by Kiki Howell
“We will work to get them what they want. Not being able to publicly fight though, it fuckin’ sucks!” Isaac tried to contain the anger that had suddenly risen in him – fierce, untamed – like last night before Winter. Yet, just her name, the thought of her naked in that closet, helped to calm him some. He wasn’t sure of the source of his anger this time, and that was never a good thing.
“There is more bad news,” Amberlyn spoke up. “They are saying a witch disappeared last night, was taken by a vamp due to the way she just disappeared. A loud noise, a brief sound like the start of a scream, then no trace of her seconds later, door broken. But, we think it’s an excuse for them to attack hard. She was a wayward witch anyway, not a close part of the family. She kept to herself, had a history of disappearing anyway. No one was concerned before this about the bitch. It could all just be a set up to frame us, cause more of an uproar than I already have.”
Isaac bit his tongue not to defend Winter’s honor, or at least his witch’s actions. Yet, he remained stoic, as if he just took it all in. When Achim’s phone rang, he took a moment to turn toward the closet, hopeful she hadn’t heard the hurtful words they’d said. He let the emotions for her rage through him briefly, go through the muscles in his face.
“No.” There was a pause as Achim listened to whoever was on the phone, and Isaac knew it was bad. “We’ll be right there,” Achim said into the phone. Then he spoke to the room, “The war in the Willows has officially gone into its second battle.”
Amberlyn got right in front of Achim. She wanted news, but he seemed to look past her to Isaac.
“What happened?” Willa finally asked, as she put her arm protectively around Amberlyn.
“We have to go, Willa. The witches are playing tricks at the water. Tourists are there, and they’re somehow possessing a vampire and a werewolf, making them do stupid things. The humans cannot get caught up in this. Isaac, you can’t go down. It’s too risky, too many people are around. Someone will see you and will think you are back from the dead.”
No hint of a smile crossed his mouth with those words. It was no joke, and Isaac knew it. He could not, and would not, hurt his birth family by being seen now.
“What about me?” Amberlyn asked.
“No!” Achim’s voice echoed off the walls of the room. “It has already been tediously agreed that you and Kane are to go no where, to not be part of this war starting, and to stay apart. You will be killed on sight. If you are to be kept alive...” The man’s steady voice broke. “Willa, come now. Amberlyn, go home.”
Achim nodded to Isaac before he left in a rush. Willa gave him a glance as well before she disappeared too.
Amberlyn sighed out, “Sorry.” Then she was gone as well.
The thought of being trapped here didn’t sit well with his nature. He stormed to the closet and looked at his beautiful mistake.
“They think you were taken. It has already started down at the cove, some trouble the witches have brewed up. They are playing with a vamp and a werewolf right out in front of humans. I have to go.”
“You can’t. I heard them. You risk being seen. I could go. Show up, stop at least one bit of trouble.”
“No, you’re not going out and getting yourself hurt while I stay here. Shit, why does everything have to be so fucked up?”
“It will work itself out. It always does in the end.” She touched him, but he pulled away. “What? I can’t touch you now. You’ve already come to your senses?”
“It was wrong of me to let what happened between us...well, happen. Your damned magic or not, I should’ve had more control. My clan is at war with yours, and I was here literally sleeping with the enemy.”
“I don’t want to be your enemy.”
“Let it go, Winter. We have to be. I’m leaving,” Isaac said as he turned from her. He knew it was the only way he could walk away. His draw to this woman was insane, but so incredibly strong. He didn’t understand it. In fact one could say he feared it, it was just that consuming.
“Then, I’m coming with you,” she said.
He heard her follow him across the room. “No!” He said as he turned. Her body hit smack against his. Stifling the urge to kiss her, to grab her ass and pull her against him, he did just the opposite of everything he wanted. Because at the moment, it was all that made sense.
“Don’t make me use my damned magic,” she spat. He didn’t take her threat lightly at the moment.
Besides, if he left he couldn’t leave her here to wonder out of the cave. He didn’t trust her enough with its whereabouts yet. Lust and trust, the words sounded the same, but were worlds apart. One had nothing to do with the other. He was inclined to trust her, but again, he couldn’t take any chances, couldn’t follow his gut feelings with the woman. His dead heart seemed to lead him astray.
His only option was to tie her up, but he would have to use his speed and his strength to pull that off. Catch her off guard before she could spell him. Shit. Things are so messed up. So she’d said a vamp couldn’t glamour a witch. Their power over the mind was better than a vamp’s. If he was to believe her, then that left a vampire’s only real defense against a witch to be a quick bite, one that killed them. It didn’t work for him in this situation. He couldn’t rip out her neck, not when he wanted it in so many other ways.
It was a split second decision. He had to get down to the cove.
“Grab something to wear out of that closet. I think Amberlyn keeps a few things in there. You’re coming with me. I plan on hiding out in the edge of the tree line at the corner of the cove, alongside the barn for the kayaks and stuff. I need to at least see what’s going on. If Achim thinks I am going to just sit here and wait for news, he doesn’t know me at all!”
She hurried, did as she’d been told, and he felt something close to guilt for the way he’d treated her. But he had no idea what else to do with her, how to handle her after all he’d done. Stupid, stupid! Idiot in life and in death!
Even berating himself, he couldn’t help but watch as she slipped a sundress over her head right there in front of him. Just the short glimpse at her skin, her shape, her nipple, the juncture of her thighs and the images of her body were burned into his brain.
He grabbed her, at least this time told her to hold on tight, then he raced them to the spot he had chosen to hide at the cove.
Chapter Four
With his speed and agility to make quick leaps onto some buildings, he landed them on the roof of the barn, which now was used as a sort of recreational boathouse. He squatted down with her still in his arms under the leaves of a tree on the corner.
Vampires, witches and werewolves all milled about doing their usual jobs, not interacting, while others of each clan lurked around in the shadows. His keen sight made them all easier to spot. He found Achim first. Thankfully he was one of the ones out in the open. The old man just mingled in the thick of the night activity to make sure nothing bad went down. Isaac made sure to stay out of his range of notice. Achim would sense him before he saw them.
Scanning the place, he saw a cousin of his he’d not seen since right before he’d died. In fact he’d hung out with the guy about an hour before his accident. Now it had been ten years since they’d spoken a word to each other. The reality that for all intents and purposes he was dead to his birth family, hit him like a kayak paddle to the head. Something in him reacted, wanted to reach out, to speak to his cousin, to his mother and father too. To see them would be amazing, but. he wanted to warn them too, to be able to go and save his family from possible danger if an all out war did erupt here. But, he was pretty much damned if he did and damned if he didn’t in this situation. Fuck!
Winter put her hand on his arm from where she crouched under him. That she could sense his feelings unnerved him further if that was even possible. He had Winter’s whole body protected with his. This hadn’t escaped him either, how natural it was to protect her, how nicely she fit into the curve of his body, like he was meant to shelter her
.
Her touch brought out his own humanity and nearly broke him. He wanted to get her out of there. He wanted to be with her again, to feel her body, naked, move against his. It had been only one day, and he already didn’t know how to let her go. Their time together already clearly seemed a mistake, a mistake of grave magnitude which only promised trouble to come. Just chalk it up to another of my idiotic and impulsive decisions.
He heard Winter suck in a breath just before a vamp on the beach started being loud and obnoxious. The guy acted drunk, but by Winter’s reaction he wondered if it was just magic, if he had been spelled to do the things he’d done. The vamp patted a werewolf on the back, who turned and for a second, showed a brief glimpse of canines, before he got his bearings, and pulled back. He marveled at the werewolf’s strength with the full moon only days away.
So far, the humans had taken no notice of a drunk local. The guy wore a uniform, appeared to be on the job, but losing his job was the least of the guy’s worries now.
“Is he spelled?” Isaac whispered in her ear.
“Yes. They’re over at the marina, inside one of the boats. I can’t stop them from this distance.”
“You can’t get involved anyway,” he whispered back, his hands gripped tighter around her upper arms.
“Then why am I here? Why are you here? I mean why are you really here? You could be seen. So many here would recognize you. You know that.”
“I know. I just couldn’t stay back in that room, not knowing what was going on. I have two families in this town, the one who gave birth to me, and the one who changed me. I don’t want either of them to get hurt. How could I just sit and wait for news?”
“You said that before. And?” she whispered back, not an ounce of frustration in her voice. He marveled at the creature beneath him. He even got on his own nerves, how could he not get on hers?
“And...what?”
“Come on. Tell me,” she sighed. “We both know that you can’t help either set of them if something happens.”
“I wanted to see them, okay? I wanted to see if I could get a glimpse of my mom and dad and brother. I need to see for myself that they are okay after all of these years, truthfully. I got reports through Drake of what they are up to, but I needed to know that everyone I care about is safe, see it with my own eyes, detection be damned.”
“You can’t do that to your clan or to your birth family. They went through hell losing you, especially without the finality of a body.”
“I know already! I’m stupid. Maybe you should just go. Go out there and show your clan, your family, that you are safe then get away from here. You would be better off away from me.”
“Would I?” She placed a light kiss on his cheek, then suddenly he felt her stiffen. A chill ran down his back, making even him shake.
The supposedly drunk vampire on the beach had picked a fight with the werewolf now for sure. So this was the witch’s plan, to put the two clans, vamp and werewolf, at war first. As if they already weren’t, but to make them come out in public, come to physical blows. Surely, the two Clan leaders will see through this? The humans wouldn’t know the difference. All they would see was that two local kids had fought, but each clan risked exposure if pushed to their limits, if fangs or canines came out. Defensive instincts could be a bitch to stifle in the heat of public confrontation.
There was pushing and shouting, humans came into the mix to try to stop it or just watch. Isaac held onto the tree, tried not to move, not to stop one of his clan from showing his fangs. Who the hell knew what the witches would make the poor guy do next. They could make the kid’s fangs descend. They could control them both. Known to have necromancy spells over vamps and other spells to control animals, they even had a spell to force a shift. This kind of exposure could eventually risk the witches being exposed too if things went too far.
If one paranormal clan came into the light, it would probably not be long before they all did. Would they really go that far? Probably not. He was sure this was a message to the clans, not the humans. They probably just wanted to play enough to ensure the other clans got the message, loud and clear, of what they were capable of. Fear of what could happen was often a better revenge than dealing with something actually happening.
“I have to wonder what the witches could really want out of this?” he whispered into her ear, aware of how good it felt to have a partner in crime up here, someone to confide in. “I mean, is this just some fun revenge on their part to make the other clans sweat and squirm while proving how their magick is oh-so-fucking-powerful? Or is this a serious, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, straight out revenge tactic, with the death of one of each clan the only goal? They are quite aware, I’m sure, that all the vamps and werewolves can do to them is simply kill them, drain them or tear them apart like a puppy’s play toy. And they know that can’t be done out in the open.” Up until now, as they’d pretty much ignored each other, no matter where he was – Tennessee or California – he’d never realized the advantages the witches had over his kind and the werewolves.
“I truly don’t know. I put nothing past them,” Winter whispered back.
The circle around the two boys had gotten bigger as their words and threats became more intense. Where is Achim anyway to get this young vamp – obviously turned in the last few years, as I don’t know him at all – out of harm’s way? Of course they would play with the new, rather than chance the old. He saw Achim then, and gave a sigh of relief. This should all end soon. But, just as a touch of relief softened his stance, his brother got out of a boat and ran to where the first punch had been thrown.
“Goddamned do-gooder his whole life!” Isaac hissed, stood up from his crouch. Achim’s head snapped his way. The next thing he knew, Winter had placed her hand on his chest, and they were back in Drake’s home underground.
When it hit him where they were, Isaac roared at her. “What the fuck? What about my brother?” He lunged at her, grabbed her by the arms, tried to control his urge to shake her in his frustration until her neck snapped.
“You’re hurting me,” Winter cried.
He let go of her arms and stepped back away from her. He had to get control. His power and rage took out a lamp while he attempted it. The glass bulb shattered when it hit the wall at a lethal speed. Mangled metal and paper shade hit the floor, and tiny shards of glass fell like rain down around them.
Isaac saw Winter circle her hand, say a few lines, “Basiliske Galeōte meta Kōktō Podōn kai Kakoin Ommatoin to Phōs Emēi Cheiri Kathias tōi Kakōi Dergmati Toxeusatō!
He couldn’t follow the Latin, although the way her voice sung each word, slurred them together, he felt as if he’d gone into a trance. His limbs started to tingle as if they’d fallen asleep. He rushed at her, but he couldn’t get to his normal vampire speed. She stepped aside as she continued to speak her spell.
“Kakon Omma Petrōseōs...” she practically sang as his body fell lifeless to the bed behind her. She moved to his side. Her hands on him next felt warm, but his response to her touch, wanting to touch back, even just lay a hand over hers, was stifled by whatever spell she’d cast upon him. Inside his body, his muscles and his nerve endings attempted to work, but only succeeded in creating an internal panic, one like being drugged. Nothing on him physically moved even though he wanted it to.
She rolled him over to his back since he’d landed face down. Then she straddled him. Her dress rose up, showed him a generous amount of her creamy thighs. Inside his head he screamed. He bucked, wanted to feel his erection – well he thought he had one anyway – against her warmth, yet nothing happened. He heard not a sound.
His phone rang.
“I’m going to get your phone for you and allow you to speak. I warn you though, against telling whoever is calling about your current predicament. You needed to chill out. I helped.” She shrugged and then reached into his jeans pocket, so close to his dick, for his phone. “It’s Achim.”
He could only watch as with o
ne hand moving she chanted a few more phrases in Latin, then with the other she flipped open the phone. When she placed the infernal device to his ear, he could hear Achim shout.
“...I mean what the hell were you trying to prove there boy? You directly disobeyed me! Were you going to save your brother? Then how would you explain the fact that ten years later you were alive and hadn’t contacted them?”
“Is my brother okay?” Isaac spat into the phone. He’d never spoken to Achim this way before. He had always treated him with respect, like one would a grandfather despite his youthful appearance, but these past few days wore on him. He still hadn’t even had the time to come to terms with the loss of his maker or this witch who currently controlled and straddled him.
“He’s fine. Thankfully he didn’t see you. The fight was stopped. We were circling. We had it handled, but wanted to go to the source. Once we found the witches who were casting the spells, a vamp and a werewolf, begrudgingly but together for good show against the witches, went to make sure the witches were well aware they’d been caught. Finally, everyone went home for the night. The vamps were pretty upset though. Retaliation will surely be heavy on their minds still.”
Isaac had always loved to hear Achim talk. The old-world language accompanied by his still slightly German accent, had brought him comfort many times. He needed it now, and with the news of everything being over for the night, he took it like a greedy child being handed candy to pacify him.
“Again, Isaac,” Achim went on. “Now that you are back, we need to talk about this family thing. I need to know where you are with this. If you would contact them, even making up some outrageous story about why you are alive now, ten years later, how would you ever explain why you couldn’t see them when the sun is out? You know only one side of your face is scarred, from the other side anyone who knew you would know who you are instantly.”
