A Witch Among Warlocks: The Complete Series Box Set

by Lidiya Foxglove

  But he could have left. He didn’t.

  Montague lifted my hand, caressing my fingers, and maybe checking out my pulse a little more than a normal guy should. At least he was present, tonight. I noticed that my skin seemed pale next to theirs, the firelight and moonlight giving them each their own glow. Montague’s fangs had sharpened. Something primal in me wanted to tell him he could sink those fangs into my skin.

  Something even more primal wanted to tell Alec he could pull me into the shadows and take me right here and now, close enough that Harris could hear but not see.

  What do these guys do to me? Alec alone could put me in a trance. Caught between the both of them, I could smell them. Montague was the cool, clean, almost spiced fragrance of a vampire while Alec was heady with masculine lust. Two strong thighs pressed against mine.

  “Daisy? There you are.”

  I quickly snapped out of it. Once again, footsteps crunched on the drying grass of autumn, and this time it really was Piers. He surveyed our bonfire site, taking in the scene. Firian was there. Alec and Montague had obviously both been…frisky with me. No doubt, Piers was in training to be a dad whose kids needed therapy someday. He put his hands on his hips. “Looks like…you’re all having fun.”

  “We are, Master Nicolescu, thank you,” Alec said, with a playboy smile that seemed to leave Piers even more discomfited. Alec might have been comfortable getting caught, but I wasn’t sure we needed more reasons to make Piers dislike us.

  “Daisy?”

  “That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” she said airily. “What’s up?”

  “You are here as my guest, and I hope you bear in mind that this is still a school for boys—”

  “For men,” Montague said.

  “All the more reason,” Piers said, turning his cold eyes to Montague.

  “I’m here, cousin,” Harris said. “I’m sure you trust your fellow Nicolescu to watch over your lady.”

  “To be honest, I can’t trust you,” Piers said. “You have been far too involved with dubious company. Daisy, please don’t make me have to set limits on you.”

  “That’s so romantic,” she said scornfully. “Please. Don’t try too hard to win my heart. Nothing makes a girl swoon like—”

  “Daisy, I am entrusted with your safety,” he interrupted her. “And I have a small task for you.”

  Her expression locked up again. “It’s Halloween,” she said. “It’s not a night for work.”

  “I sensed a strange element on campus earlier,” he said.

  “No,” she said. “No way.”

  “No one is better suited to sniff it out than you.”

  “I’m not a dog.”

  “Do you want to have an argument in front of your friends?”

  “I think it can wait until tomorrow,” I said. “Give her a break.”

  He looked at me. “Do you want to spare Daisy from using her power tonight? Maybe your wyrd wand could…give it a try. This could be wyrd magic we’re dealing with…”

  Daisy stood up. “I’ll do it,” she said. “This isn’t Charlotte’s problem.”

  I winced at her. There was no good way out with Piers. As he led her off, I hoped she was right when she said she knew how to handle him. Worse, now we just looked more suspicious by the day.

  He’s toying with us, I thought. He knew we knew where Stuart was. I think he just wanted to see how far we’d go. I was sure he had some unpleasant fate planned for us and it was just a matter of time before we fell into a trap, but I couldn’t leave either. Definitely not now. We were stronger as a group, and Daisy needed our help.

  Chapter Twenty

  Montague

  I tried to sneak out early. Like, five o’ clock in the morning early. Very quietly, I opened my car door, tossed a cooler and my backpack in the back seat, slotted a thermos of tea in the cup holder, and—

  Charlotte came running at me in the darkness. She was wearing a t-shirt, pajama pants, and ballet flats, and shivering. “Where are you going?”

  “I have something to do in town. How the hell did you know I was out here? Go to sleep.”

  “I heard you leave. I’ve been up. Worrying about Daisy, and also…you. Us, actually.”

  “Us?” I brushed a hand through her hair. “Why are you worried about us?”

  “Because I’ve barely seen you! You were okay last night, but it was a holiday. During the school week, you’re distant, ever since I spent the night in the church. So…is everything okay between us? Did I screw something up? Is this a Catholic thing?”

  I laughed. “No. You didn’t do anything wrong, Char. I’ve just felt…unworthy of you.”

  “What?”

  “This purification thing is no joke. If Piers actually tried to do it to Alec, he would fuck him up forever. Me? I don’t even know what would happen to me. But you’re the one he actually tried to purify first. And I was just standing there like an idiot, wondering what I could do to stop him. Plus, I feel bad for Daisy too. I hate having Piers lord it over us like he’s some seasoned warlock.”

  “He’s twice our age and on the council! He is a seasoned warlock.”

  I scoffed. “You saved yourself,” I said.

  “Yes. Don’t tell me you’re getting competitive like Harris now.”

  “You’re becoming stronger.” I couldn’t help pulling her against me, drinking in the sleep-rumpled scent of her. “But what did I sacrifice to become one of the most powerful creatures, if I can’t even protect you? So…for all the stronger you get, I need to become stronger still.”

  “You don’t…have to,” she said, but I could tell she liked the promises I whispered in her ear.

  “I want to.” I nipped that ear with my teeth. “Go back to bed.”

  But this was Charlotte. If I thought she was going back to bed, I was sorely mistaken. “What are you going to do? Is it dangerous?”

  “Vampire business.”

  “Can I come with you?”

  “No.”

  She leaned against me and shifted her head slightly to the side, baring just a little more of her neck. Then she reached back and stroked my cock with a hand. “Some lonely country roads out there…”

  “Don’t tempt me,” I said. “It could be dangerous.”

  “So…it also could be not dangerous.”

  “I don’t want to—ugh.” Her hand had gotten a little firmer. I bit my own lip as I tried to resist her, and then slid a hand up her t-shirt. Maybe I could persuade her just to have a quickie in the car and then she would get sleepy.

  She tugged my hand down and whirled around. “You only get boob touch if you let me come with you.”

  “I don’t need ‘boob touch’. I am on a mission. A solitary mission.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “It’s really that dangerous? You’re going to drive off like that?”

  I pounded the roof of my half-assed SUV with my fist. “Christ. Okay, I’m going to meet Silvus.”

  “From your…clan.”

  “Yes. After it happened, I wrote him and asked some questions about vampire magic and how I could become stronger. He’s the only warlock in the clan, and he knows what I can do without becoming Sinistral.”

  “Do you trust him? They want you to join them, right?”

  “I don’t trust him, but I think he does know the answers, and professional pride will mean he probably gives me something I can work with. I’m not sure what he’ll think if I bring you along.”

  “Can I hide in the car? Just for the road trip? I never get to leave, and I miss you.”

  At this point, she knew I was a sucker. “All right. But I need to leave now. I have an extra coat in the back, but you’re coming in your pajamas.”

  “Bless your heart for thinking I might care,” she said. “I have worn these to Dollar General like, a hundred times.” She hopped in the passenger seat and we hit the road.

  I had intended to be a lone wolf on this trip, but now I was glad she caught me. Charlotte worried o
ver Daisy for a bit, and then we were flirting while she ate the sausage biscuit I bought her for breakfast. We stopped at an overlook and watched the sun rise.

  “It’s so quiet here,” she said, shivering a little, slipping her cold hand in mine. I wished I could warm her up a little more. “It makes me think of when Dad took us on a road trip. He drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway and we went camping. The weather was kind of bad, though, like it was pouring rain, and the drive took forever. He got grumpy and even a little scared, I think? He never said that, though. I knew he wanted it to be perfect, and he was frustrated that it wasn’t, but when we got up, the rain was gone, and we woke up and the sun was just rising over this valley. It was so beautiful. And then his friend said we should go eat at the Mt. Pisgah Inn, so we walked in and I remember him looking at the menu and then grabbing my hand and walking out again.” She looked down. “He never talked about not having much money, but that was one of those moments when I realized that he was struggling being a single parent and he couldn’t actually afford the vacation. Maybe it was the first moment, actually.”

  I squeezed her hand a little more and then draped an arm around her. She looked at me. “I’m sorry. This is so romantic. I promised you boob touch and now I’m like, hey, remember the time my dad was sad and broke?”

  “Charlotte. I don’t care.”

  “I thought about it, though, because…back then he seemed like the only person I had. Now it’s you and me watching the sunrise.”

  “You definitely have me,” I said. I brushed her chin, pressing a soft kiss to her lips as she turned up to me. “If I’m ever distant, it’s not you or us. I just feel like some of the vampire business, I need to handle on my own.”

  “But you don’t,” she said.

  She pressed her palms to my cheeks and took the next kiss herself. Then she hopped back, gave me a naughty look, and popped up her t-shirt, flashing me.

  I ran after her and grabbed her around the waist as she laughed, kicking as I hauled her off to the car and opened the back door. I put her down on the back seat and climbed in over her.

  “Don’t tease me like that.” I pushed her t-shirt up, baring her perfect breasts. Even when she was on her back and her breasts spread out, their fullness was still apparent, ready to be taken in my hands, and my mouth. I teased her nipples with my tongue, beating a warning in my own brain. Don’t bite her. Don’t bite her. You won’t be able to stop.

  I knew she was always aware of the possibility. She wasn’t quite relaxed, but she didn’t stop me either. She trusted me far enough to let me do what I wanted to her, just not far enough to let her mind go. If I drank her blood I’d taste her spells.

  It was a delicate balance. Neither of us could fully relax. But the tension was not without its merits.

  The sensitive tip of my tongue swirled around the textured nubs, producing some very gratifying moans from her, and her pelvis twitched.

  “Not yet, my hungry girl,” I said, slowly tugging down the waist of her pajama pants to fit my hand to the curve of her hip. The smell of sweet need between her legs was like an invitation. Slowly, I pulled the pajamas off and my hand cupped her bottom under her panties, feeling her up freely before tearing them off her feet.

  “Should I take this off?” she asked. Her t-shirt was still bunched up under her armpits, above those perfect breasts, and I shook my head.

  “It’s kinda sexy,” I said.

  I grit my teeth together, because with her underwear off, her scent was even stronger and I wanted to taste her so badly. I could just imagine biting her down there, sucking the blood out of her from that bundle of nerves, while she screamed with the pleasure of my venom that made the pain bearable.

  “Are you okay?” Her hand stroked my hair. “You made a face and got all tense.”

  Tense? My cock felt like it could explode. “I get these thoughts—when I’m with you—”

  She nodded, a bit solemnly. “Me too. It’s a vampire thing, right? You’re not going to hurt me.”

  “But I want to hurt you so badly,” I gasped. “I don’t even tell the truth at confession anymore.” Well, I also got kicked out of church. In that regard it was a relief.

  She snorted. “Ohmigod, my poor little guilt-ridden vampire.”

  “Hey. I’m not poor or little anything.” I swept her into my arms, letting my hardness press into her softness, grinding into her stomach while I clutched her ass tighter. I licked her neck and her jawline, tasting her sweat. It wasn’t blood but it tasted like her. I heard her soft laughter as I tickled her a bit, and then she started unfastening my buttons, and by now, man, I was ready to fuck. I had to just forget how much I wanted her in other ways, and that was the best way to do it.

  “This is a hell of a scenic stop,” she said, looking me up and down.

  “Especially when the best scenery is in the back seat.”

  “Mm…” She wrapped her legs around my hips, the pose naturally spreading her out for me to slip inside her. Her tight sheath promised sweet relief, her warmth enveloping me. I needed a release so badly. I claimed her mouth with mine, not even caring if I was too cold for her. She used to hate that but she protested less often these days. Her body surrendered to mine, her mouth softening as my tongue thrust inside her, while she clenched around my cock as I pumped in and out of her, each stroke only making me want more. We adjusted to each other’s rhythms so well at this point, even though Alec had a lot more sex with her than I did. I could never keep up with him, and I worried she couldn’t either, but I guess his lusty vibes assured that his woman was never tired out.

  “Mm…” Her hands dug into my shoulders so hard it almost hurt, my muscles worked by the sharp bones of her fingertips. “I’ve been wanting more of you, Montague…”

  I had no good excuse for being a little distant lately. Just vampire shit. I don’t know if anyone would fully understand. “I’m here,” I said.

  I didn’t envy Rayner having to find Lisbeth over and over again. I didn’t want to start over with Charlotte. She only got better, more perfectly matched to me.

  As she started to get closer, she started raking a hand across her forehead, making little sounds. I could feel all the blood in my body rushing to my hardened shaft and for a moment I almost felt a flush of warmth pass over me. I didn’t really know what I was anymore; not really dead, but I only seemed to come alive when I was feeding and fucking. When I started coming inside her, it wasn’t just a sexual release, it was like being human again, just for a moment. I felt her heat flood my coldness, my desire for her pushing out every other hunger.

  “Mm…ah…” She was a beat behind me, and as I pumped through the aftershocks, she gripped me tighter. “More, more…don’t stop…”

  Then it was over, and all I wanted was to collapse into her arms in the back seat, but I had a meeting to keep.

  I slipped a ring onto her finger, so Alec would see, she was still mine. The morning sun was so bright it stung my skin, and it didn’t warm me like she did.

  It was early afternoon as I reached Asheville and found a spot on a side street. “You have a phone, right? How about, while I talk to Silvus, you go buy a dress, and I’ll take you to Mt. Pisgah to watch the sunset.” I fished a few bills out of my wallet.

  “Montague! That’s perfect!” She looked thrilled but the money made her nervous. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m not Harris, but I ain’t broke,” I said. “Find something sexy.”

  “We should go to the city more often,” she said.

  One more kiss, and we parted ways.

  I opened the door of the tea shop, but even before I did, I knew Silvus was there. I could feel him. His dark, old-fashioned air was contrasted by fragrant tea house, the warm patterned rug and wooden chairs, windows flooding in light on old brick walls.

  He glanced up at me as I approached, the way one might glance at a bird flying overhead, like I was just a blip in his long life. “Good afternoon, Montague,” he said. “I took the libe
rty of ordering three flavors, so the waitress knows not to interrupt. It’s on me.” He sipped. “It is quite good, actually.” His British accent held the unspoken promise that if it was bad, he would know.

  “Hey,” I said, grabbing the opposite chair and trying to shake the awkwardness. I hoped no one thought we were on a date.

  Silvus was everything you would want in a vampire. He looked like a broodingly attractive thirty-year-old but his eyes screamed five hundred years of I’ve seen things, man. He was wearing a black suit with a pocket square, and his necktie was elegantly tied with a jeweled pin. His hair was still shoulder-length and unchanged since my first memory of him in the 1660s.

  “So, you want to improve your skill,” Silvus said.

  “Yes.”

  “The best improvement is time,” Silvus said. “That’s why Rayner is such a powerful vampire now.”

  “And you aren’t far behind him,” I said. “You also know something you can tell me. Some vampire advice. Otherwise, why come all the way here to meet me?”

  “What is your intention?” Silvus was looking at me with such intensity that even though I wasn’t sure I should talk about Charlotte, I couldn’t seem to help it.

  “To protect my witch.”

  “You know why he chose you,” Silvus said. “We thought you had no allegiance to any particular woman. Our clan is devoted only to Lisbeth.”

  “Well, circumstances changed, and I don’t know Lisbeth. I love Charlotte. He said he might let me go if I helped kill the Withered Lord, and I’m in on that bargain. So is Charlotte, but I need to protect her. I told you in my letter, the Ethereal warlock council has taken charge of the school and we don’t even know where the old dean is right now. He might be in danger, and so might Charlotte.”

  “Lisbeth is in danger, too,” Silvua said. “I know she’s alive and I can’t find her, so god knows what terrible fate she might be suffering. The rest of the clan is frustrated that we gave you this gift and you are remaining in your mortal life. We know it can’t last.”

  “If it can’t last…let me have it while I can,” I said. I swallowed, feeling the draw to him and his life. My clan. My sire. I couldn’t help it. I could leave with Silvus and never mess around with the council again. Vampires often had violent lives, but they weren’t beholden to anyone.