by Aminta Reily
“Please, Amanda, this is a time where you can be completely honest with me.”
“Kayla, last night, he bit me. Not the usual nibble here and there—he left marks, what has to be fang marks on my neck.”
“That’s because he’s a vampire.” Ian walked into the room with a tray with drinks on it. He set the tray on the table in front of Amanda. “We are all vampires.”
Amanda frowned. “We?”
“Yes, we,” Kayla confirmed.
“But…” Amanda opened her mouth, then closed it. Kayla isn’t a vampire. Is she? “No,” Amanda said. “I can’t believe that Kayla’s a vampire! She’s my friend. How could that happen? Why did it happen?”
“Amanda we don’t ask why things happen. It just happens,” Kayla spoke low and smiled. “As for when I was turned, a couple of weeks ago. Haven’t you noticed that you haven’t seen me out during the day?”
“I have, but I just thought you were busy with Ian here. Does Julia know about this? What about Noah?”
“Julia knows, but not Noah, and I want to keep it that way.”
“Then, why are you telling me, Kayla? What does this have to do with me?”
“Because you need to know.”
Ian sat up in the seat. “We are telling you this because of Cage. I thought that it would be a good idea to let you know what you are dealing with.”
“I know what I’m dealing with. Cage is a man who doesn’t take no for an answer.”
Kayla chuckled but Ian only shook his head.
“No, he’s a vampire, not a man, who doesn’t take no for an answer.”
“Amanda, I can’t believe you are taking this so calmly.” Kayla spoke softly.
Amanda sighed. For some reason, this all didn’t seem strange. In fact, this seemed like a normal day to her.
“I don’t know why either, Kayla. I don’t believe it, but then I do, because of what happened last night.” Amanda bit her lip hard. Thoughts were swamping her mind and she couldn’t stop them. How could she end up being with a vampire? “Okay, so, Cage is a vampire. I want him to stay away from me and we are good, right?”
Ian sighed. “It’s not that easy, Amanda. Cage has an interest in you, and it may be because you two are meant to be. If that’s the case, there is nothing that will keep you two apart.”
“That sounds just grand,” Amanda snapped.
“I have a question. Did you have this nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach when you came in here?”
“Yeah, Ian. What is it?”
“It’s because he’s here, down below, sleeping.”
“What! And I’m here? I’m outta here!” Amanda stood and started to walk toward the door.
If Cage was there, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him right now. Yes, she’d promised to meet him tonight but that didn’t mean she would actually do it.
“Wait, Manda, please.” Kayla’s words stopped her.
Amanda turned and looked at her friend’s sad eyes. She let out a deep breath.
“You didn’t tell me he would be here, Kayla.”
Kayla looked away from here for a moment. “Would you have come if I told him you were here?”
“Of course not! I don’t want to be around him. I am leaving!”
“Amanda please don’t leave. This is important to everyone.”
Amanda took in a deep breath to try to calm herself. She couldn’t stay mad at Kayla. Besides, this wasn’t her fault at all.
“Why should I? If he wakes and finds me here, he’s going to try to be with me sexually again and I’m not going to.”
“Please have a seat, Amanda,” Ian pleaded with her. “Let me explain to you why that’s not going to happen.”
Amanda looked around the room expecting to see Cage walk in at any moment. Her insides were tingling and she swore she wanted to pass out.
“Don’t worry, Cage is sleeping and if he wakes, you will have enough warning to get out, and he’s not going to be able to make it out the door to get you,” Ian assured her.
Amanda sat back on the couch. “Okay, explain.”
“If you are mates, then the pull would be so strong that sooner or later you will want him as much as he wants you. Secondly, since you two have already had intercourse, it’s going to be twice as hard to stay away. Thirdly, Cage is not only a vampire, but he’s a vampire with many powers that others, such as myself and Kayla, don’t have.” Ian took in a deep breath. “He can erase minds. He has done something that our kind is not meant to do for many centuries. He’s evolved. He has this spirit form that I’d never encountered but I heard so much about.”
“Spirit form?” Amanda repeated. “I did, earlier. He was there, but not there.”
“Did he touch you, or just speak to you?”
“He touched me. Held me down and made me agree to go on a date with him tonight.”
“That’s Cage, alright. I don’t know anyone who could remember him doing that to them. Since he evolved so quickly, which we still are trying to find out how, he lives off sex.”
“Lives? How? I thought he was a vampire and needed blood.”
“He needs both. He gets stronger, not from his own orgasms, but from his partner’s. The more they release, the more power he gains. He’s like a double parasite. He doesn’t need sex to survive. He needs blood. But sexual release gives him the strength and power to do his spirit trick.”
Amanda couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“So when I…ummmm…you know last night, I made him stronger?”
“Yes. When Logan and I ran into him, I could smell the magic on him. It was so strong.”
“I only came once,” Amanda blushed as she said that. “But he seemed to be relieved after we were done. Even if at that time I thought it was a dream.”
“If you are his mate, he can feed off you a lot, but you are still human so he has to be careful and not hurt you. He will try to control you more now that he’s had you.”
“He can’t control me,” Amanda told Ian.
“What do you mean he can’t control you?” Ian questioned.
“Well, he tried to make me dance with him last night and he couldn’t. That’s what really pissed him off, and he broke the table. Last night he told me that I couldn’t be controlled and it was very interesting to him.”
“Is that possible that he couldn’t Amanda?” Kayla asked.
“Maybe that’s why he was upset when he spoke with us,” Ian told them. “I’m sure you are the first person he ran into that he couldn’t take over their mind.”
“Could be.”
“Have you ever done anything to your mind, Amanda,” Ian inquired.
“Like what?”
“Magic? Spells? I don’t smell any type of magic on you, but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t happen. It could have been something that you did many years ago and in time the smell of it wears off.”
“Spells? No never. I don’t know any—”
Amanda shot up from the seat when she felt the same heat from last night surrounding her. Lips pressed against her neck before she heard him chuckle in her mind.
“What’s wrong, Amanda?” Kayla asked.
I can smell you here, Amanda. Shall I come up to get you, or are you going to come down and we can start this date very early.
“Go to hell, Cage!” she yelled.
Even through her shirt, she felt his fingers twisting her nipples.
Oh God, how can I get away from him?
“He’s awake,” Amanda told them. “I have to go.”
“Amanda, wait,” Ian pleaded, but she was out the door before they could stop her.
Amanda pulled on the door to the car but it wouldn’t budge. She knew that it had to be Cage when laughter once again blasted in her mind.
“Cage, open the damn door!”
She pressed the unlock button on the keychain, then tried the key. This vampire was really pissing her off.
“Fine! Keep the fucking car, I can walk.
”
Amanda knew walking back to her home was insane, but she would not stay here and let Cage do things to her again.
Amanda, don’t be childish. Come back here! She could hear the anger in his voice, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of controlling her.
“Why don’t you come out in human form and get me!”
Amanda quickly walked off the property and through the wooded area. She knew that she could get to Kayla’s place quicker this way than to her house. Kayla always kept a spare key hidden under the rug and she would stay there until night.
Stubborn human, but if you insist on walking, then it’s up to you.
“I will walk!”
Amanda knew after fifteen minutes of walking that she’d made the wrong decision. She was half way to Kayla’s place and half way back to her car. She decided to keep going to Kayla’s place instead. If she went back there she would—
Noooooooooo! The sound of a woman’s voice screamed in her ears. Amanda clamped her hands over her ears and fell to her knees.
“What is that?” she screamed.
The ground under her began to shake with a force she’d never experienced. The scream grew louder, her head pounding from the pain.
Witch, be gone!
Amanda rolled on the ground, blood pouring from her ears, nose, and eyes. The earth cracked under her before opening, swallowing the dirt into a hole. Amanda tried to get up as she opened her eyes to see the hole getting larger. She closed her eyes, knowing she was trapped and would be swallowed into the earth also. She screamed as the ground shifted under her and she fell inside the opening, landing on her back.
The last thing Amanda remembered was looking up at the skies as clouds filled the sky before everything went black.
* * * *
Cage jumped from his rest. Amanda’s pain took over him in seconds. He disappeared, following her through the skies. The clouds darkened at his command. Within moments he reappeared by her side.
She was unconscious but still alive. The earth around them vibrated and he knew that someone had done this to her. Once he found out whom, they would pay.
Cage looked around and saw that Amanda must have stumbled on a ritual ground. It reeked of witches’ magic, magic that had been placed there to keep creatures such as himself from finding it.
“Let her be, spirits,” Cage commanded, and the earth stopped shaking.
Cage picked her off the ground. He was about to fly her back to Logan’s home when he spotted a small chest next to where Amanda lay.
He picked it up with his other hand, then jumped out of the hole, racing back to the home. He tossed the chest in the corner and walked her down to the basement.
“Kayla, Ian, Logan!” Cage yelled as he laid her on his bed.
The three of them ran downstairs in only moments after he yelled for them.
“What happened to her?” Kayla yelled.
“I don’t know. I felt her pain, then I followed her. I found her in pain in some hole. The spirits were doing it to her. I wonder why.”
Kayla went into the bathroom and come out moments later with a wet towel. She began to clean the blood from Amanda’s face.
“Is she going to live?” Kayla asked.
Logan looked at Cage. “May I?”
Cage knew Logan wouldn’t touch Amanda without his permission, not even to help her. Cage nodded.
Logan did a short examination on Amanda as Kayla finished cleaning off the last of the blood.
“She will be fine. She’s just unconscious.”
Cage heard Kayla let out a long sigh of relief.
“Good,” he said. “I also found a chest in there. It’s in the living room. I don’t know if it means anything, but I thought it would be good to take it.”
“It was in the hole?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, under the ritual ground. It looked like a room, but I didn’t get a chance to look at it.”
Cage sat on the bed, looking down at Amanda. He was upset with himself for teasing her earlier. If he had left her alone, then she would have taken her car instead of running around in the woods.
“We will leave you be, will you inform us when she awakes?” Logan asked. “In the meantime, we’ll try to see what’s in the box.”
Cage nodded, then climbed in the bed beside Amanda, holding her to him.
Chapter Six
Amanda groaned as she awakened. She noticed immediately that her body felt like it had been hit by a car. Her head was pounding. There was a nagging ringing in her ears and that was what hurt the worse. Must have been some wild party she went to, she mused.
Amanda snuggled deeper in the warm bed as a strong arm around her held her close.
Strong arm? There shouldn’t be any strong arms in my bed! She sat up quickly, too quickly because her head spun, making her close her eyes until the room stopped spinning.
“Be still, my lovely.” She heard Cage’s voice only moments before he tried to pull her back on the bed. Amanda felt too awful to fight him at the moment, so she allowed him to pull her back to the bed.
“What…what happened?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. I thought you could tell me. You called out to me in pain, and that’s all I know.”
Amanda grabbed her head as the room began to shake again. She screamed loudly as memories flooded her mind. Amanda pushed herself away from Cage and fell to the floor.
Cage’s strong hands picked her up only seconds after everything stopped.
“Amanda,” he whispered. “Are you all right?”
Amanda pulled back and looked directly into his eyes. She swallowed, then began to sob uncontrollably. Trembles racked her body as she cried.
Cage held her tighter. “Amanda, what’s wrong?”
“I did this,” she whispered against his chest.
“What did you do?”
Amanda held him closer, not wanting to say what she had done, but she knew she couldn’t keep this secret. She had to tell them all what she had done.
Amanda heard steps coming toward her but she didn’t look up. She kept her head pressed into Cage’s chest.
“Amanda, talk to me.”
“I did that spell, and it almost killed me.”
“What spell?”
“On the ritual ground.”
Amanda felt Cage’s movements, but she didn’t want to be put down.
You don’t have to. I’m only sitting on the bed.
“The moment I stepped on that ground all the memories came back.”
“Okay, you have to explain this to me from the beginning, Amanda. I’m not following you.”
“I knew about you, Cage. I knew about Ian. I know he would come for Kayla and you for me.”
Cage stroked her hair. “How did you know about us?”
“Ten years ago I was part of a cult. A witch’s cult. I had powers beyond belief. Well, we did a spell to see the future and it was great until I saw that my friend was going to be turned into a vampire and another vampire was coming to look for me. Once my coven saw that, they wanted to kill Kayla, and I wouldn’t let them. Kayla and I had just met each other and even with us not being close at the time, I knew she couldn’t die.”
“Why did they want to kill her?”
“I’m not really sure. They never told me the real reason, but they didn’t want her with Ian. They knew they couldn’t stop Ian so they wanted her dead. When I refused to kill her, I banished them all from this area.”
“You banished a cult? You must be really strong?”
“Was strong. Was. After I cast the spell on them, the spirits retaliated. I remember placing a protecting spell on Kayla so that no witch would know what she was, even if they stood directly in front of her. I buried a chest under the ground with some very important items in it. After I knew everyone would be safe, I placed a spell in myself that when I walked on the ritual grounds I would remember everything. I knew the spirits would make me forget everything and they kept me away from th
at spot for a very long time.”
“So you placed that trap on yourself?”
“Yes, but I didn’t cast the harmful spell. It must be the spirits who did that. No witch could find it, but the spirits knew where I buried the chest. I would have died if you wouldn’t have come to save me.”
“I would never let you die,” Cage assured her.
“The chest!” she yelled, then tried to get up.
“No worries, we have the chest.” The sound of Ian’s voice made her look up.
She wiped the tears away, then moved to sit on the bed beside Cage.
“I’m so sorry, Kayla.”
“For what? You saved me from being killed.”
“I know, but if I hadn’t done that spell, I wouldn’t have had to cast those other spells. They all wanted me dead also, I just know it. No witch and vampire are supposed to mate. Never…but…”
“But what, my lovely?” Cage asked.
“What I saw in the future with Cage was more happiness than I ever thought I could feel. I shouldn’t mate with any vampires or werewolves for what they did to my ancestors. But why punish everyone for what one person did so long ago?”
“I agree with you,” Kayla told her.
Ian walked up to her, handing her the chest.
“I couldn’t open it,” he told her.
“You can’t because it takes the correct words to open it. I knew that my powers would be taken away, so I had to make sure I could open it later.”
Amanda took the box and held it, looking at the others.
“We made this for betrayal. They wanted me to live forever and find out what I could do to take down the werewolf and vampire populations. I made five rings, I remembered how drained I was when I created these. I was supposed to only make one, but when I did five they knew what I had planned.”
“What was that?” Kayla asked.
“To save you, myself, Ian, Cage and Logan. If they would kill you, you would never die unless they took the rings off, which would be extremely hard to do once you place them on your finger.” Amanda smiled. “And an added bonus, no sun problems.”
