by Melody Raven
Sam was glaring at him. “What the hell?”
“I…. Sorry. I think the mirror might have some dark something going on.”
“It’s not the mirror. Claudia handed it to me to prove that the bracelet worked. I don’t think she’d even want to touch the binding agent.”
“Well, there’s something not right about it,” he muttered as he started to move on. This time he didn’t pick any items up, just kind of ran his fingers over things. “You don’t think touching any of this stuff can kill me, do you?”
“I think I’m much more likely to kill you than any of these things,” said a painfully familiar voice who wasn’t Sam.
Derek jerked around, shining the light right in Claudia’s face. In a heartbeat, the flashlight was yanked out of his hands by some invisible force and clattered to the ground. Derek reached down and set his hand on his sidearm but didn’t pull it.
“Grandmother,” said Sam hesitantly.
“Don’t ‘Grandmother’ me,” warned Claudia. “Not right now and not here. Do you have any idea what will happen if my rage gets the better of me right now?”
Derek thought back to the Porsche windows exploding on him and didn’t want to think of what the effect of a magical atom bomb would be on the city. “We weren’t going to hurt anything,” he said carefully.
“No, but you came here without my permission, which I have to assume means nothing good is happening.” She looked at Sam. “Now I suggest you start telling me everything or I am going to start breaking his bones one by one. And don’t think I haven’t wanted to do this for weeks now.”
Derek clenched his jaw at the threat, knowing she wasn’t bluffing at all. “Claudia—” A pain more intense than anything he’d ever felt before cut through him like a knife and he fell to his knees as he tried to catch his breath. There was no air. There was no sight. No sound. Just pain.
Then it was gone and he slowly came back to himself to hear Sam screaming at Claudia, but Claudia didn’t care.
“Consider that my nice warning. Now talk.”
“We need the binding agent.”
“Sam….” warned Derek.
Claudia sucked in a breath. “You’re working with her. With the darkness.”
“No! We’re not working with anyone. But we don’t have a choice and we can’t exactly work with you because you’ve already half checked out of the fight. So when Heather shows up at my apartment and threatens to kill everyone I know, what was I supposed to do? You’re giving me nothing, Grandmother. And, I know you’re not going to believe me but I have to say it, I think Heather might have a point.”
Claudia narrowed her eyes. “Tell me you’re not serious.”
“Obviously the darkness has messed with her head and turned her into a massive bitch, but it’s not all darkness. Heather is still there. So when she says she can control it, maybe we should give her a chance.”
“We can’t allow the darkness to be released.”
“I don’t want to, but we might not have a choice. And if we’re going to lose, why can’t we try to lose on our terms?” Claudia was quiet and Sam went in for the kill. “And this way we won’t have to let go of Heather. Think about it. If anyone is strong enough to control the darkness, who would it be? Name me one witch who is more powerful than Heather besides you.”
“No,” said Claudia.
“Isn’t that the reason you trained me instead of her? Because she was too likely to become even stronger than you? Because you were threatened by her?”
“That is not why I trained you, but it doesn’t change anything. I can’t give you what you want.”
Sam let out an exasperated sigh and ran her hands through her hair. “Why? Please give me one idea you have that’s better than this and I’ll happily help you.”
“I can’t give it to you because I don’t have it. It was stolen from me.”
Sam tried to make sense of what she was hearing. “What do you mean, stolen?”
“Did I stutter?” asked Claudia in an uncharacteristically modern bitchy tone. “After our little encounter with your sister yesterday, I immediately came here to check on it and it was gone.”
“So she already has it.” This has all been some wild-goose chase. No wonder Heather had been gone all day. Now that she had Sam and Derek running around doing her “errands,” she already had everything she needed.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” said Claudia. “I’ve reviewed the security footage and it doesn’t appear anyone has been here in the past few days. I think whoever stole it committed the crime a while ago. We just didn’t realize anything was missing until yesterday.”
So if Heather didn’t steal it, that meant…. “Someone else is trying to raise the darkness?”
All Claire wanted to do was crawl into bed and pass out, but the second she reached the top of the stairs to her floor, she knew that wasn’t going to be an option.
The apartment door which she’d made sure to lock when she and Sam left earlier sat open a few inches. Claire stared at the door a few moments. She could turn around and go right back down to the street. Derek might be coming home soon.
Or he was going to Sam’s apartment for the night. Who knew exactly what was going on with that relationship at the moment?
She could call Dante. After one date, was it acceptable to call someone to come clear out an apartment? She was still debating what to do when the door suddenly opened completely and she saw Jackson there. She set a hand over her chest, only then realizing how fast her heart was beating. “What the hell, Jackson?” she asked as she finally finished the walk to her apartment.
“Well, I waited out in the hall until I got bored as hell and decided I’d let myself in so I’d seem less creepy.”
“You broke into my apartment to appear less creepy. Your logic is infallible.”
“Well, I know I’m creepy. It’s all about appearances. Want a water?”
“Are you offering me one of my own waters?”
“Because I’m a gentleman. How did it go today? Did you break things off with your boyfriend?”
Claire frowned. She hadn’t told him she was going to break up with Dante. He must’ve known just how effective his warnings earlier that morning had been. “Jackson, I’m exhausted right now. Can we please talk about this later?” She set her bag that she’d packed with water bottles and snacks over the arm of the couch and started to rub the back of her neck.
Suddenly there were other hands on her shoulders as Jackson worked on rubbing the kinks and knots. “I’m not trying to stress you out,” he said softly as his big hands worked, well, magic.
Claire’s eyes drifted closed as she let out a soft moan. Damn it, she shouldn’t be doing this. She had just been kissing Dante and now Jackson was touching her? Well, it wasn’t like she’d jumped Jackson, and she hadn’t asked him to put his hands on her. Even though…. Claire took a step away and turned around. “I, um, I think you should head out.”
Jackson tilted his head and looked her over. “What’s wrong?”
She tried to meet his eyes but couldn’t do it. Her life had changed so quickly. She remembered when she was sleeping in a burnt-out building on the outskirts of the city with not a friend in sight and just praying she wouldn’t freeze to death that night. Now she had Sam and Derek and Dante and then there was Jackson. She had no idea what he was. Friend? More than a friend? The only thing she really knew was that he was a pain in her ass.
“What do you want?” she asked honestly, cutting through all the bullshit.
“I wanted to see you. I think I freaked you out and thought you could use a friend.”
“Friends don’t break into each other’s apartments and give impromptu shoulder rubs.”
He kept looking at her as though he was trying to see the real reason she was being so standoffish. She bet he flashed those pretty brown eyes and perfect cheekbones at girls and they just did whatever he wanted to. Which might be a step up from Dante, who could lit
erally make everyone do what he wanted them to do…. No. She wasn’t comparing them. There was no choice. Jackson scared the hell out of her. Dante accepted her and had already made her a better witch.
“I’ve never met anyone else like me, Claire. I want to be with you. Is that so bad?”
Of everything she thought he would say, that wasn’t even on the radar. Lonely. He was lonely. Of course he was lonely. She had felt the exact same way when she found out what she was. Somehow she’d selfishly assumed Jackson was immune. He had known for so long… she thought he’d become used to it.
“I didn’t… I guess I thought your family or something—”
“My parents died when I was just a kid. I couldn’t tell anyone else the truth. But if you want to be alone tonight, I get it.”
He started to back away and she took a step forward. “You don’t have to be alone. It’s not ancient history anymore. Things have changed. People already know and like you. If you tell the truth, admit who you are, maybe—”
“Your optimism is adorable. Misplaced, but adorable.”
She reached out and took his hand in hers. It was massive compared to hers, and for a second she just stared at it. “I’m around, okay? If you need anything, just let me know.”
Jackson stared down at her and then he also glanced to where she touched him. She realized it was a bad idea almost as soon as she’d done it, but she felt as if she had to do something to give him comfort. He didn’t have a Dante. He’d been doing this for years, and now he’d found her and she wanted to tell everyone what she was. And he was right. It wasn’t just her life she was playing with. If she said what she was and the witches realized that soul suckers were still out there, they would look for any soul sucker who wasn’t as honest as her.
And before she could pull her hand away or try to get back to their purely professional relationship, Jackson was kissing her. Their hands were still connected and his other hand reached up to cup the nape of her neck as his mouth moved over hers. Claire sucked in a breath and allowed herself to, for one moment, kiss him back.
Dante was warm and funny and different and accepting. Jackson was dark and cold and there was an anger beneath everything he did. When he kissed her, it was like all that dark energy came out in the kiss, unlike anything she’d ever felt. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want more, but she couldn’t be that person. She couldn’t play with Jackson’s emotions when he was already in such a delicate place.
Claire ripped her mouth away from his and worked to catch her breath. “No,” she managed out.
“Why not?” whispered Jackson. Except he didn’t stop kissing her. Instead, he moved to her neck, where he gave her a quick nip that seemed to reverberate through her entire body and then up where the tip of his tongue could play with her earlobe.
If he didn’t stop, she was going to— “I’m seeing my boss,” she managed to get out.
That got through to Jackson, who froze, still holding her in his arms. “The one you almost killed?”
Claire squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and wished she could be anywhere but here. “I, um, I went to break things off with him today, but he knew what I was.” Jackson stiffened and she quickly continued, “But he was totally fine with it. And I didn’t mention you, I promise. Not once. He’s going to try to help me and—”
Jackson disengaged from Claire and stepped back. “Bad move, Claire.”
“It was the only move! He knew. I didn’t tell him anything. And it will be okay. I’ll make it okay.”
He kept shaking his head and she tried to think of any way to get through to him. “I have to figure this out.”
“Jackson….”
She reached for him but he jerked away from her and held up a warning finger. “I will deal with you later,” he bit out, the warning unmistakable.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
But he slammed the door in her face before she ever got an answer.
Derek turned off his car and for a few long minutes they just sat there. Sam couldn’t think of anything to say. What was there to say? Every single time they turned around, something else blew up in their face.
Now Claudia was giving up. They had absolutely no way to fight against Heather. And now that they couldn’t help Heather and had told Claudia they were working both sides, who knew how Heather would retaliate.
“You want to come up?” asked Sam hollowly.
“I don’t know. I might go for a run. No way I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.”
“I’d prefer you to come up with me.”
He glanced over at her. “You have a better way to work off the stress?”
She smiled and really wished that was what was on her mind. “I don’t want you to be alone tonight. Too many enemies out there.”
“Should’ve gone with the sex angle. Much better for my ego.”
She sighed. “Derek, I—”
“If you apologize to me one more time, I’m going to kick you right out of this car.”
Her mouth snapped shut and for a second they just looked at each other. There was so much said with no words. He looked at her with so much love that she could barely fathom what memories she had lost. And she looked at him with… there was definitely love there. Love, worry, guilt.
“I think we have company.”
She followed Derek’s gaze to the hood of the Crown Vic, where a familiar silhouette sat on the hood. Sam groaned. “She couldn’t give us one night?”
“You can stay. I’ll go talk to her.”
“You really need to stop offering to do things you know I’ll be better at.” Sam opened the door and climbed out of the car. “Hello, Heather.”
Heather’s legs were crossed and she stared at her black nails, as though she were checking to see whether the supernatural manicure had any flaws. “Do you have it?”
“You’ve been keeping secrets from me.” Sam moved to stand in front of Heather while still keeping a few feet between them. It was late, but in this city it was never deserted. Hopefully Heather wouldn’t try to pull any pedestrians into the middle of this.
“I’ve been keeping secrets from you for years. What’s new?”
“You’re not the only one, are you?” Derek now stood on the other side of Heather.
Heather pushed off the hood of the car to stand in the middle of them. “When exactly did I say I was the only one? Did I ever even imply that? Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
“The binding agent was stolen,” said Sam, deciding to get the truth right out in the open. “Claudia doesn’t have it.”
Heather’s hands balled into fists and a second later, a few drops of blood dripped onto the street from where she was stabbing her palm with her nails. “No. Claudia is lying.”
“If you thought that, you wouldn’t be so freaked out right now,” said Derek calmly. “Tell us who it is and we can help.”
“He’s right,” said Sam. “Think about it. If we have to choose who has this power, I’m going to choose you. No questions asked.”
“Son of a bitch. I should’ve known he’d be trouble.”
“Who?”
Heather acted as if she didn’t hear anything. “He was always such a pain in my ass and he was so jealous when the darkness picked me, but he’s wrong. He’s always been wrong and I’m going to—”
Sam took a chance and closed the distance between her and her sister, setting her hands on each of Heather’s shoulders and looking into her eyes. “Heather. Tell me who has the binding agent. The one who can bring forth the darkness.”
Heather bit her bottom lip as if she were fighting everything inside her to keep quiet. “You’re not going to like it.”
“I already don’t like it.”
She sighed. “My ex… the one who got me involved with all this.”
“The dead one?”
Heather blinked a few times, confusion clear on her face. “I never said he was dead.”
“If he’s no
t dead, who is he?”
“That’s what I’m getting to. He’s not just my ex. He’s yours too. Sammy, it’s Jackson.”
“You’re shitting me,” said Derek. “Jackson, the asshole I beat the crap out of, is souped-up on the same stuff as you?”
“He has been for years.”
“If he had darkness in him, why would he let Derek get in as many hits as he did? The protection charm doesn’t protect from dark magic.”
Heather crossed her arms over her chest. Derek could more than understand her not wanting to talk about her ex, but he didn’t give a damn right now. “Heather! We need to know.”
“Jackson is….” She looked into her sister’s eyes. “He’s a snake, Sam. You want to know why your magic never worked right? He was using you. Draining you the entire time. The Benedict family? He killed them, too, when he was nine years old.”
Sam stepped back and her eyes went to the ground as she thought of something. “He killed his parents?”
“Yeah. And let me tell you, he doesn’t feel bad about it. He bragged how he was able to pretend they were still alive for years.”
“That’s it.” Sam looked over at Derek. “That is the crack. The dark magic so strong that it forced a hole in the cage. A nine-year-old kid committing patricide. Jackson is the reason for all of this.”
“Okay…” said Derek carefully. “If that’s true, and trust me, I think he could be an evil psychopath—”
“Hey,” said Heather.
He ignored her. “He helped us. He stopped you from killing Claire. Why?”
Heather rolled her eyes. “That thing…. I should’ve known he’d like her. Parasites attract parasites, I guess.”
“Heather!” snapped Sam. “Clear, concise answers please.”
She looked annoyed but said, “He liked her. When Tommy snatched Claire, I was ready to get on with it, but he insisted we find someone else. That’s why she was kept alive for as long as she was. And trust me, Tommy was chomping at the bit. Then I finally did the sacrifices myself and got Claire back and he turned on me. I mean, we had been broken up for a while, but we were on the same side. At least, I thought we were. But he took her away from me seconds before I could finish it. It ended up being a blessing because then I learned about the spell Claudia did and figured out how I could get better control once the darkness was released. But it’s still unforgivable.”
