Heirloom Magic: Every Witch Way (11 page)

Harper felt ill as
the wind rushed past her face, making it difficult to draw a breath, but it was
still one hundred times better than being back with the demons. Jasper ran for
over an hour with his super speed, and Harper was amazed that he didn’t seem to
tire.

Eventually he
stopped and Harper finally risked pulling her head from where she’d shielded it
against his shoulder. Jasper was even more pale than usual, and his steps
staggered as he half set her down, half dropped her. “Are you okay?” Harper
asked in concern, and Jasper nodded slowly, shrugging away her worry.

“It just took a
lot out of me. I’ll be fine again once I’ve fed,” he told her as he sat down
hard in the dirt. Harper looked around at the place where they’d stopped for
the first time and realized that they were in the middle of a vineyard. Harper
stared at the rows and rows of grapes and knew without a doubt that they were
no longer in Alabama, even though the tropical vegetation had already clued her
in somewhat.

“Where are we?”
she asked, and Jasper had to take several deep breaths before he could answer.

“We are in
California, in the middle of the Coachella Valley.”

Harper looked
around in surprise. “How long was I out for?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Not long. Demons
can teleport great distances. It only took seconds to get you across the
country,” he told her.

“How did you find
me?” she asked, realizing for the first time how far Jasper had tracked her.

“Our connection
can be like a tracking device if you know how to use it,” he shrugged.

“Did you teleport
too?” she asked, and Jasper shook his head.

“Vampires can’t
teleport—but I know a guy.” Harper wanted to ask more questions, but Jasper
collapsed backwards and she realized what a jerk she was to grill him like this
right now. He had just saved her life.

“Are you sure
you’re alright?” she asked, coming to kneel down beside him. Jasper nodded.

“I’m just weak,
even my body has its limitations. Vampires usually have to feed after they are
wounded or use great bursts of energy, I’m just depleted.”

Harper thought
about the men that’d attacked Jasper in their home. That had probably weakened
him. Then he had somehow teleported here and been attacked by a demon and
wounded, just to speed across who knew how many miles—to save her life. Harper
held her wrist out to him without hesitation. “Here, drink,” she offered, and
Jasper recoiled like she’d offered him poison. It was a weird sensation to be
offended because someone wouldn’t drink your blood, but it hurt her feelings a
little.

“I am in no danger
of expiring, you don’t need to offer me your blood,” he protested, and Harper
frowned.

“I want to help
you,” she argued back. “I’m not doing this out of self-preservation.” She
hadn’t honestly thought he was in any danger of death.

Jasper looked at
her wrist hungrily. “It’s not right.”

Harper snorted.
“We’re friends,” she said, “–sort of,” she amended when he looked at her funny.
“Just do it!” She waved her wrist under his nose and saw his nostrils flare.
His teeth descended and Harper’s heartbeat picked up, not sure if this had been
a good idea after all, but his teeth were already sinking into the soft part of
her wrist, tapping into her vein, and it was too late to rescind the offer.

“Oh,” Harper
exclaimed as Jasper pulled her down to the ground.

Chapter Ten

The bite pinched at first, and Harper could feel every slide of his
fangs, but then something changed and it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It was
actually…pleasurable. Harper gasped as Jasper drank for only a minute more before
he pulled away, panting, and wiped his sleeve across his mouth. Harper stared at
him, her eyes wide.

“I apologize,”
Jasper said stiffly as he stood and offered Harper a hand up. Harper stood and
felt slightly dizzy. She stared at her wrist where the twin puncture marks were
already fading. “Vampires have special saliva that heals the wound,” Jasper
explained when he saw her staring at it. “It’s how we’ve avoided detection for
so many centuries.”

Harper cleared her
throat and nodded. “That makes sense,” she said as she stood there, not really
sure what else to say. He had just drank her blood and now his cheeks had a
flush of color that she had never seen before.

“Thank you,”
Jasper said after a moment, and Harper looked up from her wrist to meet his
eyes.

“You’re welcome,”
she told him, and she really meant it. Jasper looked entirely refreshed, and
since he was the one entirely saving their lives right now, that was a very
good thing.

“I’ve never had
demon blood before,” Jasper blurted out, and Harper flushed when she suddenly
remembered the way Caspian had spat her blood to the floor. What if she’d
poisoned him! “It was not unpleasant!” Jasper hastened to reassure her when he
saw the look on her face.

Jasper stared at
the witch before him; she was pale from her blood sacrifice. He had been trying
to play it tough, but he had really needed the blood. He hadn’t been sure what
would happen if he bit her. He had tried, years ago when he had first been
imprisoned, to bite Liz, and the ring had walloped his ass for his efforts. The
only thing he could think of was that he hadn’t bitten Harper with ill intent.
He stared at the ring on her finger intently. If Harper could actually break
the curse, he could be free again.

He could hear the
blood rushing through Harper’s veins and felt his fangs twitch in response. It
startled him. He hadn’t been close to losing control in over a century. He
hadn’t been lying though, her demon blood was good—like regular blood on
steroids. His mouth watered for another taste, but he knew that he could not
allow himself to give in to temptation.

“How much farther?”
Harper asked, distracting him from his dark thoughts.

“We are about
seven or eight miles from our contact,” he guessed. “He is waiting for us at a
small motel that is off the radar of pretty much everyone but the locals,”
Jasper told her. He opened his arms and Harper stepped forward willingly.
Jasper scooped her up and they took off again.

Ten minutes later,
Jasper skidded to a stop in the dusty parking lot of a small, rundown motel.
There was no one around as he set Harper down. Light was coming from the window
with the sign that said ‘office,’ and Jasper started towards it. Harper was
confused. Was Jasper renting a room for the rest of the night?

The bell over the
door jingled, and a pimply looking teenager looked up from where his face was
glued to a small television set on the desk. His eyes widened when he saw
Jasper.

“You made it,” he
said, sounding surprised as he got to his feet and came around the desk. In the
dim room, Harper gasped when she saw that his eyes glinted with the fires of
Hell.

“Jasper,” she
managed to choke out as she grabbed Jasper’s arm and started to back away.
Jasper refused to be moved. “He’s a demon,” she hissed, and Jasper nodded.

“I know,” he told
her. “Remember when I told you that demons were the only ones who could
teleport?” he asked, and Harper nodded. “This is Fergus. He teleported me to
you.” Harper peeked around Jasper at the pimply faced demon and took a
steadying breath.

“Okay,” she said.
She didn’t trust this demon, but she trusted Jasper.

The demon was studying
her, and it made her feel uncomfortable. “Do you have the second half of the
payment?” he demanded, and Jasper nodded his head.

“Back at the
house. I couldn’t exactly carry bricks of gold around with me on a rescue
mission,” he retorted.

The demon’s eyes
narrowed. “Let us not forget what happened to the last guy who tried to rip me
off,” he reminded Jasper, and Jasper’s fangs descended.

“You know I am
good for it, Fergus,” he growled, and the demon shrugged.

“What did happen
to the last guy?” Harper blurted out before she could stop herself.

The demon gave her
a nasty smile. “I teleported him out into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and
left him there,” he told her succinctly, and Harper’s stomach turned.

“We are ready,”
Jasper told the demon, interrupting, and Fergus nodded, stepping forward to put
a hand on both their elbows. Harper was just about to yank out of his grasp
when her world started to spin. She let out a yelp, and then just as quickly
her feet were back on solid ground.

Harper stared
blearily around Gran’s living room. Her dirty bare feet were back on the
familiar hardwood, and they weren’t alone. Mallory rushed forward and hugged
Harper so tightly that she thought her spine would crack. Mr. Bell was there
also, and he came forward looking relieved. “I’m glad you’re alright,” he said,
his voice gruff and deep. Even the mayor, Mary, was there.

“I am glad you are
back unharmed,” the mayor told her seriously, and Harper nodded her thanks.
“What happened?” she asked, and Harper wasn’t really sure where to begin.

“The demons took
her. They wanted her to join their ranks as a power grab,” Jasper answered
instead, and Harper was grateful that she was spared having to answer.

The room went so
still you could’ve heard a pin drop. Harper looked around at the concern on all
their faces.

“I’m not going to
do it!” she told them, a little offended by how worried they all looked.

“Of course you’re
not,” Mallory chimed up in her defense. “But this is bad news. The demons have
limited control in our world for good reason. They are chaos bringers. If they
think you might join their side—you’re in danger.”

Harper’s stomach
dropped at the news. “But—what can I do?” she demanded, not liking finding
herself in the middle of some demon power grab, being a witch was already weird
enough.

“Maybe we should
wait to discuss this,” Jasper chimed in, motioning to the demon that was
leaning casually against the side of the couch, watching the whole thing.

“I’m just waiting
to get paid, man,” the demon told them, and Jasper took off down the basement
stairs and returned with six gold bars. Harper’s mouth dropped to see the heavy
bars exchange hands. The demon stroked the bars like they were a favorite pet
and then disappeared into nothingness.

“You paid all
that…for me?” she asked, feeling a little choked up, and Jasper nodded.

“I would’ve paid
more,” he assured her, and Harper smiled.

“Fergus would’ve
taken less,” Keaton added his own two cents with a chuckle. Jasper looked like
he was going to retort, so Harper hastened to diffuse the situation.

“Is he gone?” she
asked, and Jasper scented the air before nodding.

“He is,” he
assured her as he threw himself down on the couch. “You need to put up some
protection wards in this house. It will keep demons from teleporting themselves
inside the walls.”

“Always carry
salt,” Mallory added.

“And don’t go
anywhere without me,” Jasper finished, making Harper look at him with wide
eyes.

“Maybe I should just
go back to Chicago—” Harper suggested, but everyone in the room shook their
heads.

“They would just
find you. You will be better protected here,” Jasper told her, shaking his head
before she had even finished speaking. He had no urge whatsoever to move to
Chicago, and with all the interest in Harper’s mixed blood right now, he
wouldn’t have much of a choice. She had to be protected; if something happened
to her, Jasper wouldn’t be long for this world either.

“I’ll get
round-the-clock protection in place right away,” Mary volunteered, already
furiously sending out a text on her Blackberry.

Harper sagged into
the couch, and Jasper gave everyone a look. “I think we can continue this
discussion in the morning,” he told them, and Harper was grateful. She had been
so fueled by adrenaline these last few hours that she was coming down hard
right now.

“Have you
considered that maybe we should call in that witch from New York?” Mary
suggested quietly when Jasper walked her to the front door. Jasper raked his
hands through his hair. She was talking about the witch that would occasionally
assist Liz in the shop when she had too many orders to fill herself. The woman
had been friends with Liz for over fifty years, but when demons were involved,
it was always difficult to know who you could really trust.

“I don’t honestly
know,” he admitted, and Mary nodded. She knew as well as he did that they had
to be careful.

“I’ll run it by
Harper later,” Jasper said to placate her, and Mary beamed.

“I’m sure she will
make the right decision,” Mary said, leaving Jasper with little doubt about
what the mayor thought was the right decision.

Jasper watched her
step off the porch and shift into her wolf form before she took off running
into the darkness with a howl. He snorted as he shut the door—wolves and their
dramatics—her car was still parked in front of the house.

Keaton and Mallory
were just saying goodbye when Jasper came back into the living room. “Some of
the pack will be outside,” Keaton murmured to Jasper, and the werewolf actually
offered his hand. Jasper hesitated for a moment before he shook it. “Take care
of our girl,” the wolf commanded, and Jasper nodded.

“Like my life
depends on it,” he said with a humorless chuckle.

Jasper joined
Harper on the couch. Her head kept drooping and she would nod off before
startling awake. Jasper pulled a blanket off the couch and tucked it around her
shoulders. “I’m awake,” Harper mumbled sleepily.

“You don’t have to
be,” he told her gently, settling in beside her to keep vigil through the
remainder of the night. Harper fought sleep, but eventually, Jasper’s cool,
reassuring presence made it impossible.

Harper woke up to
the smell of bacon and eggs, and her stomach growled. She popped one eyeball
open to find herself still sprawled on the couch—but the couch was in the
middle of the kitchen. “This isn’t where I fell asleep,” she said, sitting up
and looking over at Jasper flipping eggs.

Jasper shot her a
crooked grin. “I didn’t want to leave you alone, so I brought you in here,” he
told her, and Harper stared down at the couch.

“The couch too?”
she asked, and he nodded.

“It seemed easier
than waking you up,” he shrugged as he spooned some perfectly cooked eggs onto
a plate and brought it over to her.

“Thanks,” Harper
told him as she popped some bacon into her mouth. She chewed as she thought
about the night before. “What am I going to do?” she asked Jasper as the
vampire collapsed gracefully beside her on the couch.

“I would start
with the wards,” he suggested seriously. “Your gran had a bunch of them—every
witch does.”

Harper was about
to ask how when Jasper reached between the couch cushions and pulled out the
spell book. “Check under W,” he suggested.

Harper balanced
her plate on the edge of the couch and licked the grease from her fingers
before she dared to take the ancient book. She flipped to the back and worked
her way back from Z.

“Wards and Protection
Spells,” she read out loud as Jasper read over her shoulder. Harper read
through them until she got to the very last. It was written in regular pen, not
old fashioned ink, and was in her gran’s handwriting. “This one was Gran’s!”
she exclaimed excitedly to Jasper as she read over the spell in her head and
suddenly she felt great invisible walls slam up all around the house. The house
vibrated with magic, and Jasper was flung from the house.

“Jasper?” Harper
called out as she rushed to stare out the broken window. He had landed on the
lawn about thirty feet away.

“I’m alright,” he
coughed as he stood up and dusted the dirt and glass from his clothes. “That
was one hell of a spell.”

“I didn’t even
realize I was casting it, I just read it,” Harper said helplessly as she rushed
to the front door and opened it. Jasper tried to step through but it was like
an invisible force field was there, and it threw him back again.

“You had the
intent to cast a protection spell, so your magic recognized the spell as soon
as you read it…” Jasper snapped his fingers. “I think you need to invite me
inside, this spell is obviously designed to keep all magical creatures out.”

“Please come
inside,” Harper invited, and, with a wince, Jasper tried once more. This time he
wasn’t thrown away from the door and could actually step over the threshold.