I whispered, “Don’t move, I won’t hurt you.”
Then I broke eye contact and moved my mouth to his neck. I hesitated a moment, I was unnatural now, but I was also young, and didn’t want to die. I worried I was compromising myself, but I knew vampires weren’t truly evil. These people were, James and his brood, human life held no value for them at all.
But that wasn’t, and could never be, the way I was.
It was so easy, my teeth pierced his skin like a sharp needles, and blood flowed into my mouth. I expected to be disgusted, but the air magic must have changed my taste buds, because there was no metallic bitter taste, it was the best thing I’d ever had.
The second part of it was the pleasure, like the rush of endorphins from a bite of chocolate, times a thousand. I swallowed over and over, and when I felt full, I pulled away from him gently, and watched as the two small punctures healed over in moments. I was embarrassed to realized I’d been wrapped around him there at the end, and I was all tingly in my stomach.
I sensed James right outside the door, which immediately killed any and all erotic sensation, his presence was like a bucket of cold ice water.
James said in an annoyingly cheery voice, “I’m impressed princess, I’d thought I’d have to order you to do it. That wasn’t so bad was it? You should be set for a few days. Why don’t you join us, and we can discuss what I need from you?”
I decided then that if he wanted to pretend we were buddies, I’d go along with it. Nothing would be served by being contrary. At least, not until the right time. I also wondered how powerful I was, I didn’t think typical newborns could move as fast as I did earlier, or hear quite so well. It’s possible my spirit magic was enhancing the spells on my soul. Of course, I’d have to wait to be sure, I couldn’t exactly start a fight to make comparisons.
I also needed to work out how my spirit magic worked in a city, I could still use it in an emergency, but for right now I kept my reach very small, which meant less power. Enough for a shield though, so I only had to worry about James’ orders. No, I had too many problems to add to them, so I smiled.
“Sounds good James, and thanks for the meal.”
He looked taken back, and I felt a little satisfaction at taking him off guard.
I asked, “Will the others hold a grudge?”
James laughed, “The three you cut up hate you, but the dead ones won’t hold it against you. The rest are undecided. But all are under orders not to harm you.”
I sighed and nodded. I put my katana back against the wall, no point in carrying it if I wasn’t allowed the kill anyone.
“Any chance I can get new clothes?”
He laughed, “You can search the house if you want,” he looked me up and down, “But the mother is taller than you.”
I decided to do that first, if he was going to let me, and started to explore the house. There were four bedrooms upstairs. One was sparsely appointed, and probably a guest room and the one I’d woken up in. One was a home office. The other bedroom was obviously the young man’s I’d just fed from. I didn’t bother taking more than a glance in there.
The master bedroom was rather large, with a king sized bed, two dressers, and an armoire all made of red oak. The walk-in closet was across the room, and actually had double doors. I walked in and took a look around. The woman must have been at least five foot six, four inches taller, and she wore a larger bra size as well, but I realized she had close to the same waist size.
I grabbed a pair of stretchy black yoga pants that would probably fit if I folded up the hems, and a plain pink t-shirt that would be a little big, and a yellow blouse to go over it. I had no choice but to use the bra and underwear I had on now, hers would be too large, and I wasn’t going without. I was a respectable B cup, and truthfully probably didn’t need a bra. Not with being what I was.
Still, the last thing I needed to do was go braless and give any of the male creeps downstairs any ideas. The gi wasn’t very revealing, and the last thing I wanted to do was change into something sexy and catch one of their eyes. I shuddered, I didn’t think James would order me to do anything, but why take chances.
I shoved those thoughts down and opened the door at the other end of the closet, which was the master bath. I looked wistfully at the whirlpool tub, and then stripped to take a quick shower. I could have just shifted back and forth, but I wanted this moment alone to last as long as possible.
The hot water felt good and I tried to apply myself to figuring out my issues with spirit power. Spirit sorcerers were different than the others, I could already reach a half mile easily, and I wasn’t very powerful. My mother’s reach had extended hundreds of miles.
But the actual power came from within, through our own souls. The farther out we reached, the more we could draw from within. I wasn’t like air sorcerers who pulled the power through air, or earth sorcerers who pulled it through earth.
As the power moved out, we connected to the spirit attached to life around us, anything alive. Anything we connected to, we could read, influence, and for those that don’t live by Inari’s tenets, they could gain even more power by leaching on those spirits, or even harm them.
On the other hand, everything we connect to also influences us, or can. If I reached out a half a mile, and connected to thousands of human souls, their spirits, it created turbulence in my own soul. Humans and supernaturals all had free will, and sentience. Which made things a lot more erratic, than the simple spirit of a tree, or animal.
I realized then this was why my kind spent their childhood in the forest, as our power grew and we lacked control in the beginning, a child spirit sorceress would go insane in the city.
Somehow I had to either block that influence, or find something else to center myself on that won’t be overwhelmed by it, or swept away by it as my mother said. I needed an anchor, or a shield to keep me from the chaos. Unfortunately, nothing came to me as to what it could be.
I stepped out of the shower and dried off. I brushed out my hair and got dressed. I stared into the mirror and considered how I looked. My mother and father always said I was beautiful, but I wondered if it were true. I was fairly sure all parents told all daughters that.
I turned around and craned my neck to see the back of me. Maybe yoga pants weren’t such a great idea, but the yellow blouse was more than low enough to cover my butt, so maybe it’d be fine.
Besides, he said I couldn’t kill anyone, if they tried anything I’ll just kick them where they live, or maybe disembowel them, they should live through that. I sighed and opened the door, I was afraid if I made him wait too long he’d come get me. Better to return on my own terms, such as they were.
Chapter 8
I’d realized we weren’t in the city yet when I took a look out the window. It was more suburbs on the outskirts of town, and I remembered how overwhelming feeling hundreds of souls were. It would be much worse in the city. There was a pretty large back yard, and though the house was pretty large, it wasn’t quite the most affluent neighborhood.
I wondered how we’d even gotten here, did they pick it at random?
I walked down the stairs confidently, or at least, I tried to appear poised and in control. I was actually nervous as hell, which mostly stemmed from the fact I was helpless to resist James’ commands or orders. The fact the rest of the coven would not like me at all didn’t faze me in the least.
The scent of pizza inundated me when I was halfway down, and my stomach felt empty. I wasn’t sure how long it took to turn a vampire, but I felt like I hadn’t eaten in days. I also noticed right then that I wasn’t really thirsty for blood at all, but from what I understood it would be a few days before I’d need that again.
I felt the stares on me, and I could also feel the souls on the youngest ones without much effort. I felt their anger, and mistrust, no doubt well placed since I’d killed three of their number. What I hadn’t expected was their fear. They feared me. That made me feel a little more confident, more tru
e to what I projected to the room as I ignored the stares and went straight for the pizza.
I grabbed a cola, a paper plate, and grabbed two slices of plain cheese from the box on the counter, and went back out and sat at the dining room table boldly. It wasn’t lost on me, that the only ones sitting here were James who must be around a thousand, and the other three I sensed had some power, maybe three to four hundred. The other eight, the weaker ones of a young age, were all sitting in the living room either on the couches or the floor.
The owners of the house weren’t present, though I could feel their spirits upstairs. So far, they were all healthy, if a little bamboozled. A part of me wanted to make sure they stayed that way, but there was a part, the part trained by my mother, that insisted they hadn’t asked for help. I had no right to interfere with their fate. I wouldn’t kill them, but I wouldn’t save them either.
Admittedly, I wasn’t in a position to save them anyway. I couldn’t even save myself.
I took a bite of pizza and James caught my eye. He nodded his head slightly, an acknowledgment that he’d gotten and understood my message. Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure what I was trying to say by sitting here, I was going by instinct, I lacked all experience outside of family on how to deal with others.
Much less coven politics.
James said, “Welcome Miku. This is Carly, Vince, and Eustice.”
Eustice glared at James, and then turned back to me, “Call me Ice, or Johns.”
I tried not to smile, obviously the guy hated his name. Eustice Ice Johnson was very attractive. Actually, everyone in the house was physically attractive. He had icy blue eyes, and spiked dirty blonde hair. He was dressed in jeans, a plain gray t-shirt, and a leather jacket. Shockingly, his soul didn’t give off any bad vibes, and I got the idea he was as trapped as I was. Maybe not by compulsion, but certainly by circumstance.
I didn’t have any problems reading him. For one, I was looking at them one at a time. Also, I wasn’t in battle and I only needed a little focus to track what was going on around me. I had the time to thread my spirit magic through their natural air shield and connect to their souls. It wasn’t easy, but it was possible.
Vince smirked when I looked his way. He had that knowing half smile on his face as he looked at me, and I had to force myself not to flinch away. I may have been naïve, but I wasn’t stupid enough to show weakness. His soul had an oily feeling, he was a very bad guy. Worse even than James. James wouldn’t care if the people in this house died, they were just food to him. For Vince, well he would enjoy it if they died, the more painfully the better. I could tell he was the one who had abused Terry and Sharon the most.
Carly was beautiful, and voluptuous. Her hair was somewhere between light and golden blonde, and she had bright green eyes. She was giving me stink eye, and it shocked me when I figured out why as my power examined her soul. She was jealous, of my looks and the attention James was giving me. I suppose I could understand the latter, since I was his new tool and weapon, but the former had me baffled, I didn’t think I compared.
Sure, I was attractive, and my dark hair was radiant, it was my favorite feature. I wasn’t down on my body, and thought I was more than well-proportioned enough for five-foot two. Still, Carly had the kind of body that caused accidents while walking down the street. I might have been drawing more men’s eyes since I’d come downstairs, but that’s only because I was something new to look at.
I nodded to them all, not quite prepared to say it was nice to meet them, and looked back at James briefly before eating more pizza.
James cleared his throat, which drew my attention back.
“I lost Seattle,” he explained to me, I assumed all his people knew this already, “Something happened to the vampire council, and the last surviving member came to Seattle and took over. I admit, we had some history, but I’d never expected her to come here, so I suppose I wasn’t as discreet with my… let’s call it activities, as I should have been.
“Let’s just say, she wasn’t very happy with me. I’d had her convinced I was a council stooge, and her friend. She wasn’t very happy when she learned the truth, fortunately I was several miles away by then.”
I raised an eyebrow when he stopped talking, “So what happened?”
He shrugged, “She’s almost two thousand years old. I ran of course, and I took everyone here with me. I didn’t get to a thousand by being stupid. The plan was to lay low in the forest for a month while we waited for things to cool down, and then we could try and move south of the border. But that all changed when we met you darling.”
Carly glared at me, I wondered if he used to call her darling. I also wondered how anyone could like that. It was creepy the way he said it.
“Why? You’re crazy. I couldn’t take you down, how do you expect me to take down someone twice as powerful?”
James replied a little angrily, “These three and I were the most powerful in the coven. That’s why we had to run, the four of us were all in on the activities I mentioned. Ceara may be very powerful, but she’s surrounded by weak guards. I don’t expect you to kill her, I expect you to be a distraction so I can kill her. Eustice, Carly, and Vince along with the others will take care of anyone else there and keep them off our backs.”
“How?”
James sighed and spoke as if to a child, “You’re lightning thing darling. You couldn’t kill me with it, but for a moment it felt like god his self was looking down on me in preparation of stomping my ass. All I need is for her to freeze for a split second, and I’ll kill her.”
I was pissed at his condescension, it wasn’t like I’d ever had a reason to use it before, how was I supposed to know it did that to a vampire with strong shielding? I was also confused, I didn’t remember hitting him with it, just that other guy who died. Did I channel it into him when he hit me? Well, I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask him.
“And if you’re wrong, and she doesn’t freeze?” I asked, perhaps a bit too hopefully.
James shrugged with the ghost of a smile, “We all die,” he said almost cheerfully.
Oh, just freaking wonderful. I went back to eating my pizza, it was actually very good. I got the idea then that James didn’t really care either way, he was old, and was just going through the motions of a life that had lost its flavor. He’d tried to pass it off as a joke, but he’d been serious. He was operating on pure habit. That was why vampires were so unnatural.
His soul had learned its lessons for this life, it was ready to move on, but it was being held captive in a body that wouldn’t ever die. I couldn’t get through his shield like the others, so I was just guessing, I could also be wrong, but all the outward signs seemed to be there.
Or, maybe he was just nuts.
After a few minutes, the four of them started to plan the details while I listened…
I lied on the bed staring at the ceiling, fiddling with a pair of ugly sunglasses which rested on my stomach. They were ugly, and looked even worse on me, but for now it was all I had. I knew it was shallow, but I really wanted clothes that fit, and if I couldn’t stand the sunlight without sunglasses, I wanted to pick out my own pair.
I snorted to myself and mentally poked at my vanity. I had much bigger worries than having to wear ugly sunglasses.
The plan was to rest tonight, and then any who needed to could feed in the morning. After that we were staging an assault on the oldest known vampire, a remnant of the council, so James could take back his city.
The only problem was, for me, the plan had already fallen apart. I was wide awake. I wasn’t sure how long I was out during the transformation but I wasn’t tired at all. Plus, I was pretty sure this idea was insane. My spirit lightning killed a young vampire, but only shocked and startled James. I had a feeling that this Ceara might not even feel it, if her natural shielding was twice as strong as his.
There was the thought that at least I’d be free, on the other hand, I still wasn’t ready to die.
I could sense
where everyone else was in the house. Carly and James were in the master bedroom, and they weren’t sleeping either. I could tell Carly was very enthusiastic, and loud.
I blushed.
The owners of the house, and their son, were stuffed in the home office sleeping on the floor. Eustice and Vince were in the son’s room, and the rest of the crazy coven was downstairs lying on the couches, easy chair, and the floor.
I got a bad feeling when Vince started moving, and left the son’s room. My stomach tightened when he started moving toward the guest room I was in, but he passed it by after pausing for a brief moment. I was confused for a moment, when he entered the home office, at least, until he moved toward the lady of the house.
I clenched my teeth. I knew what he was going to do, he was a sadistic evil thing. Surprisingly, the only real evil I’d found in this coven. I wanted to get up, and stop him, but laid there unsure. He wasn’t hurting me, and there was that free will thing as well. The tenets I followed as a way of life, it was the burden of a spirit sorcerer.
My mother had told me I’d be tempted, truly until now, until I was a part of the real world, I hadn’t understood what she’d meant. Hadn’t understood why I’d be tempted to turn from my beliefs. I shut my eyes tight when I heard a terrified whimper and scream. The bastard had removed the mesmerizing trance to make it more fun for himself.
Then I heard it, a quiet plea for help without any real hope.
I moved before I’d even decided to. Up off the bed, out my door, down the hall, and I stood in the doorway looking down at Vince in the blink of an eye. It was fast, but I was fairly sure Vince would be even faster. It was hard to judge, the speed and perception was too subjective, and I couldn’t challenge people to a foot race.
I looked at him, the elemental air swirling around him, and I almost banged my head against the wall as the obvious struck. Of course, I could compare magical auras to determine my strength. Just not now.
Vince was holding her down while she struggled. He hadn’t yet hit her, or even removed any of his or her clothes. He clearly enjoyed her struggles too much to hurry. At least her husband and son were still under compulsion, and sleeping. The only problem I had, was I couldn’t kill him, I was under orders.
Spirit Sorceress: Spirit Sorceress: Book 1 Page 4
