Enchanter (24 page)

“That is a ghoul.”

“Ghoul, huh? What exactly do these things do?”

“They are a form of flesh-eating demons.”

“I had to ask.”

How many devils would I end up seeing now that hanging out
with Brandon had awakened me to this mythical world?

“Why would it come here?” I asked.

“It got cocky. Looking for a victim in daylight hours is not
something they normally do.”

“Yet it was here.”

“It must have gotten desperate.”

“For food?”

“Or because some demon hunter was hunting it down,” he said.

Oh, good lord! Demon hunters now?

“Oh.” I turned a concerned gaze toward him and pointed to
his long gashes. “Aren’t you going to take care of that before we head out?”

“Sure,” Brandon took a step back before squeezing his eyes
shut. By his even breathing, I knew he was locked in deep concentration. No
more than a minute had passed when the blue mist appeared from within his body
and began to seal the trio of gashes left by the ugly ghoul moments before.
Once the deed was done, he opened his eyes and smiled. “There, I’m as good as
new.”

“Now I understand why your people are called Enchanters.”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh. I mean, if I saw something like this while living
in an era where mythology was in working order, I would think that your kind
were charmers too.”

“Are you saying that I’m not charming, then?”

“Not at all.” Oh, he was charming all right, but there
really was no point treading that road again. It was best to keep pretending as
if his good looks and soft demeanor had no effect on me whatsoever. “Are you
immortals?” I opted for changing the subject.

He understood and made no more attempts to goad me into
spilling out more beans. “No, we’re not.”

“That’s nice to know.”

He nodded. “I think we should get back. I have to go back
home and change.”

His power was great when it came to healing the flesh, but
it did not mend clothing. And the front side of his black T was now nearly
ripped to shreds.

“Right, wouldn’t want a whole club of admirers chasing you
around.” On the other hand,
I
could go the rest of the day gawking at
that magnificent chest of his.

“And
I
wouldn’t want that?” he teased.

“You might want it, but I sure don’t,” I murmured.

Maybe he didn’t hear me.

Judging by the half smile on his face, I could assume he
had.

We started for the fence in silence.

Brandon, being the gentleman that he was, helped me walk
back to the fence while holding onto my hand the entire time so I would not slip
over something and stab myself, or worse. In a matter of minutes, we made it to
the barrier and he assisted my exit by pulling on the loose panel so that my
purse would not get stuck again. In no time at all, I managed to squeeze
through the hole without incident and waited for him to make an appearance on
the other side.

As soon as I was standing safely next to the tree that
shaded us from view, he climbed up the fence and jumped over the top with
surprising ease.

“Wow, all that jogging sure comes in handy, huh?” I could
not help but appreciate the display. It was not often that I got to see such a
handsome guy show such agility, bravado, and two muscled arms that made me weak
in the knees.

“I guess so.” The sheepishness behind his voice was very
refreshing. “Before working part time for Dmitri, I used to work full time
nights at the factory where Duke spends most of his eight hours shifts.”

“How could you juggle two jobs and college?”

“I had to. It was a necessity.” He shrugged. “I wanted to
build a future for myself and my… future partner.”

I caught his hesitation, but refused to mention it.

“Deep down, that’s what we all want.”

We strolled on in silence until we reached his car, but once
there he turned to look at me and said, “I’m going to Dmitri’s place early.”

“How come?”

“I just had a lousy early morning, so I might as well keep
the bad news coming.”

“Finding the one girl that’s going to save your kind from
going extinct forever is something I would hardly consider bad news.”

“That wasn’t exactly what I was referring to.”

“Then what?”

“The sooner I find her, the sooner I lose you.”

What could I say after that? Nothing at all, which is why I
opted for staring at his chest and not his face. I did not want to see the look
of sadness that marred his boyish features.

“I figured I’d drop by my apartment, change, and then head
out there, so if you don’t want to come along, that’s okay with me.”

He was hoping I would say no, I could see it in his eyes,
but he was not about to dismiss me that easily. If we were bound to sacrifice
each other so that his kind could live, I had no choice in that, but I wanted
to spend as much time with him as possible.

“The way I see it… if you’re going to get married soon, I
might as well see if she’s worthy of you, don’t you think?”

“If she’s not, then you’ll make her, right?”

“Absolutely.”

He grinned. “I’m one lucky man then.”

I shrugged. “Friends do that kind of things for others.”

“What if she’s not willing to be mine?” Brandon took one
step toward me and leaned in, watching for my reaction closely as he waited for
a response.

“What girl in their right mind wouldn’t want to be with
you?”

“You.”

His response caught me off guard and he knew it too.

I did not know what quite to say. I did want him, and that’s
what was so damn hard about making my decision to let him fulfill his destiny
with whatever girl had been placed on this earth for him. Couldn’t he see how the
news of this supposed union between them affected me? Wasn’t it obvious in my
eyes?

Yet again, how could he see? I was good at hiding my
emotions when the occasion called for it, and while I put up a self-defense
wall, which sheltered my real feelings, he probably thought I could care less
who he ended up with as long as it was not with me.

“I never said I was completely rational,” I retorted at last.

****

We arrived at The Blue Flame restaurant ten minutes after
nine o’clock that morning, and Leon escorted Brandon and me to the third floor
to Dmitri’s apartment as soon as we walked in through the front doors. I have
to say that I was excited to see the only part of the building which I had not seen
before, but my eagerness died the second I saw Mia sitting on the one of the
two loveseats.

“Oh, you brought her along?” The Blondie pointed to me and
scoffed.

“It’s nice to see you too,” I retorted.

“Hello, Leah.” Dmitri greeted me and ignored Mia.

“Hi. Nice place you got here.” I walked into the living room
area with both men following suit.

“Thanks to your beau there.”

“Technically, he’s someone else’s beau.”

“Yes, someone else more deserving,” Mia spat more venom my
way.

“As long as it’s not with you, I’m fine with that,” I spat
back.

“Now Mia, I would appreciate it if you behaved around my
guests.” Although Dmitri’s voice was nonchalant, his eyes were clearly throwing
daggers at the impertinent blonde.

“Why is she even here?” Mia asked.

“She’s here with me, Mia.” Brandon tossed an annoyed look
her way.

“She’s of no good use.”

“Neither are you, yet you’re here,” I spat. “Brandon and I
are friends, so I want to show him some support.” It felt like a lame defense,
but what else was I supposed to say?

“Friend? You? Ha! You are no friend to him.”

“Mia,” Dmitri warned.

“I’m exactly where I want to be. You can’t really say the
same, huh?” I asked.

If she was not pissed before she was now. “Why you—”

“Mia!” Dmitri started before turning to me and adding, “Is
pissing off a vampire a good thing?” He meant it to be a joke, but I did not give
a damn by that point.

“If I wasn’t so sure that she could tear me apart with those
pearly whites, I would slap her all the way back to Russia!”

All three men laughed.

“Hellcat,” Leon murmured.

“You wish,” Mia hissed.

“Come on in and sit down, please.” Dmitri gestured toward
the couch, which Brandon and I both sat on.

The sight of us sitting side by side pissed Blondie off
enough that she stormed off seconds later without saying another word.

“Why do you put up with that bitch?” I asked Dmitri after
she was gone.

“Because she’s my sister.”

My mouth dropped down to my lap. “Your what?”

“What a way to put your foot in your mouth,” Brandon
whispered near my left ear.

Dmitri laughed. “She’s my half-sister actually. Same mother,
different fathers.”

“How come you’re so nice and she’s such a pain in the ass?”

“When I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”

I shrugged. “Can I be perfectly honest with you?”

Dmitri nodded. “Of course.”

“I don’t like your sister at all.”

“So I’ve noticed. And don’t pretend like you have to
either.”

“Thanks.” I beamed.

“Something to drink?” he offered.

“As long as it’s not blood.”

Leon tossed his head back and laughed at my remark. Dmitri
rewarded me with a half-smile, which revealed a set of perfectly developed fangs.

“Water then?” He pointed toward the mini bar at the far end
of the living room, where a few bottles of water waited.

“Sure, I’ll take that.”

Our host sauntered over to the mini bar and grabbed two
bottles of water, which he handed over to us. Brandon and I took the bottles,
uncapped them, and took a sip before turning our attention back to Dmitri.

“Well, now to more important matters.” Dmitri handed Brandon
a piece of paper. “This is a list of the few Enchanters that were living in the
area around the time you were born.” He pointed to the paper Brandon was
reading. “Leon had one hell of a time coming up with those names, because Enchanters
don’t usually leave a paper trail for others to follow. However, they do leave
a trail of magic, which in this case helped us a lot.”

“And Leon can follow these trails how?” I had to ask.

“I can pick up on magical auras or trails left behind by
magical beings. My kind doesn’t really have a name, but we were often used by
demons when they wanted to track down witches, Enchanters, warlocks, charmers,
fairies, so on and so forth.”

“Is your ability limited to just magical beings?” I asked,
curious to know more about the tall and dark man who worked as a security guard
at The Blue Flame restaurant.

“No. I can see humans’ auras too.”

“Can you see mine?”

Dmitri appeared amused by my question, but Leon took on a
serious expression.

“Now that you mention it, I can’t really see it.”

That certainly did not sound good.

“Does everybody have an aura?”

“Humans always do, but I can’t see yours at all.”

Brandon and Dmitri turned their attention to me.

“What do you mean?” Brandon asked as he stared at me.

“Well, it’s almost as if it’s being blocked by something,
but I can’t see what.”

“Okay, now you’re scaring me.” I did not like the way he
kept staring at me.

“Sounds like there’s another mystery for us to solve,”
Dmitri said. “But first, we must find the Giver of Life, before it’s too late
for you both.”

“How did you guys come up with this list?” Damn if I wasn’t
curious to know.

“Leon did most of the work actually. Enchanter’s auras are like
a fingerprint, no two are the same. By following each one and matching them
with the tombs of those who passed away or places where they lived for any
indefinite amount of time, Leon was able to account for all.”

“That sounds like a lot of arduous work.”

“It was,” Leon replied. “It took me about three years to
account for the Enchanters living in this area on or around the time Brandon
was born.”

“What were you all expecting to find by finding all these
people?”

“The parents of the Giver of Life, of course,” Dmitri
provided.

“And did you find them?”

“No. But we found a man that might know what happened to
them.”

“Isn’t there a possibility that they fled the area? I mean,
twenty something years is a long time. A lot of things could have happened
during that time.”

“We know that,” Dmitri said, “But there is one man living in
the area that might know what happened.”

Brandon nodded before turning his attention to scanning the
piece of papers. “His name is in this list?”

“Yes. It took us a while to figure out what was making him
so damn elusive. But he’s there, right at the bottom.”

Brandon arched both eyebrows. “He’s been hard to find?”

Dmitri nodded. “He’s been using all kinds of spells to
disguise his form. Every few years or so he transforms his physical appearance
to make himself look like someone else.”

“That can only mean that someone else is looking for him. Why
else would he feel the need to disguise who he really is?”

“I agree.”

“And did you talk with him?”

“No. He won’t talk to anyone but you, Brandon. He refused to
even open the door for us and said that he would only speak to the last Enchanter.”

“I’m guessing seeing a vampire and his employee didn’t
exactly make him feel safe.” Leon added.

“I guess not.” Dmitri said.

“Did you see past his self-imposed disguise?” Brandon asked.

“I saw all right, he’s a Protector.”

“Protector?” I asked.

“Protectors were Enchanters chosen as guardians for children
who were left orphaned,” Brandon explained. “Normally these were the elders of
the community whose own children were already grown.”