White Witch (Haven Book 1)

by Lil Hamilton

  Lan smiled. “It is good you do not think of leaving me behind.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” I muttered. Not when I knew when it was inevitable the man would follow me if need be. Or debate the issue, with my brother on his side, until I gave in. Instead he could come and guard the car or something while I got business done.

  “I don’t like you taking Chera there,” Viv said. Such a flat statement could be seen as concern, but not with the predatory amber gleam to her eyes, or the sudden alertness to her posture. Oops, I triggered her vampness, which normally she didn’t exhibit.

  “I believe it’s her choice,” I said slowly, while at the same time flexing may aura, emitting a soothing influence to calm Viv‘s instincts. Viv was trying to let Chera have a life, but she had extreme difficulty restraining her instincts. At least she was making the attempt. “Besides everyone knows your intent with the girl, so relax, she will likely be the most comfortable there of us all.”

  Viv tapped the table with her fingertips. “I don’t like her to be upset by the aura of violence she’ll be exposed to in that environment.”

  Chera looked at the table. The girl knew what dangerous ground she walked with Viv but, of course, also knew the protection. “Viv’s right, Ray, with so many of them there, and their expansive auras, that seek you. It could be unpleasant unless I took some downers, and then I wouldn’t be any use.”

  Chera gave in to many times to Viv. Even if Viv took the girl to turn, she would have to learn to carry herself with confidence. Maybe that was something Viv should think about cultivating. I would have to chat with her about it. Viv didn’t want Chera to be unprepared for life as a vampire or to be traumatized in any way. “Then having one escort will do, for appearances. I’ll just put on a good show. Vampires hate it when fae are better at their mind games than they are.”

  Viv raised an eye brow at that. She might be centuries older than me, but she was still of the border realm. I could contort reality and her perception of reality easily, given enough force. While her mind games simply had little effect on me. Not that I would underestimate her, because in a full on battle things were quite different. Neither of us wanted to push the other to find out who would be top dog. Although, it would be me.

  “All right, so that is settled. Before I hit the vamps I also will check out our missing nymph’s sponsor. Something about what happened there just doesn’t make sense. I think she might know more. Who is Nemnae’s sponsor Dill?”

  “Bianca I assume. She sponsors all the nymphs these days.”

  “Oh.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a good oh,” Viv said with a grin.

  “She doesn’t have a fondness for half-breeds of the demon sort,” I said.

  Loathed would be a better word. Loathed with a seething passion really. I was used to some hatred and prejudice because of my demon blood, but really, in the long term scheme of things who didn’t have a relative killed in some war or another with demons? Bianca was holding a grudge against demons for something that happened over a thousand years ago. That seemed excessive by anyone’s standards really. Of course, fae excelled in holding grudges for real or imaginary slights. I was thinking about holding a grudge against the woman for holding grudges so easily just to feel like I was playing along.

  “Pish. It’s not like you’re crazy yet, right?” Viv said with a wave of her hand.

  “Er, right. Not really that aspect she despises, although that’s the reason she thinks I should lose my job. We ought to have a sponsor limit. Bianca seems to claim every Unseelie that touches the earth plane. And you know how I hate internal power struggles. Might as well use my powers of democracy and triplicate forms to do something useful before she gathers an army of Unseelie to take over the world.”

  “Nah they would never take over the world. They would become extreme environmentalists. Like turning lumberjacks into trees or something. I think that one actually happened. Anyway, they would just save the environment and eff-up any human who tried to think otherwise,” Viv said.

  “Yeah, well, I’ll have a chat with her anyway but she might be stubborn about it, then Lan and I will hit the vamps.”

  We puttered around compiling the information we did have from different sources and hopefully we would have a lot more to go one once we met again and after I interrogated my little warlock friend. At least we would know if what we were looking at was three cases or one big case.

  I finished updating the map of the missing faelings from the Inter data base when I turned to Lan. Lan was talking to Dill over the city map going over the areas of the Warrens and the labyrinth that ran under the city. A complicating factor if someone was hiding someone or people. “Lan, while Dill is talking to our contact in the Warrens and I am with Bianca the Dryad you might want to help out in another way. You cannot come with me to her Grove; she will reject your presence. As Dill likely is pointing out most people hide in the Warrens, the Gutters and the labyrinth. The labyrinth is from the old fae city and completely suffused with wild magic. You must have fae blood to enter. No one; slavers, witches, or vampires would hide there. The Warrens are patrolled by Malick but the place is easy to hide in, but not for a large operation.”

  “What are you thinking?” Dill asked.

  “The Gutters is a slum. No one pays attention to anyone. If you want, Lan, you can investigate down that way. Take some money and bribe the juicers, the ones addicted to vampires, they will tell you anything you want. We just want to know if there have been strangers about. Witches. If they have been seen taking over a property, like a warehouse. If they have any coven markings. That sort of thing. The reason I ask is if we have slavers in town it is the local covens that are funding it and doing it, but they would not be people pushing through their coven House or their usual building as it would attract too much attention. We will check those places out, but my gut says they are looking for out of the way. I think it best we spread out. You can cover a lot of ground with your ability and have plenty of time to meet up with me to play guard.”

  Lan nodded and he had a predatory look in his eyes. He was down for taking down slavers even if they were not the one’s who had Lily. I liked him for that.

  “Now, I have another lead currently unconscious in my storage room,” I said. “He’ll be out for a day or two, but then we will have a chat with him. I can wake him up whenever and I think after I chat with Matt the vamp I will start with my little prisoner. I don’t believe in coincidences these days.”

  “There are no coincidences,” Chera said. “Everything is all like connected in a web of stuff.”

  “Who is it?” Viv asked. She frowned at me like she expected me to say Phillip or something. There was one time I circled Phillip into my office without his permission and keep him locked into a binding circle until he listened. One time.

  “Well,” I said, looking at Chera. “Don’t get riled up, Viv.”

  “Who is it?” she asked again, speaking with more force.

  “Warren Miles.”

  “Bloody fucking hell in a hand basket,” Viv muttered. She was so tense she vibrated and I just knew she was thinking something creative and homicidal.

  Chera gasped and paled. Immediately, as in blinking fast, Viv was beside her, an arm around her and glaring daggers at me. Honestly I didn’t know why Viv sheltered Chera so. Chera had lived a very dark life and even had she not her gift made her know the darker side of human nature. She needed to deal with her past, lest it cause instability. Strong psychics could develop all sorts of mental disorders if they didn’t deal with their shit. Viv wanted to coddle her and protect her, when really she should be helping her develop her own core strength. Still, the very fact Viv wanted to protect her from harm made me like her more. She was a vampire to the bone, but not one interested in controlling her fledglings or potential ones. Maybe I just liked to think that though. Neither of us had ever been human, so while Viv acted more humanesque did not mean she perceived humanity in a posi
tive light.

  “I found him at the club we went to. Completely by chance. Just another suspect of someone who would be preying on half-breeds. Maybe Lily. Maybe Nemnae. Maybe connected to the other cases. If he so, then we will find out. If not, we’ll turn him over to Inter and get them to tear down his operation again. Maybe we will team up with them to help free whoever Warren has taken already.”

  “No,” Viv said.

  I raised a brow. “No what?”

  “Interrogate the bastard. Hell, I’ll help. But then he dies. Enough of this human law.”

  I let out a sigh. “I know. Human laws. What a drag. Unfortunately he traffics in humans and lives in the border realm, ruled by humans. And you, also, earth born and bred. Get used to it, your food rules the world. Not my world, but yours. So suck it up, buttercup.”

  That made her smirk and calmed her a bit. As a rule handling Viv required not bringing up any deep emotional issues or serious concerns. She hid everything behind a façade of humour, but if you triggered anything else it burst out with furious strength. Sometimes I thought she was bi-polar. Could born vampires have mental disorders? Likely. All the ones I had ever encountered were off their rockers. Mostly sociopaths or antisocial or psychopaths and plenty of sadists and egomaniacs.

  “What’s up with this slaver?” Lan asked. “Ray looked ready to demon out on him.”

  “I wouldn’t have,” I said, but I’d been tempted to. That weasel would bring out the demon in anyone. Although, I would have regretted accidentally ripping his head off.

  Vivica turned her furious gaze to him. “He kidnaped Chera from the streets. Held her in his dog cage for months. Auctioned her off to vampires running a bait camp. He is an evil bastard that deserves to be castrated and then drawn and quartered assuming I can find some horses.”

  Funny thing was Viv seemed oblivious to the evils found in bait camps. Some of them really were just a way to break a young human so they would make a more obedient servant after the turn.

  “It’s all right, Viv,” Chera said, although the look in her eyes near broke my heart. The horrible memories of that place likely not helping her state of mind. “I don’t ask you to kill him for me. Inter will handle him this time and if they don’t then you are free to do as you wish. I’ll even volunteer to stay here and guard him while you are tracking down this vamp angle. I’ll call you if he wakes sooner.”

  “Excellent,” I said. “Very proactive of you.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ll do some rune casts while I’m at it. See what it comes up with her, that is our witch, when I throw for different conditions.”

  I gave her a hooded look of mild assessment with a little curiosity. She was handling the weasel warlock’s presence quite well. Better than I had hoped. A bit too well really. Once some of those drugs began to wear off, it would be different. I shared a look with Viv, who when it was all said and done, would do anything to protect Chera.

  Finally it was just Lan and I again, with him giving me heavy looks. I sat on the couch watching him as he ‘poofed’ a bottle into existence and poured two glasses before sitting down with me. “Sheata,” he said offering the glass.

  I took the glass and then a sip, it flowed down my throat with smooth sweetness and a bitter after taste. A few glasses more and I was relaxed, liquid and enjoying the feeling. A different sort of intoxication from alcohol. Not something I usually indulged it because certain types of intoxication expanded my fae abilities and I could literally, and unintentionally, warp reality around me, even in the border realm. That would be like giving a drunk a gun, a can of paint and a chainsaw and telling him to go wild. This though was smooth and relaxing which was just what I needed. The case was getting broader and more urgent. At that stage where I felt like I needed to hurry and be everywhere at once.

  “So why do you avoid light so?” he asked.

  I looked around the room and then back to him. I felt like I could feel him close to me, the warmth of his demon aura caressing me. “Mmm. My half-breed nature has issues with this realm. Fae like dark landscapes. I’m sensitive to light, gives me headaches. It’s the sun here; it is different in the Hells. The energy is different than both and I can’t quite influence it like I can Faerie essence. It is not as flexible. It can be bent but not shifted.”

  He had slipped closer to me without me knowing. I swear being surrounded by demons and vampires made me feel like I moved like a sloth. “You should keep your aura expanded more; your essence needs to connect to the reality around you. To create a buffer and to meld.”

  “Fine suggestion coming from a demon. You don’t meld with this reality, you nullify it.”

  It was then that I realized I had released my outer shields. I could mentally sense my whole home, my demon aura had tendrils spread out and some curled around his unfurled aura. With my mental shields expanded I could sense his mood and some flickering thoughts as well.

  I leaned back, giving him a knowing smirk. “Ah, Sheata, you have found something that releases my control. Tricky demon.”

  “Yes and does it not feel better?”

  “I feel exposed.” Yet, not as anxious as I would normally be. Or enraged. “But my core holds strong.”

  “You have many shields on your house, you’re safe. Stand up and I’ll show you something.”

  I stood up, a bit unsteady, sensing more of my surroundings than I was used to. Weird how the demon aura made you feel like you took up more space than you did. He stood in front of me and held out his hands. “Place your hands above mine.”

  I did so, keenly noticing the size of his hands compared to mine, the contrast of our skin tones and the heat between them. I watched as our aura’s condensed between our hands, until I could actually feel a physical pressure. Then a tingling up my arm.

  “See how naturally we merge,” he murmured stepping closer to me. “It’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  I took some insult to the remark and put my hands on him to push him away, but on contact I forgot that intention. He had released all his shields as well and my touch let my aura sink into him. I could feel his desire and knowing I was the cause gave me a flare of power, pure feminine power and an aching need. I felt his restraint as well; holding him back, tense as every instinct within him demanded he claim me. He held back only because of my fear of the demon merging. But this? How could I have feared this? It was not illusion or control. He didn’t impose his presence on me, on my mind. He curled around me, his energy brushing my skin, seeping into my essence and causing my aura to pulse and fluctuate in a way I had never experienced before. It was real, so firmly tangible, so unlike what I expected.

  I could do nothing but stand there and experience it. Indulge in it. So I did nothing when he stepped closer, as though testing for my response. His arm slid around me and the sensation seemed to be enhanced, my skin beneath my shirt tingling with the simple touch. Leaning in I thought he was going to kiss me and I wanted to know what it would feel like. He kissed my shoulder, which caused a rush of pleasure to shoot through me. Then he kissed my neck and I leaned away enjoying it. He trailed up to my ears and nibbled on the ear lobe. I let out a sigh of satisfaction.

  The whole bond thing seemed to fade in importance. A hormonal desire for one man. I could handle that. Demons were so physical, rather than cerebral, and so tactile, rather than aloof. Those traits could be handy. I waved bye-bye to my will power with just a fleeting thought of worry that was completely overtaken by desire.

  I slid my hands down his chest, feeling his toned muscles, and the sensations of this touching with auras. It was like he was coated with tingling warmth. When he went for my lips he kissed gently it so light and teasing. His other hand settled on my waist, smoothing over the area that was bare between my pants and the white corset. I could feel that restraint in him again, his growl of desire slipping out. His animalistic demon side demanding he claim me and a pull in my being demand I do the same. Damn, demon pheromones were heady.

  His hands expl
ored me thoroughly, slipping under my blazer, teasing until I was breathless. His jacket came off as did mine. He did a fine job unlacing the front style laces of my corset just enough to tease the flesh beneath. My hands smoothed down the planes of his chest, around his waist and up his back. I was stunned when he took several rapid steps backward. It was like having cold water dumped on me, the sudden absence of his heat, touch and aura.

  He bowed his head slightly. “I’m sorry. I have made you drop your barriers by dishonorable means. Sebastian wishes me to test you quickly, fearing your queen will take note of this half-breed and thus taking away any future opportunity. I didn’t intend to take advantage of you, only to help you relax your guard. But I cannot resist the temptation.”

  “How very noble,” I murmured. “Sheata doesn’t lower inhibitions.”

  “No, just relaxes and sooths. It’s the pheromones. My aura will continually flare out signals to your body. The drive to find a mate is so very strong in us. It seeks to merge, to see if we would bond, but it batters up against those barriers. Ray, it is driving me crazy with wanting you.”

  “Hmm. You show remarkable restraint, but I can sense, intimately feel, how affected you are.”

  “As your panther shifter noted, it is an equal pull.” He spread his arms. “This is our mating dance. Of demon kind.”

  I took a few steps towards him, my aura reached towards him intuitively. He noticeably tensed, his jaw muscles contracting and his eyes opening wider. “Ray, don’t torment me. I apologize for using the Sheata. It was devious. You wouldn’t forgive me though, if it caused you to give in when you were not ready.”

  That was a very good point. However, knowing how affected he was, was really quite a turn on. Knowing he was trying not to give in, made me want to tempt him. It was my contrary nature. Fickle, fickle fae that I was. I closed the distance between us and he remained still and rigid, looking at me with hooded desire and some wariness. I cocked my head and my lips turned into a small mischievous smile. “So you are saying you refuse to take advantage of me?”