You sort of have a boyfriend. Why are you dancing with some random hottie? The dizzy feeling was replaced by guilt and embarrassment.
"I have…someone I'm seeing," I said. He narrowed his eyes and nodded.
"A boyfriend?"
"Um, yeah. Well, sort of," I replied. He smiled, flashing perfect white teeth at me.
"And you don't want to even dance with anyone but this sort of someone you're seeing."
"I'm sorry. I don't know why I grabbed you like that. It's really not like me. I'm the shyest person you'll ever meet," I said. He released me.
"Can I ask your name?" He asked,
"Ascher. Ascher Rafferty," I said.
"Well, Ascher. I'm Chase.”
“Chase what?”
“Just Chase."
"Like Madonna and Cher and Beyoncé?" I asked. His lip quirked, his eyes shining at me.
"Yes, exactly like them. We're actually supposed to go on tour together." I smiled and lightly smacked the back of my hand to his chest. He caught my wrist and held my palm over his chest so that I felt his heart beating through his shirt. "Ascher, do you think this sort of boyfriend of yours would really mind if we just danced?" Again I was struck by the beauty of his eyes. I swallowed.
"Oh, no. I guess not," I whispered. Chase smiled and pulled me closer as a new track began to play. We moved together to the beat of the drums of a slower song and as I turned my back to Chase and felt his arms move around me, I felt more relaxed than I had since seeing Petrel at Asylum. I could see Gemma and the others watching us from about ten feet away.
See, Daray. You can't keep me from having fun, from enjoying myself.
***
When we'd danced for a few more songs, I introduced Chase to everyone before he had to go back to work as a bouncer for the club. Cyd waved him goodbye and went to the bar with Gemma to order us some iced tea. Anise and I stood awkwardly next to one another, our eyes looking anywhere but each other.
"Still no sign of Daray," Anise said. I smiled and took a deep breath.
"Yeah, I know. It might just be a non-creepy night of dancing," I said. Anise gave me a strange look.
"You really don't like Daray," she said. It wasn't a question.
"I really don't." Gemma came dancing through the crowd, an iced tea in either hand. Cyd followed her, imitating Gemma's movements. My sister tended to have that effect on people. The boys wanted to date her and the girls wanted to be her. As if on cue, a college-age boy danced up to Gemma. Gemma politely waved him off and handed me my iced tea, her eyes widening at something behind me.
"What?" I turned around and saw what Gemma was looking at. Immediately, my ring began to vibrate with a jarring movement and I reached for Gemma.
"What the hell is that?" Gemma asked. A pink ball of energy was floating over the crowd and coming towards us. Anise and Cyd pushed us aside and began moving their lips and motioning with their hands. The pink ball looked eerily like it could belong to Glenda the Good-witch, but that was just wishful thinking on my part. I knew who could conjure that type of energy. Daray.
Several people hurried over and joined Anise in what I assumed was some sort of counter-spell. I felt my magic rush through my body, but I pushed it back. I couldn't use it here; too many people could be hurt.
The ball of energy shot higher in the air and then came straight at me. I tried to back up, but found my back pressed against the platform. Tripping over a set of velvet ropes, I fell backwards. I opened my mouth to scream and saw Chase running towards me.
He caught me around the waist with one arm and then used his momentum to spin us away from the pink sphere, just as is hit the wall. When we landed, I was lying on top of him, my right hand pressed against his chest. I could feel the throbbing of his heart through the black tee-shirt he wore. Looking into his eyes when we were so close made me flush and I averted my eyes to the spot where the pink sphere had struck. There was a huge scorch mark on the wall and plaster littered the ground where it had been blasted. My breath was ragged as I pushed away from him. There was a hand-shaped burn mark where my hand had been.
The deejay started directing people to leave the club and in a few minutes, Gemma, Cyd and I were among the few left. We huddled together on the squeaky leather of a booth. Anise was talking to Iridian who was turning chairs over onto tabletops. His eyes kept darting from her to me as if I were the topic of conversation. My singed savior was making his way back to us, a smirk on his face.
"Are you okay?" I asked. He gave me one of those "I'm a tough guy, I feel no pain" looks and smoothed his hands over the hole in his shirt.
"I'll live."
"Thanks for…what you did," I said, feeling ridiculous.
"Can I ask you something?" I nodded.
"Do you know who would want to send that thing?"
"Daray Valerian," Cyd said.
"The Warlock Prince?" Chase ran his hands through his hair. "Does your boyfriend usually send you air-mail like that?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" I almost shouted. Chase's eyes widened.
"Okay, okay. So he's not your boyfriend." Jacinth appeared through the door and came running at us. Cyd groaned and grabbed Gemma's hand.
"Will you help me keep my mom from roughing up the management?" Cyd asked.
"You okay, Asch?" Gemma asked.
"Fine," I said, turning back to Chase. "I'm really sorry to get you involved with all this craziness."
"What's the Prince's problem with you?" Chase asked.
"It's a long story. Let's just say he has issues with rejection."
"You rejected the Prince?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, not a lot of girls would do that. I mean, the guy's royalty."
"If you mean a royal pain in the butt, then, yeah he is. I don't care about that stuff. I don't like him. He lied to me and manipulated me. You can't just ignore that." Chase watched me with his strange, purple eyes.
"Understood. Listen, Ascher, would you mind if I called you sometime. You know, just as friends?" I smiled.
"I'd like that." He pulled out his cell phone and fiddled with it before handing it to me to punch in my number. We said goodbye and I had turned to leave when I felt his hand on my arm. His lips brush my cheek, his breath warm against my face.
"What's your boyfriend's name?"
"Why?"
"I just want to know the name of the luckiest guy in the Midwest," he said. Elliot had said we should be secretive about our relationship because he'd be punished if the vampires found out, but it seemed safe enough to tell Chase.
"His name's Elliot," I said. Chase's lilac eyes seemed riveted to my face and I felt dizzy for a moment. He seemed to sense my discomfort because he hugged me to him.
"Ascher, we're leaving," Jacinth called. I gently pushed away and Chase regarded me with a sad expression. There was something so pained in his eyes that I forgot myself for a moment and gently kissed his lips.
"Thanks again for saving me," I said. Chase raised startled eyes to mine and nodded.
"Anytime, Ascher. Anytime."
Chapter Twelve
GEMMA
"I still don't get why the barrier on our rings didn't work. I mean, if it weren't for that blonde guy, Ascher would be deep-fried right now," I said. Jacinth looked at me through the rear-view mirror as we pulled past the sign that read "Welcome to Lake Parrish." We were almost home.
"The rings are only supposed to cast a barrier if there is a sense of immediate danger or harm intended for the wearer. Obviously, whoever sent the hexing sphere her way just meant it to scare her. They meant to intimidate Ascher, that’s all.”
"Well, it worked. And it was Daray who sent the hex-o-gram. I know it."
Silence descended over the SUV as we made our way past Honey Lane
onto South Pleasant Lake Drive
. The small lake to the right of our sub-division looked foreboding and large in the early morning hours of Sunday.
"Make a right up here on Hunters Roa
d
," I instructed, but Jacinth was already turning. I'd forgotten they knew the way to our house. Too tired to ask how they'd magically Googled us, I grabbed my purse and snapped open my seat belt just as the SUV pulled to a stop in our driveway. "Hey, Jacinth? What are we going to do about this whole Daray thing?" Jacinth sucked in a breath.
"It's late, sweetie and I really don't know. Why don't you give us a call later today so we can schedule another circle casting.”
"Shouldn't we be learning, like, how to turn Daray into a frog or bind him or something?"
"We don't do that. Remember girls, 'An' it harm none, do what thou wilt.'"
"I know, it's just that…Look, I'm all for this peace first thing, but I don't want to get my butt kicked in the mean time. I need something I can do to protect myself, now."
"After you girls go in, I'll cast an invisibility spell on the three of us so that we can check the grounds around your house and put up some protection charms and warding spells. That's the best we can do right now. In the mean time, you girls should light a few candles and practice meditating so that you can get yourselves centered more quickly. We'll pack your supplies in the trunk of your car when we drop it off later today."
I hadn't even remembered the car and mentally scolded myself while I removed the car key from the ring and handed it to Anise.
"Thanks, I know it's out of the way," Ascher said.
"I'd rather drive out of the way than have you girls drive off the road. If the Prince sent an energy ball at you in the club, he could just as easily conjure one to come at you while driving. Our car has special protective charms." Jacinth palmed an assortment of glittering gems dangling from the rearview mirror.
"Could you put some of those on our car, too?" I asked.
"Sure thing," Jacinth said.
Ascher and I climbed out of the SUV and waved goodbye to the cousins. They pulled out of the driveway, parking on the curb. I poked my head into the kitchen and looked at the clock on the microwave. 4:53 am.
"Shouldn’t we help them, or something?" Ascher asked.
"We still don't know what we're doing, Asch. Unless protection charms require fire-power or clawing ability, we're pretty much useless. I'm going to bed."
Ascher shrugged and followed me up the stairs. We parted ways when I reached my bedroom.
"'Night bubbay sister," I said.
"'Night." Ascher closed her door behind her. Taking one look at my made bed, I flopped onto the mattress. Rubbing my face into the zebra-print pillowcase, not caring that I was getting makeup all over it, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, slipping into blessed unconsciousness.
Chapter Thirteen
ASCHER
I knew I was dreaming because Orlando Bloom had just asked me to go to the prom with him before flying away on a winged horse. It was dark where I was and I moved closer to a flicker of light far off in the darkness. Before me, a girl lay on the ground. Blood covered her neck and her pale skin was almost translucent.
Oh, God. Is she dead? No…there was the slightest movement of her chest as it rose and fell with breath. What happened to you?
Others were approaching fast and I looked around in the blackness for a weapon to use against her possible assailants. I could see now that she had blood on her mouth that dribbled down her cheeks to coagulate in her blonde curls. Dropping to my knees beside her, I brushed the clotted strands from her face and rested my hand against her cheek. She looked vaguely familiar. As I had this thought, the girl's eyes flew open and she grabbed my forearm, pulling herself as I strained to get her off of my arm. She bit into my wrist and I screamed, beating at her head with my free hand.
"I was just trying to help you!" I cried. The girl released me and I cradled my savaged wrist against me. A light poured over us and across the girl's face.
Oh, my…she look just like me!
"Please help me, Ascher!"
"I don't know what to do. Who are you?” The question brought a smile to her lips.
"You will know soon enough, but I need you to help me right now."
"How?"
"Feed me!" She lunged forward and as she bit me, we became one person and I felt her unyielding hunger. I cringed as my body fused into hers, startling as my grandma materialized and came forward with a bejeweled goblet in her hands.
"Drink this, sweetie. You'll feel better," she said. I took the goblet from her and drank the thick liquid in three gulps.
"Thanks, Grandma," I said. Suddenly Dionysia, an ancient and powerful woman, born as a vampire, replaced the figure of my grandma.
"You'll get used to the metallic aftertaste," Dionysia said.
"Of what?" I asked, my dream-mind muddled in imagery.
"Of blood, Ascher. Of blood." The dream fell away and I was left cold and shivering. I reached for the lamp and that was when I felt the cold hand on my wrist.
PART THREE
VAMPED UP
Chapter Fourteen
ASCHER
The star lamp on my night-table was switched on and I blinked into the suddenly banished darkness.
"It's just me." Gemma's voice came to me a moment before my vision was restored.
"What the he…why are you sitting in the dark?" I asked. Gemma picked up a small cross that was hanging by a thin silver chain around my neck.
"We're both wearing these from now on," Gemma said. She dropped the cross and it fell lightly on my chest.
"You came in my bedroom to style my wardrobe?" I asked. Gemma smacked me in the arm and shook her head.
"When I fell asleep this morning I had a very real, very scary nightmare and it'd just make me feel better if you'd wear the cross, okay? I've been doing research and shopping all day."
"Doing research on what?" I asked, but Gemma waved my words away with her hand.
"Just listen. The cross is silver which should keep vampires from taking it from you. And I also got this and these." She produced a handful of garlic and a bottle of Evian from somewhere on the floor.
"Is this some twisted new diet?" I asked, baiting her in hopes that she'd just tell me what was really going on.
"No. It's holy water and garlic. Put the garlic on your windowsill and over your bedroom door and it should keep them out. I also got essence of garlic tablets at the health food store which we're both taking like a vitamin everyday from now on." I kicked the covers off me and stomped into my furry pink slippers.
"Gemma, look who you're talking to for God's sake," I said. I shoved her over to my bookshelves where boxed Buffy DVDs and my collection of scary books were kept. "You're obviously wigging out about the vampires, but cut it out. We've both had nightmares since that night and your turning into Gemma Van Helsing isn't going to help the situation so just calm down, okay?"
Gemma shoved the Holy Water and garlic into my hands and then wrapped me in a suffocating hug.
"I can't help it. You're my baby sister and I had a bad dream about you." I hugged her back, my thoughts turning to my own nightmare. "Now just do what I say." I pushed away from her and rolled my eyes. I was so not going to tell her that she wasn't the boss of me. Gemma turned her back to me and began to look through my collection.
"Geez, Gemma. You're a real pain in the butt, do you know that? And what makes you so concerned with the vampires all of a sudden. They haven't bothered us since I got you back. We should be worrying about Daray right now." She ignored me and continued to look through the books.
"Can I borrow some of these?" She asked. I shrugged and then, remembering she couldn't see me, blew my breath out and sighed.
"Sure. Whatever. Now can I go back to bed or did you want me to help you carve stakes out of the furniture? Gemma looked as though she were considering this before she grabbed several books from the shelves.
"If you want to borrow those, you have to answer one question," I said. Gemma put a hand to her hip and fixed me with her green eyes.
"What?"
"What was your dream about?" Gemma bi
t into her lower lip.
"Short version, you turned into a vampire."
***
Though I tried to fall asleep, I couldn't get Gemma's words out of my mind.
I couldn't turn into a vampire. I was only bitten once and I sure as heck didn't drink any vampire blood. Depending on which sources you consult, you need to be bitten by a vamp anywhere from one to three times, and there must be an exchange of blood, it was one sucky situation.
I lifted the cross in my fingers and squeezed it gently. Daray had told me that crosses and other religious representation wouldn't work on vampires, but I'd leave it on if it gave Gemma peace of mind. Shutting my eyes in the darkness of my bedroom, I pulled my teddy bear closer to me, breathing in his comfortingly familiar smell.
I was just drifting into sleep when I heard my name being called. It was coming from the mirror.
Switching my light on, I climbed out of bed and wrapped my robe around the white tee-shirt I had changed into following Gemma's vampire-slaying episode. I looked at the clock on my alarm- 11:53 p.m.
"Elliot?" I tightened the belt around my waist and flipped down my full-length swivel mirror. I'd made it a habit to flip it over when I wasn't using it after Elliot had "surprised" me one morning by kissing my forehead to wake me. One black eye and an elbow to the throat later, I'd decided to curb Elliot’s romantic ideas and thus save him any more bodily harm.
Two strong hands reached out and pulled me into the mirror.
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