The Witch Is Back

by H. P. Mallory

  The narrowed, calculating expression returned to Sinjin’s eyes. “What else did he say?”

  I closed my eyes, trying to remember what had happened during my meeting with Rand, but was flooded by feelings instead. Memories of Rand’s touch, the way he looked at me, how I’d felt so connected to him … I faced Sinjin. “There was something about him …”

  “Yes?”

  I shook my head, unable to put my finger on it. “I just felt like I’d met him before, a long time ago, as crazy as that sounds. I felt like we’d known each other all our lives and …”

  Sinjin’s jaw became even tighter as he crossed his arms against his broad chest. “That is his magic, love, nothing more. It is an artifice, a lie to manipulate you.”

  I faced him and took a deep breath. “He glamoured me, then?”

  Sinjin nodded. “Something quite similar. He bewitched you, my little poppet. He bewitched you into believing that the familiarity between the two of you was real. He wanted you to trust him, to feel safe with him.” He approached the fireplace and leaned on the mantel, quiet for a second or two as his gaze seemed to focus on the floor. Then he faced me again. “You must believe none of it.”

  “Why did he come after me?” I asked, my stomach sinking at the thought that my feelings for Rand were fake, not to mention designed to take advantage of me. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t zapped him across my store?

  Sinjin ran his hands through his hair and studied me for a moment or two, as if he were trying to memorize my features, line by line. “Because, little poppet, you are the missing puzzle piece.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said and shook my head. “You’re going to have to explain better than that.”

  “Sit,” Sinjin said as he escorted me to the couch. I took a seat and he knelt in front of me, pushing his body between my legs. He took each of my hands in his and smiled up at me while my stomach dropped. He was just so … close, and now he was kneeling between my … legs.

  “You are more than a witch, love. Your power is unrivaled, and has never before been seen in any single creature of the Underworld.”

  Okay, I could admit that this whole role of witch was starting to grow on me—maybe I was just getting used to the idea. I mean, everyone I seemed to encounter was convinced I had lots in common with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. So the witch part wasn’t what struck a note of discord. But the fact that Sinjin seemed to think I was incredibly powerful? Me? Someone who couldn’t even command my visions? Nope, power and me were definitely not bedfellows. “Why do you think I’m powerful?” I demanded.

  Sinjin shrugged. “I do not think. I know.”

  “But how?”

  He didn’t miss a beat. “Let us just say it is a feeling, a strong one.”

  I wasn’t satisfied by the fact that it was just a hunch. I mean, it was difficult enough to wrap my head around being a witch, but now the idea that I was even more than that … I couldn’t really comprehend it. What did that even mean? What was more powerful than a witch? A different creature altogether? A harpy maybe? I shook my head. “It just sounds really far-fetched, Sinjin.”

  “That is because your powers have not realized themselves yet, love. You will come to see in time.”

  I seized his mention of the Underworld. “You’re saying I’m part of the … Underworld?”

  “Yes. Although not yet formally, of course. My duty is to prepare you, to teach you.”

  I was still having a difficult time grasping it. “Prepare me for what?”

  “Your place, love, exists in the Underworld, with your people, and it is my responsibility to ensure your continued safety.”

  “My people?” I repeated.

  “Yes, love, I will answer all of your questions in time. But what is most important for you to know now is that you have a purpose, a calling.”

  “But—” I started.

  Sinjin held his hand up. “In time,” he answered simply.

  Figuring I’d make no headway on that front, I focused on another. “You make it sound as if you were assigned to me.”

  He shook his head. “As I mentioned earlier, I am a master vampire …”

  “You’re in charge then?” I interrupted.

  “I answer to no one, love.” He smiled with fangs as if he relished the fact that he was a free agent.

  “Is that what it means to be a master vampire?”

  “Not necessarily,” he replied. “Master vampires are merely the oldest of our race, and therefore the strongest and the most powerful, but that is not to say that they do not come under the authority of others.”

  So how come he didn’t answer to anyone? “Then you must be the oldest of the master vampires?”

  He shook his head, and the smile died from his lips and eyes. “No, there is one even older than I am.”

  “Then why don’t you report to that vampire?”

  He cocked his head and smiled, his eyes raking me from head to toe. I felt myself begin to blush, but I forced my attraction to Sinjin aside. This was not the time for that—I needed to understand what I’d gotten myself into, and what it meant to be a member of this so-called Underworld.

  “Are you going to respond?” I asked.

  “At one time, I did answer to a vampire older than I, love; but I was granted autonomy by someone very special to me, and now I answer to no one but myself.”

  I gulped, not liking the part about the person special to him, and liking even less that I was getting jealous. “And this person who granted you autonomy … Was it a woman?”

  He smiled even more broadly. “Yes.”

  I nodded, deciding I didn’t want to hear any more. Sinjin and other women was not a subject that interested me. Instead, I wanted answers about how and why Sinjin had orchestrated our first meeting. “So you never really had a flat tire, did you?”

  He shook his head. “Oh yes, it was flat.”

  “But?” I prodded.

  “I flattened it.”

  Even though I had every right to be annoyed—Sinjin had basically created the circumstance that led to our introduction—I wasn’t. Go figure. “How did you know who I was?”

  “You are part of the prophecy, love, of the Underworld.”

  “The prophecy?” I repeated, dubious. “What does that even mean?” I shook my head, wondering why I was believing any of this. “God, I feel like I’m stuck in Lord of the Rings or something.”

  Sinjin chuckled. “You are meant to unite the creatures of the Underworld, little poppet.”

  “Unite them?” I repeated, wondering when Frodo or Gandalf would be making an appearance. Gollum I was less enthusiastic about. “Unite them against what?”

  He sighed but apparently realized he needed to tell me just what was going on. “Unite us against a threat that will wipe us out.”

  “What?” I asked, rather eloquently.

  “They are called Lurkers,” Sinjin clarified. “I, myself, think of them as the others—those who are underworldly but do not associate with the creatures of the Underworld kingdom.”

  “Who are they?”

  “They were once humans,” he said and tapped his long fingers against his thigh. “By ingesting vampire blood, they gained the extreme strength and speed of the vampire but none of our weaknesses. Thus they can go out in the daylight.”

  “And they want to destroy you?” I asked, not understanding why that would be. I mean, it sounded like they were cut from the same cloth.

  “Yes, they want to destroy all creatures of the Underworld. I suppose you could say they have a vendetta against us.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged. “No one knows for certain.”

  “And you think it’s my duty to bring the creatures of the Underworld together so they can fight this threat?”

  He nodded.

  “The creatures of the Underworld don’t get along?”

  Sinjin nodded again. “Quite disparate factions of creatures make up the Underw
orld, my pet. It is your duty, your calling, to ensure the Underworld is not divided against itself so that we can defend ourselves against the threat of the Lurkers.”

  “Great,” I muttered and shook my head, deciding to shelve this newest information for now. Otherwise, I thought I might have apoplexy.

  “I have searched high and low for you,” Sinjin continued, his voice deep, sexy.

  “Do you have some sort of witch-tracking device?” I persisted, feeling as if there were something he was leaving out, something he wasn’t telling me.

  He chuckled and shook his head. “It is very complicated, love; but it took me years to locate you, and now that I have, I remain your faithful and loyal servant, as well as your teacher and protector.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I will help you perfect your abilities, poppet. I will introduce you to the right people, mentor you, protect you, and essentially help you grasp who and what you are.”

  I swallowed hard as all of this sank in. And then something occurred to me.

  Sinjin has never been romantically interested in you! It was all a front, just a show.

  It felt as if the air was constricting my lungs as this newest discovery began to unfold within my mind.

  Oh my God, it’s so obvious, Jolie! His goal this entire time was to ensure your role as “she who will unite the Underworld.” He’s known all along who and what you are, and his goal has always been to train you to fulfill this role.

  You don’t know that for sure, I started to argue with myself, too ashamed to face the truth in my thoughts.

  God, you are so stupid! All along, Sinjin’s objective has been to get you to yield to him, to accept him as your mentor, and you stupidly fell for it, wanting nothing more than to believe he actually had the hots for you!

  Well, you don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle yet. You don’t know for sure what his intentions were.

  Puh-leeze, Jolie, he’s been playing you all along, bending you to his will as prettily as you please. You’ve felt it too—that he was completely and totally out of your league.

  I suddenly felt sick to my stomach over my own stupidity. Sinjin must have thought this whole charade was so simple. Lure in the naïve girl with your incredible good looks and charm, and once she chomps on the bait, reel her in bit by bit until you have her flopping back and forth in your hands.

  “Poppet, you appear upset. What is stewing in that lovely head of yours?”

  I faced him as anger and humiliation took over. “I just realized what a complete idiot I’ve been.”

  “Idiot?” he repeated.

  “This was just business for you all along.”

  “Business?” he repeated, sounding confused, even as I realized I’d used the wrong word. “I am afraid I do not follow.”

  I felt something simmer within me that was about to start boiling and blow its top. “What I’m trying to say is, you came into my life with an agenda. It was never for … it was never because …”

  I couldn’t finish the sentence, afraid I sounded too much like a lovesick dumb-ass. I couldn’t deny I was now head over heels for this man, who saw me as nothing more than a duty. It was crushing, not to mention humiliating. Actually, the whole thing was mortifying.

  And that was when I realized I wanted nothing more than to escape, to stop this from gathering steam and turning into a huge cluster fuck. I took a deep breath and started for the door.

  “Where are you going?” he demanded.

  “I’m tired,” I said and glanced back at him. “And this conversation is too much for me at the moment.” I started for the door again.

  I didn’t even have time to expel my breath before I felt a rush of air against my face and found myself in Sinjin’s arms. I pulled away, glancing up at him in shock.

  “You do not realize my feelings for you. You never have,” he said. His hold on my upper arms tightened, but I didn’t feel threatened. It just seemed like he wanted to feel me against him, to be close to me.

  Yet there was no way in hell I was falling for it. Not again. “Fool me once, shame on you … fool me twice … No, I won’t be fooled twice.”

  “Poppet, you do not understand.”

  I shook my head, rage still rampaging through me. “I understand perfectly well.” I dropped my gaze to the floor and exhaled. “God, I’m so dumb.”

  “Jolie,” he insisted and tipped my chin up with his long index finger. When I made the mistake of glancing into his eyes, I felt the breath catch in my throat. His expression was determined, angry even. “I will not allow my feelings for you to be trampled so.”

  I swallowed hard. What did that even mean? “But you … You just said there was a reason you came into my life … You made it sound like the whole thing was orchestrated.”

  He nodded and never dropped his gaze from mine, taking both my arms prisoner in his large hands. “When we first met, love, I had one goal in mind—to mentor and teach you, to help shape your powers. But sometime during the course of our acquaintance, our friendship, you have grown to mean much more to me.”

  And I wanted to believe him so completely. Yet there was part of me that was still holding back, that wouldn’t surrender to his words.

  He glanced down at his hands and immediately released me, as if realizing how tightly he was holding me. “I apologize,” he said quickly as he studied my arms, presumably to inspect them for bruises. “Sometimes I hardly realize my own strength. I hope I have not harmed you?”

  I looked down at myself and saw the imprints of his fingers on my skin. I rubbed my arms up and down but didn’t notice any pain. All I noticed was a hollow sensation inside me at the prospect of the distance Sinjin was now putting between us. Although I hated to admit it, I wanted nothing more than to feel his arms around me again.

  “I’m fine,” I said dismissively and then eyed the door again. I just felt overwhelmed, not sure what to think or what to feel anymore. I needed to retreat to the solitude of my little house and be alone.

  “You are still leaving me then?”

  I sighed. “I want some alone time,” I said, feeling exhausted. “I just need to think about all this, to make sense of it all. I’m … I’m overwhelmed.”

  Sinjin nodded. “Very well. I will call on you tomorrow.”

  I took a few steps forward then, and with my hand on the doorknob, glanced back at him. “Thanks,” I said and walked out.

  The next day was pretty busy at the store. By the time I returned home, I found myself counting the minutes until the sun set. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I’d really screwed up with Sinjin the night before. It wasn’t right that I’d let my own feelings of insecurity cause me to lambaste him. It would be shocking if he wanted anything more to do with me after I’d acted like such a terrified and insecure idiot.

  I just didn’t know what to make of Sinjin. Truth be told, I was still having trouble believing that he and I were in an actual relationship, that we were some sort of couple.

  But you have to get over that, Jolie! I chided myself. And you need to apologize to Sinjin for being such a Froot Loop!

  Yes, I’d made up my mind to try to fix whatever damage I’d done. As the sun started its final descent, I got dressed for the evening, deciding to put some extra attention into my hair by curling it. After spending the next ten minutes on my makeup, I emerged from my bedroom and caught my reflection in the mirror that hung over my couch. I looked halfway decent.

  I was surprised by a knock at the door, but it was only the UPS man dropping off a box. I opened the door and waved hello to him as he climbed back into his truck and disappeared down the street. Glancing down, I eyed the small rectangular box before picking it up. There was no return address.

  I closed the door behind me and placed the box on my kitchen table, reaching for the scissors to open it. Inside there was another box—a white gift box. I opened it and found a small green box with fake peonies affixed to the top, a little hummingbird on
top of the flowers. It was charming to say the least. Untying the purple ribbon that held the box together, I pulled off the top and glitter exploded all over my living room floor as if the contents had been under pressure.

  “Dammit!” I said as I thought about the fact that I’d now have to vacuum. Needless to say, cleaning wasn’t one of my favorite occupations.

  But before I had a chance to whip out the old Hoover, the glitter on the floor started moving like a mini twister on my living room carpet, hoisting the glassy specks into a whirlwind.

  And then before I could take another breath, the glitter formed into the outline of a person, which gradually evolved into a hologram of Rand standing before me.

  My first thought was to put the top back on the box, in the hope that it would undo everything that had just happened, but when I did Rand and the glitter remained. I was thinking of trying the vacuum on the hologram when it started speaking.

  “Because you won’t let me anywhere near you, I recorded this message so that I could explain some things to you,” he began.

  Even though it was just a recording and Rand wasn’t really standing in the middle of my living room, I still felt on edge. I crossed my arms against my chest and continued watching, reminding myself that I was safe.

  But are you really safe? my inner voice piped up. Rand’s a warlock, so who’s to say you didn’t just release a spell?

  Well, if I had just opened Pandora’s box, there wasn’t much I could do about it now. And as far as I could tell, nothing of a worrisome nature was happening. I mean, I didn’t feel as if I were on the receiving end of a spell, and it wasn’t like anything threatening or dangerous had come out of the box. Instead I just focused on the hologram of Rand.

  “You won’t be able to turn this off until I’ve said everything I need to say,” he continued. “It’s up to you whether or not you listen to any of it.”

  “Fine,” I said, but then I realized it was ridiculous because I was essentially talking to myself.

  “Jolie, you need to know the truth. There is a whole history you’re missing, a history between you and me.” He took a deep breath. “And that history is why you can feel that there is an incredible bond between us. I feel it too, and even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself, I think you know it’s real and valid.”