“Hey, I think I found it!” Alec had suddenly shot ahead.
We all edged ahead into a study. It was full of magical looking books on shelves that were very sturdy but still sagged a little, as if the sheer power of the books had overwhelmed the wood. As soon as I crossed into this room, I felt a little queasy.
“Alec, shit!” Harris hissed. “These are the wards I was talking about for the interior rooms.”
But now I could see why Alec had suddenly barged into Master Blair’s study. He had his flashlight pointed at a photo on his desk.
“Oh my god,” I said. “The dress. That’s…Mom.”
Master Blair was with three other people in the photo. My mom. Samuel. And another girl that Master Blair had his arm around. It was hard to tell ages with witches and warlocks because they often lived longer, but they all looked young and happy. The other girl bore a distinct resemblance to my mom and Samuel. It looked like they were going out on the town. My mom had on the pink dress, the other girl was in polka dots with a little fur cape, and the guys were wearing black suits, a little oversized. Everyone had sort of teased hair, the girls had makeup that was all red lips and intense eyes, and Samuel was rocking some eyeliner. It was definitely the 80s.
“Well, that is clear evidence,” Montague said.
“Guys, we have to go,” Harris said. “If we leave this instant I might have time to—“
“She looks like you,” Alec said. “And this other girl…she has to be another relative. The same nose and smile.”
“What do I do?” I didn’t want to let the picture go, seeing my mom in the dress, my mom young and smiling and adorable. “Do I confront him about this?”
“Put it down,” Harris said. “I said I’d help you break in. I’m not getting expelled over—“
“What are you kids doing?”
Suddenly Stuart was behind us in the doorway, and even though his tone was like, Threat Level: Mr. Rogers, it was Creepy As Fuck.
I screamed. We all screamed, actually.
Stuart held out a hand to take the picture. “Can I see this?” he asked, in the calmest tone but oh my god why was he so creepy all of a sudden? Why was he the creepiest man alive? What the fuck was Stuart? I felt like I was about to bolt in abject terror and I could not understand why my gut was reacting so violently.
Alec clutched my hand and got shoved back against the desk from the touch. “Sorry, Charlotte,” he said. “I thought that was Montague’s hand.”
Alec was so terrified he was going to hold hands with Montague? Well, it wasn’t just me then.
“Stuart. You scared the shit out of us.” Harris laughed with faint relief. “We’re just trying to understand what’s going on with Charlotte and her mother and Samuel Caruthers.”
Stuart put on his reading glasses. “Can I borrow one of your flashlights? Thank you. Oh…yes. That’s right. Ignatius does have a picture of Emily in that same dress you wore to the ball. I forgot.” He gave me the briefest glance with these eyes that were like, I am the lord of all eternity and before me you are a mere particle of dust, mortal.
“Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Please don’t hurt me,” I said. “I—I just needed to know. I’m sorry.”
Harris sighed impatiently. “Charlotte, it’s just Stu for gods’ sake, I think we’re cool. This all happened because the dean has just been acting strange this year, but he reacted strongly to Charlotte’s dress, like he’d seen it before. Right? We are cool, aren’t we?”
“We are cool,” Stuart said, with a mild smile. “Why don’t you take the photo, Charlotte? I’ll tell Master Blair that I gave it to you to cheer you up. I’m sure he probably has the negatives to make another copy.”
That must be some confusing old photo thing. I nodded dimly. All the terror I felt was tamped down, and I almost thought I must have imagined it, except that Professor Jablonsky had been perplexing me since the beginning.
“Your spells to get past the wards were very impressive,” Stuart said. “Who cast those?”
“I did, sir,” Harris said.
“Ah. Well, enjoy that in good health, but don’t do it again.”
“Who is the other woman in the picture?” I asked.
“That is Samuel’s little sister Ina,” Stuart said.
“Ina?” Another cousin. I was desperate to know more, my eyes practically willing the face of the grinning, dark-haired girl in polka dots to speak. “Is she still alive? Could I talk to her?”
“She is at the Haven,” Stuart said, and I picked up on some faint hint of warning.
“Thank you for understanding, Professor. Let’s go,” Montague said, his cold fingers startling me as they gripped my arm.
Chapter Forty-Five
Charlotte
“Maybe it’s better if we drop all of this,” Montague said, when we got back to the dorm.
“Drop…looking for answers?” I looked at the picture. It had only whetted my appetite for more. My mom seemed so happy. She hadn’t even met my dad at this point. What happened to her?
“You’ve been to the Haven, Monty,” Alec said. His strong jaw worked back and forth before his face took on a determined set.
“Charlotte…” Montague walked up to me and cupped my face in his hands. “I can’t let anything happen to you, that’s all.”
“What is the Haven?”
“It’s a huge place where witches and warlocks go for all sorts of reasons. But…none of them all that good.”
“It’s a sanitarium,” Harris said. “A mental ward. And rehab. It’s where Monty had to go to un-vampire himself as best as anyone can.”
“So…something bad happened to Ina, too. Samuel’s dead. And my mom is in Sinistral.”
“Yeah,” Montague said. “Not a good record.”
We stood in the common room, which was empty. I guess anyone who wasn’t roller skating was enjoying some quiet studying time.
“So how deep of shit am I in, then?” I asked.
“Charlotte, you’re going to be all right,” Firian said. He reluctantly admitted, “Maybe it’s a good thing that you’ve gotten so popular. I guess we might need a crew.”
Harris moved toward the stairs. “I’m going to go study,” he said. “It sounds like my work is done.”
“Harris!” I walked up to him but hesitated at the studied indifference in his eyes. “I mean…thanks for helping us. I mean that. I know your reputation means an awful lot to you, and you didn’t have to help us.”
“Just doing my old friends a favor,” he said. “University is the last hurrah, and…I know none of you are capable of getting past those wards.” He glanced at them and then tromped up the stairs.
I rolled my eyes a little, but if I was being honest with myself, that was just a cover for the uncertainty inside me. I mean, is he really going to just leave and marry Daisy and stop being friends with Alec and Montague?
“Well, I have what I wanted,” I said. “The dress and the picture should be enough to summon my mom.”
“Did you just hear me?” Montague said. “Drop it. This is dangerous. To answer your question, the shit is deep.”
“You think that if I summon my mom, she would actually hurt me? So far the demon has only hurt other people.”
“Are you ready for it?” Alec said. “Knowing that your mother is…a demon?”
“If that thing is my mother, we’ve already met.” I bit my lip. “Anyway, who can I trust? I don’t know whose side anyone is on. Out of all the people in that picture, who is still just fine? Master Blair. And I ask again, what the hell is Stuart?”
“I’ll support you entirely,” Firian said.
“Firian…you don’t think this is too risky?” Montague asked. He ruffled his hair with an agitated hand. “I get nervous when I hear the Haven is involved.”
“All the more reason we need some real answers. Is there a day that’s particularly good for summoning demons, the way the new moon was good for this?”
“Yes,” Alec said. “For tha
t, we should look at the stars. Scorpio’s influence is good for demon summoning, and we definitely want to make sure you don’t have any negative aspects with the current moon and your own natal chart. Do you know your birth time?”
The next day Alec was buried in books of star charts in the library figuring out my birth chart. Then I realized—duh—I could just generate my astrological chart off a website. I slapped a print out in front of him and he gave all of his books a heartbroken look and said, “That’s…cheating.”
“Well, you can keep figuring it out this way if you want.”
He slammed the book shut and snatched the paper out of my hand.
He figured out that the best time for demon summoning was March 25th. So I had about six weeks to prepare before, hopefully, I would trap my own mother in a summons and could finally ask her…what had happened to my family?
Chapter Forty-Six
Montague
None of us knew how this dating thing was supposed to work. Alec and I were fine seeing Charlotte together, but it ended up feeling more like friends going out. Alec couldn’t touch Charlotte, so it didn’t seem fair if I touched her. At the same time, if we could both touch her, I wasn’t sure what would happen. Maybe it would be weird and we’d both get nervous. Or maybe our desire would feed off each other and we’d lose control. I could easily see that happening, because I knew it was in Alec’s nature to want sex all the time. And it was in a vampire’s nature to have sex with his prey.
They didn’t always—the vampire who turned me hadn’t. Thank God, because he was a guy. But I remembered how good he smelled. I was afraid if he had forced himself on me I might have enjoyed it.
When I got home from a night with Charlotte, I’d been having some pretty intense memories.
Lisbeth and Rayner got to London and rented a small flat. Rayner was working some sort of manual labor job, taking advantage of his vampire strength. Lisbeth offered to get a job as a maid but he insisted that he could provide for her, sparing her those long hours of hard work. I saw all this in snippets, and much of them involved him having sex with her. She had this plain but very pure sort of beauty, but also seemed very determined for a girl of the 1600s, and he clearly loved her so much that the memories always turned me on. Then I felt awkward, like I was cheating on Charlotte by remembering Lisbeth.
Firian had Charlotte alone during their magic practice, and Alec shared a room with her. They both had private time with Charlotte automatically, so I asked her to study with me. We had some long papers to write for history and literature.
We would read and take notes in front of the fireplace in the library for a while, and then find some privacy in the stacks. She would slide her hands up my back under my jacket. I could feel her excitement in the way her fingers dug into me, feeling out my shoulders, working down my back muscles, giving my ass a squeeze.
By this time I was getting hard.
I kissed her face and neck. I squeezed her ass in return. If it was really quiet in the library I would let slide a hand up her front. Her breasts were just the right size for my hands. I could tell she liked it when my fingers brushed her nipples and I got even more excited thinking about the day when I could strip off her clothes and take those hard nubs between my teeth.
But when I tried to slip my tongue in her mouth, she would lock her lips down.
Finally she said, “Your mouth is cold.”
“It’ll warm up from contact.”
“Yeah, but…”
“So how do all these vampires in books get so much action?” I demanded.
“I’m sorry. I want to kiss you very badly, but when we actually do…”
“I don’t know how Alec can stand not touching you,” I said, nibbling her ear.
“Ohhh…!” she said, almost in protest but not really in protest at all. “Do I need to get Alec in here to protect me from you?”
I stopped and ran my tongue over my teeth. Sure enough, I was all fangs now. “I can’t help it. You smell so good.”
“You smell so good…”
“Is it so bad to kiss me, then? I can’t stand this, Charlotte. I never get to kiss the girl I’m so into…?”
“I want to kiss you. Believe me, I do. It’s just that you’re…dead.”
“I’m not dead. I’m undead. Which is just…a technicality.”
“I want to kiss you. I sooo want to kiss you, you tasty man. It’s just…your tongue is lukewarm. At best. Lukewarm tongue.”
I didn’t really even notice much that my body was cold. In some ways, I felt warmer than when I was alive, because cold weather didn’t affect me as much. “I do see your point.”
“Did Rayner kiss Lisbeth?” she asked.
“I actually don’t have any memories of that.” This was a crushing realization. My sire’s life seemed to be unfolding in front of me, in flashes that told me his story. But if I hadn’t remembered any kisses yet, maybe I wouldn’t. Surely a kiss would come before sex. So I just had to wait. Maybe I wouldn’t mind not kissing her as much if we were having sex.
But they’re two different things. I want both. I want all of her.
Charlotte’s fingers brushed my chin. “Let’s try it. You’re right. I’ll warm you up.”
“No,” I said. “If it doesn’t bring you pleasure, I’m not going to do it. You’ll like it better when I can do other things to you.” I nibbled her ear again, and she let out a soft whimper. “And someday I will.”
“Mm…” She pressed her face against me so I felt her eyelash brush my cheek. I trailed my tongue down her neck and forced myself back before I was tempted to open a vein. “Wasn’t Alec supposed to protect me from you?” she murmured. “Do I need to call him?”
“With what? The Alec signal?”
We stood together, forehead to forehead, fingers entwined. The mixture of hunger and lust was heady. The smell of her skin gave me this possessive urge.
Rayner…if you promise not to kill me, I want you to taste me. When I shut my eyes, I saw a slender wrist offered up. Lisbeth’s trusting eyes. Swear to me, you’ll never taste another girl but me.
“Charlotte…” I lifted her wrist to my lips, kissed it. Licked it. She laughed but I saw a little worry there.
“The way you look at me sometimes,” she said.
I remembered Rayner’s first taste of her blood. My God… Her eyelids fluttered in ecstasy. There was no pain, only pleasure, from a vampire. He wanted nothing more, in that moment, than to drink and drink until she succumbed to him, but he loved her enough that for her, he was always more human than monster. He shoved her wrist away and wrapped her skin in linen.
“Don’t be scared. I would never kill you…”
“Good to know.” She lifted her hand and flame leapt from her fingers.
“Whoa.” I jerked back before my clothes caught fire, but it worked. I was completely snapped out of the memory. “Damn, did I just tell you I wouldn’t kill you…?”
“Yeah. Very reassuring. You’re like a restaurant with a sign that says ‘Rat-Free!’ Good thing I have skills. I thought it might be a good time to show you how I’ve been learning control,” she said, with a wicked little smile. “Maybe there’s a spell I can learn to warm you up.”
I shook my head. This girl…
No matter how intense the memories got, I knew I would never want to find Rayner and serve him like other vampires. We all had our masters. Maybe I would have been susceptible, before. Not now.
A few days later, she came up to me in the library with a thermos. “What about that?”
“What?”
“It’s hot tea. When you sit by the fire your body gets all nice and warm, so I thought, maybe there’s a life hack. I asked Mr. Tranh in the conservatory if there was any tea that was good for vampires and he said chamomile is good for everyone. I put a lot of honey in it. He said that was okay too because honey is magical or something.”
“That seems almost too obvious.” I took a swig. It was hot, but not too h
ot. Or maybe I was tougher now. I held it in my mouth a second before taking another. It was also delicious. Very different from blood, but I hadn’t tasted anything else in months now and I didn’t realize I missed sweets. Vampires can still eat honey? Someone could have told me that.
“Okay?” she asked, perching on the table.
“Let’s see.” I gently pressed my lips to hers. They parted slowly, letting me in. She didn’t stop me, but instead put a hand to my neck and held me closer.
“Mmhm…”
My tongue inside her delicious mouth. It was a hundred times better than it had ever been before. Was it her? Was it my heightened sense? It seemed like both. Every kiss I’d ever had before was at some ball or impromptu outing. It was never with someone I knew like this. She was weaving her way into my life, and Alec’s life too. We could have been pulled farther apart and instead I felt like I was finding my own family.
But they will still age and die. Not you. You will come to me.
I stiffened a little, coughing. I’d breathed wrong or something.
“You okay?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes.” I shook it off. I wasn’t going to let this shit ruin my happiness. “It seemed like that was better.”
“Much better. I didn’t even need a spell. Sometimes an ordinary human is all you need.”
Lisbeth… I saw Rayner at her bedside, her face covered in pustules. I don’t think he even cared.
Lisbeth…I won’t let you go…
Lisbeth…!
“Yes,” I said, holding her so tight that she looked at me funny.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Charlotte
This demon summoning thing? I was doing it for me.
Still, because I had a stubborn streak, I sent Harris an invitation to my demon summoning party.
You dared me. Well, you’re on. Come to my demon summoning party, at Excalibur Theater, midnight. Be there, or shut up. Next it’s your turn.
I passed it to him as a note in class. Really fast, because my palms were sweatier than they should be.
A Witch Among Warlocks: The Complete Series Box Set Page 24
