Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss (2 page)

I went to open it and was surprised to find
Grandma Milly standing there, a small box in her hands.

“Hi, Grandma, come in,” I said, stepping to
the side so she could enter. I closed the door behind her.

“I’ve brought you some things to take with
you,” she explained, her hands gripping a box.

“Okay,” I replied and followed her over to
the sofa and sat down next to her, curious about what she had.

“As I am sure you are aware, your dad and I
have been very leery about letting you go off on your own to search
for Vance, especially after everything that has happened lately,”
she began, watching me with a serious expression on her face. “You
will be the only source of magical protection for the three of you,
which doesn’t give you very good odds if you run into some sort of
problem. So we put our heads together, and I think we may have
found a way to help out with that a little.”

She opened the box then and pulled out a red
ruby amulet on a gold chain, followed by two smaller boxes. She
opened each of them also, to reveal the contents inside.

One box contained a flat silver ring which
held an onyx stone in the center. The other held a similar ring in
gold, with the same red-colored stone in the middle of it that was
in the amulet hanging from the chain.

“These are for Shelly, Brad and Vance,” she
explained. “The one for Vance has been charmed with spells of
protection for him. I don’t know how helpful those will be for him,
seeing how the demon coven has gotten around protection spells
we’ve had on him in the past, but I figured something is better
than nothing.”

She then held up the other ring and amulet,
so I could see them better.

“These other two items are a little
unorthodox. They were made specifically for Shelly and Brad,” she
explained. “These are not made from regular stones, but magical
stones that carry some serious power in them. The wearer of these
will actually be able to use the magic as their own to some extent.
While they will never make them as powerful as a real witch, of
course, it will significantly enhance their ability to be
magical.”

“How do they work?” I was deeply interested
in the whole idea of a charmed item that could be used in this
way.

“Well, these particular ones work on a
purposeful action. The ring has to be twisted in a half turn for
the magic in it to work,” she said, making a twisting motion with
her hand in demonstration. “The necklace’s power is released by
placing one hand over the stone. They are both easy actions, but
Brad and Shelly will probably have to practice with them a little
bit to get the feel of them before it becomes natural to them.”

“Does the magic ever wear off?” I asked, as
she placed the amulet in my hands so I could examine it.

“Not as long as the wearer doesn’t ever
remove it,” she replied. I handed it back to her. “The fail safe of
the charm is if the jewelry is ever removed from the wearer, it
will cease to work.”

“So what kind of powers will they be able to
perform?” I asked, curious about how much magic they would actually
be able to wield.

“Anything the person wearing it asks of it,
to a certain extent. For instance if the wearer asked for something
to levitate, it would, albeit it might be a bit shaky compared to
you and if you asked something to levitate. Also, if the wearer has
any kind of natural ability, the amulet will enhance that
power.”

“Like what exactly?” I wasn’t really
following what she meant.

“For instance if someone were to have psychic
abilities, the charm would enhance the power greatly, even if they
aren’t a witch,” she explained.

“Oh, I see. That’s kind of cool.” Brad and
Shelly were probably going to eat this stuff up.

“Yes, well, there are a lot of other things I
need to teach you, but they’re just going to have to wait for
another day,” she said, with a look of regret moving over her
face.

“Well, I thank you for these. Hopefully we
won’t ever have to use them, but I’m sure they’ll come in handy if
we do.” I smiled, reaching over to pat her hand.

“Portia, I’m sorry if I’ve failed you in any
way,” she said somberly, reaching out to cover over my hand which I
had just placed on hers. “Your powers are so different from
anything else I’ve ever encountered before. I’m just not wise
enough to instruct you. In some ways you’re the teacher; you just
don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re doing it.”

“Grandma, you’ve been a wonderful teacher.
We’re all learning from this experience,” I replied. “You know the
old saying: That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

“I never intended for that verse to apply so
literally to you, though,” she said sadly with a shake of her
head.

“Hey! I’m not dead! So that means I am
stronger, right?” I smiled softly at her, wanting to cheer her up a
bit. “Besides, it wasn’t like I wasn’t warned or anything. Vance
had always been afraid he might do something someday that would end
up hurting me.”

“He still could,” Grandma stated, looking at
me with an expression of warning on her face. “He had to fight his
attraction for the dark arts even before he was nearly changed into
a demon. It could be even worse for him now, something like an
addict going through withdrawals I would imagine.”

“But I healed him,” I said, thinking her
comment didn’t make any sense.

“As far as we know, you did. He was quick to
leave, though, without consulting any of us. Plus healing someone
from a demon conversion has never been heard of before. We’ve
entered uncharted territory with this. Only time will tell if
everything has truly been stopped.”

I suddenly realized she was right, and I
wondered if perhaps this might be another reason he left me. The
thought of it scared me even more. If he had such a strong
attraction now, how could he possibly stave off the very thing he
was craving long enough to fight his father?

I had to find him, soon. He couldn’t do this
alone.

There was another knock on the door,
interrupting our conversation. Grandma waved her hand slightly, and
the door opened allowing Shelly and Brad to enter the room
together.

“We’re all set,” Shelly said with a smile.
“Are you ready to go?”

I nodded at the two of them.

“Grandma has something for the two of you
before we go, though,” I said gesturing to the items in her
hands.

They sat down next to her and she explained
it all to them as she had just done for me.

Dad came into the room then and picked up my
suitcase again to carry it out to the car. I followed after
him.

He loaded my things in the trunk before
turning to face me, a serious expression full of concern written
across his face.

“I can come with you, Portia,” he said, and I
knew he meant it.

I shook my head in denial.

“No, Dad. The coven is weak right now, and
you’re needed here to get things back in order. I want you and
Grandma to be able to get everything back to full strength. We may
be in for a big fight in the near future. It’s time to pull all
your resources together.”

“Just promise me that you’ll be careful,
pumpkin. I can’t lose you.” He pulled me into his arms, wrapping me
in a tender embrace.

“I love you, Dad,” I said, hugging him back,
squeezing him really hard since I didn’t know when I would get to
see him again.

“You’d better go in and tell your mom goodbye
now.” He gave a nod back toward the house.

I followed him inside, going into the family
room where my mom sat curled up on the sofa, staring absently at
the television.

“Stacey, the kids are getting ready to leave
now,” Dad said to her.

She looked at me and sighed before standing
to walk over to me.

“I know you don’t agree with all this, Mom,”
I said looking straight into her eyes, “but it will all work out
somehow.”

“I’m just wondering how many times you’ll
have to nearly die for this boy before you decide he isn’t worth
it,” she said, shaking her head, and I could still feel her anger
over Vance’s previous attack on me.

I had to stand there for a moment to control
my emotions before I could speak, not wanting my last words before
I left to be in anger toward her.

“I’ll never stop, Mom. Even if it does mean I
could die. I wish I could make you understand how I feel about
him.” I swallowed hard. “I can’t live without him. He is my life,
and I think he’s so worth it.”

She wrapped her arms around me then, hugging
me tightly.

“I’m trying to understand, Portia. I really
am,” she whispered in my ear. “I’m just greedy when it comes to
you. After all you’re my only child.”

“I’ll be careful, Mom. I promise. Just keep
praying for us, okay?” I smiled at her. “Those prayers have worked
miracles for us in the past.”

“I’ll be praying for you every second that
you’re gone,” she replied looking a little bit choked up at my
request.

“Thanks, Mom.”

We walked arm in arm into the living room,
where Brad and Shelly were now practicing their new magical powers
on levitating some small objects.

“This is so sick!” Brad said with a big smile
as he made the same magazine I had used earlier float into the air
beside him.

“Just use them wisely,” Grandma cautioned
them. “And help protect my Lollipop while you are at it.”

“We’ll do everything in our power to keep her
safe, Mrs. Mullins. I promise,” he said solemnly, setting the
magazine back on the table beside him.

We all walked out to Shelly’s Mustang
together. It was still painted black with its little skull and
crossbones detailed on the back of it. She hadn’t had time to
change it back to the pink color she had loved before.

I actually preferred the car this way. It
made us a little more inconspicuous, I felt. People don’t tend to
miss a really pink Mustang as it drives down the road.

We gave hugs all around once more. Then we
piled into the car and left the driveway.

We were on our way to find Vance.

We drove out of Sedona and headed up the
canyon toward Flagstaff. We stopped at a truck stop to get some gas
and a few snack items for our trip, before heading east on
Interstate 40.

I watched the tall Ponderosa pine trees zip
past my window as I listened loosely to Brad and Shelly’s excited
discussion about things they would like to try out with their
magic.

I didn’t realize I had dozed off until I
awoke a little while later to find myself staring at the flat
plains that surrounded the small town of Winslow, Arizona. We drove
through without stopping until we reached Holbrook, about thirty
miles down the road. We got some fast food there before we headed
out again.

The sun was setting as we passed through the
outer edge of the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted
Desert. It was very beautiful with its reflecting whites, reds, and
purples layered in the mounds of dirt.

We traveled on for a couple more hours before
we finally crossed the state line into New Mexico. We ended up
stopping for the night at a sleepy little hotel on the far edge of
town in Gallup.

My dad had sent a whole wad of cash with me,
as well as one of his platinum credit cards. Shelly’s parents had
also sent a lot of money with her to help cover our expenses.

As we were checking into our room at the
front office, I pulled one of my pictures of Vance from the
envelope and asked the night desk clerk if she had ever seen him
before.

“Sorry,” she said and took the picture from
me to look it over really good. “I’m positive I’d remember that
face. He’s a handsome devil, isn’t he?” She laughed. “Too bad I’m
too old for someone like him.”

She handed the picture back to me and gave us
the keys to our room.

“It’s number 18, way down in the corner
there, right next to the ice machine,” she said, pointing in the
direction we should go.

We had decided it was best to just get one
room with two beds. Even though I didn’t anticipate anything going
wrong at this point, I didn’t want to risk us separating and having
something bad happen.

Shelly and I took one of the queen-sized
beds, and Brad took the other. I was so exhausted from our trip and
trying to recuperate from my ordeal with Vance, I fell right onto
the top of the bed as soon as we entered the room. I ended up going
to sleep right there without even taking my shoes off.

I felt much better when I woke in the early
morning hours of the following day. It was amazing what a good
night of sleep could do to rejuvenate the body.

I got up and went to sit at the window,
watching the sunrise crest over the rolling hills around us.

Taking advantage of the quiet time, I
proceeded to center all my thoughts and energies, concentrating
only on Vance, hoping against hope that I might be able to sense
him somehow. I was slightly disappointed when I couldn’t hear
anything, even though it had been exactly what I had expected, but
the physical pull wasn’t any worse, so I decided to just keep
heading in the direction we had been going.

Brad and Shelly woke up shortly after I was
done getting showered and dressed for the day. I sat on the bed and
watched television while the two of them took turns getting ready
in the bathroom, after which we went to the small lobby where a
continental breakfast was being served.

We stocked up on orange juice and doughnuts
before going back to the room to load our things up so we could
head out again.

The majority of the traffic on the road at
this time of the morning was semi trucks hauling their freight down
the interstate. I watched them absently for a while, wondering
where they were all heading, before reaching over into my bag and
pulling out the letter from Vance which contained the photos he had
left for me.