Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss (13 page)

“I’m fine now, you know that right?” he
asked, as I sat his plate in front of him. “I can dish my own food.
I’m not an invalid yet!”

“I like serving you.” I laughed, before
leaning over to give him a kiss. “Besides, I’m going to be your
wife someday. I figured I should practice up on waiting on you;
after all it will be my job.” I turned to step away from the table
to go back toward the kitchen.

His arm snaked out quickly and caught me by
the wrist, pulling me back toward him.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression as
he pulled me down to where my head was next to his.

“I want you to understand something,” he
began, in a low voice meant only for my ears. “You will never be my
servant. We are partners, equal to one another in this
relationship. I will never do anything to dominate you.”

I smiled at his deadly serious comment.

“I know that, silly. But I like doing things
for you, and nothing you say will ever make me change the way I
feel about that, so get over it,” I said, jabbing him in the ribs
with one of my free fingers.

He let go of my wrist then, and I saw some
deeper emotion flicker through his gaze.

“I love you,” was all he said, as he
continued to watch me closely.

“I know,” I said, flashing my eyes at him and
giving him a Cheshire cat grin, before turning to walk away, though
I could still feel his stare burning a hole in my back behind
me.

When breakfast was over and everything was
cleaned up and put away, we all met to begin discussions on what to
do with things surrounding Vance’s father. My dad turned the floor
over to Vance to explain what was going on to everyone.

“We haven’t actually made any contact with
him per se,” Vance began, as he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m
just assuming that he’s here because of what we’ve found out.”

He went on to tell everyone about Juan and
what he had told us in his store. He also told them we had found
the warehouse on the shipping address and how it was heavily
guarded with a lot of activity going on around it.

“We need to send out a scouting party of some
sort to go and case out the warehouse,” Dad said as he looked
around the room. “Do we have any volunteers for that job?”

Of course, Vance shot his hand into the air
immediately.

“No,” Dad said, shaking his head. “Too
dangerous. They’ve been looking for you specifically. I will not
send you right into their lair. We need someone else to go check
stuff out.”

Sharon and her brother, Fred, both
volunteered at this point.

“They wouldn’t have any reason to know who we
are,” Sharon spoke up. “And both of us have Hispanic heritage which
would make it easier for us to blend into the environment.”

“That’s a good point,” Dad said in agreement.
“Now we need someone to go talk to the shop keeper on Benito Juarez
again. I want to see if he’d be willing to let us use his place as
a home base of sorts, while we’re trying to keep tabs on the
comings and goings at the warehouse property.”

“I can speak Spanish, and I already know
Juan. Vance and I could go,” Brad offered.

“I don’t think I’m the best choice of person
to approach Juan,” Vance spoke up as he shook his head slightly at
Brad. “I had a little blood thirst flash through me the last time I
was there,” he explained to everyone else in the room. “I don’t
think Juan trusts me. Plus, if he were to find out I was actually
the son of the ‘demon warlock’ he fears so much, I don’t think he’d
be too inclined to help out.”

“I agree with you,” Grandma added. “I think
it would be wise for someone other than the kids to go. If anyone
were watching Juan’s place, they’d recognize right away that the
kids had already been there. I think I should go. I have my own
shop; I can make it look like something to do with business.”

“But what if the coven was watching you when
Krista came before?” I asked. “They might know who you are.”

“I’ll go,” Babs piped up. “I work in the
store. I can make it look like a legitimate business interest
also.”

“I don’t want anyone going out alone,
though,” Dad said. “You’ll need to pick someone to go with
you.”

Alice, the Pilates instructor from the
Fountains at Fontane, volunteered to go with Babs.

“Great.” Dad smiled as he rubbed his hands
together. “Okay, the rest of us will take turns driving in
different vehicles around the property to avoid detection. Rule
number one is to not approach Damien Cummings if you find him. If
you do happen to see him, then report back to the rest of the
group, please. If we need to, we can set up a tail to follow him
and see where he goes. All of you have been provided with cell
phones that have good service here in Mexico. Don’t hesitate to use
them.” He paused a second before he continued on. “Rule number two
is to try and find out what’s being shipped in the crates that are
being moved around. Knowledge is power in this case. We don’t want
any surprises.”

When everyone was fully briefed on what they
needed to do, Dad started sending people out the door.

“So what can we do?” Vance asked, as the two
of us approached him, when all the other members of the coven had
left to do their assignments.

“Man the phone,” Dad said, handing his cell
to Vance.

“You’re kidding, right?” Vance slowly reached
for the phone, eyeing it a bit distastefully.

“Nope,” my dad replied and crossed his arms
over his chest. I could see he knew he was in for an argument. “I’m
trying to keep you safe, and for right now that means completely
out of the line of fire. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you
and Portia shouldn’t even leave the hotel. That way you’ll have
less of a risk that someone who might know you will see you and
report to your father.”

“So, I basically get to sit here and do
nothing?” Vance turned to walk back over to the couch, plopping
down on it in frustration.

“Pretty much,” my dad replied. “Sorry, son. I
know you want to be out in the thick of things, but I just can’t,
in good conscience, allow it. ”

“So what do you want to do all day?” Vance
asked, giving up much easier than I thought he would have, as he
looked at me with a dejected sigh. “I wasn’t counting on being
placed on house arrest.”

“Well, we could help Mom cook more food for
everyone,” I suggested as I sat next to him, placing my hand on his
knee.

“We need more groceries, though,” my mom
piped up from the kitchen as she was rummaging through the
cupboards.

“Why don’t you take Brad and Shelly with you
to the store then?” Dad proposed.

“Do you mind coming with me?” Mom asked,
turning to look toward Brad and Shelly.

“Not at all,” Shelly replied, moving to walk
toward the bedroom. “Let me get my purse.”

“This is just great,” Vance mumbled
underneath his breath. “I’m not even worthy to buy groceries.”

I just laughed as I scooted closer next to
him so I could wrap my arms around his shoulders, giving him a
little squeeze.

“You are worthy,” I whispered, nuzzling
against his ear. “They’re just worried about you. Besides, what is
your favorite thing to do?”

He smiled then as he nudged my face back with
his.

“Why, to cuddle up with you, of course,” he
answered with a wink.

“Well, unless we get a phone call, we get to
sit here and do just that,” I reminded him.

“You always know how to cheer me up,” he
smiled, with a devious grin, and he adjusted his position so he
could pull me into his arms and onto his lap.

He began to kiss me passionately, just as my
Dad walked back into the room from the patio.

“Hey! No hanky panky!” Dad said sternly to
us.

Vance and I both busted up laughing.

“Come on,” I said, as I slid off his lap and
reached a hand out to pull him to his feet. “I think there’s still
a cake mix in the cupboard. We’ll make it while everyone else is
gone.”

We walked over to the kitchen together where
I began pulling out ingredients, setting them on the counter next
to a mixing bowl and cake pan.

“How about you mix up the cake, while I stand
here and do this,” Vance said as he wrapped his arms around my
waist and kissed my neck, which sent delightful little shivers
dancing up my skin.

I just laughed as I started to blend up the
ingredients, while he used levitation magic to measure everything
out so it was ready for me whenever I needed it, dumping the
contents in the bowl whenever I asked for them.

“This is kind of fun,” he said with a grin,
as he continued to lean his head over my shoulder, resting his chin
there.

“I thought so, too,” I replied, turning my
face to rub my cheek against his in return.

We poured the batter into the pan and placed
it into the oven, setting the timer. Then we cleaned up the kitchen
and loaded all the things we had used into the dishwasher.

“Now what?” Vance asked, when we were
finished, looking around with a bored expression already.

“Let’s go sit on the balcony and watch the
surf,” I suggested, tugging on his hand to pull him in the
direction of the door.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” my dad
said, peering up from some documents he was looking over, from the
dining room table. “Vance’s father could have spies anywhere.”

“Dad,” I said, with mounting frustration,
“don’t you think if Damien had any idea that Vance was here this
close, he’d have been swarming all over this place by now?”

“You can never be too careful,” Dad replied
with a shrug, looking like he wasn’t too willing to give in on the
issue.

“Dad,” I groaned, dragging his name out like
a disgruntled child would, “we’ve been here for a lot longer than
anyone else and haven’t seen anything suspicious. We’ve eaten at
restaurants, shopped and walked on the beach. That would’ve been
more than ample opportunity for someone to attack us, or even
kidnap us, if they were really following us around.”

My dad dropped the papers he was holding back
onto the table, leaning back to cross his arms across his
chest.

“I suppose you’re right,” Dad finally said
with a sigh. “It’s just we’re going to start stepping up our game
now and it’ll draw attention if anyone is trying to look for things
out of the ordinary.”

“Tell you what,” I replied, trying the
negotiating tactic, as I could feel Vance becoming tenser beside
me, “if you let us sit out on the balcony, we’ll sit up next to the
wall. That way we’ll be able to watch the ocean, but no one from
the grounds or the neighboring condos will be able to see us.
They’d have to be on a boat out in the middle of the water with
binoculars to be able to spy on us.”

“That could easily happen,” Dad said, pursing
his lips together. “There are a lot of fishing boats that cross by
on their way out in the mornings. He could be watching us from
anywhere.”

“Dad!”

“Okay. Okay,” he replied, raising his hands
in surrender. “Maybe I’m over reacting. You may sit on the porch
next to the wall. Just please try to stay out of sight, for my
sake.”

“Thank you!” I said, fighting the urge to
roll my eyes at him. Vance and I walked over to the large glass
door and opened it.

We stepped out and pulled a couple of the
chairs up against the wall before we sat down.

“Sorry about my Dad,” I apologized as Vance
reached over to hold my hand, his fingers toying with the diamond
solitaire that graced my finger.

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “I know
he means well.” He continued to rub his finger over my ring. “Do
you like it?” he asked, changing the subject, as he looked from it
to me. “You never really said.”

“I like it a lot,” I replied and smiled at
him. “It’s very beautiful. I think you chose well.”

“I wasn’t sure where your tastes ran when it
came to engagement rings.” He chuckled, and his eyes sparkled like
the water of the ocean. “It was kind of a blind shot in the dark. I
finally just ended up just choosing the one I could imagine seeing
on your finger.”

“Well, that was a good way to do it then,
because I think it’s perfect,” I replied, watching him run his
finger over mine.

“Not as perfect as you,” he said with a
glance at me.

“Now you’re just being cheesy.” I laughed but
leaned over to give him a kiss anyway.

“Hey. Whatever works, right?” He smiled. “You
can’t blame a guy for spreading a little cheese every now and
then.”

“I can when he’s as smart and talented as you
are,” I teased him as I lifted my hand to give him a little pinch
on the shoulder.

“Now who’s laying it on too thick?” he asked,
reaching to poke me in the ribs with a tickle.

We didn’t continue our little confrontation,
as my dad’s phone suddenly began to buzz in Vance’s pocket.

“Phone!” we said in unison, and we both
jumped up and hurried back into the apartment.

Dad looked up as we came into the room, Vance
holding the phone out in front of him, as he quickly moved to give
it to him. He took it from him and answered it.

“This is Sean. Talk to me,” he said.

We waited with baited breath as Dad listened
intently to the person on the other end of the phone. After a
second, his body totally relaxed, and he inhaled deeply, before
letting out a sigh of relief.

“Good grief, Stacey. Are you trying to give
me a heart attack?” he asked, as he looked over at the two of us
with a shake of his head. “Your mom wants to know if you bought any
baking soda the other day.”

“I did,” I replied, going over to the freezer
and pulling out the box, shaking it a little, while looking inside.
“It is about half empty.”

Dad relayed the message back to Mom, while
Vance and I sauntered back out onto the balcony together.