Bewitched, Bothered, and Bitten Read online

  I took their coats and, as I was hanging them up, I noticed the expression of longing on Calder’s face when he looked at Ricki. When he saw me looking at him, his face closed down and he shrugged before turning away.

  A few moments later, after she hugged me, I saw a similar look on Ricki’s face when she looked in the wolf’s direction.

  Despite the seriousness of our current situation, I wanted to smile. Whether she liked it or not, Ricki had finally found a man who would stick with her for the rest of her life.

  Since there were too many people to fit in my library and solarium, we gathered in the living room. Conner sat on the couch with Donna on his lap. Lex and Ivie sat side by side next to them. Lachlan, Calder, and Finn stood near the fireplace, talking quietly. The other two members of the vampire Council, Gabriel and Johanna were seated in my cozy armchairs by the fire looking a bit uncomfortable. I’m sure that they were unused to being surrounded by witches, werewolves, and humans.

  Shannon and Ricki were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. Ricki worked very hard to avoid looking at Calder and Shannon was eyeing Gabriel and Johanna curiously.

  “Are you ready?” Belinda asked from behind me.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I shrugged. “No, but I don’t have a choice.”

  The corners of her mouth lifted in a semblance of a smile and she handed me the Book of Shadows. “Let’s get this done. Lachlan and Calder appear as though they’re ready to make their escape.”

  Together, we moved to the center of the room, commanding everyone’s attention. I was glad when Belinda took the lead and spoke first.

  “Thank you all for coming. As you know, there has been unrest among the vampires in this area and a rebellion against Council rule. It now appears that the mutiny has reached beyond the vampire population. Last night, members of the Faction also made an attempt on one of my coven. I believe it is only a matter of time before they turn their attentions to the MacIntire pack.” She paused, letting her words sink in. “It’s time that we stop playing politics and dancing around an alliance. There are too many lives in peril to waste more time. We need to work together in order to protect all of those we lead.”

  I saw a small smile of approval on Conner’s face and Lex tilted his head in acknowledgment at her words. The tension that had wound within me began to relax slightly. I glanced at Gabriel and Johanna, since I didn’t know them as well as I did the other vampires on the Council.

  Gabriel seemed unaffected, his face composed and calm, but Johanna appeared to be on the verge of, for lack of a better term, losing her shit. Her hazel eyes glowed brightly with what I assumed was anger. She leaped to her feet, moving so quickly that her long brown hair seemed to float around her head.

  Staring at Conner and Lex, she asked, “You will allow a witch to tell you what to do? She knows nothing and she is weak. You have allowed your love for humans,” she sneered the word as though it were unclean, “to affect your judgment. Vampires are the strongest. We should be telling them what should be done, not listening to the sniveling of mere witches.”

  I knew that Belinda wouldn’t speak up for herself. She was too diplomatic and I had never, in the years I had known her, seen her lose her temper. Me, however, well, I was fucking done.

  I stepped forward, keeping my posture relaxed as I called on the magic around me as I had last night. I didn’t want to use it, but Johanna seemed on the edge of doing something stupid, so I wasn’t going to take any chances. “That is enough,” I murmured, fighting to keep my voice calm.

  I almost flinched at the snarl on her face when she whirled toward me. “Do not speak to me, witch.” She turned her back on me and continued with her tirade. “You’re living with a human, Lex. She’s food, not a pet.”

  Ivie’s face paled at Johanna’s words. Since early in their relationship, she’d been dealing with feelings of inferiority and insecurity around his vampire colleagues.

  That was when I lost my temper. A wave of power crashed over me, so strong I almost fell to my knees. Unable to stem the flow, I managed to control it enough to keep it from exploding in the room like a stick of metaphysical dynamite.

  I focused the energy on Johanna. “I SAID, THAT IS ENOUGH!” My voice had taken on an unnatural depth and volume, heavy with the weight of my magic.

  The vampiress fell to the floor, curling into a fetal position, as I stalked toward her. I knew the amount of power I was forcing into her was hurting her badly, but it seemed that Johanna hadn’t encountered a powerful practitioner in all her centuries of life and I intended to teach her a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget.

  I crouched down beside her and, hissing, she tried to strike out at me. Somehow, even though she was moving so quickly most humans would only see a blur, her attack looked slow and clumsy in my eyes.

  Lifting a hand, I commanded, “Stop.” Her body froze, but her eyes burned into mine, promising pain and most certainly death if she escaped my grasp. My voice was still distorted as I spoke, though not as loud. “You are in my home and you have treated me and my guests with contempt.” I leaned a little closer, staring deep into her eyes and feeling her mind trying to force its way past my mental barriers. Shaking my head, I admonished her, “I can feel what you’re trying to do, Johanna, and it won’t work. Now, what does vampire law say about insulting one’s host?”

  Her internal struggles stopped and I could feel the niggle of fear within her.

  “Since I don’t trust you to answer honestly,” I stated, “let’s ask another vampire.”

  To my surprise, Gabriel Crow spoke. “An affront of this magnitude would have the most dire of consequences, including exile or even death.”

  I glanced over at him, and something he saw in my face caused him to stiffen. I realized that the amount of magic I was channeling was lifting the ends of my hair as though I were sitting outside in a light breeze. To one who had never witnessed a witch in her full glory before, it could be an extremely unsettling sight.

  “Your eyes,” he whispered.

  “What about them?”

  He blinked several times, a look of awe on his face. “They’re glowing. In fact, at this moment, you look almost like a vampire in the throes of bloodlust.”

  His comparison hit me in the gut hard enough to make me catch my breath. I could sense that he didn’t mean it as an insult, but rather a strange sort of vampire compliment. I tucked those emotions away to deal with later. I reminded myself I didn’t have to become the witch my father had been. Right now, I had a chained tiger in front of me and I needed to handle her first.

  “All right, Johanna. It seems that I can choose your punishment. However, I might be inclined to be lenient if you apologize.”

  She spat out words in a language I didn’t know. Maybe Polish or Ukrainian. I didn’t think I wanted to know what she was saying anyway.

  I clicked my tongue at her. “Now, Johanna, that’s no way to treat the person who holds your life in her hands.”

  “You cannot kill me, witch. You are too weak and spineless.”

  Before I could respond, I felt Finn come up behind me. “You’re wrong, Johanna. I saw her last night as she destroyed four vampires, three of them older than you, and she did it without uttering a single spell.”

  For the first time, the vampiress’ eyes showed true fear. She stared up at Finn. “Please don’t.”

  “Oh, but I must,” he answered, his voice as calm and unruffled as though he were asking for another cup of coffee.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  Finn didn’t respond. He merely focused his vibrant purple eyes on Johanna. I watched as his pupils constricted to pinpricks, then expanded until only a corona of electric purple shone around the edges.

  His voice held a strange echo when he spoke again. “Dear Johanna has been recruited by the Faction. Unfortunately, they haven’t shared much information with her, only accepted what she offered them.”

  My heart stopped. How could I have
forgotten? One power Finn had developed after he was turned was the ability to read and control other vampires. Though all vampires could play mind games with humans, it was extremely rare for them to possess the ability and strength to do so to one another.

  “Is there anything else you can see?” Conner asked.

  Finn shook his head. “Not right now. I will need more time with her. She’s under some sort of spell to protect any secrets she knows. The warlock aligned with the Faction is powerful. It won’t be easy to break through his spell and, even if I do, it may kill her.”

  Conner’s face was harsh when he said, “That’s a risk we’ll just have to take.” He removed his phone from his jacket pocket and made a call. To whomever was on the other end, he stated, “I need you. Johanna’s been compromised and we need to have her taken in for interrogation.” He paused. “No, you need to come now.” Again he listened to the person on the other end. “You won’t be seen, now get your bloody arse over here.”

  I felt my eyebrows lift as Conner’s accent thickened during his last words. It was actually very sexy.

  Donna must have noticed my surprise because she muttered, “I know, right? Every time he’s pissed off, I get turned on.”

  I swallowed a cackle at her wildly inappropriate and ill-timed comment. Unfortunately, Shannon snorted and the rest of my friends dissolved into howls of amusement. The vampires and werewolves around us did not look amused as all five of us laughed until we cried. Goddess, my friends were twisted bitches and I loved every one of them for it.

  Chapter Eleven

  After our hysterics over Donna’s poorly timed humor, Finn had done something to Johanna to make her sleep. Then Belinda cast a spell to keep her from hearing us as we spoke. I’d never heard of it before and I would have to ask her where she found it as I’m sure it would come in handy in the future. Maybe it was overkill, but we weren’t taking any chances with what we were about to share.

  Once we were sure that Johanna would not be able to eavesdrop, we continued our meeting while we waited for Conner’s man to arrive. It hadn’t taken long to explain what I had found in the library that morning. Since Belinda and I weren’t yet sure exactly what the prophecy meant, we couldn’t answer the questions asked by the remaining Council members and Lachlan.

  Donna, Ivie, and Ricki seemed excited at the idea that they had such an important role in the upcoming battle, but Shannon was the only one of them that seemed to comprehend the gravity of their position. As an administrator for a security firm, she understood what war looked like. Most of the employees at her company were military veterans or ex-government operatives. Her questions were intelligent and relevant. Even the vampires and werewolves looked at her with respect and approval by the end of the meeting.

  After we were done, Lachlan pulled Calder to the side and they spoke quietly for a few minutes. The conversation looked tense. Finally, Lachlan nodded and the rigid muscles of Calder’s back relaxed.

  As they continued their conversation, Belinda wandered over to me. “In all the hubbub, I forgot to tell you why I called. I had a vision of a vampire with black eyes and I’m almost certain he’s the warlock that was here last night. He was in a dark room, lit only by a few candles, and you were sitting on the bed, talking to him. I could see you, but not hear you. I know it’s not much help, but I hoped talking to you would help me see more.”

  I nodded. “I understand. Anything shake loose?”

  “Shake loose?” she asked with a smile. Shaking her head, she answered, “No, nothing else. I’ve been a little distracted with your discovery. If I have another vision, I’ll call you.”

  “Okay.”

  Before our conversation could go further, the MacIntire alpha left his beta standing in the corner alone and came over to where Belinda and I were standing.

  “Bell, it’s time to go,” he growled impatiently.

  Bell? Really?

  To my surprise, the High Priestess of my coven smiled serenely and nodded. “No problem.” I stared at her as she said to me, “I’ll call you later, Kerry.”

  I watched as the alpha helped Belinda put on her coat before resting his hands on her shoulders and stroking the back of her neck with his thumb. When I realized that my High Priestess definitely had an intimate relationship with the MacIntire alpha, I gaped at them, dumbfounded. I watched as Lachlan placed a hand on Belinda’s lower back and guided her out my front door. Shit, after all the insanity before our meeting, I’d forgotten to talk to him about keeping a closer eye on Belinda.

  “I thought you knew that they were together,” Finn murmured in my ear.

  “No clue.”

  I walked away from him without another word. Despite our easy rapport that morning, I really didn’t want to discuss my High Priestess’ sex life. Or think about it in any way, shape, or form.

  A half hour later, a tall, blonde vampire came through the front door. He did not look happy. In fact, he looked downright enraged. However, when Donna saw him, smiled, and waved, the anger left his face as he nodded at her.

  I was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace with all four of my friends, trying not to worry about everything that was happening.

  “Whoa, who is that?” Ricki asked quietly. “He’s hot.”

  We all jumped when a low, rumbling growl filled the room. Ricki shot Calder a dirty look before turning her back on him.

  I couldn’t stop my smile. The sexual tension between those two was palpable and I knew it wouldn’t be long until Calder lost his patience with Ricki’s ‘hard to get’ act.

  “That’s Asher,” Donna answered, ignoring Calder’s possessive behavior. “He’s a friend of Conner’s and he’s part owner of Concord.”

  “The restaurant?” Shannon asked.

  “Yeah.”

  We all watched him as he walked over to where Conner stood with Finn and Lex.

  “Damn, that is a whole bunch of sexy,” Ivie whispered.

  In unison, all four vampires turned and looked at our group.

  “Shit, do you think they heard me?” she asked Donna.

  I chuckled when I saw Lex look right at Ivie and nod his head.

  “Somebody’s in trouble,” Ricki trilled.

  “Shut up.”

  We all started giggling at Ivie’s petulant response. Conner, Finn, and Lex went back to their discussion, but I noticed that Asher seemed to be distracted and still staring in our direction. I glanced over and realized that he and Shannon were studying each other as though sizing up an opponent. Something clicked inside me and I realized that the final woman in our group had found her match. Not that I would tell Shannon that. The woman carried a gun and she knew how to use it, even if it was pink and girlie. I wasn’t about to get on her bad side.

  “Shannon, will you quit eye-fucking Asher and pay attention?” Ricki quipped.

  I bit my lip to hide my smile as Shannon’s eyes cut to the side and she gave Ricki a look that would have made a grown man flinch. Ricki just flipped her off and kept talking.

  We chatted and watched as Conner and Asher carried Johanna out of the house. Finn, Lex, and Gabriel followed. They returned a few minutes later, minus Gabriel and Asher. I assumed those two were handling Johanna’s relocation to whatever make-shift dungeon they had set up.

  Conner approached our group and hauled Donna to her feet. “Lass, we need to go so Kerry can get to the safe house.”

  I stifled a sigh at his endearment to my friend.

  The rest of us stood as well. We exchanged hugs and kisses and I promised to call them as soon as I was settled in the safe house. Since Lex and Ivie had ridden with Conner and Donna, they left together. Shannon and Ricki were just putting on their coats when Calder approached them.

  “If it’s all right, I’d like to ride back to the city with you.” Calder phrased it politely, but it was not a request.

  Shannon shrugged. “No problem.”

  I watched as Ricki’s eyes widened and, once again, had to bite my lip
to hide a smile. It seemed Shannon was getting revenge for Ricki’s eye-fucking comment earlier. Though I know she wanted to object, I watched as Ricki fought for her composure. They had driven out here in Shannon’s car, which meant that Shannon had the final say.

  Calder watched Ricki closely, obviously waiting for her to rise to the bait, but she merely snapped, “Fine.” Then she stormed out of the front door, leaving Calder and Shannon to trail behind her.

  A few moments later, Finn and I were alone in the house.

  With a sigh, I headed toward the stairs. “Well, I guess I should pack a few things. Should I follow you to the safe house in my car?” I asked.

  “No need. One of Conner’s employees came out with Asher and drove it back to your loft.”

  I stopped, one foot hovering over a stair. “What?” I turned and stared down at him, unsure if I’d heard him correctly.

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Finn replied, “Your car is at your loft. You’ll ride back to Dallas with me.”

  I mirrored his position, feeling irritation building in my belly. “Don’t you think that you should have, I don’t know, asked my permission?” My voice was tight because I was struggling not to yell at him.

  He shook his head. “No. You would have argued with me about it, then, after a nasty little spat, I still would have had Conner’s man come out here and pick up your vehicle whether you liked it or not.”

  Oh, hell no. “Now, wait just a damned minute…” I began. Somewhere in the kitchen I heard my phone ring. Concerned it might be important, I darted down the stairs, but not before pointing a finger at Finn and saying, “Don’t think this is over, buster.”

  He merely bared his teeth at me in a poor semblance of a smile. “It’s over and done. Anything you have to say won’t change that.”

  I almost zapped him as I passed by, but somehow managed to control the childish impulse. “We’ll see about that,” I muttered.

  I found my phone on the counter next to the coffee pot and answered.