The Witch's Brew

by Brenda Cothern

  Giving his adopted son something to focus on aside from Adam helped to calm his panic, just as Mikael knew it would. Mikael didn’t lie when he told Randy that he was more concerned about Cat. He’d never seen a garoul fight their shift or lose control as Cat had earlier that night.

  “She has shifted back and George took her home. He said he was going to stay with her,” Randy informed.

  “Did she say what she thought happened?” Mikael asked while he removed his shredded dress shirt.

  All three life drinkers ignored the blood encrusted garment as it joined the ruined towels on the floor at their feet. Mikael gave no thought to the dried blood that coated his body from his previous wounds. However, Randy didn’t hide his shock or Travis his frown before they schooled their expressions. It was those brief looks on his employees’ face’s that stilled Mikael’s hands from shucking his torn up slacks as well.

  “No. When George called, he said she went right to sleep the moment he got her home,” Randy answered, but never took his gaze away from the dried blood on Mikael’s chest and arms.

  “Okay.” Mikael moved toward his bedroom. “Go home. I’ll see you both tonight when the club opens.”

  He sensed both of his employees hesitate before one of them left. Mikael had no doubt which of them remained behind.

  “What is it, Travis?” Mikael didn’t turn to look at his longtime friend and employee.

  Travis was a few hundred years younger than he, but after knowing the life drinker for so long, Mikael had a pretty good idea what Travis was about to say.

  “You have developed feelings for this norm.”

  Mikael still didn’t turn to face Travis when he replied, “he has not been employed here long enough for me to have feelings for him.”

  Travis snorted. “I didn’t say you were in love with the man, but you do have feelings for him. Maybe they are of the lustful variety, but feelings just the same. Otherwise, he would not have left this office alive when Lawrence’s attempt to alter his memories failed.”

  “Whether or not I lust over this norm matters not. I won’t kill a norm if there are other options to manage them when it comes to discovering us.” Mikael turned and met Travis’ skeptical gaze.

  “So, you will turn him,” Travis dared to deduce. “You’ve never Sired someone before.”

  Mikael had no intention to turn Adam to ensure the norm wouldn’t expose them, but if Travis needed to believe that to ease his worry, so be it.

  “Good night, Travis.”

  Mikael turned back toward his bedroom. Once the door closed to his apartment, he changed direction and entered his kitchen. Dried blood ringed the pools of still wet blood that was close to his cabinets and refrigerator. There was no sense in taking a shower only to get bloody again when he cleaned up the mess.

  For a long moment, he stared at the smears caused by Adam rushing to his side and those from the norm retreating from him. The man hadn’t hesitated to help him and even when he scrambled away after Mikael fed from him, he remained calm. It was that calmness and Adam’s lack of panic during the following conversation that led Mikael to believe the norm wasn’t a danger to his family. He only hoped his belief wasn’t misplaced. He finally shook thoughts of Adam from his mind and retrieved the cleaning supplies so he could erase the evidence of what had transpired earlier.

  ~~~

  Adam shed his bloody clothes and stepped into a hot shower. His tense muscles were starting to relax, but he couldn’t say the same about his mind. Over and over he replayed what had happened on his shift at the club. From the moment he’d heard Rita inform them that Cat was down until he walked out of Mikael’s office.

  Cat collapsing was the start of everything that occurred. Adam was sure. What he wasn’t sure of was what it meant. If all of his coworkers were vampires, what could have caused Cat to collapse? He was sure if she took a stake to the heart that the patrons would have gone ape shit and panicked.

  So, what else could have caused a vampire to collapse? Adam thought and couldn’t fathom an answer.

  Just thinking about the fact that vampires really existed was surreal. Adam’s knowledge of the undead was limited to the fiction novels he’d read. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder how much of those stories were actually fiction and how much of them might be truly fact.

  Absently, he washed the blood from his body while he compared what he thought he knew to what he actually experienced. Vampires were undead and because of that they were cold to the touch. Mikael wasn’t at all cold when his hands touched Adam. He hadn’t been cold when they shook upon his hiring or when Adam helped Mikael to his office after he’d been stabbed, either. So apparently, the cold skin bit was a myth.

  Fangs. Mikael had them and Adam had felt them. However, until tonight, Mikael’s teeth had seemed no different from anyone else’s. By the time Adam had moved away from Mikael, there were no fangs to be seen. But Adam had seen them just as he had felt them pierce his skin.

  The memory of that feeding had Adam raise a hand to his neck. The books described puncture marks that sometimes instantly healed, but at other times didn’t. He felt nothing but smooth skin under his hand; however that wasn’t the case when he moved his hand to the muscle along his collarbone. Two small rough spots, scabs, could be felt under his fingers. So, what he’d read about vampire bites healing or not was true.

  Adam stepped out of the shower and dried off. He wiped the condensation off his mirror with the palm of his hand. There, in his reflection he could see the two small marks that were scabbed over. Adam forced himself to look away and enter his bedroom. He didn’t bother with clothes before he climbed in bed. Instead, after he settled between his cool sheets, he turned his mind back to what he thought he knew about vampires.

  The novels he’d read said vampires healed rapidly. This much, Adam knew was true. He’d seen how severe Mikael’s injuries had been and how unbelievably they had disappeared after his boss bit him. Not only bit him, but sucked his blood. That was another truth from his fictional stories that included vampires.

  The vampires from his stories were also able to compel humans to do their bidding. Kissing Mikael seemed to fall into this category, but Adam wasn’t so sure. He’d been attracted to his boss from the moment he laid eyes on the man. Adam understood that traumatic events caused people to do things they normally wouldn’t. So, Mikael kissing him and Adam returning the kiss with almost unrealistic desperation to taste more of the man wasn’t proof that Mikael had compelled him to do anything. At least not anything he hadn’t already thought about doing to the man.

  His mind splitting headache was another matter entirely. The same type of headache had occurred after the club shooting. Lawrence was involved with both and Mikael even admitted the small vampire was attempting to manipulate him. Making him think or do something that was not his will was a compulsion as far as Adam was concerned.

  Still, if vampires could compel someone, why didn’t Mikael just do it himself? Why send for the lawyer? Adam couldn’t help but wonder.

  Maybe vampires had different skills. Or maybe the lawyer was something else entirely. That thought reminded him of George’s answer when Adam claimed they were like Mikael. Randy had said ‘yes’, but George said ‘no’. Did that make George something else or just a thrall that the books called humans who served vampires? Adam had no idea.

  There were other things the books claimed about vampires: they could turn into bats or other animals, or even mist, and not being able to go out into the sun.

  Adam had no way to verify if these were true or not. He’d never seen his boss or coworkers turn into anything and had only seen them when he arrived at work after dark.

  Pain flared in the palm of his hands. It broke Adam out of his contemplation of vampires and what he thought he knew or didn’t know about them. He raised his hands and groaned at the sight of his palms. They were practically rubbed raw and looked as if they were covered with rug burn.

  So absorbed in t
houghts of vampires, Adam never became aware of the assault on his body triggered by his PTSD. He was more than aware of it now, though. That awareness of his PTSD riding him hard made him conscious of the sunlight that was shining through his blackout curtains.

  The light was much brighter than morning should indicate. A glance at his bedside table told him why. His alarm clock read 11:46 and he groaned again. Adam should have been exhausted, if not soundly asleep at this time of day. That he was neither didn't surprise him as he caught himself about to rub his hands on his thighs again. His mind was still spinning and Adam knew sleep wasn’t in his near future if he wanted to work that night.

  But do I want to go back to work? The thought entered Adam’s mind. It was a reasonable thought to contemplate after everything he’d learned about his boss and fellow coworkers. Do I really want to return to The Witch’s Brew? He wasn’t sure but then Jules’ parting words echoed in his mind.

  ‘You fit in this family’.

  He still had no idea what the bartender meant by those words. Was Jules a vampire too? Or maybe a thrall? Adam had no idea and was no closer to understanding her comment better when a knock on his apartment door sounded.

  A quick glance at his alarm clock showed Adam had become lost in thought again for a little over an hour. Another knock sounded on his door and Adam had no idea who it could be since he hadn’t made any friends since returning to Chicago. The only people he knew and associated with were those he’d met at the club: his boss and coworkers.

  The thought made him briefly tense before the rational part of his mind kicked in. If Mikael or one of his coworkers intended to harm him, they would have done so before he left the club the night before. They hadn’t, so Adam was calm as he got out of bed and pulled a pair of boxer briefs on. He took his time walking through his apartment before opening his door.

  Mikael’s hand was about to knock on Adam’s door again when it opened. He sucked in a breath at the sight of the man. Mikael didn’t know what he’d expected, but it wasn’t for the norm he’d been lusting over for the last two months to greet him practically naked.

  Adam kept the surprise at seeing Mikael on his doorstep from forming on his face. Instead, he gripped the side of his door. It was a mistake and the pain-filled hiss that escaped his lips couldn’t be helped. He should’ve known better than to have grasped anything tightly with his raw palm.

  Mikael heard Adam’s exhale of pain and saw the man’s hastily covered wince before it disappeared. Mikael quickly looked at him over from head to toe. All thoughts of how sexy the norm was fled Mikael’s mind as he searched for the cause of Adam’s pain.

  “Why are you here?” Adam met Mikael’s blue eyes when they returned to his face. “I told you I would keep your secret.”

  “What’s wrong? Why are you in pain?” Mikael countered, ignoring Adam’s inquiry and statement completely.

  “Is that another skill your kind possesses? Detecting pain?” Adam forced his tight grip to lessen on the door though he didn’t drop his hand.

  “May I come in?”

  Mikael wasn’t about to explain that it was only centuries of human observation that told him Adam was in pain. At least not while standing in the hallway of Adam’s apartment building. Adam’s silence and stillness made Mikael believe his request for entrance may be denied.

  The thought that vampires couldn’t enter a home unless invited crossed Adam’s mind. It was something else he’d read in the stories and something he knew he could test right here and now. So, he did. Adam said nothing; he didn’t say no nor did he offer an invitation for Mikael to pass. Instead, he just stepped aside for Mikael to enter. If, in fact, he could without an actual invitation.

  Mikael couldn’t read Adam’s expression even though he could see the wheels of thought spinning in the man’s eyes. He had no idea what could be going on in Adam’s mind, but if he had to guess it more than likely had something to do with how Hollywood portrayed vampires. It was those portrayals, misrepresentations of his kind, which prompted Mikael to visit Adam before the norm came to work that night. If in fact Adam was even planning on returning to work at The Witch’s Brew.

  Adam watched Mikael like a hawk. He waited to see some mystical force prevent his boss from entering his apartment without an invitation. That didn’t happen. In fact, when Mikael stepped over his threshold it was totally anti-climactic. Mikael took several steps into his apartment and turned to look at him. Adam closed the door and barely prevented another wince from the flare of pain in the palm of his hand again.

  Mikael witnessed a tightening around Adam’s eyes. That was the only indication that the man felt pain again. He narrowed his gaze and took in the perfection that was Adam’s body. There was no sign of injury along the muscular expanse of Adam smooth skin aside from the two small scabs near his collarbone.

  Mikael regretted leaving those marks even though he knew they couldn’t be the source of Adam’s pain. If the man hadn’t been wearing his security shirt, those marks wouldn’t even be present. Still, they were too minute to be causing the man any pain. If he were a mind bender, he could easily discover the source of Adam’s discomfort, but he wasn’t. So instead, he continued to look for a cause.

  It wasn’t until Adam closed his door that Mikael zeroed in on the man’s hands. They were red, raw, and inflamed. He had no idea what Adam could have done to cause such an injury in the short time since leaving The Witch’s Brew that morning.

  Adam ignored Mikael’s question. Again. He looked the vampire over, instead. Apparently the whole thing about needing an invitation to enter a home was bullshit since Mikael had no problem walking through his door.

  Still, he couldn’t help but look the vampire over from head to toe. Mikael was dressed the same as every time he’d ever encountered his boss. An expensive lavender button-down dress shirt was tucked into equally expensive slacks. Adam had no doubt the vampire’s clothes were worth more than he made in a month.

  However, it wasn’t Mikael’s clothes that Adam focused on. No, it was the vampire’s body language. Mikael seemed relaxed. Concerned over why he might be in pain, but relaxed just the same. Not that Adam thought that made the vampire harmless. No vampire was ever harmless if half of what he had read in books was true.

  “Why are you here?” Adam repeated his question without moving away from where he stood by his door.

  “To talk to you about last night,” Mikael answered honestly. “What happened to your hands to cause you to be in pain?”

  Adam ignored the third time Mikael asked about his pain. He didn’t want to show any weakness in front of this previously thought to be fictional being. Not that Adam had any delusions of who the weaker one was between them or anything so stupid, but he refused to appear weak.

  It was clear to Mikael that Adam wasn’t going to explain what happened to his hands. At least not yet. He would find out before he left, just like he would heal them if Adam allowed him to do so. For the moment, he put Adam’s large hands out of his mind and concentrated on his original purpose for visiting the norm.

  “May we sit?” Mikael glanced to the couch that was situated across from Adam’s entertainment center.

  “Okay,” Adam agreed and took a seat on the opposite end of his couch from Mikael. “Why are you here?”

  “I told you.” Mikael offered Adam a small smile. The fact that Adam didn’t flinch at seeing his teeth was a good sign. “You said you would keep our secret, but I suspect you have questions. I’m here to answer them because if I allowed you to believe everything Hollywood or novels told you, you would be severely misled.”

  Adam frowned. “Are you in my head?” He couldn’t help but ask since his mind had been analyzing the comparisons all morning.

  “No, that is not a skill I possess regardless of what the movies you’ve watched or the books you’ve read may have implied.” Mikael sighed. Countering the untruths the human world spread about his kind was only one of the reasons he didn’t expose norms to
their world.

  “But some vampires do,” Adam countered with surety as he remembered Lawrence trying to manipulate his memories.

  “No. There is much you don’t know and even more you will struggle to believe,” Mikael informed with a seriousness that was full of truthfulness.

  “Then tell me,” Adam demanded.

  Another wince crossed Adam’s face when Mikael watched the man rub his already raw palms along his thighs. It was an unconscious movement on Adam’s part, Mikael had no doubt. He didn’t think the action was due to nervousness on Adam’s part as the man didn’t do it while they were seated in Mikael’s apartment. No, this was something else even if Mikael didn’t know the cause.

  “Okay.” Mikael glanced around Adam’s apartment for the first time, but ignored everything he saw in favor of settling his gaze on the kitchen. “Perhaps we should have coffee while we talk?”

  Adam was surprised by Mikael’s agreement and suggestion they should have coffee. Still, that didn’t stop him from rising and walking into his small kitchen to start a pot.

  ***

  Chapter Ten

  Mikael remained on the couch, but his eyes never left Adam. They initially focused on the flex of the man’s muscular back and thighs before his gaze settled on Adam’s hands. His employee was handling everything gingerly, which was to be expected after seeing how raw the norm’s palms appeared. Mikael wanted to get up and help, but knew that would only cause an additional layer of uncomfortableness between them. It was clear Adam was in pain, but didn’t want to appear weak. Weak was the last descriptor Mikael would ever apply to this particular norm.

  Adam could feel Mikael’s eyes on him while he started the coffee. He tried to ignore the feeling of the vampire’s gaze caressing his bare skin. Not knowing if what Mikael had told him about controlling him was true or not made Adam very conscious of his current state of dress. Especially, because of the very heated and hungry kiss they shared after Mikael bit him and drank his blood.