by Anya Breton
Yes, that must be it. Perhaps I’d get into the habit of eating lunch in Sedona more often. That would fix it. It had to.
****
Thanks to falling into bed at the ripe hour of eleven, I awoke an hour earlier than usual. Jacqueline was up and cooking. I hadn’t realized I’d had enough ingredients to cook anything short of pasta. She’d managed to find a box of generic pancake mix and had used it to make a hefty stack. She shoved a plate with four on it and a healthy dollop of margarine at me.
“You don’t have any syrup.” There was a liberal dose of sourness to her soft words.
“I don’t have much of anything. I get take out or eat frozen meals.”
“You need to learn to cook, girl.” Jacqueline sliced the fluffy mass with her fork. “Or find you a man who can.”
The image of Desmond chopping mushrooms in his modern kitchen appeared in my head. My cheeks heated. I replaced it with a memory of Maximo’s amused half smile. Could the vampire cook?
What was I thinking? He drank blood to live. Of course he didn’t cook.
“I don’t have to work today,” I said in the hope of changing the subject.
Jacqueline nodded. “I saw the hours on the door.”
“Oh.” I’d forgotten she’d been at the party last night. She’d been so quiet. “Is there anything you want to do today?”
“Buy us some syrup.”
“I guess it would be a good idea to go grocery shopping in general.”
“I could use doing laundry.”
My expression fell. “Oh, gosh, Jacqueline. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think. Of course.”
She waved me off as though it was no big deal. I supposed it wasn’t. But her laundry need was indicative of a larger issue. She was living out of a suitcase she’d packed for Las Vegas. She wasn’t in Las Vegas. Not only that, she also wasn’t home. And I didn’t know when she’d be able to leave.
“Vamps can track their thralls, you know,” she said without looking me in the eye. “He’s going to find me.”
My breath caught. Maximo hadn’t mentioned that. Then again, I hadn’t mentioned I had one of the witches staying at my apartment.
“It won’t be until tonight at the earliest because he’ll go for back-up.” Jacqueline glanced at me. “That’s why I didn’t warn you. And he’ll try to go through the official channel of the city ruler.”
The city ruler I was now supposedly dating.
“But he’ll come.”
She was a regular old font of knowledge.
Her voice hardened. “I was his thrall the longest of the six. I watched how he worked.”
That explained that.
“I want to kill him,” she whispered. “He made me do … things I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
“How long?” I hoped she knew I wanted to know how long she’d been at his mercy.
Jacqueline shook her head. “Not long. A week and a half at most. I lost track because of the drugs. But it was long enough.”
My stomach flipped with empathy. I’d been enthralled for a short time. She’d had it so much worse. “I’m sorry, Jacqueline. I can’t kill him. But I’ll do everything else I can to keep you safe.”
The Dark witch forced a partial smile. “You already did.”
But it wasn’t enough.
****
I’d wanted to ignore the phone message from Desmond and his invitation. But lunch with the witches Nadir had enthralled would be an opportunity to speak with Dea Woods. My distaste for Desmond would have to go on the back burner, even if the luncheon were at his house.
The deal had been sealed when he’d assured me the coalition wouldn’t be there. I wasn’t in a position to stand before the magical community’s ruling body yet. Not until I’d successfully swayed a coven or two to my side.
Jacqueline and I had time to do a few loads of laundry before we had to be at the gated community at two. My guest was in better spirits with fresh clothing. I promised we’d stop at the grocery store on the way home. Maybe her lukewarm mood would remain.
The gated community’s security guard took one look at my cerulean hair and waved me in. Desmond’s driveway held only two other vehicles apart from mine. Perhaps he hadn’t fibbed and his guests would be only Dea, the six enthralled witches, him, and me.
His business casual-clad figure appeared at the front door before we’d reached the stone steps leading to it. Jacqueline nodded politely, and then scrutinized every detail of his modern semi-circle shaped house. By the time we’d reached his living room, Jacqueline shot me a wide look as if to say I ought to be paying attention.
Several female voices mingled from the direction of Desmond’s dining room. We rounded the corner and found he’d extended the length of his glass table to accommodate the extra guests. And we appeared to have arrived last.
Dea Woods held the spot to the left of the table’s head. The pretty blonde with a soft face one might expect to see on a Christmas angel statue nodded politely. At Dea’s side was the older, stern-faced man I knew to be her Guardian, Richard. Beside him was the Healer Kaila. Across from Kaila sat necromancer Isabelle. My gaze continued, landing on the soft-spoken Air witch Gemma. At the end of the table was the spitfire Rose. And holding the place at the foot of the table was Veronika looking smug, as though she belonged in the spot.
Jacqueline nodded to the other witches. The attention paid me by all in the room hinted Veronika had already explained the female with the cerulean hair was actually “Becky” from Las Vegas.
Desmond returned from the kitchen with a steaming dish of manicotti in his oven mitts. “Have a seat.” He gestured to the open chair to the right of him.
Jacqueline motioned for me to take it even as she grabbed the back of the chair beside it. I didn’t want to sit next to Desmond. Not in that seat. Not as I had a week ago.
If he recalled that night, he didn’t show it while he concentrated on serving the Italian entree.
Why should I be the only one haunted by one stupid, fake date?
“Thank you for coming, Ms. Walsh.” Dea caught my attention with her warm tone and matching smile.
“I don’t know if you should be thanking me for anything.” I winced. Hopping on the negative train right out of the station hadn’t been my intention. The whole being-so-close-to-Desmond-that-I-could-smell-his-crisp-mountain-scent situation made me behave like a freak.
Jacqueline shot me pinched look. Clearly I was supposed to shut my mouth.
“You saved these women just as Rich saved me,” Dea said.
I remained tightlipped rather than argue. Desmond was probably glaring at me. I didn’t look to see if I was right.
“I think what Ms. Walsh is alluding to is that this is a temporary fix,” Desmond said, verbalizing part of what was on my mind.
I looked up, surprised he’d jumped on the negative train.
“But we can discuss that after our meal,” he said.
His pretty lips turned up at the corner but rather than appearing as a smile, I sensed a barely hidden frown. Was I beginning to note tiny details, or was I imagining things?
His gaze dropped to the plate in his hand—the plate he was trying to get me to take. I flushed because I’d been caught staring at him.
“How has the shop been doing, Ms. Walsh?” Dea asked after I’d muttered thanks and taken the plate.
“The Sedona shop is doing as well as can be expected for the location,” I said. “However, I’ve yet to sell a single item on the Wipuk side.”
Desmond jumped in. “I thought you sold one thing.”
My neck and face heated at the accusation. Hades’s hair! The man wasn’t going to give up on that damn crystal.
“That was counted as an Internet sale.” My tight response was a bold-faced lie I prayed he wouldn’t note. I didn’t feel any empathic links that would tell him more than I was letting on.
“Oh, you have a website?”
“Yes,” I said with a mutinous look even I didn’t und
erstand.
“I’d be interested to see it.”
“I’ll give you a business card before I leave.” Maybe he’d forget by then.
Desmond turned toward the gathering. “Ms. Walsh held an interesting gathering at her shop on Monday.”
He related the events of the party in his rising and falling cadence. Like the rest of him, Desmond’s voice was simply lovely. It was unfair how he’d received the bulk of the world’s premium traits. I supposed that was what happened when your race bred for purity and power.
The group questioned Desmond about the different items I’d given as prizes. He answered what he could, deferring what he couldn’t to me. Part of me understood this was his attempt to put his stamp of approval on my shop. While I appreciated it, he was preaching to witches who would eventually leave Wipuk. This was a small show on his part to earn big results.
After the meal, we adjourned to the living room where the group got comfortable on Desmond’s sofa and chairs. I picked a chair as far from the sofa we’d used together as I could manage. Dea and Rich sat in the love seat to my left. Desmond leaned against the stacked stone wall to my right—a spot where he could easily see me.
Dea began our conversation by telling the story of her enthrallment. Rich joined in with the details she hadn’t recalled. We soon found each of the witches had been in Vegas on business, the same business—a conference on how witches could help bring peace to the Middle East. Each had responded to the same invitation to be peace ambassadors for their faction. Nadir Khan had organized the elaborate kidnapping.
I concentrated on something a little less interactive while they discussed their different experiences. Each of these female witches was enthralled. Nadir Khan had bitten them and then immediately forced them to feed on his blood. Did that mean the vampire virus was in their veins? Some part of Nadir must remain in the women or he’d have nothing to call on. The leeches didn’t call it a “blood bond” for nothing. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a little probing.
Jacqueline was the only witch in the room I had any level of comfort with. She’d pulled a chair close by when it was clear there wouldn’t be enough seats on Desmond’s cushy French gray furniture thanks to Veronika lounging a little too lazily on one of the love seats.
I concentrated on Jacqueline’s blood. It was widely thought the vampire condition, like Were, was caused by a virus. Thus the most helpful school of magic ought to be Healing. I connected to the aether, drawing on Healing. Silently I willed the magic to ease into Jacqueline exactly as I did with Water’s empathic links.
I concentrated on Jacqueline’s face for signs of discomfort. She didn’t flinch until a fly appeared within her line of sight. Satisfied that she wouldn’t cry foul, I dropped my attention to the floor so I could focus on the information received. Healing magic didn’t report anything amiss.
Perhaps I was going about this the wrong way. I didn’t rightly know how Healers worked beyond what I’d read in my mother’s ancient books. Those hadn’t been particularly helpful given the Old World jargon and my ten-year-old self. Perhaps I needed a broader sample.
Again I willed Healing energy to enter a witch—this time Dea Woods. I asked Healing to tell report the differences between Jacqueline and Dea’s blood. Useless details were reported such as their blood types, that Jacqueline’s blood pressure was quite a bit higher than Dea’s, and that Jacqueline had less of it running through her. Because Nadir had fed on her more recently?
Next would be to introduce a control for my silent experiment. Desmond and Rich were the only unenthralled witches in the room. One of them would have to do. This would be a test of my ability—to control three threads of Healing power in three different witches without them noticing.
I willed Healing to enter Desmond and focused on his face, looking for a reaction. His attention switched to me. My face warmed at being caught staring, again.
But had he noticed the invasion? I probably should have asked for permission.
No. What was I thinking? If I’d asked for permission, I’d have to admit I could access the Healing school of magic as well as the other four Desmond knew about. He was already wary enough of me without adding to it.
Desmond rolled onto the balls of his feet as if he wanted to step closer. Veronika’s voice retelling how she’d met Nadir in a bar kept him where he was. I forced myself to concentrate on my work. That meant looking away from him.
I pressed my eyes shut in the hope of visualizing the three different circulatory systems in my subjects. My mind’s eye lit up with three separate images much like an angiographic, shocking me into almost giving an audible reaction. The second surprise was the extra blood pooled low on Desmond’s torso. The leggy blonde Water witch on the love seat was showing too much thigh.
Healing snagged my attention with the report of an unrecognized antibody in the females’ blood. Desmond didn’t share the antibody. I willed the power to illuminate the antibodies. Pulsing crimson bits soon peppered the witches’ circulatory systems.
Was that the blood bond? Short of replacing their blood completely, how would I fix the issue? Unless… Was there a way to isolate antibodies?
“Ms. Walsh?”
My eyes snapped open upon hearing Desmond call my name. “Yes? Sorry.”
I blushed, avoiding his eyes to hide the guilt in mine. He’d surely attack me if he realized I was doing something to him. But did I need to anymore? I’d isolated the differences in their blood. Now I needed to see if the other five witches had the same antibodies I’d discovered.
“You seemed to have some concerns earlier,” Desmond said. “Do you want to discuss them now?”
“Uh … Jacqueline brought up some disturbing points earlier. I’ll let her tell you.”
In the meantime I needed to check the others.
Jacqueline sent me an unhappy look, but she spoke in her quiet way anyway. I only had a few minutes to accomplish the remainder of my experiment before they’d expect me to take part in the discussion. I withdrew my Healing link and sent it into each of the other witches with the command to be painless.
They all carried the antibody.
I inhaled a ragged breath as I asked Healing to check me for the antibody. I damn near slumped out of the chair when it responded with a negative report.
The antibody wasn’t in me. By Zeus, I was a lucky girl!
I may have located the cause of a vampire’s thrall. All that was left would be to check at least one healthy, unenthralled female witch to make sure I was correct. I brought the conversation into focus as I released my link to them all.
“He is going to kill her,” Rich said.
“No,” Jacqueline said in a firm voice I hadn’t thought she was capable of. “She successfully manipulated him. He’s going to want to use that to his advantage. He’ll try to enthrall her first.”
So they were talking about me?
“She did it once,” Isabelle said. “Can’t she just do it again?”
“She had the element of surprise then,” Jacqueline said. “Nadir didn’t think she was a threat. None of us did. He’s not going to make that mistake twice.”
It was nearly the match for Maximo’s words.
“Unless she’s enthralled by another vampire, Kora isn’t going to be much safer than we are,” Jacqueline said.
“That isn’t an option,” Desmond said in his harshest tone—the one he’d used when he’d told me I wasn’t welcome in Wipuk weeks ago. Strange now that he was arguing to keep me free from vampires. “She’ll be safe if we can keep Nadir from finding her.”
“He’ll find her if I’m with her.”
No one argued with Jacqueline’s statement. No one but me, that is. I shook my head wide enough to capture her attention. “I didn’t save you from Nadir so you could get snatched up by your high priest. You’re safer with me. I’ll take my chances with the vampire.” Especially now that I had Maximo’s backing.
“You can stay here, Jacqueli
ne,” Desmond said. “I have an extra guest room downstairs.”
I jerked to the edge of the seat. “No.”
Desmond arched a single, raven eyebrow. “No?”
The more I thought about it, the worse the idea became. “What can you do to stop a vampire?”
He held my gaze without blinking. “Apparently I can manipulate him using Water magic.”
“Can you manipulate multiple targets at once?”
Desmond’s lips thinned as his gaze darted around the room. A moment passed before I understood the ramifications of what I’d asked him. If he admitted he could do this, it would be an admission that he could manipulate the coalition.
“We’ll be fine, Ms. Walsh.”
The stiff response had been meant to be the end of the conversation. But he forgot important facts. “You said yourself the only way to keep them safe is to kill him. Are you going to do that?”
His mouth relaxed into its usual fleshy shape. “My intent is to manipulate him into leaving my property long enough for us to arrange for coalition back-up. I doubt Nadir will want to cross swords with every national coven in the United States.”
I liked his answer. But I was still worried. Leaving Jacqueline here would paint a giant bull’s-eye on Desmond. As annoying as he was, I didn’t want to have to start over with a bunch of Water high priestesses if anything happened to him.
I opened my mouth to speak another concern.
“We’ll be fine, Ms. Walsh,” he said. “Worry about your own safety.”
I’d worry about more than that. Just as soon as I got access to the Internet.
Chapter Eleven
I could barely wait for Jacqueline and Desmond to leave the apartment with her luggage. He’d offered to drive over with us so he could take her things back. I suspected I’d have had a harder time getting rid of him if it hadn’t been for Veronika tagging along. She’d stuck her nose up upon seeing where Jacqueline had been staying but kept her mouth occupied on such topics as shoes and Desmond’s hot tub. I definitely hadn’t needed to know he had one and that they’d used it.
