Love Charms (73 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

How They Met

Jack was quiet as he revved
the engine and pulled out onto Glenwood. The awkward silence wasn't lost on him
though, so he reached for the radio.

"Maybe we should
talk?" Mom said, stopping him.

Jack's hand froze a few
inches from the knob, and I saw a look flicker across his face that said he
wanted to do anything but.

"I mean, if you're my
daughter's someone, I should get to know you a little, right?"

I swallowed the frog in my
throat. "Actually Mom, we're not-"

"No," Jack cut in,
dropping his hand. "It's fine. What would you like to talk about,
ma'am?"

"Ma'am," she
repeated with a grin. "Handsome and has good manners. This one's a keeper,
Jade!"

I tried to not wince at her
words. I had a feeling this would be the longest 45 minutes of my life.

"So how about where you
guys met?" she asked.

"It's actually just a
mile or so up the road on your left," Jack answered. "Across the
street from Meredith." His eyes never left the road. "We met at a
coffee shop."

"How romantic," she
gushed, giving me a pinch. "So was it love at first sight?"

I blushed, wrenching my arm
away from her. "Maybe we shouldn't do this right now."

"Love is the perfect
mood booster," she insisted. "I'm not asking about the first time you
had sex for chrissake."

"Jesus, Mom!" I
hissed, shaking my head with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Jack."

My only reply was Jack
drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "It's okay," he said
after a moment. "Your mom's right." He flashed her a small smile in
the rearview mirror. "I knew she was special from the moment I laid eyes
on her."

"Awww," she cooed.

"You see, most humans
have a fleshy, earthy smell. Raw and visceral. Like a walking piece of
steak."

My eyes went round. My mother
cleared her throat and leaned back in her seat.

"But Jade just smelled
different," he continued. "I hadn't smelled anything like it in over
a hundred years."

"What did she smell
like?" Mom probed.

He gave a small chuckle.
"Like peonies."

"Like perfume?"

"Mmhm," Jack
nodded. "For the first time in a long time, I couldn't smell a human's
blood pumping throughout their body. Your daughter smelled like peonies and
sweat. It was beautiful."

I glanced at him wistfully.
"And he said that. ‘You smell beautiful.’ I thought it was just some
pickup line. He got away with it because he was the cutest guy I'd seen in
awhile."

"I bought her a cappuccino,"
Jack added. "And I asked her what a girl like her was doing in a place
like this."

I smiled. "And I gave
him a look and said, ‘One generally goes to coffee shops to drink
coffee.’"

"And I added that
meeting mysterious strangers was an added bonus."

I laughed, remembering how
nervous I was. How excited. "Then I held up a strand of my then blue hair
and told him there was obviously nothing mysterious about me." I turned to
the window, watching the cars zip by. "Then I made a crack about Lost, and
then followed it up with how mysterious it was that he hadn't even heard of the
show."

"And the rest is
history," Jack said icily. The cool chill of my betrayal crept back in and
the only sound echoing through the car was the tires slapping the asphalt.

"A blind man can see
that you two care about each other," Mom said quietly. "Believe me,
when you have something like that, something special, it's worth fighting
for."

I turned to Jack then,
staring at the profile of his handsome face in the dark. We could start over,
right?

I slid my hand over and
rested it on top of his. My heart beat rapidly when he didn't recoil from my
touch. My lips trembled when he turned his hand over and interlaced his fingers
with mine. But when he inhaled, he pulled away from me, like there was still a
trace of what I'd done in my scent.

His knuckles were bleached
white as he put both hands on the steering wheel. "So when we get to
Josephine's, you should let me do all the talking. Succubi are tricky
bastards."

I tucked my hand back in my
lap and laid my head back in the seat. I could hear Mom doing the same and sent
her a silent thanks. And I was thankful for the pitch black darkness of the car
so no one could see me cry.

It was a little past midnight
when we pulled onto Franklin Street. In true college town fashion, students
clad in UNC sweatshirts still lit up the streets like fireflies. For a moment,
I wondered what my life would have looked like if I'd taken a different path.
I'd probably be cooped up in a dorm somewhere or out on a coffee run with my
friends. I'd be blissfully ignorant about how deep the supernatural well really
went and would’ve used my magical talents for love potions and focusing spells.
I would be making the trek to UNC after hours so I could see my boyfriend for a
good luck lay before a big test. I wouldn't be traipsing on campus for a sit
down with a succubus.

Jack tapped on a door with a
placard that said Dr. Josephine Defleur. I prepared myself for some exotic
beauty with an accent. An accent that would probably feel like caramel on my
skin.

But when the door creaked
open, I could barely believe my eyes. She was middle aged, her pale skin
crinkled at the eyes and mouth. Her lips were slight narrow things like her
rail thin body. Her hair was strawberry blonde with tuffs of gray weaved
throughout. She wasn't ugly by any means...I just didn't look at her and think
'sex machine'.

 Weary brown eyes stared back
at me. "Underwhelmed, eh?"

"I just-" I began.

Jack shot me a look and I
snapped my mouth shut.

Josephine laughed, her whole
face brightening. "Warned them about me, eh?"

She turned back to her sparse
office and padded to her desk. She leaned back in her chair, stretching her
arms above her head. "Mom? I'm gonna need you to wait outside. There's a
lobby on the second floor-"

Jack flashed her an
apologetic face with a dash of ‘I told you so’, but I knew either way that once
Mom made her mind up about something, it's damn near impossible to change it.

"I'm not going
anywhere," she said evenly, her feet planted firmly beside ours.
"You're not my first succubus, you know. Your kind likes to feed alone.
Once you figure out a way to hustle me out of here, Jack's next."

Josephine smirked. "What
a smart little witch! If you were a few decades younger, you'd so be my
type." The jovial playfulness fell from her voice. "Y’all came to see
me. Not vice versa. I call the shots."

"No," Mom said
through clenched teeth.

In a blur of light like a
gust of wind, Josephine went from behind her desk, ripped me from where I
stood, and slammed me into her glass bookcase. Her fingers were tight against
my windpipe.

I didn't even bother
flailing, but I saw Jack bare his fangs and my mother stretch out her hand,
ready to do battle.

Josephine grinned at me, her
teeth suddenly more pointy than I remembered. "They must really love you.
They're still pretty dumb, though. My only real match is your boyfriend, and he
hasn't fed in awhile so..." She tightened her grip and I squeezed my eyes
shut, gurgling in pain.

"You both know I'm
holding back," she shot over her shoulder. "And you won't be able to
disable me before I break her pretty neck."

My eyes fluttered open and I
saw my mother's shoulders sag. "If that monster drains my daughter,"
she said to Jack, "I'll stake you both and have a barbecue."

"Saucy," Josephine
giggled.

When my mother walked out the
office and slammed the door shut, Josephine released me. I fell to the floor, a
sprinkling of glass falling around me. I was on all fours, gasping and sucking
in sweet, beautiful oxygen. I looked over and caught a reflection in a shard of
glass.

It was Josephine – but
about 10 years younger. The lines in her face were faded. Her cheeks and lips
were rosy. Her strawberry hair hung in gentle waves around her fair face.

She saw what had caught my
attention and touched her face, like she'd forgotten she was that beautiful as
well.

"That's how I looked
before I was turned 15 years ago," she said. "Beautiful,
vibrant...full of life." Jack was still staring at her like he wanted to
rip her throat out, but one steely glance from Josephine silenced that.

"I was a couple of years
older than you, Jade," she continued. She walked over and perched on the
edge of her desk. "Like you, I worked for NACA. Was Necromancer of the
Year two years in a row." She turned her attention back to Jack.
"Then one of his kind decided he was tired of being immortal – and
was too much of a coward to meet the sun. So he waited until I finished one
particularly hairy summoning, with fresh dead blood burning in my veins."

I slowly pulled myself up and
staggered over to where Jack stood.

"He almost killed
me," she said, her voice hollow. "I used one last burst of magic and
projected myself home." She chuckled. "That night after I changed, I
drained every last person in my apartment building. Women, men...children. 327
people." She ran a hand through her stringy hair. "They blamed it on
carbon monoxide poisoning. And I was swept away to Nashir House-"

"We didn't come here for
your life story," Jack snarled.

She bared her fangs –
two rows of perfectly pointy white teeth. "I drained two students on my
way back from class. Interrupt me again, fanger, and so help me-"

"So you went to Nashir
House," I interjected, silencing them both.

"Succubi boot
camp," Josephine said with a smile. "I learned that like vampires, I
had to kill to survive. Luckily, we don't have the same ultraviolet
sensitivity. But while your beau should look like the crypt keeper, he's frozen
forever. Succubi age. Humans will still see us the way we were, but other supes
and specials, and when we look in the mirror..." Her voice trailed off.

I couldn't help but feel a
little sorry for her...after all, I'd almost become her half a dozen times. It
suddenly sucked all the fun out of Jack and I playing chicken, playing with the
reality that I could have become a succubus.

"So about who killed
Barius," Jack piped up, trying to steer us back on track.

"Ugh," Josephine
said with an eye roll. "For immortal creatures, vamps are so damn
impatient." She gestured at the door. "Get out and I'll give her the
name."

"You can’t be
serious," Jack said incredulously. "You've been foaming at the mouth
since you saw Jade. If you think I'm leaving the room, you're sorely
mistaken."

"Huh," Josephine
said, crossing her arms. "Here I thought you were desperate and needed
information so your girlfriend doesn't lose her pretty head." She
shrugged. "Your choice."

I turned to Jack, flashing
him a reassuring smile. "I'll be okay. Really."

I felt his resistance.
"Jade, I-"

I held my finger up to his
lips. "Five minutes."

"Five minutes," he
repeated. "And I'll be right outside," he spat at Josephine.

I gave him a nod as he slowly
walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Finally!"
Josephine said with a sigh of relief. "Some goddamn time alone." She
beckoned me with a finger. "Come here."

"Maybe we should
maintain a safe distance."

She narrowed her eyes.
"Now."

I gulped and obliged her,
standing inches from the desk. I gasped as she slid from the edge and stopped a
few feet from me. I could feel her breath hot on my skin. She smelled like
peppermint and chocolate.

She reached out and tucked a
brown strand behind my ear. "Your favorite smells."

The more I looked at her, the
more I saw I was wrong. She looked just like the girl reflected in the glass.
She was beautiful.

I gave my head a shake. She
was trying to glamour me. "S-so the name..."

She leaned in close, her lips
brushing my ear. "Josephine."

I felt my lips quiver at her
touch. It was like electricity shooting up my skin. "Josephine," I
repeated.

She took my face in her hands
and brought her lips to mine. Her lips were smooth and pliable and tasted like
cherries. I pulled her closer, lost in the moment.

When she pulled back, I
didn't even see her fangs retract. I saw Jack. Jack the way he was before the
Riley craziness. With care and longing glittering in his olive colored eyes.

"Jack?" I
whispered.

I snapped out of the daze as
I was thrown backward, crying out as my back connected with the wall.

I shook my head and saw Jack
standing where I was, a piece of wooden chair in hand, about to stake
Josephine.