Malaika laughed. “I'm glad you agree with my decision.”
“When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong,” Helen said, her tone serious. “That Craig was all wrong for you, and not just because he was a white man. Truth be told, I'm not much into the whole interracial thing, and I have my reasons, but Jonah Porter is a good man. That Craig… Baby, he was just wrong.”
“Jonah!”
Jonah marched forward and stepped into the elevator. Malaika had barely made it through before the doors closed.
“Jonah, honey, talk to me.”
“Just leave me alone, Mel.”
“Baby, it's not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” He glared at her, his eyes dark and hot. “Not that bad? I might as well be a fucking eunuch.”
He turned his face away, but Malaika had already seen the sheen of tears he desperately fought to suppress. What could she do to help him through this?
“I love you, Jonah. We'll get through this.”
“You want a baby. I can't give you that. How in the hell are we supposed to get through that?”
Malaika sighed in defeat. They'd tried for a year to get pregnant, and finally had went to see the doctor to find out if something was wrong with her. They'd never suspected Jonah to be sterile.
“We can adopt.”
“Why? So every time I look at the kid, I can be reminded that I don't measure up as a man?”
The elevator doors opened and he stormed out, as if he couldn't wait to get away from her.
“Jonah. Jonah!”
He kept on walking.
The door burst open and startled Malaika awake from her nap on the couch. She looked up to see a tall, sandy-haired man holding a gun on her.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked.
Malaika worked her mouth, but words wouldn't come out.
“Are you my brother's wife? Are you Malaika?”
She nodded.
“Son of a bitch. Why did you find him? To get to me?”
She shook her head, holding her hands up to show she was unarmed and not a threat. “What the hell are you talking about? Jake?”
She'd never met Jonah's brother, but had heard about him. He was the black sheep of the family and a self-proclaimed vampire hunter.
“You know who I am, witch.”
“Witch?”
He frowned. “Where's my brother?”
“Right here.” Jonah stepped through the door and looked between the two of them, his gun in his hand. “Jake, what the hell are you doing holding a gun on my wife?” He raised his Glock and aimed it at Jake.
“What the hell am I…? What the hell are you doing holding a gun on me?”
“Put it down, Jake.”
“Put yours down.”
“No, not until you put yours away and quit scaring my wife.”
“Your wife is a witch.”
Jonah closed his eyes for a fraction of a second and sighed. “Jake, you need some help.”
Jake's eyes darkened. “Now, you too. My whole family is against me when I'm telling the truth. I've killed hundreds of vampires and witches, but you won't believe me.”
“Jake…”
“No! I lost Bobby and I won't lose you, whether you believe me or not!”
Jake turned toward Malaika and started to pull the trigger. Instinctively, Malaika reached inside herself and brought green fire into her palms. She flung the balls of power at the younger Porter brother and knocked him into the wall. His gun went flying.
“Malaika?” Jonah looked at her, wide-eyed. “What the hell did you just do?”
“I don't know!” Malaika looked at her palms, stupefied by what had just happened. She'd done it once before when a boyfriend had tried to hit her, but she'd convinced herself she'd imagined it. “How did I do that?”
Jonah crossed the room and examined her hands. A groan behind him alerted them that Jake was coming to. Jonah turned and shoved her behind him. “Stay behind me, no matter what.”
“Why?”
“Because… maybe my brother's right, and you do have some kind of powers. He'll try to kill you, but he'll have to get through me, first.”
“Jonah!” Malaika gasped as she saw her bruised and battered husband lying still in the hospital bed. His eyes cracked open as she rushed to his side.
“Mel?”
“Jonah! Oh my god, Jonah.”
“I'm gonna be good,” he said, his words a little slurred. “It's alright.”
“What happened to you? They said you were found inside a serial killer's home.” He could have been killed there. Malaika's heart seized in her chest. They'd had their troubles, first with his difficulty dealing with being sterile, and then with his brother, but if she lost him… She couldn't imagine what she would do without him.
“I was following Aria Michaels, the girl whose mother was murdered.”
Malaika sucked in a breath. Jonah had spent entirely too much time following that woman. “And?”
“And I was grabbed out of my car by…” He strained to lift his head from the pillow, but couldn't. “Are we alone?”
She glanced at the door and saw only the cop standing guard outside, customary when one of their own was hospitalized, and thought to possibly still be in danger.
“There's a cop standing guard outside.”
“Come closer.”
She leaned forward so he could whisper what he wanted to say.
“Jake was right. There are vampires, and demons, and… witches.”
She jerked straight up, surprised by his words. “Jonah, honey, I think that's the morphine talking.”
“No.” The word came out strangled. “Demon almost killed me,” he whispered. “Jake and the vampires saved me. They can help you.”
“Help me what?” The poor man was bonkers, but she could play along. He'd probably forget everything he said to her once he came out of the drug haze.
“Your powers, Mel. You're a witch. They can teach you what to do.”
His eyes drifted shut and he fell into sleep. Malaika replayed his words through her mind, the sincerity with which he spoke, and she trembled. It was crazy, preposterous… but deep inside, it just felt right.
“Push, now,” Malaika directed the vampire.
Aria groaned and pushed against the pain wracking her body. A small head started to emerge.
Malaika smiled and let healing energy flow from her fingers and into Aria, easing the vampire's pain. Behind Aria, Rialto held his wife's shoulders, supporting her while waiting anxiously for his child to be born.
“It'll all be over soon,” she said in a soothing tone and prepared to grab the baby, one of three special children born to immortals.
Malaika sat upright, gasping for air.
“Relax, darling, and just breathe.” Seta patted her back.
Malaika looked at her surroundings. She was on top of the table in one of the rooms in Christian's church. Seta and the ghost of her grandmother were with her.
“What did you see, dear?” Grandma Mahdi asked expectantly.
Malaika swiveled her head around to face Seta. “I thought you were going to go in with me. Didn't you see everything?”
“No.” Seta frowned. “Magic does not always work the way you intend, especially when it comes to spells. I could not mind-meld with you.”
“What did you see?” Grandma Mahdi asked again.
“I saw myself die in a past life,” she whispered, a tremble coursing through her limbs. She hadn't been killed during the Salem Witch Trials like Jake suspected, but had been murdered by children. Children! All because she'd lit a candle using her powers.
“I'm sorry, dear.” Grandma Mahdi smoothed a hand over her hair to sooth her. “What did you see about Craig? Do you know what he suppressed from you?'
“He took my life,” Malaika said bitterly. “I used to go jogging, and he must have seen that I would meet Jonah one morning during a run.”
“Let me guess,” Seta interrupted. “He made sure
you never met.”
“He told me to join a gym, said the park was unsafe. I should have met Jonah. We should have been married.”
“So Craig saw your future with Jonah and prevented it so he could keep you to himself.”
“Yes.”
“What else did he see? Would he know anything of the Blood Revelation?”
Malaika thought back over the images she'd just seen. “Yes. There was the vision of me helping Aria have her baby. In my head, I thought of the child as one of the special three born to immortals.”
“So that's how he knew about you having access to one of the special children.” Seta wrung her hands nervously. “Does he know about Jake and Nyla's child?”
“No.” Malaika shook her head. “But he would know that Jonah has a brother who is a slayer. And the vampire who changed him would know that if he read his mind.” Malaika shook. “Can he still get in my mind?”
“No.” Seta shook her head adamantly. “Part of the spell we just worked on you will ensure that he'll never get in your head again. And the fact that you were starting to regain images on your own indicates that what he had done to you was wearing off. His power over you only worked when he stayed in close proximity to you.”
“I just don't understand. He willingly followed that siren away, and who knows what else he did with other women. He couldn't have loved me, so why did he want so badly to keep me?”
“Because he wanted to control you,” Grandma Mahdi said on a sigh. “That's his type. He saw power in you and it made him feel better to control it by controlling you. In that sense, he felt he held all the power.”
“And he never let me know what he was.”
“Of course not,” Seta said. “He wanted you completely unaware of what he could do to you.”
Anger surged anew. Malaika looked at her grandmother. “You said Craig would try to kill Jonah.”
“Yes.” She nodded solemnly. “He still considers you and Deja to be his property, and the thought of you being with the man he did so much to keep you from is like a slap in the face to him. He will try to take that man out of the picture.”
“I can't be with Jonah.” A heavy weight settled in Malaika's chest. “For his own good, I can't be with him.”
“That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard,” Seta muttered. “Craig is going to try to kill Jonah whether you're with him or not. Even if you send Jonah away, you won't stop loving him. You can't. That is why Craig will kill him.”
“So what do I do?”
“Kill Craig first.”
The door opened and in stepped Jake and Jonah. Jake's face was grim, and Jonah wouldn't even look her way.
“You got her all witchified yet?” Jake asked, looking at her curiously.
“If you mean, has she been shown how to protect herself,” Seta asked, “then the answer is yes.”
“Good, because if we're going to end this and protect these babies, we gotta get moving. We're going to go with my original plan to draw these bastards out.”
“What would that be?” Seta asked.
Jake looked at Malaika, and swallowed hard. “We use the junior witch as bait.”
ELEVEN
“Everyone know the plan?” Jake looked at the group assembled in the room, his eyebrow raised.
Malaika stood in her living room with Jonah, Seta, Rialto, and Deja. She knew her daughter was safer back at the church, but couldn't bare saying goodbye to her there. She wanted to hold on to her as long as she possibly could, unable to shake the feeling she might never get the chance to see her again.
“Malaika and I stay here and see if Prince Charming shows up,” Jonah stated, bitterness generously lacing his words. Malaika looked at him out the corner of her eye, her heart breaking for him. He should have been her husband. She'd allowed another man to control her and take away something so precious from both of them. Her hands squeezed on Deja's small shoulders. But she'd never have had her sweet Deja if not for Craig. For her alone, she couldn't completely hate Craig for what he'd done. He'd given her a child. A little girl with his eyes and her smile.
“You wait close outside to protect these two,” Rialto added, “while Seta and I protect the expecting mothers. Christian will…” He glanced down at Deja, who, fortunately, was oblivious to the danger of the matter they were discussing, “baby-sit Deja.”
Deja smiled, her eyes lit up with joy. She'd grown to really like the vampire. Malaika smiled to herself, running a hand over Malaika's head, feeling the frizzy braids under her palm. She needed to fix her baby's hair, but right now, protecting her life was more important.
“Right. And if anyone sees Prince Charming, we destroy that mother-fu—”
“Jake!”
“What?” Jake snapped, glaring at his brother.
“The F word.”
Jake blinked, shook his head. “The F-word? What are you, like five?”
“No, but she is.” Jonah jerked his head toward Deja and Jake followed the movement, sighing in frustration.
“Fine. If anyone sees the doody-head, pop him. That better?”
“Much. You're going to do such a good job with your own kid.”
Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance and clapped his hands together. “Daytime doesn't last forever, and the newly turned creep at night. Let's get it done, people.”
Good-bye time. Malaika leaned down, encircling Deja in her arms, smelling her sweetly scented hair. “Mama loves you, baby girl. You be good for Christian.”
“I will, Mommy. I love you bunches!”
Reluctantly, she let her little girl go, and watched as she joined Rialto and Seta at the door. They smiled at her, waved goodbye, and took her daughter to safety.
Jake stepped before Jonah, his serious eyes level with his brother's. “Remember everything I've told you about these things.”
“I will.”
“Be on guard.”
“I will. Of course, if you're the super-slayer you're supposed to be, I shouldn't have to worry about anything,” Jonah teased.
“Yeah, well, regardless of my utter awesomeness, just be careful.”
Jake looked at Malaika. “As for you, witchy-woman, I expect you to fry anyone who gets too close to my big brother, here.”
Malaika grinned, knowing that simple statement was probably the closest she'd ever get to a “Hey, you're alright with me” from the slayer. Seta had told him about her past life and for some reason, he'd been a lot less hostile with her. “I will.”
He narrowed his eyes on her, doubtful, before turning back to Jonah. “Kick ass and spill blood, bro.” He extended his hand and Jonah clasped it in one of his.
They shook firmly, then quickly, so anyone who blinked would miss it, gave each other a quick one-armed hug and backed away from one another.
“Alright, pussy-boy, don't screw up,” Jake mumbled as he headed toward the door.
“Yeah, you just watch yourself, jerk.”
“Bitch.”
“Ass-wipe.”
Jake paused at the door, looked at his brother with a slew of raw emotions twisting in his eyes. His jaw clenched so hard enamel was probably being ground off his teeth. He looked at Malaika, silently pleading with her to not fail his big brother. She nodded, and he returned the gesture before pulling the door closed behind him.
“Interesting way you brothers have of saying goodbye,” Malaika commented after they could no longer hear his footsteps pounding down the stairs in the hall.
Jonah grinned, nodded his head before turning it to look down at her. “You all right?”
“As good as I can be, half scared out my mind.” Her stomach grumbled in protest of not having been fed, and she rubbed it with her hand. “Did I mention half-starved, too? I never did eat anything today.”
“Afraid to eat whatever a vampire might provide?”
Malaika laughed. “I know it's silly, and he made sure Deja had plenty to eat, but…”
“I know.” Jonah patted his stomach. “I'm runni
ng on empty too.”
“I'll cook you something.” Malaika walked into the little kitchen area and started sifting through the refrigerator. “We still have some time before dark sets in, and we'll both probably do better with some food in our bellies tonight.”
“If you don't mind.”
“I don't.” She glanced up as Jonah took a seat among the stools at the counter which separated the kitchen area from the living room, and found herself lost in the beautiful, warm depths of his eyes. Heat flushed over her skin. She was going to cook for her man, something she should have been doing for years now.
Tears formed in her eyes, unbidden, and she turned her face toward the refrigerator. She swallowed hard, tried to get past the surge of emotion clutching her chest. All the times she'd cried because Craig hadn't thought her worthy enough to propose, but Jonah had… or would have, if she hadn't been so stupid to let Craig get inside her head and change the order of events in her life.
Strong arms wrapped around her waist, and pulled her back against a solid wall of security. “I saw the tears in your eyes,” Jonah said softly, his breath fanning across her cheek. “What is it?”
She rested her head against his chest and let out a sigh which twisted into a strangled sob before she could control it. “I'm just tired.”
“You don't have to cook.”
“Yeah, well, I'm more hungry than tired, and I want meat.” She stepped out of his embrace, fighting against the urge to just stay there wrapped in his arms for the remainder of whatever length of time they had until Craig showed his face, and grabbed a few meat patties out of the refrigerator. “Hamburger or cheeseburger?”
“I'll take cheese,” Jonah answered softly, stepping back to give her room to work.
She grabbed the necessary components to make cheeseburgers and closed the refrigerator door. “Fries?”
“Sure.”
Malaika chuckled softly. “Are you sure Deja hasn't worn you out on fries yet?”
“I'm a thirty-one-year-old man, Malaika. I can put away fries and other assorted fast foods with the best of them.” The smile could be heard in his voice. “I won't start eating healthy until I get a wife ordering me to, I imagine.”
Witch's Net Page 18
