Could she be more cryptic? Her gypsy sounding voice makes me feel like I’ve been thrown into an old horror film. “Yes. I understand. Please, go on.”
“In the not so distant future one of your friends’ lives will be in jeopardy.”
If we keep the conversation going at this pace, it’s going to take an hour to find out what she wants to warn me about. “Can you tell me if the friend is male or female.”
Flynn stirs a bit and I can tell Irena is fighting to keep control. “It is a young woman. She has a special gift.”
Jen. I bite my lip. “How much danger is she in? Who wants to hurt her?”
“It is a matter of life or death.”
Great, now I really feel like I’m in a movie. “Okay, who wants to kill her?”
Flynn stirs again and for a moment I see a tiny bit of his persona behind his eyes. Crap, this can’t be happening.
Then his persona fades and Irena’s returns. Flynn’s eyes have actually changed color, from blue to hazel. Irena’s voice is stronger this time. “She is in great danger.”
Terrific. My guilt at pulling Jen into the paranormal world makes my stomach churn. “Can you please tell me who wants to kill her?”
Flynn’s eyelids flicker and then in a voice that is almost a whisper, Irena says, “He is a vampire.”
11
The Dark Side of Witchcraft
I sit on my favorite floor cushion petting Fred’s head trying to calm down. My mom wants a report on how Jen and Ainsley’s first meeting went. Yet, all I can think about is the fact that according to Irene, by bringing them together I have put Jen’s life in danger. I give my mom a weak smile as she sits down next to me and places a glass bowl brimming with cherries on the coffee table. Normally I’d dig right in, especially since I’ve had no dinner, but my appetite has vanished.
My mom is sporting an enormous grin that matches her flashy gold caftan. “I am proud of you, Brook. You have set the stage for a wonderful couple to achieve their potential. I couldn’t be more pleased. I’ve wanted Ainsley to settle down with someone for ages.”
“It was fun to see them hit it off.” Fred glares at me and then takes off down the hallway. He hates it when I don’t get right to the point with my mother. “How long has it been since Ainsley was with someone? I know it is a problem for vamps who choose to not convert their partners.”
My mother takes a bite of a cherry. “You know he never said exactly when, but I know she died tragically.”
I swallow hard. Did he kill his last girlfriend? “Do you know what happened?”
My mom’s brow furrows. “Why are you so interested in Ainsley’s relationship history? It must be well over a hundred years since she died.”
I instinctively cringe at the word—died. “I met someone when I was at the gallery opening. He’s a psychic named Flynn. Have you heard of him?”
My mother shifts on her cushion. “The name sounds familiar, but I have never met him. Of course, psychics are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. Why do you ask? What does it have to do with Ainsley?”
“Well, Flynn sought me out because his spirit guide wanted to speak with me.”
She laughs. “Oh Brook, you didn’t fall for that old line.”
My eyes narrow as I stare into my mom’s face. Her smile vanishes. “You are telling me the psychic was real?”
“Yes. He’s quite a talented mind reader, actually. His spirit guide, Irene, was real as well. I have to say the whole experience creeped me out, but not as much as her message.”
My mother sits back on her cushion and crosses her legs as if she were about to meditate. “You have my attention.”
“Her urgent message was that Jen’s life is in danger. When I asked who would want to kill her, she said a vampire.”
My mother’s face grows a shade lighter. “I can tell you without hesitation it’s not Ainsley. He would never hurt anyone. Why do you think he begged to be freed from the curse of drinking blood?”
Of course, it totally made sense. Now she’s made me feel guilty for even thinking he might hurt Jen. “Then who do you think she is talking about?”
“I have no idea unless its…” My mom bites her lip. “Murdock, Ainsley’s former master. He is as evil as they come. But my Scottish friend Rhonwen cast a powerful spell and entombed him in a cave in the remote countryside. Must be at least three years ago now. Rhonwen is a powerful witch, far more powerful than I. There is no way Murdock will ever be free again.”
It is hard to imagine a witch more powerful than my mother. “Then who could it be?”
My mother closes her eyes and sinks deep into thought. When her eyes pop open, I can tell she has come up with nothing. “I will ask around and see if anyone has heard rumors of a new vampire pack taking up residence in Los Angeles.” She pulls her phone out of her gold caftan pocket. “I’m going to send Rhonwen a message and ask her to double check on Murdock. She will take it as an insult and a lack of faith in her powers, but we need to be sure.”
“Right.” I grab a handful of cherries, suddenly starving. “In the meantime, can we put a protection spell on Jen?”
My mother nods. “Of course.”
She gets up and heads over to the antique wooden box where she stores her book of shadows. I smile at the ancient wooden box with ankhs carved on all four sides. I can’t count how many times when I was a kid, I tried to open it. Every time it gave me a sharp electric shock. Even today, I don’t have enough power to break my mother’s protection shield around the box—I’ve tried.
Mom runs her hand over the box and whispers an incantation. The book of shadows levitates into my mother’s open hands. Her connection to her spell book is a powerful one. I wonder if one day I can achieve such a connection with mine.
She leaf’s through the pages and stops about halfway through. “This spell should protect Jennifer from any harm until we can deal with whoever is after her.”
Goosebumps form on my arms. The idea that someone would want to kill a person as innocent as Jen just seems impossible to fathom. “Mom, have you ever had a friend threatened before?
She sighs and looks down at the wood floor. “I cannot protect you from the dangers of our craft any longer.” Tears form in her eyes as she closes the spell book and looks right at me. “I have lost four good friends to my enemies. It is the hardest thing I have ever been through.”
My chest grows tight like she shot me. How could someone be more powerful than my mother? How could they take people she loved away from her—people like me? My mouth grows dry, but I force it open. “Has someone tried to kill me?”
Her eyelids flutter shut, and she claps her hands together. “Only once… when you were little.”
My hands turn into fists. “Did you kill them?”
“Something far worse.” My mother waves her hand as if showing away a fly. “Enough. We will speak of this no longer.”
She places the book of shadows back into the box and returns it to its place on the bookshelf. Wiping away a tear, she walks over and hugs me so tightly I can hardly breathe. “You will always be safe. And I swear Jennifer will be as well.”
I watch my mom drive away from Tara’s apartment, and I can’t help but feel a bit guilty. Yet, I have to give her credit for not questioning why I wanted to be with Tara instead of her. She must have realized she couldn’t drop a major truth bomb on me and expect that I wouldn’t want to be with my best friend.
Tara opens the door to her apartment with a look of confusion on her face. “What’s up? I got your text and rushed home. We weren’t having much luck guy-fishing at the bar anyway.”
I trudge through the front door and head straight for her bedroom. My mood instantly changes when I see the bright blue Casper the friendly ghost comforter and sheet set. Tara has left the crazy redecoration I created from the prank spell. It was my pay back for her My Little Pony redo of my bedroom. I flick on the overhead light, which causes the little ghosts on the circular shade to swirl around chas
ing each other, their dark shadows flying across the white walls. I reach over and hug Tara hard. “This is just what I needed to see tonight.”
She pushes my hair out of my face. “Brooklyn, what happened? I’ve never seen you so upset.”
I flop down on her bed just missing the plush white ghost pillow. “It’s been a crazy night and it isn’t even nine o’clock yet.”
“All right, give me the tagline.”
She would use writer lingo. Tara is a USA Today bestselling author of the paranormal romance series, Devils Desire.
“Girl finds out she almost lost her life when she was a child.”
Tara’s large eyes grow even wider. “Eshe told you?”
“Yes, and I guess I’m the last to know.”
Tara reaches out and takes my hand. “Can you blame your mother for protecting you from such a horrible thing? The only reason I know the story is because I am the second in command of the coven. She wanted me to watch over you. Eshe has lived in fear for years that her enemies would come after you again. She has spent much of her power developing stronger and stronger protection spells. Her enemies know you are the most important thing in her life.”
I let out a sigh. “And my Dad? She loved him too.”
Tara hesitates before speaking. “I don’t know the details, but there were several close calls. But she wiped them from his memory.”
I don’t ask if she did the same to me—I know the answer. For the first time in my life I realize I’ve put my mom up on a pedestal. I thought she could do no wrong. Now I realize she’s just like other parents. She doesn’t trust that I’m adult enough to understand there is evil in the world, and it is after me. I get up off the bed and dig into my bag. Pull out my phone, I text Jerome. Are you home?
Tara sits quietly, giving me the space I need.
He texts back. Yes, what’s going on? I’ll be there in twenty minutes.
Tara puts her hand on my shoulder. “You can stay here tonight. I’ll make you an awesome breakfast. Blueberry pancakes and avocado toast, what do you say?”
I shake my head. “Thanks, but I need a totally different kind of comforting.”
I stand on the familiar porch of Jerome’s apartment, and for the first time I’m not dreading going inside. I ring the doorbell and the door flies open. “Brooklyn, are you okay?” He takes in my red eyes. “No, you’re not. Come inside.”
I trudge over to his leather sofa and ignore the two pizza boxes on the floor next to the coffee table. If I want Jerome, I have to accept that there will be a lot of competition.
He sits down next to me and reaches out and takes my hand. “Brooklyn, tell me what happened? I hate to see you so upset.”
I lean back on the couch cushion and squeeze his hand. “Sorry I’ve given you such a hard time. I had a bad experience with a warlock boyfriend back in New York. It got pretty ugly. It made me swear off having relationships with any other paranormal guys.”
He nods. “I know what you mean. We are complicated. Being with an ordinary person is so much easier.” He strokes my cheek. “But I couldn’t fight my attraction to you either. This is going to sound crazy, but when your mom showed me a picture of you, I felt this strange pull. Like I knew we would be good for each other.”
“I felt it too.” I shift closer to him. “It was so strong it scared me.” I put my head on his shoulder. “There is something dangerous, and yet comforting about you.”
He reaches out and draws me closer to him. I don’t fight the overwhelming chemistry we have together. I dive right in, returning his deep kiss. The nightmare of my mother’s secret fades from my mind, and all I feel is the heat of Jerome’s body against mine. No one needs to rescue me tonight. I’ll be safe in Jerome’s arms.
Instead of basking in the afterglow of an amazing night with Jerome, I’m sitting next to Derrick in his BMW on the way to his favorite breakfast place, The Pancake Shack.
He gives me a devilish smile. “Someone had a good night with the werewolf. Your cheeks are still flushed.”
I rub my cheeks self-consciously.
Derrick continues his teasing. “See, I told you not to fight the attraction.”
I kick at the floor carpet as if it were a particular wizard. “You better have some pretty awesome information about Kimberly or I’m going to send Jerome after you the next full moon.”
Derrick chuckles. “You wouldn’t.”
I punch him in the arm. “Just try me.”
“Fine, fair enough. I’ll ply you with your favorite pancakes and fill you in at the same time. How does that sound?”
My mom must have told him pancakes are one of my big food weaknesses. “Good, as long as they have blueberry.”
He turns the corner like a race car driver sending me careening into the arm rest. “Of course, they do. The Pancake Shack has every variety of pancake you can imagine. Everything from basic buttermilk to banana to coconut. They even have red velvet.”
My mouth waters as I imagine all the yummy red goodness. Of course, the fact that I never had dinner last night might have something to do with it. Jerome never had a chance to make me anything more than a piece of toast with strawberry jam before Derrick showed up.
We pull into the parking lot of the Pancake Shack and it’s pretty obvious how it got its name. A bright blue building, about the size of a one-car garage, stands facing the main street. A line forms in front of its equally bright red door, down the porch steps, and all the way out to the curb. My stomach growls as I calculate how long we would have to stand in line. I don’t know if I can last much longer without food. My blood sugar has hit an all time low.
Sensing my weakened state, Derrick opens the car door and helps me out. “Don’t let the line scare you. I’m a regular so they will seat us right away.”
I think his magical powers might have more to do with it than his regular status. But my doubts are soon dashed when I see a waitress wave Derrick over to one of the outside tables with a yellow umbrella hovering over it like a giant Frisbee. The waitress is a cute redhead who obviously has a thing for my Zoomer driver. “Hey, Derrick, I knew you were coming. I saved you a spot.”
Maybe he really is a regular, that or he snuck a text when I wasn’t looking. I sit down on the hard black metal chair and watch as the waitress pulls an order pad from her little red apron. “A large glass of orange juice and a stack of buttermilk pancakes for you,” She turns to face me, even though she never handed me a menu. “What will it be?”
“I’ll have a stack of vegan blueberry pancakes, an avocado toast, a fruit cup, and a large glass of OJ.”
She eyes my skin-tight jeans. “You sure you can eat all that?”
“I had the best sex of my life last night, I’m starving.”
She scribbles down my order and walks away laughing. Derrick joins in. “I guess the myths about werewolves being sex maniacs is actually true.”
“I can’t speak for all werewolves, but Jerome certainly knows his way around a woman’s body.”
Derrick covers his ears. “I don’t need all the details. But I’m glad I won the bet. Jerome didn’t think you were going to give him a chance.”
My orange juice arrives, and I take a big swig. “So, since when are you guys best buds?”
“He’s the leader of his pack and has helped the Order with a few matters.”
I’m dying to know more, but wizards are protective of their privacy. I’ll have to ask Jerome. “Right. You’ve made me wait long enough. What have you found out about Kimberly?”
Before he can start, the waitress loads down our table with my large breakfast order. Everything smells wonderful. I slather my pancakes with vegan butter and pour half the pitcher of maple syrup over the stack until it looks like a mini maple waterfall took over my plate. Derrick takes a bite of his pancakes and begins to speak, but I hold my finger up. I shovel down half the stack of pancakes and eat one of the avocado toasts and then lean back in my chair. The half an inch of waistband space has
vanished. “Okay, go.”
He chuckles and puts down his fork. ”Kimberly is indeed a wizard. She is from a very obscure order from Nova Scotia, of all places. Not much is known about them other than they are very elusive. They have been on the Twelfth Order’s radar since the early nineteen forties when they tried to take over a branch of the Canadian government. It failed miserably and they have been very quiet since.”
“Interesting. I wonder why Kimberly is in America?”
He sucks in a breath. “She came for one reason, to take your father away from Eshe. We believe the order plans to somehow use him as leverage against your mother. They must be hoping to blackmail her into helping them.”
“Wow, my mind is blown. It’s such an elaborate scheme.”
Derrick nods. “They have a big move they want to make. Your mother is a powerful witch and they obviously think she can help them. We have you to thank for bringing the order and its plans to our attention.”
Now that I hear what they have planned I’m glad I did. “I’m actually surprised Kimberly didn’t disguise her aura if she is part of some grand plan to kidnap my mother.”
“I think she underestimated your powers. But there is something else you need to know.”
The way he says it makes the hairs on my arms prickle. “Can you tell me already?”
“They might be planning on using you as well. Again, as leverage against your mother.”
I swallow hard remembering how my life was in danger before. “My mother has a powerful protection spell on me. I’ll be fine.”
His eyes narrow. “What about Jen?”
Even though my mother put a protection spell on Jen, I shiver at the thought that the person who wants to kill Jen may not be a vamp—but a wizard named Kimberly.
12
True Confessions
How to Snag a Shifter-The Book of Brooklyn Book One: A Young Adult Paranormal Romance Witch Series (The Book of Brooklyn Witch Series 1) Page 10
