Magicstorm (Heart of a Vampire, Book 4) (14 page)

Celeste raced to the window, but the street
was empty. “They have her,” she shouted.

Brandon grabbed her in his arms, picking her
up and heading for the hall. “We’ll find her, I promise. But you
can’t be an idiot about it.”

She struggled against his hold, needing to go
after her sister.

“Woman!” His eyes glowed with the same red as
the other man’s had. “Do you not even realize how hurt you
are?”

He stomped into the bathroom and set her on
the closed toilet seat, then lifted one of her feet in his
hands.

Celeste stared at the cuts, the shards of
glass from the broken window embedded in her skin. Blood oozed from
multiple wounds she hadn’t even felt.

Brandon grasped her chin, forcing her to meet
his gaze. “I swear to you we will find your sister. But you won’t
be able to fight in this condition.”

His words slowly penetrated her panic, as did
the pain now sweeping through her.

Brandon plucked the glass shards from both
her feet and bandaged the worst of the wounds. Once done, he
carried her through the debris littered hallway to her bedroom.

Inside, Hercules dashed out from under the
bed, meowing up at her pitifully. His little body trembled.

Celeste patted him on the head. “He warned me
something wasn’t right. Even tried to protect me.”

Her throat heated from the burning in her
chest at the thought of her own failure. She’d been useless against
the man and his creatures.

Jerking on her boots, she laced them, then
stood. Ignoring the pain, she stared at Brandon. “How do we find
her?”

His eyes still glowed as he watched her.
“Magic.” He grabbed a bag, and began throwing some of her clothes
in it.

“What are you doing? We need to go find
Shana.”

“We will, but this place isn’t safe for
you.”

A knock came from the broken front door, then
footsteps headed down the hall. Celeste held herself ready for this
new threat.

The man who stepped into her room wasn’t what
she was expecting. In jeans and a sheriff’s khaki shirt, long dark
hair flowing down his back, and with his Native American features,
he looked like a normal human.

“Shane,” Brandon said, stepping forward and
holding his hand out.

The man shook with Brandon, his shrewd gaze
never leaving Celeste. “What happened?”

Brandon told him, his voice low.

Celeste broke in. “They took her. I’ve got to
get her back.”

She couldn’t bear it if something happened to
Shana. Wouldn’t be able to live with herself if the next murder
scene she investigated was her sister.

Shane nodded. “Time is of the essence. I need
something of hers.”

Celeste led him to the spare bedroom, then
hovered in the doorway as the sheriff studied the room. “Walk me
step by step of where she was.”

After she did, the man crossed to the bed and
lifted the pillow. His eyes lightened at the blood on the
sheet.

“Perfect.” Reaching into his shirt, he pulled
out a leather pouch decorated with beading. “I need salt, a candle,
and a bowl of water.”

Behind her, Brandon entered, already carrying
everything requested.

The sheriff pulled a box of children’s
sidewalk chalk from a pocket. He knelt on the floor, then began
drawing white, interconnecting circles around himself. In one, he
drew a crude, primitive bear, in another, an eagle. Then he
sprinkled the salt over the lines of the circles.

Bowing his head, he lit the candle. His voice
was soft and low as he began chanting.

Brandon reached her side and took her cold
hand in his warm ones. “Shane is a shaman. He can track your
sister.”

Celeste nodded, but her confidence was
low.

Shane dipped his fingers into the bowl of
water and sprinkled drops to all four sides.

The room began to glow unnaturally. Celeste
blinked, then rubbed her eyes as the vision of a bear stood over
the sheriff. It was like looking at a double processed photo.

She could see them both, one a man really
there, the bear more of a ghostly image.

Her heart beat quicker as hope filled
her.

Maybe he really could find her sister before
it was too late.

Shane’s body jerked like a puppet on a
string, his head rising so he could stare at the broken window. He
glanced back at Brandon. “Be ready for my call.”

Brandon nodded as the sheriff jumped to his
feet and climbed out the window.

Crossing the room, Celeste began to follow,
but Brandon pulled her back.

“He works alone.”

She spun, glaring. “She’s my sister.”

“And if you want her found, you’ll let Shane
do his job.”

“I won’t distract him--”

“You wouldn’t be able to keep up with him,
and yes, you would be a distraction. He needs to concentrate. The
magic in the city is dark and heavy. He must break through it all
to sense her.”

She opened her mouth to argue, then snapped
it shut and sent a longing glance at the window. It was hard not to
race after Shane. But even if she could catch up to the man, and if
Brandon was right, she’d distract him. It would take precious time
away.

She couldn’t jeopardize Shana like that. “I
can’t just sit here doing nothing.”

“Come. We will go to a safe place and figure
out how we can help.” Brandon turned and left the room.

Her shoulders bowed, she followed Brandon out
of the house. He shoved the suitcase he’d packed in the back seat
of her car, along with the carrier holding a still shivering
Hercules.

Celeste grabbed her keys, but her hands were
shaking so badly, they clattered to the sidewalk.

Brandon picked them up. “I’ll drive.”

Feeling numb, she silently got in the
passenger seat.

When Brandon parked at O’Grady’s Bar and
Grill, she sent him a curious glance.

“We’ll be safe here. There are barriers all
over the building, wards to keep out those not welcome, as well as
prevent dark magic.”

She grabbed Hercules’ carrier and followed
Brandon inside and upstairs, to a small bedroom.

He watched as she moved around the room like
a sleepwalker, then dropped into a seat on the couch. “Let me get
us something to eat. I’ll be right back.”

Alone in the room, Celeste felt her strength
waver. She replayed the fight, coming up with a thousand things she
could have done differently to keep the man from taking Shana.

Hercules meowed from his carrier and she let
him out, cuddling her kitten in her lap. His shivers slowly calmed.
Purrs rumbled as he drifted to sleep under her hand.

She wished she could let it all go as easily
as the kitten, rather than keep replaying it all in her mind.
Looking back rarely helped one find a solution for the future. It
only reminded them of the numerous mistakes they’d made.

Her throat tightened as her eyes burned.

Her sister was out there with evil things,
going through God knew what. Torture, perhaps. Possibly even the
ritual these guys used when they killed.

A soft knock came at the door and Brandon
slipped inside. Celeste wiped at her blurred eyes, refusing to
cry.

He set some plates of food on the table
before taking Hercules and laying the kitten on a chair, then sat
beside her. “Eat. You must keep up your strength.”

She held the plate, her stomach roiling with
nausea at the sight of the sandwich and fries. But he was right.
Taking a bite of what tasted like ash, she forced herself to chew
and swallow.

After she’d managed to eat half of it, she
set the plate on the table and leaned back against the soft
cushions of the couch.

Brandon scooted closer, drawing her against
him, and wrapping her in the soothing comfort of his arms. “We will
find her.”

“Will we? And even if we do, will it be soon
enough?” she said, miserable, her imagination tumbling
uncontrollably.

Brandon held her tighter. “Sleep. I’ll wake
you when Shane calls.”

She wanted to protest she couldn’t sleep, but
tiredness had been clawing at her for a while. She couldn’t stop
her eyes from drifting closed. Images of Shana being tortured and
abused while she sat there, unable to do anything to help, flooded
her unmercifully.

Brandon held Celeste as the tension in her
body slowly relaxed, sleep pulling her down. He wanted to storm
around, rage at himself for leaving them unprotected.

He’d needed to eat, to replenish his strength
the only way he could, blood.

Yet, if he’d been there...

Celeste mumbled softly and he tucked her
closer.

He’d failed her and her sister.

Now, he could only try to comfort her, and
make plans for when Shane called. This sorcerer would not have
Celeste’s sister, nor any more other innocent victims.

As he kept watch, his mind tried to drift to
the past, but Celeste’s presence, the knowledge he must protect her
at all costs, helped him resist being engulfed by dark
memories.

She mumbled her sister’s name, and he drew
her tighter into his embrace, trying to let her know, even in
sleep, that he was there.

As she calmed, he marveled at how right it
felt to have her in his arms. How much she helped him keep his own
past at bay.

And he prayed that he would not let her down
again.

Three hours later, Brandon’s cell rang. He
answered.

Shane’s voice was weary. “I tracked them
through the city. The sorcerer’s magic is strong. Unbelievably
strong.”

“Did you find her?” Brandon asked as Celeste
sat up, staring at him, her gaze pleading for news.

“I have two directions to follow. I can’t
tell which is true and which is false.”

“Where do you want to meet?” he asked.

Shane gave him an address and Brandon clicked
off the phone. Celeste stood, arms crossed over her chest.

“You’re not leaving me behind,” she
stated.

The urge to keep her here, where she’d be
safe, was overwhelming.

Before he could argue, she said, “Either I go
with you, or on my own. I’m not staying here.”

His mind flashed back to when his twin had
been captured just a few months ago. He knew exactly how she felt,
and had no doubt she would take off on her own if he denied
her.

“Fine. But you do as I say. We’re not messing
with the normal people you arrest.”

She grimaced. “You think I don’t know that by
now?”

Against his every instinct, he headed
downstairs with Celeste at his heels. Outside, he started his
Harley. Then he sped into the night, heading for the meeting with
Shane, all his hopes desperately focused on keeping Celeste safe in
whatever they were about to face.

Chapter
fifteen

Celeste held onto Brandon tightly as he raced
through the city. He drove so fast, the scenery was a blur. Wind
whipped at her hair, her clothes, as if it too was their enemy.

In front of a dark alleyway, he jerked to a
screeching stop that made her teeth clench.

Brandon sniffed the air, then called softly,
“Shane?”

The sheriff stepped from a shadow. His golden
eyes glowed with unnatural light. Celeste could still see the
transparent image of a bear over the man when she looked at
him.

“There are two paths,” Shane said quietly.
“The dark magic in the air is too strong for me to see which of
them is true.”

As Celeste slid to the ground on shaky legs,
the men discussed the two paths.

Shane pulled out a map of the city, pointing
to two dark lines drawn over it. He handed the paper to Brandon.
“Call me if you find something, or if you find nothing.”

The sheriff turned and disappeared into the
shadows before Celeste could follow his movements.

She glanced at the map and the two different
colored lines. “Which one are we following?”

Brandon touched the dark blue line.

She traced it over the map. Her mind raced
with possibilities and confusion. She wanted to follow both paths,
as either one could lead to her sister. But she was only one
person.

It dawned on her what the building was that
the line led to. The vampire-run nightclub--Black Dawn.

“I can usually read people well,” she said,
tapping the end of the blue line. “I wouldn’t have thought
Sebastian would have anything to do with this.”

“Nor would I. And perhaps he doesn’t. If he’s
to be believed, the sorcerer was banned from Black Dawn. That
doesn’t mean the man would listen.”

Celeste shook her head. “Sebastian’s strong,
even I could tell. Would a sorcerer be able to make a vampire do
anything against his will?”

“Perhaps.” Brandon’s voice darkened.

She hesitated, then asked, “If Sebastian is
part of this, could you win?”

Brandon snorted. “Yes.”

“Good.”

She glanced up at Brandon, noticing the dark
worry in his eyes. “What?”

“We will find your sister before it’s too
late,” he said.

Doubt assailed her, even as a slight breeze
picked up his comforting scent and wrapped it around her. He held
out his hand and she stared at it a long moment before sliding her
fingers over his palm.

Back on the motorcycle, she once more hung on
for dear life as he sped through the streets, weaving around cars
and racing through lights. Yet, every tense muscle beneath her
hands told her he was in full control.

She trusted him with her life. Hell, he’d
already saved her more than once.

Though it went against the hardened beliefs
hidden deep inside, she had to trust him--and his friend--with her
sister’s life now.

She needed their help to find Shana. Once
they found her, and she had to believe they would, she’d need their
help to rescue her stubborn sister. She didn’t know the first thing
about magic or sorcerers.