Luca's Magic Embrace

by Grosso, Kym

  It was not that she hated the idea of the existence of a witch’s coven; she just hated what it personally represented. It was where she’d been sent to be cleansed of the dirt that had tainted her very soul. Whatever Asgear had done to her was beyond human reason, possibly demonic. She shuddered, wondering what could have happened if the evil had been allowed to grow within her. Would she have stolen? Murdered? Learned and utilized black magic for her own gain?

  The thought of deliberately hurting someone made her sick; it all seemed unbelievable. Even after she’d left the coven to return to Pennsylvania, she’d felt normal, perfectly human. But she couldn’t deny the surge of electricity and power that she had called when pushed into a fit of rage. Seeing the cabin ablaze had given birth to an uncontrollable reaction.

  “Luca. Samantha. So glad to see you safely made it back to New Orleans.” The lilt of Ilsbeth’s voice jilted Samantha back into reality. Ilsbeth sat in a chair across from Luca and Samantha, who sat side by side on the sofa. Noticing their closeness, Ilsbeth quietly smiled. “Samantha, you are welcome to move back into the coven and continue your training,” she offered.

  “No thank you,” Samantha refused kindly. “I…I’m staying with Luca.” She looked to him for comfort and then returned her gaze to Ilsbeth. “We came because we need your help with a few things. The first is my magic. I did something in Pennsylvania that I think you should know about. The cabin I was staying at. Well, someone set it on fire. I was so angry and scared, and before I knew what was happening, something called to me within, like my skin was crawling. I felt out of control, like electricity was bolting through my body. I felt this need…to call rain. And it worked. It rained and put out the fire. I guess I just wanted you to know…” Samantha’s voice trailed off as she stared at Ilsbeth. God, I sound crazy. Although I’d take crazy over ‘witch’ right now.

  Laughing out loud, Ilsbeth stood and began to pace the length of the room. “This is wonderful, Samantha! Don’t you see? Of course you don’t. How would you know?” She quickly returned to her seat and held Samantha’s hands. “It sounds as if you are an elemental witch, my dear. The elements: fire, water, earth and wind. They will come to you when needed and when called. You may not have good control right now, but with practice, you will be quite powerful someday. Please consider returning to the coven. It will be great fun to teach you.”

  “Thank you for the offer, Ilsbeth. But right now, I need to stay with Luca. He’s keeping me safe. Nothing has happened since with my magic. I’ll let you know if something else does. I guess that I’m just…I’m just not ready for this. Maybe someday.” She sounded unsure, but after all, she didn’t seem to get a choice about when or how the magic came. She didn’t want Luca to send her back to Ilsbeth. “I promise to think it over, but right now we’ve got a more pressing problem. Whoever is after me wants something called a Hematilly Periapt. Do you have any idea what it is, or why someone would want it?” she asked.

  Ilsbeth’s face hardened; her lips pressed together in a fine line. An icy sheet fell across her face. “Now listen here, I am not sure who told you about that, but the Hematilly Periapt is not to be trifled with. It’s a very powerful amulet, and it belongs in the care of a coven. No one currently knows its location and thankfully, it is probably lost or destroyed. Whoever is asking for it is nothing but trouble. Now, I suggest you forget about it.”

  Samantha hesitated then pressed forward. “Ilsbeth, I’m sorry if this line of questioning bothers you. But someone could have killed us and they wanted that amulet. And for some ungodly reason, they think I have it. So please forgive us, but I have to ask about it. Could you tell us, you know, if you had to take a wild guess, who might have it or where you think we should start looking for it?”

  “Samantha, maybe I am not making myself clear. There are certain things that are not up for discussion. You are welcome to train with us, to be accepted within the sisterhood. By doing so, there are many secrets that will become known to you. Until that time, I am sorry, there is nothing I can do to help you,” Ilsbeth replied coldly. She stood as if expecting them to leave. “Is there anything else I can help you with? I’m very busy.”

  “Would it be all right if I went up to my old room? I think I may have left some notes there, and I really would like to collect them. I wanted to keep a journal of my transformation,” Samantha asked. It couldn’t hurt to look around to see if perhaps she’d left any clues during her time at the coven. Samantha barely remembered the first few days she’d spent there, but there was a small chance she’d left a note about the amulet. It was a long shot, but grasping at straws was about the only thing she could do, now that Ilsbeth had clammed up about the Hematilly Periapt.

  “Please, feel free to search your room. However, I believe the sisters have cleaned the area of any belongings you may have left behind. I’m serious, Samantha. No more talk of the periapt. Sometimes just talking about something can affect our universe,” she warned.

  Samantha nodded and hurried up the stairs.

  Luca stood to walk Ilsbeth to the foyer. “Ilsbeth, I do have one more question, which may seem quite odd. Definitely off topic.”

  “Yes, what is it, Luca?

  “It’s rumored that it’s possible for witches to bear the child of a vampire. Is this true?” He knew Ilsbeth would put the puzzle pieces together and surmise what he was thinking. At the same time, he needed to know if it was possible for him to father a child.

  Ilsbeth’s face softened, and she smiled slightly. She put her hand on Luca’s forearm. “Yes, it’s true, Luca. It is uncommon but has occurred a number of times over the centuries…very rare, though. I certainly would not plan a future based upon it. Witches bear children to humans and witches…sometimes shifters. It is the natural course of our kind. Luca, I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but please be cautious in how you proceed in your relationship with Samantha. I can see how she trusts you. I must counsel you to be honest with her before you decide to claim her. She’s getting stronger, but she’s still fragile,” she advised.

  “She may have once been fragile, but she is not as delicate as you would think. In fact, she’s quite a bright and capable woman,” Luca acknowledged.

  “Luca, today you are full of surprises. I never thought I’d see the day when you would come to care for a human woman, albeit a witch. Very interesting indeed,” Ilsbeth smiled slyly. “Take care, Luca. Please keep her safe.” Shaking her head in disbelief, she turned and walked behind the shimmering curtain that blocked the view of visitors from seeing further into the coven’s home.

  Luca considered Ilsbeth’s insights. Yes, Samantha was emotionally delicate. But that was only because of the unwanted circumstances that had been thrust upon her; she’d suffered a loss of control. Luca reasoned that any human would have crumbled, given the same situation. Samantha could have chosen to give up, but instead, she’d fought with him to get her life back, to find out who was after her. Luca knew that Samantha was substantially stronger than he’d initially judged. She’d proven herself resilient and resourceful at each step of the journey; she was more determined than ever to find the Hematilly Periapt and get her life in order.

  Upstairs, Samantha feverishly searched her guest room for evidence of an amulet or some kind of clue. When she’d spent time at the coven, she’d written herself little notes every day, hoping that one would spark her lost memory. She was certain that she had left a few in the room when she left for Pennsylvania. Yet, scouring the room, she could barely find a speck of dust in the cleaned out desk, let alone any of her memos. No wonder Ilsbeth had allowed her to search her room; everything she’d written had been thrown in the trash.

  Samantha walked down the circular, cedar-lined hallway. As she approached the library, Rowan, the librarian, sat working at her desk, guarding the entrance. She sat in front of the ornately-carved wooden doors, working on her laptop, appearing not to notice Samantha. Rowan’s long, frizzy black hair cascaded over her petite figure. She w
as oddly attractive, dressing as if she was a college student, in a mini-skirt with a sharply pressed white oxford shirt. While she looked as if she was only in her twenties, Samantha knew that she was nearly fifty years old.

  Casually approaching the witch, Samantha cleared her throat. “Hi Rowan, long time no see.”

  “Ah you’re back, Sam. Are you moving back into your old room?” she inquired.

  “Uh…no, well not yet. Right now, I’m staying with a friend,” Samantha responded. “I was just looking for my notes in my old room, but I guess they were thrown out. I really need to get going but I thought I’d stop by and say hi on the way out. I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Do you have my cell number? Maybe we could go out for coffee sometime,” she suggested.

  “Yeah, sure.” Rowan cautiously eyed Samantha, wondering why she was roaming around the coven hallways unescorted. She made a mental note to discuss this incident with Ilsbeth. Samantha was nice, but she wasn’t a sister. They couldn’t afford that kind of security lapse. Rowan got up from her desk and stood protectively in front of the library doors, guarding its entrance.

  Typing numbers into their cell phones, Rowan and Samantha politely exchanged numbers. Samantha wanted to ask Rowan to let her into the library, but knew it would never happen. She might be friendly, but she was nothing short of ruthless when it came to protecting coven secrets. Explaining that she had a friend waiting, Samantha quickly ran down the coven steps and into Luca’s waiting arms. On an intellectual level, Samantha knew the coven was supposed to feel like home, but on an emotional level, it felt like a prison and she couldn’t wait to leave.

  Luca turned the ignition and tried to figure out how he’d pitch his next idea to Samantha. They had come up with practically nothing at the coven. It was clear that Ilsbeth didn’t want them to have the amulet or speak of it, but besides that, they didn’t have much more information than before they came. If the object scared Ilsbeth, that was not a good sign.

  Luca wondered what the amulet did that caused Ilsbeth to insist they stop looking for it. He knew one fact for certain; it was important enough that someone would murder in order to get it. It was possible that Asgear had had the amulet and then that Samantha had stolen it at some point. Perhaps she’d hidden it? Samantha’s memory had failed her so far, and Luca wasn’t sure he wanted her to remember the rest of the gory details of her abduction. Overnight, Samantha had appeared to grow stronger, and he didn’t want to risk a relapse.

  The problem, Luca surmised, was that there weren’t many places he was aware of that they could even search. The only two locations she’d been at for certain were the mausoleum in St. Louis cemetery and Sangre Dulce, where Samantha had been bespelled into posing as a waitress and submissive. The mausoleum was out of the question, because it had been destroyed. Dominique and Ilsbeth had taken care of that.

  As for Sangre Dulce, Luca was concerned about taking her back to the club. If they went back, there was a risk she could be traumatized all over again. When she’d been in Kade’s basement during her initial interrogation, she’d nearly fainted after being shown pictures of herself nude, serving drinks. She only had a vague memory of having a drink with a man, James, who was really Asgear. No other memories existed for her.

  Shifting in his seat, he drove towards home and sighed. “So listen, Samantha,” he began. “Since Ilsbeth was a bust, we don’t have many options. I have a plan, but I’m not sure you’re going to like it.” He didn’t bother looking over at Samantha to gauge her reaction, and kept his eyes fixed on the road.

  “Well, let’s just say, I’m open to suggestions. There was nothing in my old room. In fact, they’d cleaned the place out. And until Ilsbeth or Rowan try to log into the coven site, we can’t hack into their server. So, whatever’s on your mind has got to be better than the whole lot of nothin’ we’ve got now.” She shrugged and glanced over at him.

  “Okay, if you’re open to it, here goes. I’m thinking it’s a real possibility that Asgear stole or found this amulet. Maybe he knew what it did, maybe he didn’t. I’m also thinking that maybe you took it and hid it before or during being bespelled. Just because he bespelled you, it doesn’t mean you liked him. He could have told you what it did, and you inherently knew he wouldn’t put it to good use. Now, how someone else knows you were with him or that you might have had it, is a true mystery.” Luca steeled himself before telling Samantha that they were returning to her living hell. “I think that we need to go back to Sangre Dulce to take a look around, maybe talk to the other waitresses, look for clues. We know you were there.”

  Samantha silently contemplated his proposal. She loathed the idea of returning to that club. It had forever fucked up her life: one decision to go out with friends, one decision to have a drink with a stranger. Going back could bring back her memory or not. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to remember. She could literally pick up with her life and move on, not having to worry about the frightening lost memories. Yet if she went back to the club, she might possibly find evidence to lead them to the amulet. Whoever was looking for that damn thing would not leave her in peace until they got it. There was a real possibility that she had done exactly what Luca had postulated. She would never know until she tried.

  “Yes. Let’s do it,” she agreed.

  “You sure?” he asked.

  “Yes. Until we find this amulet, I’ll never get my life back. I need this, Luca. I need normalcy. Maybe supernaturals are used to living in a state of constant stress and chaos, but I’m not. I want my boring, Starbucks drinking, nine to five working life back. It wasn’t much but there’s one thing I’ve realized; when you lose everything…your job, your home, your identity, the only person who can put the pieces back together again is you. I’ve got to do this.” She caught Luca’s eyes and put her hand on his thigh.

  He reached down and covered her small hand with his. Slowly rubbing the inside of her palm with his calloused thumb, he realized how protective he’d become of her. She was so beautiful and brave, willing to return to Sangre Dulce. She wasn’t a weak human lying down in defeat. No, she was a fighter. A quick glance at her smiling up at him melted his heart. What was she doing to him?

  He hadn’t even known her very long but felt a deep connection to Samantha that he didn’t think he’d ever be able to break. His thoughts drifted to Ilsbeth’s words; it was rare, but they could conceive. A baby. Silently admonishing himself for even thinking about it, he blew out a breath. What the hell was happening to him? Luca didn’t do humans or love and here he was thinking about babies? While growing aroused at her touch, he was more concerned about the tightness he felt in his chest. I’m falling for this little witch.

  “What are you thinking about? You okay?” Samantha broke his train of thought.

  “Just planning our next move,” he lied. “When we go to Sangre Dulce, I’ll be by your side the entire time. You’re not the person you were when you were Rhea. Rhea was mere illusion, someone you were forced to be. We’ll go in, do our business and get out,” he promised.

  “You know, when I saw those pictures, at Kade’s, I was just shocked that I could have been made to parade around naked like that in some kind of a magic stupor. I felt like a fool. And then there’s that whole submissive thing. I mean, it’s not like I’m not open to fantasizing in the bedroom, but what I did wasn’t exactly private.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head in embarrassment.

  “You have nothing to be ashamed of, Samantha. Seriously. Number one, you were not in control of yourself. Asgear forced you against your will. And number two; even if you were a submissive, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. A lot of people experiment with fantasies. It can be fun.” He winked at her, trying to lighten the mood.

  “I, uh, I don’t know, Luca,” she hesitated for a moment before continuing. “It’s just that I really haven’t ever been so intimate with anyone…until you. What we did last night, it was amazing. It’s not that I haven’t, you know, had sex. God, this is embarrassin
g. Okay, I’m just going to say it. There’s been no other man who made me, you know, come like that.” She giggled a little. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this.” She raked her fingers through her hair, twisting the ends nervously.

  “Well darlin’, I’m glad to hear it. And if I have my way, I’ll be the last man who makes you come ‘like that’ as you put it,” he smiled at her, turning into his driveway.

  “Look at what you do to me, woman.” He moved her hand from his thigh onto the hard evidence of his arousal. “We’re never going to get anything done,” he sighed. “Seriously, as much as I’d like to take you inside and make love again, we need to get over to Sangre Dulce,” He groaned due to his uncomfortable state of arousal. “When we get home, I’ll call Sydney and see if she can bring over something suitable for you to wear to the club. I also think we should bring Étienne and Xavier for backup. I’m not expecting trouble, but after what happened the last time we were there…Let’s just say that I’m not risking anything happening to you.”

  As Luca pulled his car up to his home and turned off the engine, Samantha jumped out. As he approached her, Samantha wrapped her hands around Luca’s waist, pressing her face into his chest and hugging him tightly.

  “Thank you, Luca. Thank you for talking me into coming back here to get my life together. Thank you for helping me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

  “Well, I did threaten to enthrall you to get you home, so I guess that counts as talking you into it,” he joked, and kissed her head.

  She playfully pushed his chest with the palm of her hand. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “Yes. Yes, you are. And I couldn’t be happier that you’re with me.” He gathered her into his arms for a brief embrace and then released her. If he started kissing her, they’d never get to the club. He was two seconds from tearing off her clothes as it was.