by D L Blade
I knew my words cut through him like a knife. Those words may have been the worst thing I could have ever said to him. But I didn’t know any other way to get through to him. It had been a year. He needed to move on.
“We are a coven, Caleb, and that is all we will ever be to each other.”
I didn’t mean for the words to come off so harshly. Of course he was more than just a coven member to me. He was a friend and even as close as family, but it had been a year, and he still hadn’t stopped fighting for us to have what we had so long ago.
His face was unreadable, his mouth set in a flat line. He turned away from me as we heard the bathroom door open.
Sarah appeared from the bathroom, with her brown hair curled in tight waves and her dress snug against her thin frame, with high, silver heels. “What did I just walk in on?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Caleb was just leaving.”
He glanced at me, but only briefly. His eyes stayed on her as if I were no longer in the room. “If you two don’t text me on the hour, every hour, I’m coming out there to get you.”
I had hurt him so badly that he couldn’t even respond to what I had just said. He wouldn’t even look at me.
Caleb stormed out, slamming the door behind him, which caused me to jump back. “I really hurt him this time.”
“Can you blame him? He’s been in love with you for over three hundred and twenty years.”
After Tatyana had rescued Dorian, all hell had broken loose at the lair where Maurice had held me captive. Maurice and Kyoko fled and went into hiding, but rumors had spread across the supernatural world that he and Kyoko had taken off to the west coast. All the vampires that lived there had left to find a new clan, and the humans had finally been set free.
Dorian and Noah stayed together, and it took me several days to track them down. Once I found them, I’d looked him in his eyes, just as I had with Caleb, and I’d told him what I had done, and what I felt. He understood why I had done it, but I still hurt him. The only communication I now had with Dorian were a few text messages every month to check in with each other and to let the other know we were safe.
That was our agreement.
I had offered Dorian my wrist to drink from that night, but he’d refused. He’d said he wanted to stay a vampire, so that if I ever needed saving, he could be there for me to fight by my side.
I eyed the clock. “We have to go. The club opened an hour ago. Roland had his friend Marcus put our names on the list, so we shouldn’t have a problem getting underground.”
“Let’s go, then,” Sarah said, grabbing my hand. “If anything goes south, I’ll turn you back so you can fight in your own skin.”
I smiled at her. “Damn straight, I will.”
“IDs,” a burly man at the entrance of The Black Horse said.
We handed him our drivers’ licenses and as he looked down at them, Sarah used her powers to manipulate the way the bouncer saw my photo, and she changed my birthday while he scanned them over. I always carried my fake ID around, but we didn’t have time to make one for this new face.
He looked at us and back down at our pictures. When he didn’t let us in right away, I got an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. What was he looking for?
Just let us in.
“Hold out your wrists,” he finally said.
A smile reached my face as all the tension I had been holding in was released. He wrapped a black wristband around each of our wrists, stepped to the side, and gestured for us to go in.
The music was so deafening, I had to lean in close to Sarah’s ear in order to talk to her. “We need to find a guy named Marcus,” I told her.
“What does he look like?” she shouted.
“Middle-aged black man, grey suit and red tie. He’s Roland’s buddy!” I shouted back in her ear.
“Vampire?” she asked.
“Witch, actually.” I looked around the room. “Roland said we could trust him.” I raised one eyebrow.
“Ah, you don’t, do you?”
“No. I’m not sure. I still don’t trust Roland completely, but it’s not like I can flat out tell Caleb that.”
“Let’s keep an eye out and tread lightly,” Sarah said.
We scanned the bar but didn’t see him. “Let’s get a drink,” I shouted over the music.
The two of us didn’t drink, but not having a drink in our hand would look suspicious inside a bar, especially since we weren’t even dancing, so we each ordered a cocktail and pretended to sip it.
Over in the corner of the bar, leaning up against green velvet curtains on the stage, was a cute blond-haired guy, staring at us.
“Three o’clock,” I said.
She turned toward the stage. “He’s hot. Looks human.” She turned back to me and shrugged, “Though, I’ve been wrong before. Talk to him. See what you can find out,” she said with a grin. She nudged me, and I skipped in his direction, just as the music changed to a song I didn’t recognize, and thankfully, it wasn’t as loud.
I looked over my shoulder as Sarah sauntered closer so we could stay at least twenty feet from each other. She sat down in a booth near the stage and pretended to drink her cocktail.
“Hi. I’m Cassy.” I held out my hand for him to shake.
“I’m Devon. Nice to meet you, Cassy.” He shook my hand and looked down at my drink, “What are you drinking?”
“Cranberry and vodka.”
“Does it not taste good?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked with an uncertain tone.
“I’ve seen you pretend to drink it, but not actually drink.”
Observant.
I didn’t hate the taste of alcohol, but we found that drinking too much weakened our abilities, so we avoided it if we were in situations where we’d need to use our powers, even a sip. If I didn’t drink now, and this guy was in cahoots with the vampire clan beneath us, he’d know something was up.
I sipped my drink and flashed him a fake smile. “I was just taking it slow. I’m a light weight.”
Devon smirked at me, then turned toward a pretty brunette walking by us. I had used this opportunity to mouth the word, “drink,” to Sarah, but my eyes narrowed in on her empty glass. There was no way she drank it that fast.
“Yeah.” His voice pulled my attention back to him. “Most girls can’t handle what we men can put down,” he said.
This guy is something else.
He grabbed my glass. “Another?” he asked. I looked down at my drink and it was empty. I looked over at Sarah, and she smiled with a shrug.
Ah, she’s making it appear empty. I’m sure if I stuck my finger in the “empty” glass, I’d feel the cocktail.
Devon set my full glass on the counter, which he saw as empty and walked toward the bar. A minute later, he came back with another cocktail and a beer for himself.
We clinked our glasses and both sipped our drinks.
“How about we go downstairs and talk,” he suggested.
“The underground club?”
“Ah, you know about the club?”
“We’re on the list,” I said, tossing in a wink.
Devon smirked and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”
After Sarah introduced herself as Mandy, he gestured to a hallway that led to the back of the bar. “After you, ladies.”
The hallway that led to the club wrapped around but also descended underground. We came to a door with a shade on it that lifted when Devon knocked three times. A pale-faced woman appeared in the little window.
“State your name,” she said.
“Devon Nordac.” She waited. Devon placed two fingers on his neck and turned to me. “They’re with me,” he told her.
“State your names,” she repeated.
“I said they’re with me,” he shot back, his tone harsh and elevated.
“Cassy Thomas and Mandy Rain,” I told the woman at the door, and both of us placed two fingers on our necks. She looked down at a sheet of
paper and back at us. She closed the window flap, and we waited.
Devon turned to us and shrugged. The door opened, and the tiny woman appeared in the doorway, gesturing for us to enter. Once inside, we looked around. Colored lights were flashing all around us, but the music was thankfully not as loud as it was upstairs.
I took another sip of my cocktail, but just enough to show Devon I was, indeed, drinking. I leaned toward Sarah’s ear. “Let’s dance for a few minutes before we snoop.”
“I like the way you think, Mercy … I mean, Cassy.” We both laughed, and I looked around to see where Devon had gone, as he was no longer standing by us. “Where did he go?” she asked.
I turned toward another stage where the DJ was stationed and spotted Devon talking to a man in his mid-forties, who was good looking and appeared to be tall. He was sitting on a red leather chair at the end of the club, legs outstretched, and beautiful, pale women surrounded him. “Over there.” I nodded their way. “Let’s move closer.”
We didn’t need to be sneaky, though. Devon caught our attention and waved us over.
This is too easy.
I didn’t get less than ten feet near them before the middle-aged man he had been talking to locked eyes with me and visions came rolling in.
Here I go.
The man was running by my side in a field next to my old home in Salem. I looked about six years old.
“Try to grab one, Mercy. Over here.”
I looked above me as fireflies swarmed around us. I lifted a copper cup and a few fireflies landed inside, so I cupped the top with my hand to keep them from flying away. “They’re so pretty, Papa,” I said, and my vision came back to the beat of Ellie Goulding’s song, Lights.
“Cassy!” I heard Devon shout, and I realized I was still gawking at this man I now knew as my father from the seventeenth century: Alexander.
“This is Alex. He owns the club,” Devon explained.
I looked over at Sarah with my jaw clenched. I had to turn away from them because I was having a hard time concealing the shocked look on my face.
Sarah held up a finger. “Sorry, guys. Please give us a minute.” She gripped my arm and pushed me over to the side.
“What the hell was that?” she asked.
“We need to go, Sarah. Now!”
“Wait, why? Who is it?”
“It’s my father.”
“Deadbeat dad?”
“No, that man sitting on that chair is my father from my past life. Alexander,” I explained, running my hand through my hair. “He looks a bit different than he did back then. I’ve had visions of him before, but they were brief. Vampires kidnapped him when I was sixteen.” I looked over at him and he was staring at us, along with Devon.
Dammit. We need to leave.
Sarah shook her head. “It’s not like he’ll recognize you. We came here to find out more about this clan, and what better way to do it than getting in close with their leader?”
“My father!” I corrected, practically shouting.
“Shhh! Jesus, Mercy. Get it together.”
“Okay. Okay.” I looked over and smiled. “We’ve already drawn enough attention to ourselves since we’ve been here, so let’s make the connection and leave.”
She nodded and grabbed my hand, leading me back over to Devon and my father.
“Welcome back,” Devon said.
Alexander stood and reached out his hand. I held mine out and he delicately grabbed it and kissed the top. I gulped and felt a hard lump slowly move down my throat. Sarah gave him her hand, and he did the same with her.
“Welcome to my club, ladies,” my father said. “Drinks are on the house. Devon is my right hand, so anything you need, just ask him.”
If I wasn’t so overwhelmed with nerves, I would have been excited about the fact that we happened to make “friends” with the leader’s right hand.
Devon then gestured to the bar, and we followed. “Here’s some water.” He handed Sarah and me each a bottled water. “It gets a lot hotter down here than the rest of the club, so you need to hydrate. Those cocktails won’t do it.”
We thanked him and drank at least half of our waters before we worked our way to the dance floor.
As we met at the center of the club, I spotted Roland’s friend Marcus standing against the wall by the bar. “Wait here,” I told her.
Marcus wasn’t far from where we were standing, so the distance kept me close enough to Sarah so her spell didn’t wear off.
“Marcus?” I asked him. He nodded and gestured for me to follow him, but I shook my head. “Right here is fine.” I glanced over at my father and Devon to make sure they weren’t watching us, which they weren’t.
Turning my head back to Marcus, I felt a wave of vertigo. I blinked and tried to focus so I could pull my attention back to him. It was hot in here, and the heat was obviously getting to me.
“Roland said you’re the guy I should talk to.” I quickly glanced at Sarah, who was now dancing with Devon. He placed his hands on her hips as she moved back, grinding into him.
What the hell is she doing?
“I am,” Marcus answered, pulling my attention back to him.
“Sorry, Marcus. I need you to make up a story about how we are best pals and make us permanent members of this club. Keep us on the list and tell them we’re humans with connections.” I paused, a smile forming on my lips. “Oh, and tell them that I love to let vampires drink from me.”
“That’s a great way to get caught,” he pointed out. “Once they start noticing their vampire clan is getting smaller, your plan is over.”
I laughed. “You underestimate me, Marcus.” I winked at him and took a step back. “Gotta go rescue my friend. We’ll be in touch.”
As I walked toward Sarah, my head pounded, and a wave of nausea hit me. Dizziness took over.
When I reached her, her hair was sticky with sweat, and mascara was smudged around her eyes. She looked dazed.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked her. When she didn’t respond, I said, “I’ll go grab us some more water.”
“How about some fresh air instead?” Devon suggested, grabbing Sarah by the arm and gripping mine firmly, just as I was about to collapse to the floor. He helped keep us both steady and walked us toward the back of the club. His grip on my arm tightened.
I felt my dress loosen around the chest and when I looked down, my breast size was shrinking, “Oh, no,” I mumbled to myself.
As we walked past a mirror on the hallway wall, I quickly glanced up. Sarah was losing control of the spell. My hair was getting darker as we walked by the window, but thankfully, Devon hadn’t looked down at me yet. We stumbled through a doorway, and I looked over at Sarah, whose eyes were shutting. She was clearly not herself, either, as she lost her balance and almost fell over. I barely caught her before she hit the ground, but almost stumbled myself as Devon still had a firm grip on my arm.
Oh, great. The asshole drugged us.
“Right here, ladies.” Devon gestured toward a black, leather sofa. When I looked up, he grinned at me, flashing his perfectly white teeth. This creep was a rapist, and he was not going to get away with this.
Not tonight.
Not to anyone, ever!
A moment later, I heard the unbuckling of his belt. I couldn’t hold Sarah’s slouching body anymore, so I slowly lowered her to the couch next to us.
The curtain at the back of the room shielded us from the rest of the club.
Great.
I looked around and back up at him. My head was fogging over, and nausea reached the top of my throat.
“Look at you, Cassy. If that’s even your real name. I am digging the long, dark hair much better than the blonde,” he said, trailing my long strands with his fingertips, creating a bitter tang in my mouth, and a rush of nausea hit my throat again.
“Go to hell,” I said, but my threat came out weak and shaky.
He laughed and grabbed my knee. “It’s a shame your chest is get
ting smaller. They looked great on you.”
I jerked my leg away and looked at Sarah. “Sarah, wake up,” I cried while ignoring his rough hand, which landed on my knee again. “Look, scumbag,” I managed to mumble out through a shaky breath. “I don’t think you realize what you’ve gotten yourself into. If I were you, I’d think twice before you touch us,” I warned. The room was spinning, and all I wanted to do was close my eyes. But if I did, he would violate us both.
Devon was on me before I could throw out another threat. He pushed me hard against the back of the couch, straddled both sides of my thighs, and squeezed his legs together, pinching my hips with his knees so I couldn’t move. I put my hands up to blast him away with my powers, but nothing happened.
No! I need to fight harder.
Panic rose in my chest, and my stomach felt like a hard rock was pressing up against it. I wanted to curse him out again, but I couldn’t form the words. I had never been this scared, and I most certainly had never felt this helpless.
We will not be raped.
“Are you a human?” I asked, while he placed his hands on my chest and proceeded to touch my body, gliding his hands up and down my breasts.
He didn’t answer me. He simply opened his mouth and fangs protruded. “Seeing as how you disguised your appearance, my only guess is that you’re a witch.” He glanced over at Sarah. “Or she is.”
Just drink from me, rapist.
I waited for the bite to come, but it never did. “Just drink from me,” I said, hoping me asking him would entice him, but he was only interested in one thing, and it wasn’t my blood. His hands were now by my thighs, pulling up my dress.
I froze.
No!
I screamed in my head over and over again. Anything but this.
My body was completely paralyzed. I closed my eyes and tried to go to another place, but suddenly, his hands left my thighs and the pressure against my hips released. When my eyes shot open, I saw Devon shoot across the room with a trail of flames behind him. I turned to the doorway and Caleb was standing there, fire blazing from his fingertips, and his eyes were brighter than I had ever seen them.
In that moment, I thanked God I had forgotten to text him on the hour that we were safe.
