“Naberia’s brood? Jackie, what the heck?”
“And who are you to talk about bad behavior? You’ve been acting like Igor all afternoon.”
His cheeks pinked up a bit. “The meds wear off after a few hours. I apologize if I said or did anything to hurt or offend you.”
“Thank the gods. I was seriously thinking of leaving you here. But it wasn’t me you’ve been hurting. C’mon. First stop, Sandra.” We crept down the hallway to Sandra’s room. She was sleeping on the bench. I made Simon unlock the cell, and before she could say much of anything I had the torc off. “You can come with us if you want. We’re gonna take down Zora. Or you can cut and run. Mother is tied up in my room so you probably just have to watch out for Joel.”
“He was sent with the Crone.”
“Great.”
“I’m going to see if I can get any of the others out. Can I have the keys?”
“Sure. Good luck.”
“I’m sorry, Sondra,” Simon said.
“I know it wasn’t you. I don’t blame you for anything, Professor.
Now I had a torc around each arm and one around my thigh. Soon people would mistake me for Iron Woman. I indicated with a toss of my head that we take the stairs and head to the back of the house, but no one was around to bother us. Must be siesta time.
“But Jackie, you should take a minute to think about—”
“Shush! I think Zora’s in this room marked ‘Laboratory’.” I said the word in a spooky way, but Simon didn’t even smile. Jeez. A plan began to take form. “Put this back on.” I handed him the torc. “I won’t lock it, but we need Zora to think you brought me here as ordered. Tell her it took so long because I was, I don’t know, feeling sick. I barfed. You had to get me cleaned up.”
“Um…sure.” He slipped the piece around his neck.
I hid one of the torcs under my shawl and flipped the third torc back onto my neck. Two long, deep cleansing breaths helped me focus my mind. Simon was right. I was wound up so tightly I was ready to blow the whole place up. Torc energy was demon crack. I giggled silently.
“You’re following my orders so politely.” I said, suddenly suspicious.
“I told you. The drug wore off.”
“Good to know. How’re my eyes?”
“Your normal green.”
I pointed toward the laboratory door. “Stay wary around this one,” I suggested. “She’s the brains of the organization.”
“Not anymore,” he mumbled. The jibe was not lost on me.
Zora wasn’t in the first room we entered—a modern laboratory with an autoclave and centrifuge, high-powered microscopes, test tubes filled with blood and other liquids and boxes of disposable gloves. “Call out for her,” I whispered, forcing myself to look submissive, not easy for me in this state.
“Zora!”
“Yes?” She entered from a room at the back. “Ah. Finally. What took so long?”
“She was nauseous. She’s better now.”
Zora frowned in my direction. “Did the food disagree with you?”
“No. I wasn’t able to rest peacefully. I had bad dreams. They frightened me.” I’d used a plaintive tone and hadn’t met her gaze yet. This cat and mouse stuff was so much fun.
“You’re smart to be frightened.” She pointed toward the room behind her. “After you.”
I began to move in that direction, Simon following, but Zora held out a hand to block my dad’s progress. “Where is Mother? She should be with you.”
“I’m not sure. She left me at Jackie’s room and went off toward the kitchens.”
“Hungry again? I bet she has a thing for the new cook.” Simon pretended to chuckle. “See if you can find her. I have to speak to her ASAP.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave me a what can I do glance and I nodded in a subtle manner. He was smart to play along.
“How long will this take?” I asked, pointing toward the other room.
“An hour. No more.” Zora replied as Simon left. He’d be back before the hour was up and by then I’d have taken care of our rescue. “Please sit on the examination table.” Inside was a long table, with restraints to hold her victim firmly in place. How many innocents had she drawn blood from? Given meds to? How many had begged and screamed? She’d noticed I hadn’t moved. “Jacqueline! You will do as I say.”
“What kind of dark spells are you working with the blood?”
“On the table. Now.” She’d turned away, laying out instruments on a tray, then preparing a syringe.
I slid the torc from my neck and sent it slithering to Zora, climbing her body and snapping on to her neck.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Zora pulled at the torc, looking frightened when it didn’t budge.
“I believe I’m asking you a question.” I stepped closer. “What kind of spells are you working? What’s the purpose of all of this?”
“It’s not your concern.”
“You know I’m getting really tired of hearing that.” I moved closer, grabbing her shoulder. I was very happy to see bruising around her eyes. “Scream and I’ll make it tighter, the way you did to me.”
“What…what are you?”
“You know what I am.” My eyes were tingling, probably glowing while the power in my core raged with the desire to kill this bitch, then feed on her pain. “You know whose blood I carry. I’ll ask again, what spells are you working here?”
“I’ll never tell you.” She began to move her hands, muttering soft words in an ancient tongue spoken only to bring on suffering.. I punched her in the stomach. Hard. She crumpled, her hands clutching at her belly, her lungs unable to take in enough air to form any more of her disgusting words.
I grabbed her by the collar and dragged her toward the long table, the restraints she’d used on others, laying empty waiting patiently for her arms and legs. She was kicking now, squirming to get away. Her foot connected with a tray. Glass cannisters fell and shattered, spilling their poisons, I ignored the sound and the mess left on the floor as I was focused on other activities. This female had injured, killed, terrified—all to gain power and please some so-called deity who didn’t exist.
I strapped Zora down, then ran to the computer. It was password protected. “What’s the password?”
“Kiss. My. Ass,” she croaked.
I looked around the room. On a table was a syringe already loaded. I held it up. “You have a choice.” She winced, wriggling desperately. Guess the drug she was going to give me wasn’t her idea of a good time. I was so tempted just to shoot her with the cocktail, but I needed the password. “What’s the password?”
“Fuck you.”
I tried it, but no go. Hey, anything was possible. I felt in her pockets, found her phone, which wasn’t locked, pulled up a map app and discovered I was in Washington on the outskirts of Bellingham. Holy Crap! I must have been unconscious in the back of that car for over eight hours. No wonder I’d been in such bad shape. I immediately called Garrett.
“Rogues, Incorporated.” He answered on the first ring.
“I’m safe.”
“Jackie…” I heard the usual squeak as he landed hard in his office chair. Funny how that simple sound gave me hope. “W…where?” His voice was broken, hoarse from stress.
I spoke in phrases. “Victorian house. Near Bellingham.” I looked over the map app and gave him the coordinates. “Bring Liam. Maybe another. Blood witches. The neighboring fields are spelled so don’t go off the road. Simon’s a prisoner.”
“We’re coming. Have they…hurt you?”
“No. I love you.” My passion was strong as I said the words. I’d been so frightened—thinking I might never see him again, my terror especially intense during the journey in the car trunk.
“I love you, mon ange.” And those perfect words coming from the guy I adored were better than any healing spell ever created. “We’re coming,” he repeated, but I’d never doubted it.
Zora’s chanting was so soft I almost didn�
��t catch it until it was too late. Power emanated from her petite form in waves, much more power than the over-blown Mother seemed to have. But I was Naberia’s grandchild, and because of the three demon-forged torcs I controlled with my will and my energy, the very same torcs they’d used to control us, magic sang in my blood, my core, and my soul. I’d been invigorated with the first torc, then turboed with the second and third. Now all I wanted was to feed my revenge. I blocked her attack with a wall of my magic and her spell dissolved like sugar in my tea.
Fortunately for her, my dad was back. We smiled at each other. He was still himself.
“Don’t hurt her. You’ll regret it later.” My dad was calm, the voice of reason. He stuffed her mouth with a dishtowel he found near the sink. Zora was squirming violently, but to no avail. Maybe I should’ve made the restraints tighter—much tighter. Especially the torc.
Would I regret it later? I didn’t think so. In fact I was positive I’d regret it more if I did nothing. I clenched and unclenched my fists. “I know you’re seeing things more clearly than I am right now, but I need to make this right. She and Mother are murderers.”
Simon noticed the phone in my hand. “Revenge won’t bring Blaine or the others back. Did you call Garrett?”
“He’s coming with reinforcements.”
I heard the door click shut at the last possible moment. “You should have killed me.” Mother had slipped into the room. She was holding a gun and pointing it at me. Dad stepped between us, pushing me behind him faster than I’d ever seen him move, protecting me with his larger body. The gun went off before I could react. Brain tissue splattered my face and shirt and my father collapsed almost instantly, a bullet through his forehead.
I knelt beside him and felt for a pulse. Nothing. I pulled his head into my lap. I’d use my healing energy. I’d bring him back. But I had no access to my cheetah healer and my demon could not find a way to help him.
“No…no…no!” I moaned. “Dad! Don’t, please don’t…” But he was gone and the witch was aiming the gun at me.
I heard a gasp and the gun dropped to the floor at my feet with a hard thump. I attempted to snatch it up, but it was whisked away magically to the opposite side of the room.
The scent, vaguely familiar, was my only clue that someone else was in the room. Mellyn had thrown herself on the ground, taking a submissive pose. The torc I’d snaked around my arm had unwound without my command and now slithered toward Mellyn to encircle her neck.
With the first few words I knew for certain who had saved my life.
“I required that Jacqueline be held for me unharmed. Unmarked. Cared for as you have cared for your own worthless bodies. Your oaths have been broken. You are disavowed.” Zora and Mellyn began to gasp for air.
My grandmother, Naberia, the archdemon who ruled the Demon Realm with a firm hand, the female who’d murdered every one of her own daughters when she saw them as rivals, directed her gaze toward me. “Your rescuers will be too late, I fear.” And before I’d taken another breath, I was back in the damp cell in the basement, hog tied on the frigid floor—a gag in my mouth.
She spoke and I wrenched myself around so I could see her. “Your vampire is upstairs and searching for you. Do you wish for him to live?”
I nodded, my eyes wild.
“You will do as I say?”
I nodded again. Naberia was an ancient magic user—one I couldn’t fight against—demon turbo power or no demon turbo power.
The gag was gone. “You will give me five drops of your blood. Willingly. In return I will destroy the witches who abide here and release every innocent victim in this…” She looked around, “…useless establishment.”
“Aren’t they dead? Didn’t you just strangle them?”
“I transferred them to the field. They’ll suffer more in a spell of their own making. It should take a day at least.” She smiled and I shivered. “Their prolonged suffering is most satisfying, don’t you think?”
My gut was icing over. I was grateful I didn’t know exactly what went on in that field. Useless. She’d called what the witches had done useless. It implied she didn’t feel it was wrong, simply unnecessary. I couldn’t deal with any more, I just couldn’t. I wanted to crawl into the corner and weep. All my plans had been trashed and I was still a captive and Simon…Dad was dead.
He’d saved my life. My insides were clenching with sorrow, my heart aching. It was my fault.
In a blink my restraints had disappeared and I automatically stretched my muscles and rubbed my wrists. I rose shakily to my hands and knees but couldn’t bring myself to stand. A sob rose from my belly, bursting out in a gasp. More followed.
“He saved your life. Why?”
I wiped my face. “He did what fathers do for their children. What I would do for my son.”
“Please stand.” This time I did, brushing off my clothing in order take a few extra seconds to settle my body and clear my mind. “You will answer my questions.” I nodded. She could destroy my mind if I lied to her. “Would you die for your son? Kill for your son?”
“I would do whatever I could to save his life.” I met her gaze. “Would you do what you could for Isaiah?”
She smiled but didn’t answer me. “You enjoy spending time with my son?”
I shrugged. “He’s my uncle. He’s kind to me.”
She seemed to mull that over. “How did you remove the torc?”
“I hold some magic inside me.”
I ran my fingers along my arms where the torcs had rested, my feelings about their loss somewhat mixed. It was great to have that surge of demon magic, but around this creature I was a fly to her serpent. Better not to piss her off if I wanted to keep from being sucked dry.
I didn’t respond to her demand for my blood. Instead I scrutinized my newest enemy. She reclined in a chair that hadn’t been there when I’d occupied the cell before, a chair that would have been more suitable in a museum with furniture pieces from the palace at Versailles.
I was always surprised to see how lovely she was, even delicate, her chestnut hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back, the dream of every stylist. Her coif framed obsidian eyes, a narrow nose and small mouth, but there was no denying her beauty or her power.
It occurred to me that Isaiah didn’t really resemble her.
“How did this whole…this whole mess come about?” I asked.
She frowned, irritated by the question. Still, she answered it. “The two imbeciles thought to summon the Crone, but instead caught the attention of a high ranking officer of my realm. To trick them, the demon they had summoned appeared as the Crone, telling them he could help them form a connection to the Dark Goddess, a creature of myth. He pretended to help them, forging the torcs you and the other prisoners wore. Excellent workmanship, actually.”
“This demon worked for you?”
“He was a foolish soldier, looking to have some fun. He’d forgotten that mixing with witches is forbidden.” She smiled but didn’t elaborate further.
I glanced at the ceiling, straining to hear the sounds of people searching for me, but the entire house was strangely quiet. “Did Garrett bring Liam?”
“The younger son of Caelen and the son of Jorrenn are also in attendance.” Her tone was not warm.
Liam and Farrell. I had to stall for time. “What will you use the blood for?”
“A spell of forgetting.”
I was shocked she was so forthcoming. “For me?”
“You will not remember my arrival or our conversation. You will also forget much of what happened here.”
“I don’t like mind control.”
“This spell will affect only your memory of most of the events of the last two days. In return, your lifemate will live and your simple life will continue on as it has.” The scorn in her tone was crystal clear. Apparently she had no use for a life filled with love and friendship.
“I won’t agree if you harm Garrett or anyone he brought with him to rescue
me. Not even one drop of their blood will be spilled. Not one bruise. You will swear to me that we all return home safely and unharmed.” Except for my dad. I slumped against the metal of the cage, my heart beginning to ache, my throat to burn with the threat of tears.
She grunted in disgust and turned away. “The others are fae.” I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d spit on the ground after naming the species demons had called enemies for millions of years.
“They’re my friends and they protect my family.”
“And if I said no. That you and Garrett may leave but not the two males of Finvarra’s line?”
Demon magic was roiling around in my gut like a dingy in a hurricane. I was tired of being bullied, so I found the courage to meet her gaze full on, come what may. And what a gaze it was. The ancient power of her line danced in those glittering black eyes, offering up the unimaginable in seductive waves. With a good dose of Naberia’s brand of power I could stand beside her and the universe might bow at our feet. Wrapped in her energy it would seem a simple thing to kill the fae, the ancient enemies of my people and end their line forever.
Like the laugh of a very young child, her magic called to mine. It seemed the most natural thing to give my will over to the power that swirled in her eyes, the same power that sang in my blood to a much smaller degree. But unlike Naberia I hadn’t walled myself away from others. I’d reached out to make connections, mind-to-mind and heart to heart. I’d earned the trust of my friends, found a mate for all time and raised a son whom Naberia should love, but only feared.
I was nothing like this bitch. “If you choose to kill my friends, I will fight against your decision.” She laughed at me, but I wasn’t finished. “You’ll have none of my blood without the guarantee. Now tell me the truth. I’m of your blood, Grandmother, and I have a right to know why you brought me here.”
“You have rights only if I grant them, Granddaughter.” Her eyes flamed, a fire dancing in their depths. “You forget yourself.”
Her mind-to-mind message had ripped through my shields like a blade through paper and her presence in my mind frightened me to my core. I backed against the far wall, furious at my fear, but still clinging to my store of magic, spinning through ways to use it to expel her from my mind.
Blood Spelled Page 9
