Wrath and Magic (Spells and Sins Book 5)

by Melody Raven

  The beam that had previously been on top of Abigail flew across the room and embedded into the flaming wall, adding a barrier between Claire and Sam.

  “Sam,” said Claire, her eyes welling with just the slightest sheen of tears.

  Sam tightened her lips. No. If this was going to happen, she wasn’t going to sit back and watch. She was imbued with all of Claudia’s power and the anger of a woman who had lost everything. So, fuck the darkness. She wasn’t going down without a fight.

  She held out her hand once more, and this time, instead of just calling the power, she used the fire around the room to fuel her until a small fire tornado swirled in her hand before she shot it out to Abigail. Abigail was able to dodge the blow, but Sam was quicker, and her second hand sent another stream of fire at her. This time, Abigail was struck, but she managed to avoid the flames by curling her hands into fists and using the dark magic as a sort of shield. Sam kept giving it everything she had, but she didn’t see how she could get past the defense. As Sam could feel her power waning, she looked over to Claire, who nodded before getting into place.

  They would only have a minute before Abigail would come at them again, and she wasn’t pulling punches. The next time Sam got hit with her magic, she’d die.

  Sam’s magic was starting to falter, and Claire was there to put her hand on Abigail’s wrist. Abigail stumbled forward, a look of pain and shock etched into her features, but managed to catch herself before she fell. She gasped in agony. Sam thought they were finally getting through to her when Abigail’s elbow shot out and jammed right into Claire’s bullet wound.

  Claire managed to hold it together and didn’t fall but didn’t do well enough. Abigail pulled free and shoved Claire away until she slid just short of where the fire was. Sam’s eyes widened as she realized she was out of options. She barely had enough power left to lift a feather, and now Claire, who was supposed to be their last hope, was down for the count.

  Sam’s breath caught in her throat as she stared at the woman who was supposed to love her no matter what. “Mom....” she breathed. “I’m sorry.”

  But it wasn’t Abigail who looked at Sam with so much disdain. It was something dark and twisted that had taken root inside her mother’s body, and now it was going to win. Sam waited for the final blow to come. The last time she’d ever see her mother or Claire.

  She just wished that she and Derek had just a few more minutes together. One final epic good-bye.

  And then, as if she conjured him out of her imagination, there was Derek, stepping through the fire. He put a hand on Abigail’s shoulder, and in a flash, she slumped forward as darkness seemed to ooze from every pore. And not just dark magic. Physical darkness collected in a black pile on the ground. While Sam stared in horror, Claire pushed herself to standing and they both looked on.

  Derek, who hadn’t made eye contact with Sam at all, finally looked up and met her eyes. “Your man and I made a deal. You better see to it that he pays.”

  The dark puddle started to stretch up, slowly forming the shape of a man. Claire was there, and as soon as anything remotely arm-shaped appeared, she reached out and took hold. The darkness seemed to shake and waver and then, in just a blink of an eye, the black ooze poofed out into a fine mist that disappeared into the air.

  And just like that, Claire, Derek, and Abigail all fell unconscious to the floor as Sam looked on in shock.

  Derek winced as he sat up and ran a hand through his hair. A gut reaction. Something he always did while waking up. But he shouldn’t feel normal right now.

  To prove the point, Zeus curled up closer next to Derek, pushing his head hard into Derek’s ribs. Derek groaned at the pain but didn’t know how he hurt himself this time. He looked around at his apartment that showed no signs of stress. How had he even gotten here?

  “Magic.”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the sound of her voice. Then he felt the soft touch of her fingers brushing through his hair and he moved gently into her touch. "What happened?" he asked reluctantly, not sure if he really wanted her to bring reality back into this.

  Sam moved to sit next to him on the bed, now sadnwiching him between Zeus and her which was fine to him. He put an arm around Sam's shoulders and held her close, taking a deep breath once her head rested against his. He savored the feel of her. The scent. He was tired of feeling a few steps behind. Now, for the first time in forever, he felt at peace.

  "This looks cozy," said a deep voice that filled him with dread. Derek immediately let go of Sam and jumped off the bed to face Abigail, but she didn't look like the last time he saw her. Her hair was pulled back in a rushed way he'd never seen before and her face was surprisingly makeup free.

  He had a feeling Abigail had never left the house without makeup in her life...

  Sam and Zeus each remained seated on the bed looking calm as could be. Derek pointed at Abigail and looked to Sam. "She..."

  "She's fine," said Sam, a soft, tentative smile curling her lips. "You did it, baby. You and Claire together."

  "Claire..." He remembered the pain and discomfort that had taken him over the last time he'd seen Claire. "I don't understand. I thought if Claire took on Abigail she would die."

  "She didn't take on me," said Abigail. "You were able to separate the darkness from me and then she drained the parasite dry."

  "And you remember this?"

  "I remember everything." Abigail didn't appear to sound sorry or remorseful. She was just stating a fact. He wondered if that guilt would catch up with her over time or if she truly didn't feel anything about it.

  "So you're fine," he winced as he realized he was wrong. "At least back to normal. What about everyone else?"

  Sam shrugged. "Some things are in disarray, but I guess it's natural. I need to get the sentries back together. Take over the tower again. Figure out these new powers and somehow convince the families to follow me."

  "You vanquished the darkness," said Abigail confidently, conveniently leaving out the fact that she'd sided with the darkness in the first place. "You don't need to convince them of anything."

  Sam tightened her lips and he could tell that she wasn't as convinced of that as her mother. Abigail must've caught onto the tension in the room since she backed away. "I'm happy you're awake Derek. We'll have our happy reunion later, I'm sure."

  She left the room, the door softly swinging shut with her departure. He waited a few moments as he heard her footsteps retreat and the further she got, the more Sam seemed to relax into his arms. "You're not happy to have your mother back?"

  She blinked in surprise. "What? No, I'm ecstatic to have her back. I don't know what I'd do if I had to handle another loss. Not to mention that she's so much better with dealing with all of this," she made a wide gesture in the air in front of her, "than me."

  "I wouldn't be too sure about that. She just seems more confident when she makes mistakes."

  Sam smiled up at him. "Smart man," she whispered. "So now that all this is over, are you going to run screaming yet?"

  "Now that all this is over, don't I get to reap the reward?"

  She snorted. "What exactly is the reward."

  His eyes darkened as he looked down at her. "If you have to ask..."

  She bit her bottom lip and nestled closer to him. "I know. I mean, I think I know how you feel. But I keep on expecting you to turn tail and run the other direction."

  He tucked her head in closer and pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I'm not worried about this. I'm not worried about you. You'll figure this out and we'll figure out how I fit into your world. I'm worried about Claire though."

  "You me and everyone else," muttered Sam. "She never told me everything that was going on, but I know she was freaked out by Jackson. Now that she can't be around you and he's running loose... I just don't know."

  "Maybe it would be best if she got out of town."

  Sam stiffened before pulling away. "You want to send her away?"

>   "I want her to be safe. I want her away from all of this."

  "Where would she go?"

  Derek winced and tried to figure out how he could get Claire away from the city without making her feel like she was being banished. Then his eyes popped open. "The murder in Brownsville." Sam blinked as she waited for him to continue. "One of the murder victims was from New Orleans. We can send Claire to check it out and that will keep her out of trouble for a while."

  Sam raised a skeptical brow. "You want to send Claire to New Orleans to keep her out of trouble? You've never been to New Orleans have you?"

  "It has to be safer than here right? I know the darkness is gone, but we still have an uphill battle here. It would be better for her to stay safe somewhere else. If we frame it like she's helping out, she'll actually agree to it."

  "If we give her busy work."

  "Busy work and an all expense paid trip to New Orleans." He knew it wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing.

  Sam nodded slowly and he could tell something else was bothering her. He reached over and took her hand in his. "It's okay," he said softly. "We'll deal with this one issue at a time."

  She smiled softly and pushed her head in the crook of his shoulder. On instinct, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, breathing in the scent he swore he'd never get enough of.

  "We don't have to do anything," she said, the sound muffled by his shoulder. "This is my problem, not yours."

  He let out a laugh and hugged her tighter. "You can't get rid of me. We're in this together." He leaned back just enough to meet her eyes. "Darkness, crazy mother in laws, I don't care. I'm yours. Got it?"

  She reached up until her nose just touched his. "You're mine?"

  "Forever," he breathed against her lips.

  "Forever is a long time," she warned.

  "Not enough," he breathed as he went in for a kiss.

  "Never enough," she promised. But when he finally kissed her, he didn't have any worries. No matter what came at them, they'd face it together.

  And God help anything that ever got in their way again, because together they were unstoppable.

  ~~~THE END~~~

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  Though badly named, the Stakes was the most serious vampire club Anna had found. When she had first moved to New York City, she’d continued with her research into the supernatural. In that time, she’d met some of the strangest people.

  People thought they were vampires, werewolves, nymphs, succubi, and just about any other non-human entity a person could imagine. If they didn’t think they were one of these creatures, then they were on a mission to become one.

  It seemed bizarre that the fear was really gone. Instead of trying to find a way to become the undead, shouldn’t everyone be pulling out the pitchforks?

  This particular vampire hunting meeting was held at a generic coffeehouse near the campus Anna worked at. The owner of the shop catered to its mainly student clientele, so there were a few private study rooms where the Stakes could meet without customers overhearing their strange conversations.

  The Stakes consisted of five members, including Anna. The oldest was Dennis. He was a businessman in his fifties. He was a bit heavyset with balding black hair he tried to hide with a comb-over. His suits were always a bit wrinkled, and he was consistently late for all of their meetings.

  One of the other men in the group was Brad. Though he and Dennis were both businessmen, that was the end of their similarities.

  Brad was tall and striking. His suits were always tailored to perfection and complemented his features. His blonde hair was always impeccably styled, and Anna strongly suspected his hands saw a manicurist on a regular basis. His age was hard to determine. Anna figured he could be anywhere between thirty and fifty.

  The third man in the group was more blue-collar. Terrence worked as a janitor for one of the office buildings not too far from the campus.

  He was in his late forties but still had a nice build. He was about the same height as Anna’s own five seven, though he had a lot more muscle behind his height. He mentioned a military background once or twice in past meetings, but he didn’t elaborate on what branch he’d been involved in.

  Laura, the last member of the group, and Anna would sometimes bet between themselves what Terrence had done in the military. At this point, they were torn between Marines and Navy SEALs.

  Laura was older than Anna by around ten years. Her husband owned a small restaurant right off campus. He did all the cooking while Laura managed all finances. Her hair was a short sandy brown, and her eyes were such a bright green that Anna suspected contacts.

  As the only two women in the group, Laura and Anna had connected, but because of the rules of the group, they never got too close.

  Vampire hunting is risky business. On one hand, if the vampires ever learned of their group, they could very well try to put an end to it. On the other, if coworkers or family found out about this hobby, there would be a lot of issues for the individual members to deal with.

  The academic career was a particular one. If any of the faculty discovered Anna searched for the undead in her spare time, there would be consequences to pay. Namely, she would have a hell of a time gaining her doctorate or getting a job at any respectable university.

  Everyone had arrived on time at the coffeehouse except for Dennis, who was his usual ten minutes late. After everyone finished with pleasantries, they got down to business.

  No one had any interesting finds from internet and newspaper searches though Dennis had some news. “Someone contacted me last week,” he said.

  “What about?” asked Brad.

  “He requested to join the group.” Dennis’s tone was calm, but his face betrayed his concern.

  Anna asked, “When you say contacted you, you mean...?”

  “He called my cell phone.” Everyone in the room went still. No one had given out their cell phone numbers to one another. It was against the rules. No real names required and no contact information besides email. No one knew her full name was Annabelle, and Roberts was a common enough last name. She knew if someone really wanted to know who she was, no fake name would keep them from that.

  The rule they all had the most respect for was the rule stating that no one could know why they wanted to find vampires. Some wanted to kill them while others wanted to become them. They were connected by a common goal of finding the undead. After that, it was each member for themselves.

  As for vampires finding out about their little group, that didn’t concern Anna much either. To date, they'd found exactly zero vampires.

  “Did he say how he got your number?” Laura asked.

  “Unfortunately, no. It was a rather short conversation.” Dennis took off his glasses and cleaned them as he talked. Anna suspected he was uncomfortable with the four of them staring so intently at him.

  He continued, “He said only that his name was Mr. X.”

  Anna snorted at that. “A bit melodramatic,” she murmured.

  “He said he would love to contribute to our monthly meetings. That he felt with his help we could see a worl
d we had only dreamed of previously. Then he said he would be in contact and hung up.”

  No one said anything. What if he did have all of the answers they were seeking? “I don’t like this,” said Anna. “If he really had only good intentions, why not give you contact information? Why didn’t he email you?”

  Brad shook his head. “We've been meeting in this shitty little room for almost a year now. We find someone who might actually know something and you’re worried about his intentions? We’re looking for vampires, not kittens. There are bound to be some unsavory characters.”

  Anna narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing.

  Laura grabbed Anna’s hand under the table. “Even if we do meet with him, how could we keep ourselves safe?”

  Terrence said, “Even if this seems suspicious, why would some guy want to join us just to kill us? We aren’t actually getting anywhere on our own.”

  Brad jumped on the support. “Exactly. He has no motive to hurt us. He wants to help.”

  Anna looked to Dennis. “What do you think?” He was the leader and was obviously disturbed by this man as much as she was. Hopefully he would see reason.

  “I think both of you have valid points,” he said while Brad shot daggers with his eyes at Dennis. “H-however,” he continued after he saw the intimidating look from Brad, “I don’t think there's much harm in at least hearing what he has to say.”

  Anna rolled her eyes while Brad smiled at his victory. “The next time this Mr. X contacts you, tell him we all want to meet him. Don’t arrange it to be here, though. We’ll have to find someplace with lots of windows and is very public to meet.” He stopped for a second and appeared to be thinking of more orders to give Dennis. “Make sure the meeting is during the day.”

  Laura laughed at that obvious statement. A shrill noise sounded behind her laughter. Dennis pulled out his cell phone.

  Brad leaned close to him and looked at the phone. “Is that him?”