in the centre of the room with Eden, Tony and the still dazed Bianca. The large man, Bjorn, stood off to the side, not taking his eyes off the redhead.
“What’s up, Dana?” Arabella asked.
“Luke was attacked by a vampire.”
“I see. Take it that’s why Eden’s here?” she asked, giving a brief wave to the pink-haired vampire.
“Yep,” Eden butted in. “Luke witnessed my altercation with another vampire awhile back. Apparently, it’s got him on Maurice’s shit list.”
“Maurice? Again?” the blond man asked, giving a sigh. “And I thought the necromancers were bad,” he muttered under his breath. Which was odd. Luke shouldn’t have been able to hear that. Arabella laughed.
“Please. Like you came off badly from what the necromancers did.” In contrast, Arabella spoke at full volume.
“No, I suppose I didn’t.” He leaned back, a self-satisfied smile on his face that Luke assumed was something to do with a necromancer. He’d have to ask Dana later.
“We’ve digressed,” the shadow man growled. Dana sighed, and between her and Eden, filled the rest of them in on what they knew. Luke watched as the other Council members’ faces grew stony.
“So, what do we do with her?” the blond man asked, nodding towards where Bianca still stood, completely unaware of the world around her.
“I guess we have to-” Arabella started.
“I’ll take her. She might know more.” The shadow man stood up and strode towards Bianca, grabbing her bound hands and tugging her away.
“Is that really wise, Drayce?” Dana asked, a slightly disgusted look on her face.
“You want to do it?” Drayce asked, raising an eyebrow. “Thought not,” he added when Dana didn’t say anything. Luke noticed that the others hadn’t either. Drayce stalked out of the room, taking Bianca with him, making him surprisingly concerned for the vampire that had tried to end him.
“Guess that answers that.” Nathalie’s voice shook ever so slightly, and it was only then that Luke realised how quiet she’d been during the whole discussion. “But what do we do about Maurice?”
“We could bring the Hunters in?”
Next to Luke, Eden let out an odd hissing sound that sounded almost threatening.
“How can you suggest that Alden?” Nathalie sounded horrified.
“It might not be a bad idea,” Arabella mused. Luke looked over at Dana, but she just shrugged, clearly as clueless as he was.
“We promised never to use them.” Nathalie shifted from horrified to outraged before Luke’s eyes, and she almost took on a blue glow.
“But using them could also help us locate the rest of them. At the moment we only really know where one of them is.”
“Is that really a good idea, Ari?” the large man who’d entered with her asked.
“We need to close down the Hunters, and we need to get rid of Maurice, why not kill two birds with one stone?”
“I think it needs to be up to Eden,” Dana interrupted. “I don’t know about the Hunters for sure, but from the rumours, she’s more a
t risk from them than we are.”
“Yes, I agree.” Arabella turned back to the pink-haired vampire who’d remained surprisingly silent.
“It might be our only chance,” she admitted with a sigh.
“Eden, are you sure?” Tony asked, placing a hand on his mate’s arm.
“Yes. Call the Hunters in. They’re the lesser of two evils.” She sounded stronger this time, and Luke noticed that she met Arabella’s eyes as she spoke. There was clearly more to their relationship than met the eye, as this almost made them appear like political equals.
“Bjorn?” Arabella asked, not breaking eye contact with the vampire.
“I’ll send a message, but I don’t know how long it will take them to respond.” Bjorn strode out of the room, Arabella’s head spinning around to watch him leave, a look of longing crossing her face.
“I hope we’re doing the right thing,” Nathalie muttered, moving her long white hair over her shoulder. “Now, anyone heard from that missing princess yet?”
Epilogue
It was hot, which wasn’t surprising given they were in an Indian forest. Dana glanced over her shoulder to find Luke watching her with adoring eyes. There was nothing new there, but it still sent a thrill through her every time she saw it.
Knowing he was watching, she dropped the wrap she was wearing to the floor and thought of her tiger, shifting instantly. She didn’t have to look back at him to know that he’d been taking photos. He often did during her transformations. Apparently, he was determined to catch the moment she actually changed but so far, he hadn’t managed. She was pretty sure it was because he kept getting distracted by her nakedness.
She let out a short yip, communicating to him without words. They were beyond those now. He knew her shifted form almost as well as her human one, having watched, photographed and admired it many times.
Luke let out a small chuckle, and the soft thump of his clothing hitting the ground told her he’d be joining her in animal form. It was about time. He still wasn’t used to shifting, but Dana hoped this trip would change things. Moments later, a tiger slightly larger than she was arrived at her side. She nuzzled her head into Luke’s neck, making him purr, then pulled back.
They weren’t here to cuddle as big cats. They were here to run.
The End
Thank you for reading The Witch’s Stripes! For more witches, try Witch’s Potion. You can also join my Facebook Group or Mailing List to keep up to date with new releases.
The Witch’s Potion Blurb
* * *
What if you used a love potion, then met the love of your life?
* * *
Mia has been lusting after her next door neighbour, Skyler, for months, and has finally decided to do something about it. But when Felix, the best man at her sister's wedding, shows up, she realises it might not be Skyler she wants after all. With a love potion in the mix, and her sister’s insistence on marrying the wrong man, doesn’t Mia have enough to worry about?
* * *
Witch’s Potion is book 1 of the Thornheart Coven series and has a standalone couple.
* * *
You can grab a copy of Witch’s Potion here: http://books2read.com/witchspotion
The Witch’s Potion Excerpt
Chapter 1
The invitation stared at Amelia from where it was pinned to the fridge with a novelty magnet. She hated it already, and it’d only arrived a few weeks ago. A bit late for a wedding invite, but then that was just what her older sister, Rebecca, was like. She was getting married and Mia’s gut was telling her it was a bad idea. It wasn’t even that Mia thought Robert was a bad person, though he had his moments, it was more that she didn’t think he was right for Bex.
But that wasn’t even the worst bit. The worst bit was that she didn't have a date. And the wedding was tomorrow. She'd have to endure the entire thing while being asked when it was going to be her turn, and being told that she'd have to find a man of her own. And that didn’t sound fun. So she'd come up with a solution. Not a very good one necessarily, but a solution all the same.
Pulling her Grandma's old potion book from the shelf, she flicked to the page she'd earmarked years ago, but promised herself she'd never use. There, in her Grandma's elegant script, were the instructions for making a love potion. One so strong, that a single drop would have the other person head over heels in an instant. She'd had all of the ingredients ready for weeks, ever since she'd first considered using it. She even had an item that the man in question loved. Well, kind of. She had petals from one of his flowers, and as a proud gardener, her neighbour Skyler definitely loved his plants. Or at least she hoped so.
Mia chewed on her lower lip, unsure about whether or not to go ahead with her plan, but the moment an errant thought about how her cousins would react when she turned up alone again, she made up her mind. They wouldn't be purposefully cruel, but with Luke recently mating with a tiger shifter, there was next to no chance that she'd get away unscathed.
With a glance at her cauldron, she scooped up the book and the ingredients that she needed, before making her way over to the low table she kept next to her open fireplace. Maybe it was stereotypical for her to have a cauldron in her kitchen, but she wasn't all that good at actual magic. Potions were definitely her specialty, and for that reason, she'd required her house had an open fireplace. It wasn't just potions she was good at either, it was anything that involved mixing things up. She worked at a chemist, making medicines from plants. She wasn't the only paranormal to work there either, though she hadn't let on that she knew one of the other scientists was more than just a human, it wasn't her place to.
She concentrated on her hands, picturing the flames in the grate. She may not be good at magic, but she could at least do the basics like this. They sprung to life, licking the bottom of her cauldron as they heated the water that she'd left in it overnight. She turned her attention away, reading through the instructions again to make sure she knew what she was actually doing, and then picked up the first ingredient. She worked through the instructions one by one, double checking to make sure she was doing it right. She probably didn't need to do that, she was a natural after all, but it reassured her knowing that she was following her Grandma's instructions to the letter. This wasn't something she wanted to get wrong, not when she was going to give it to someone she was pretty sure was human. There was a chance of it going really badly, Faye had once managed to turn her best friend into a toad when they were younger. Luckily Reese was a shifter, so knew about them anyway, and he’d understood in the end, but it still didn't go down all that well.
After completing the final step, and scattering the flower petals into the potion, it turned a light glittering blue, which presented a problem that Mia hadn't really considered, how on earth was she going to get Skyler to drink it when it didn't look at all drinkable. Sighing, she waved her hand in the direction of her kettle, hoping that her magic would behave and just turn it on. The tell tale sound of boiling water relaxed her slightly, and she went back to her plan.
It was quarter to seven and Skyler would be out in his garden for the next half an hour or so, and with the air rapidly cooling, despite it being summer, it would be the perfect time to offer him a coffee. All she needed was a drop of the potion anyway, and it was supposed to be sweet, so slipping it in would just replace the sugar he normally had. Mia smiled to herself. The plan was foolproof, and something even she could be proud of.
She poured the water into two mugs, adding coffee to his and tea to hers, before leaving them to brew. Now all she had to do was work out how to get the potion into the coffee without creating too much of a mess. Inspiration struck, and she pulled a shot glass out of her cupboard, almost skipping over to the cauldron in her excitement. She dipped the glass into the blue liquid, filling it to the top, and carefully walked back over the the drinks. With as steady a hand as she could manage, she tipped a few drops into the coffee, and watched as it swirled through as it mixed in.
> Trying not to burn herself, she picked it up and pushed through the door that led outside, and to the fence between her and Skyler's properties.
"Hi Mia," he said as he spotted her. He stood up straight and wiped the sweat from his brow, making Mia salivate, he looked particularly yummy like this.
"Hi, I was making a brew, and thought you might like one. Dark and sweet, just how you like it." Just like she was. She didn't add that, even though she wanted to.
“Thank you,” he said. Their fingers brushed as he took the mug from her, and she made sparks ignite on her fingertips. She'd heard that that was what happened when witches met their one true love. Or mate, or whatever the hell it was called for them. For some odd reason no one ever seemed to actually know what it was called. But she wanted it to happen, and maybe if she sparked it off, then something would take. Unfortunately, all she got from Skyler was a bland smile...though that would all change once he'd drunk his coffee.
End Of Chapter
If you want to read more of Witch’s Potion, you can grab it here: http://books2read.com/witchspotion
Also Set in the Paranormal Council Universe
The Paranormal Council Series (Shifter Romance)
1.The Dryad’s Pawprint: http://books2read.com/thedryadspawprint
2.The Vixen’s Bark: http://books2read.com/thevixensbark
The Paranormal Council Complete Series 1-5 Page 25
