by CY Jones
Snapping my hand back before I do something stupid like squeeze the damn thing, I give him a glare before pulling my ear buds from my purse and start one of my audiobooks on my phone. Vaguely I hear Caleb chuckle before he turns his attention on his own phone.
For the next couple of hours, I ignore the two Adonises while I get into my book. When it gets to the good parts, I have to squeeze my legs together as my heart races. RH books make sex so fucking erotic, especially when I’m sitting next to two sexy alpha males who I wouldn’t mind getting down and dirty with.
“Good book?” Caleb asks, moving my earbud out of my ear.
“Didn’t your mother teach you it’s rude to touch people's things without asking?” I snap.
“She may have, but I was always a bad boy. Tell me violet, are you a bad girl?” He whispers in my ear, and I shiver at his warm breath on my lobe.
“No,” I answer in a breathy voice.
“I think you’re lying again. Purple streaked hair, smart ass mouth, and violet eyes filled with fire? I can tell you got in all sorts of trouble in that coven of yours.”
Narrowing my eyes, I snap out of the trance Caleb put me in. Some vampires can also give off pheromones, luring their prey in while their eyes mesmerize them to their will. It’s a rare ability, but it still happens.
“Coven? What on earth are you talking about?” I ask, placing a dumb look on my face. Sometimes it pays to be blonde.
“You can give up the act, Sabrina, I can smell the witch on you.”
“You know, you’re quite nosy for a stranger,” I mutter, agitated.
“Maybe I’m trying to be more than a stranger. Tell me violet, what does a vamp need to do to get to know you?” he asks, seductively.
“Mind their own business, and not pull my ear buds out my ear,” I answer haughty.
The bus stops for our last and final stop, and I rise immediately, stepping into the aisle before anyone else. Thank you Lady Luck, I think to myself as I take the steps two at a time and inhale the fresh air once I’m outside. Since our final destination is only an hour away, this rest stop is only fifteen minutes, but it’s still long enough to clear my head from the hotness of Caleb and his seductive words.
Quickly, I march over to the bathrooms and lock myself inside the family one so I can splash cool water on my face. When I stare into the mirror, I almost don’t recognize the girl staring back. This girl’s violet eyes are large and filled with life, my fair skin is flushed with color in my cheeks. It’s been a long time since I genuinely looked happy. Like the first time I stepped foot in New Orleans after leaving my oppressive family and their prejudice ways. Having stalled enough, I go back to the bus, but this time there are enough open seats for me to sit by myself again. I don’t hesitate to claim a seat away from the twins while I doze off listening to my book about a fearless blue haired girl looking for revenge.
Caleb
“Are you sure that’s the girl we’re looking for?” Nolan asks, as I watch our target take the empty seat towards the front of the bus. I knew when I saw all the empty seats that were left after the last rest stop, she would make a beeline for one of them.
“How many other purple eyed witches do you see on this bus?” I question, giving him an ‘are you serious’ look?
“Hey, don’t look at me like that,” he says, holding his hands up. “She could have taken a different bus. More than one bus goes to New York from NOLA, you know.”
“Say I entertain your theory. How do you explain her lying about everything, including her name?” I question.
“We’re strangers getting all up in her business. I would lie too,” he answers effortlessly.
Rolling my eyes, I sit back in my seat. With Amethyst gone, Nolan quickly occupies her empty seat. The elderly lady he was sitting next to, although I’m sure was nice, looked just like the lady on the front of the bag of cookies and not at all my brother’s type. More than once, I heard her asking him if he was single and if he likes older women.
“This bus fits the time frame, unless she took a later bus which was already ruled out when our sire’s spies reported seeing Abraxious at the bus port looking for the girl himself. You’re just trying to make excuses because you want to fuck her,” I say, stating the obvious.
“And you don’t?” He counters.
“Of course I do. Did you get a good look at Sabrina and that tight body of hers? But I still know how to do my damn job and not let my dick get in the way.”
“Are you sure about that brother? I could have sworn you made sure her hand groped said dick.”
“Don’t be jealous Nolan. I’m sure if you ask nicely she’ll be willing to touch yours too,” I mock. “You saw the way she was eyefucking us, she couldn’t keep her eyes off us.”
“Well, if you were doing your job right, she would be putty in our hands by now. Your powers should have subdued her by now, so we could convince her to go back to New Orleans with us, and deliver her to our sire. Maybe have a little fun along the way.”
“Don’t you think I was trying? I’ve been pumping enough pheromones her way to start an orgy in a Catholic church, and she still wasn’t interested. That’s one strong witch. Probably the reason why our sire wants her so damn badly,” I gripe. I never fail. Not once have my powers failed to get the results we needed.
“Oh, she’s interested alright. I can still smell her arousal. I bet you got sugar’s panties nice and drenched. She’s just not compliant enough to get her to follow us. You’ve had your fun, now it’s my turn. When the bus stops at its final destination, I’ll try, and we’ll see who gets the job done.”
“Have at it,” I wave my hand at my brother dismissively. It’s not going to be as simple as he makes it out to be. I have a feeling Amethyst is going to be more trouble than we originally thought. Hell, she already is. This was supposed to be an easy retrieval mission. Intercept the bus in North Carolina, use my mojo to make the girl come back with us, and deliver her unharmed to our sire. What I didn’t expect was for her to be so damn beautiful and that mouth. Fuck, all the things I want to do to that smart mouth of hers, like stuff my big cock down her throat to shut her up. I’m not ashamed to say I wanted her to do more than palm my cock from the outside of my jeans.
“What about Abraxious? It won’t be long until he tracks the girl down as well.”
“If you can mesmerize the girl when the bus stops, then we won’t have to worry about the prick. If not, we’ll deal with him when it’s warranted,” I answer nonchalantly. Abraxious is nothing but a two bit lazy freeloader. He’s not worth my brother’s worry. He may be full Fae, but all he cares about is getting others to do his dirty work for him, and sticking his dick in the first hole available, well at least he did on the last part, I think smiling.
“Do you think it’s true what they say she did to his cock?” Nolan asks, picking up on my train of thought.
“I fucking hope so,” I laugh. It’s just what the asshat deserves. The rest of the ride I keep focused. I can’t wait to get this task over with so we can go home. No matter how beautiful Amethyst is, no pussy is worth the wrath of our sire. Nolan and I will do whatever we need to do to not end up on our sire’s shit list.
Silver Springs
Amethyst
Finally, we reach New York and our final destination, and I’m not talking about the movie. I’m ecstatic to get off this bus, and never want to do this again. In my rush to leave, I almost mow the driver down. When I’m out on the platform waiting patiently for him to hand me my bag, he gives me a dirty look, letting me know that I didn’t make a friend out of him. Oh well, this isn’t Toy Story. Besides it’s not like I’ll ever see him again. Well, I hope not. Also in my rush to leave, I forgot all about the hot twins I sat by, so when one of them lays a hand on my shoulder, I turn suddenly and come face to face with one set of the twins’ extraordinary eyes.
“Sugar, don’t you want to come get a drink with me and my brother?” he asks slowly.
Jus
t like when I first met them, my voice box is on empty and I need a refuel. I can only stare deep into his eyes like I’m caught in a trance, but I can’t help it. They’re so damn lovely. Close up, I could see the blue one wasn’t just blue, but facets of different blues with striations of green and gold. The grey one reflected silver streaks that I swear glowed, leading my soul away like the pied piper. They also looked bigger, moving in and out like they pulsed with their own heart beat.
“What did you say?” I ask, already lost.
“Come get a drink with me and my brother,” he repeats, grabbing my hand to pull me away. It’s his touch that snaps me out my trance, and I snatch my hand back like it was on fire. I don’t know what it is about these two, but my gut is telling me I need to stay the hell away from them.
“What’s wrong, sugar?” he asks, looking at my hand in shock.
I don’t answer, I just turn away quickly heading for the front of the bus port. Once there, I practically sprint towards one of the waiting cabs and dive in the backseat. Startled, the cabby turns back to me and asks, “where to sweetheart?”
“Silver Springs,” I reply, breathing hard. My heart is racing and I feel like I just ran a marathon.
“That’s almost three hours away, are you sure?” he questions.
“Yes, now step on it,” I bark, and he does, peeling out onto the busy street. This time when I leave, two sets of extraordinary eyes stare at me as I gaze back at their owners through the back window until they are nothing but two tiny dots. I don’t know what that was about, but I feel like I dodged a bullet.
This go around I’m too on edge to sleep, afraid the twins will jump at the cab anytime and drag me away with their hypnotic sexy powers. I’m not sure if they tried on the bus, but I know on the platform Nolan, I think that was, was using his freaky vampire juju powers on me. Thank fuck skin contact cut him off, or I would have been chained down in his coffin somewhere as his sex slave to do as he please. Do vampires even sleep in coffins? I never had the nerve to ask the ones in New Orleans. That show The Originals got one thing right. New Orleans is crawling with vampires, witches, and wolf shifters. Ghosts too. There's many of them surrounding the above ground cemeteries.
Thank goodness for my rambling mind to occupy me and push my fear back, because the three hours fly by and before long, the small town I’m from starts to come into view. The place still looks the same, and I hate the beauty I see as I look around. As the cab drives into town square, I stare at the familiar landmarks of my childhood with a frown. The same brown cobblestone roads, the small, quaint shops lined up on both sides of main street, all the perfectly manicured parks we pass with healthy looking green grass covered in the brightly colored leaves that fell from trees over a couple centuries old, and the big, bright white building with the bronze domed roof of the mayor's office in the middle of the city square. This place may look like a perfect Hallmark movie, but I know more than anyone that looks can be deceiving. The people who live here are just as wicked as the ones in the big city.
“Here we go miss,” the cabby says, interrupting my thoughts. He’s already stopped and is waiting on me to pay my fare.
Handing over the money, I grab my bag and step out onto the clean sidewalk as I plot my next move. I should have been thinking about that instead of the twins, but ever since meeting them, they have been taking up way too much of my brainspace. Looking around, I notice a cozy looking cafe that wasn’t here the last time I was here and decided to check it out, hoping I’ll be able to figure out my next move over a frappe mocha and double chocolate chip muffin.
When I enter the shop, a little bell rings, and a pretty brunette gives me a bright smile as I walk over to the counter.
“Hello, how can I help you?” she asks cheerfully.
“I would like a medium mocha frappe with a double chocolate chip muffin,” I reply.
Paying the girl, I find a seat near one of the windows. Gazing around, I get lost in the beauty of the fall leaves littering the grass in their bright colors of red, green, and gold. A group of kids was currently running in the park jumping into huge piles of fall leaves, laughing and having a genuinely good time. Too young and too innocent to know how shitty this place really is.
“Amethyst, I thought that was you,” a familiar voice says before placing my order on the table in front of me.
“Hey Julian,” I reply once I place his name to his gorgeous face. Julian is a fellow witch I may have had a crush on back when we use to go to the academy together. Besides his pretty face, good hair, and beautiful grey-blue eyes, he was one of the few that didn’t treat me like a leper in school, but sadly it was never meant to be. I always thought him and his best friend Amber, a pretty blue eyed blonde chameleon would make a cute couple. They were practically inseparable. I don’t know if they ever wised up and got together. I hightailed it out of there as soon as I graduated.
“Long time no see. Are you here for the holidays?” He asks, taking a seat across from me.
“Actually, I’m thinking about moving back,” I tell him. There’s no point in lying if that’s what I really decide to do. It’ll only serve to make myself look like a fool.
“Really,” he says, raising a brow. “That’s really good news. I guess you’ll be staying with your coven.”
“Actually no. I was thinking I’ll find my own place. Do you know a place I can rent?”
“Not really, I just moved here a month ago myself. Most of the homes available are single family homes, but I know there's a living space above your mother’s old shop. If I remember correctly, it was willed to you wasn’t it?”
“Yes, much to my family’s dismay. I think they were upset they couldn’t take over the store,” I gripe. Probably hearing the hostility in my voice, Julian gives me a sad smile. Unlike the others, he didn’t turn a blind eye to my mistreatment. He knew what was going on, but it’s not like he could have helped.
“Well, it’s yours and it’s been waiting on you to come back and claim it.”
"Since when have you become so wise?” I joke, and he rewards me with one of his dazzling smiles. Amber is either the luckiest bitch on earth, or the dumbest if she never gave him a chance. “I think I’ll take this to go, and check the place out,” I tell him as I get up from my seat.
“Sounds like a good idea.”
Making an impulsive decision, I give him a hug. Trust me, I’m not a hugger. If being antisocial was a sport, I would win the gold medal. Julian bags my muffin for me, and when I get to the door, he calls my name. When I turn to him, he says, “know that you’re no longer alone. You have me and Amber, and we don’t care what kind of witch you are.” Nodding, I leave before I do something stupid like cry. I’m not a cryer either, but Julian’s acceptance almost turned me into both.
Thankfully, the shop isn’t too far from the cafe. Probably about two miles away on foot. The sun was long gone and the cool evening air was already seeping through the sweater I put on in the cab. When I pass a shoe store called The Perfect Fit, I can’t help myself from cupping my hands on either side of my face and peering inside. Every woman has a vice. Mine just so happens to be shoes, and chocolate, ooh and bacon. Bacon is life. Anyways, this quaint little shop was calling my name. Tomorrow I’ll have to check this place out, but for now, I’m almost dead on my feet.
I’m travel weary, and I still don’t know what I’ll find when I get to my mother’s, well now my shop. It’s been closed down since before she had me, when she first fell into depression after her coven sent my father away, so more than twenty-one years ago.
Yes, her coven. It’ll be a cold day in hell when I claim those bitches.
I don’t know if anyone has been inside since then to keep the place up. I just know my grandmother was pissed the shop was left to me and not her or my aunt. As well as the huge trust fund from my father’s parents. Apparently, he came from a well to do coven and they wanted to make sure I’d always be cared for, even if my mother’s coven were a bunch of j
ealous, petty assholes. I heard my grandmother talking about it once to her friends who are just as single minded as she is. She called it dirty money. Clean or dirty, it helped greatly to support me over the years. Abraxious barely paid me for the work I did for him. I could tell at times he was pissed I didn’t need him to support me. That I had my own money and could leave him at any time. Even now, with well chosen investments that have grown significantly over the years, (thank you Lady Luck) I still have more than I can spend in a couple lifetimes.
Sitting by itself, edging the forest line, is a two story redwood whimsical home converted into a Wiccan store. Walking here, I prepared myself for the worst. I expected to see a crumbling building, but instead, the house looks well cared for. The wood is still bright, the grey and peach boulders that make up the steps and rails are clean and clear of any dirt or debris. The windows are clean as well as the long wooden hanging sign which reads, ‘Books, Spells, and Beyond’.
The roof is unique, three tier and triangle shaped with an oval window right at the base before it meets the roof’s edge. The house looked quaint and cozy and well cared for. If I didn’t know any better, I would think it hasn’t been sitting here for over twenty-one years waiting for me to claim it. Taking the chain from around my neck, the one I keep the key to mother’s store on, I walk up to the bright orange door and slip the key inside the lock. With a click, I push the door open and stare wide eyed at the sight before me.
Stepping through the door, the smell of lavender and other herbs fill my nose and immediately calms my frantic nerves from seeing my mother’s space with adult eyes. A little less on edge, I take a look around and marvel at everything I see. Beautiful maple hardwood floors polished to perfection, fully stocked shelves are spread about dust free showcasing their wares, a group of wire 3D stars hang from the cream ceiling with white fae lights strung within, and all around the walls of the shop, knick knacks as well as authentic witch supplies were neatly organised on shelves and tables throughout, all without a cobweb or a dust bunny in sight.
