by E A Price
They looked up when she bustled into the room.
“There’s my errant daughter. I was beginning to think you had forgotten you even had a mother.”
Oh, Hera. She was about to be taken on a guilt trip, and she really didn’t have the time. Her mother was quite a powerful witch, but her greatest power surely had to be the ability to blackmail her daughter emotionally. No, on second thought, it definitely still the hexes and spells she cast left right and center and despite the Supernatural Enforcers Agency request that she stop.
“Mom, please, I need your help, it’s an emergency. A baby’s life is at stake!”
The three women looked mildly alarmed.
“A baby?”
“Whose baby?”
“What baby?”
“What have you done to your hair?”
“No time! I need you to find a witch for me.”
Her mother narrowed her eyes. “This isn’t anything to do with that gorilla shifter, is it?”
“Nope, not at all,” she lied with practiced efficiency. Hey, if she didn’t lie well to her mother, there was no way she would have had any contact with boys growing up. She'd probably still be a virgin to that day.
Her mother didn’t look too convinced, but she didn’t voice any more objections. Zara rattled off the description Holt had given her of the witch. It wasn’t much, but he had heard her name – Sabrina – and he had a physical description. Her family members knew a lot of practitioners, who in turn knew a lot of practitioners – and hopefully, someone somewhere would know their witch.
“Okay,” agreed her grandmother. “We will find this witch, just as long as you talk to your cousin.”
Zara frowned. “Leah? What about?”
Her aunt pointed towards the living room. Zara looked in that direction and saw Leah on the sofa, sighing and flipping through the channels on the TV. Clearly, she was moping.
“She’s been in a funk ever since she broke up with that dreadful little car salesman…”
The dreadful little car salesman that she loves and who you all bullied her into dumping. Oh, how she wanted to say that out loud!
“Just tell her she’s so much better off without him and then persuade her that a little hex to turn all his groin hair green would be an excellent idea.”
Zara rubbed her forehead. She was sixteen before she realized that she wasn’t part of a normal family.
“Fine, just call me as soon as you have any news about the witch – life or death remember!”
She soldiered through the house, grabbing a yelping Leah and pulling her into the downstairs bathroom.
Zara firmly locked the door.
“Zara, what on earth…”
“No time. Your car salesman, do you love him?”
Her lovely cousin blinked at her with huge, chocolate brown eyes. “What are you…”
“Do you love him?”
Zara opened the bathroom window and whistled. Leah gaped at her, completely baffled.
“C’mon, c’mon, I don’t have all day!”
“Well, I, yes, I suppose, but if he’s just going to break my heart…” Tears brimmed in Leah’s eyes.
“Does he love you? Did he ever say it?”
Leah gave her a watery smile. “Yes. He said it every day we were together, and he keeps sending me flowers and presents with notes telling me he loves and worships me.”
Given that her cousin was a six-foot tall, long-legged beauty with silky black hair and radiant brown skin with a sweet personality to boot, Zara didn’t doubt it.
“And you believe him?” she asked while peering out of the window. Where was he?
“Well, yes.”
“And was he ever unfaithful to you?”
Leah frowned. “Well, no.”
“And do you want to be with him?”
“I… yes.”
Zara took her lovely cousin by her lovely shoulders and gave her a not-so-lovely shake. “Then what are you waiting for? Oh, and I need to keep your car for a few more days or a week… maybe longer. Sorry!”
With that, she swung her legs out of the tiny window and heaved herself out, falling into Holt’s strong arms. He grinned as he caught her.
“Cactus flower, you just keep…”
“If you end that sentence with ‘falling for me’ I will beat you!” she warned. “Now, come on, we have things to do.”
“I don’t see why I couldn’t have just come in with you,” he said mildly, as he raced back to the car, holding her securely in his arms.
“My family wouldn’t have been quite so keen to help if you were with me.”
That was an understatement.
“They can’t be that bad.”
“They can and are, but that’s not important right now. We need to find your brother.”
Holt placed her in the passenger seat and somehow managed to squeeze her butt while pulling the seatbelt over her.
“I already know where he is.”
“What? Where? When?” She paused. “And why?”
“He called me a few minutes ago. Apparently, my uncle’s goons let him go.”
“Why would they do that?”
Holt’s lips thinned. “I don’t know, but I can’t believe it’s for a good reason.”
No, she doubted that either. She placed a hand on his thigh, and he treated her to a lusty look full of promise for later before they set off to retrieve Sean.
Chapter Fifteen
“Why can’t she sit in the back?” asked Sean, just a tad petulantly.
“This is my car,” Zara replied, just a tad smugly.
To be fair, his brother was folded up tighter than an accordion in the tiny back seat. But Zara had supplied the car, so it was only fair that she sat in the front. Besides with her in the back, Holt couldn’t just reach out and run a hand up and down her thigh whenever the urge took him, which was once every minute. Four times a minute when they were stopped at a red light.
The car was perhaps not designed with large gorilla shifters in mind. Though, svelte witches seemed to fit it perfectly. He caught the movement of Zara curling one of her legs under her, and he had to stop himself from licking his lips.
Mine purred his beast.
He should have told Zara about the curse a long time ago. They should have been working together to find a way to break it. Zara shifted slightly, and in the small car, her breast brushed against his bicep. Yep, working together, shoulder to, ah, shoulder…
Yes huffed his beast, about time.
Holt flicked a glance over his shoulder. “Why did they let you go?”
Sean shrugged as much as the confined space would allow. “One of them got a call. Next thing I knew they were tossing my ass on the sidewalk and driving away. Assholes.”
“Whatever the reason, we need to take him to the cops,” said Zara.
“What?” howled Sean, throwing a furious look at Zara. “Angus said they caught the real killer. I’m in the clear.”
Zara appeared completely unconcerned by his reaction. “They technically haven’t dropped the charges – they still need to do that formally, and it doesn’t look good that you’re on the run.”
Sean made some angry noises, and Holt hooted at him – his gorilla pushing to the fore, warning his younger brother to keep his distance from his woman.
“Fine,” muttered Sean, deflating a little. “You would take her side. Just because you’re banging… ugh!”
Holt may have been driving, but that didn’t stop him from smashing his brother in the mouth to shut him the hell up. Zara flashed a grateful, saucy smile at him.
Holt was considering hauling his brother to the cops and suggesting that he and Zara find a nice quiet spot to… reconnect some more, when his phone chirruped. He groaned as Zara fished it out of his pocket - her fingers were wonderfully invasive.
She winked at him as she answered, but all mischief evaporated as she listened to the voice on the other end of the phone.
“It’s Rac
hel,” she breathed, “she’s had the baby.”
*
A fist met Holt’s face as he stormed into Rachel’s room. It belonged to her mate, Eric, and Holt couldn’t say he blamed him.
Sean and Zara snarled and squeaked, trying to come to his aid, but Holt waved them back.
“All this time!” hissed Eric. “All this time you knew where she was, knew she was pregnant with my kid and you said nothing!”
Holt said nothing. It took all his restraint to hold back his gorilla as he allowed Eric to punch him again, but he’d allow the crocodile this. He imagined if the roles were reversed and Eric had taken Zara from him, he wouldn’t be nearly so forgiving.
“Okay, enough,” snapped Zara. “What’s happened?”
“He’s gone!” wailed Rachel.
Eric overcame his rage to move to his mate and pull her into his arms. Rachel was pouring tears, and she was definitely not pregnant anymore.
“The baby came so quickly,” she sniffled. “I was at the grocery store, and someone drove me here – I couldn’t find my phone! Then the baby was here and then my dad turned up, and he took my baby!” She screeched pathetically.
“She called me,” said Eric tonelessly, “told me the truth, about…” he gulped, “about our baby.”
“My father… he has him… Holt, he has him!”
Rachel was becoming hysterical.
“We’ll find him, Rachel,” promised Holt as his gorilla bellowed. “We will find him!”
*
They made Eric stay behind with Rachel. He was torn between wanting to go with them and wanting to comfort his mate, so Holt made the decision for him, snarling at him and ordering him to stay put. He bristled with dominance and Eric gave in.
The three of them piled into Zara’s tiny, borrowed car.
“We need…”
She was interrupted by her phone, and on seeing her mom’s name on the screen, rather than hiding her phone in the fridge, she actually felt something she never had before – happiness.
“It’s my mom, shut up you guys – shut up, Sean!” She hit answer. “Mom, please tell me you have good news!”
“Maybe,” replied her mother hesitantly, perhaps unused to hearing Zara so enthusiastic about anything. “A friend of a friend of an acquaintance might know who you want, but… she doesn’t sound like someone you should really deal with. People who openly use illegal magic are generally people you should stay away from – it means they don’t fear the consequences.”
Wow, must be bad if her mother was saying that.
“Mom, baby, remember?” She would love to stay away from this Sabrina creature, but the baby came first.
She sighed and rattled off an address. “Just be careful, darling.”
“Of course, I will, and thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, do you know what’s going on with Leah? She’s been most peculiar ever since…”
“Uh, gotta go. Thank you, love you, bye.” She turned to Holt. “I have an address for the witch.”
Chapter Sixteen
Such was the mood of the two gorilla shifters when they arrived at the address her mother had given her, that they didn’t bother knocking on the door – they just battered it down. Zara tried to stop them, tried to preach caution, but they would not hear of it. They were both clinging onto their beasts with tenuous grips and neither wanted to listen to warnings.
Zara followed them with dread as they stormed through the house. She was worried for the baby, too - of course, she was! She just knew better than them what crazy bitches witches could be. Take her mother for instance – to the world she was a perfectly nice, refined lady. In reality, she absolutely crackers.
Zara trailed after them into a library. Holt and his brother prowled the area like caged animals.
“May I help you?” inquired a cold voice behind her.
Zara yelped, jumping two feet in the air. Holt snarled and bounded forward, dragging her behind him.
The male who had appeared in the room was wearing a smart suit and rocking a pair of fangs. Were it not for the fangs, he would look like an ordinary middle-aged man with thinning hair – like a bank manager, but the fangs alone gave him an air of menace. He also had the iciest blue eyes Zara had ever seen and was sizing them up with worrying intent.
“Sabrina,” breathed Zara as the two males flanking her bristled at the vampire. “We’re looking for Sabrina.”
The vampire didn’t move a muscle. Nothing to indicate he had even heard her.
“I said we’re…”
“Is the mistress expecting you?”
Lord, he was actually a vampire butler!
“Stop dicking around, Jeeves,” snarled Holt. “Tell her to get her ass in here.”
That did get a reaction. The smallest twitch of a lip, but it had certainly irritated him.
“Indeed, sir?” he oozed as his eyes started turning red. His shoulders seemed to be getting bigger. He seemed to be growing and filling the room, like the inhuman beast he was. “I am afraid that…”
“What is all the noise, Simpkins? And why is the front door in shreds?”
A beautiful woman in a black shift dress appeared in the room. She was tall, thin and looked like a perfect, porcelain figurine. If Zara didn’t know better, she would have sworn she was a vampire, too. But she could spot a witch a mile away.
The vampire slowly shrank back to his sedate bank manager persona. “We have uninvited guests, madam. I was just dealing with them.”
“Sabrina?” asked Zara.
The woman focused on Zara, and she felt like a cold icy hand was suddenly gripping her heart.
“Indeed,” said the woman. “And to what do I owe the pleasure of this invasion?”
“Where is he?” roared Holt.
“He?” queried Sabrina.
Holt started striding towards her. “You know damn well… Oof!”
Sabrina flicked her wrist and chains appeared out of nowhere, curling and wrapping themselves around Holt, Zara, and Sean.
Zara let out an eep while Sean shifted to his gorilla, hooting wildly and Holt bellowed in a fury.
“The baby, you crazy bitch!”
“I am sorry, madam. I shall dispose of them.”
The vampire advanced on them, but Sabrina held up a hand.
“Don’t worry, Simpkins. I don’t often get such exciting visitors – I’m interested to know what they want. Two gorillas and a witch – it’s almost the start of a bad joke.”
Her piercing gaze narrowed on Zara, and slowly she walked towards her, reaching out to touch her cheek. Zara shuddered as she felt a ripple of power spread through her body. It wasn’t painful or unpleasant, just… strange.
“Stay away from her!” thundered Holt.
“Calm down,” ordered Sabrina. “I was merely testing her power. It’s small but solid enough.” She patted Zara’s shoulder patronizingly. “You’re limited to hexes and spells – you can’t create things with your will.”
“No, but I do a nice line in voodoo curses!” shouted Zara heatedly.
“Was that a threat?”
Zara hesitated. “Maybe… yes, it was!” Well, if she was going to kill them anyway…
Sabrina looked amused. She walked through the room and elegantly sat down in a chair, crossing her legs at the ankles and looking like she had just stepped out of an etiquette manual. No slouching or couch potatoes in that house.
“You mentioned a baby?”
“My cousin’s baby,” spat out Holt.
He and Sean had been struggling with their chains, but as Sean fell flat on his face with a loud hoot, they both seemed to have given up.
Sabrina waved a pale, slender hand. “I don’t have a baby here. Do you recall seeing any babies, Simpkins?”
“No, madam,” he replied while pulling Sean up from the floor.
“It seems like you’ve had a wasted trip. Simpkins, I think I’m ready for my tea.”
“Very good, madam.”
He evaporated out of the room with less effort than a puff of smoke.
“My uncle is Aleck Holt and he paid you to give him life and take the firstborn son in his family!” Holt ended on a roar.
Sabrina remained unimpressed and showed no understanding of what he was saying.
“I cannot help you.”
“We know about the deal you made with him, and we’re not going to let you kill my cousin’s baby.”
She smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle on her skirt. “I don’t kill people.”
“You cast magic that does though,” said Zara. “You conjure up that magic and set it to work, and that’s no different from shooting a gun at someone.”
“That’s your opinion,” she sniffed.
Zara pursed her lips. “The Supernatural Enforcers Agency would have that opinion too.”
Sabrina merely laughed. It would be easier to threaten a bar of soap. “Yes, by all means, call them. Tell them how you broke in here and tried to threaten my butler and me, and that you have no proof to back up your accusations.
“If I had made an arrangement with your uncle, he really would not admit to it, would he? After all, what man who valued his freedom would admit to agreeing to sign away the life rights to a child?”
Zara calmed down, though the two gorillas were still steaming.
“Hypothetically, if you had cast a spell like that, what would it take for you to break it and allow the baby to live?”
She snorted, delicately, naturally. “Hypothetically, I would not go back on my word. Hypothetically, for that kind of magic, I would have demanded a large sum of money, and I have to honor my agreements. Hypothetically…”
“Stop saying hypothetically,” howled Holt.
“Theoretically,” Zara said pointedly, “isn’t there anything that you want? Anything at all?”
Sabrina’s eyes flickered. “I doubt you could get it for me.”
“Try us. We’ll pretty much do anything right now.”
She raised a thin eyebrow. “You would give me your first born son?”
“You’re just going with the son thing no matter what, right?” groused Zara.
“Her first born will be my first born,” growled Holt.
