Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss (25 page)

I felt bad for cutting her off like that, but
I didn’t want those images flashing through my head right now.

“She’s right,” Vance said in my head, and I
realized he had been eavesdropping again. “We are avoiding it. It
actually has a name. It’s called Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder.”

“So that’s the reason our emotions are all
over the place?” I sighed, listening to him even though part of me
didn’t want to.

“Yes. It’s the natural way the body reacts to
something it has a hard time dealing with,” he explained.

“So how do we make it better?” I asked, not
really wanting to talk to him about this at all right now.

“By doing the one thing we don’t want to,” he
said, as if he were reading my thoughts. “We’re all going to have
to sit down and talk about it.”

“You go ahead and do that. Let me know how it
goes,” I mentally replied to him, while turning the shower on and
climbing in.

I realized then I was showering in complete
darkness. I hadn’t even wanted to turn the light on. I just wanted
to hide in a safe dark place.

Changing my mind, I decided at that point to
settle down into the tub instead, letting it fill high, with the
water as hot as I could stand it, before turning on the Jacuzzi
jets. I closed my eyes and let my body relax under the heat of the
water.

I didn’t even know I had fallen asleep until
I heard the door to the bathroom open and close as someone entered
the room.

“Are you all right?” I heard Vance’s voice in
the darkness.

“Mmm. Yes. I guess I fell asleep,” I replied
a bit groggily. “I’ll be out in a little bit.”

“Do you want to talk to me about it?” he
asked from the other side of the shower curtain.

“Not now,” I said, knowing he was trying to
help me, but I didn’t want to talk about this. “If I start crying,
you’ll be tempted to reach in here and hold me. It wouldn’t be
good.”

“I understand,” he answered quietly, and I
heard him open the door to the bathroom again. “I’ll wait for you
in the living room.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t hurry to get out, taking my precious
time so I could delay the inevitable as long as possible. I just
tried to relax as well I could in the water.

After a while I sat up and took my time
shampooing and conditioning my hair, then shaving my legs. When I
couldn’t think of another feasible reason to stay in the soothing
bath any longer, I finally got out.

I went into the closet after I dried off and
got dressed in a sweet little blue and green plaid top, with a
scooped neck that went up into a high collar around the back, and
belted with a thin strip of material at the waist. After which, I
slid on a pair of boot cut blue jeans and stepped into a cute pair
of moccasin-looking clogged heels.

I took the time to dry my hair with the blow
dryer and then pulled it into a chic looking ponytail, with my long
bangs across my forehead and tucked back behind one ear. Then I
carefully applied my makeup, so it was in complete perfection, dark
eyes, soft pink lips, and a little bronzer to give my pale skin a
sun-kissed glow.

Digging through my bag, I found my favorite
body spray scent, caramel green apple. I applied a little of it
behind my ears and on my wrists before spraying a couple of pumps
into the air and walking through it.

Afterward, I went to my jewelry bag and
pulled out my large silver hoop earrings and placed them through
the single holes I had in my earlobes.

Then I surveyed myself in the mirror.

Trying not to be too vain sounding, I
realized I did indeed look great. But I knew I had spent way too
much time on getting myself ready in an effort to avoid everything
else.

Time to face the piper, I thought as I took a
deep sigh and walked out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and
into the living room.

Vance wasn’t in there, so I swung around to
look outside and found that he was standing on the balcony, staring
out into the ocean.

I quietly stepped out the patio door, closing
it softly behind me and walking up behind him. I had intended to
sneak up behind him so I could place my arms around his waist to
hug him, but he turned to face me as I approached, leaning back up
against the rail.

“Wow!” he said, as his eyes ran up and down
the length of me, a smile of appreciation gracing his face.

“Wow, yourself!” I said back to him with a
smile, as I checked him out in return, thinking how delicious he
looked just standing casually there with his arms across his
chest.

He was wearing the long-sleeved, dark gray,
pullover sweater that I had given him for Christmas, over a pair of
dark indigo-colored low tide Levi’s, with a pair of Kickers sneak
high shoes.

His hair was textured into that perfectly
messy look I loved so much, and I could smell the cool scent of his
aftershave wafting through the air as the breeze blew it toward
me.

He reached a hand out to me, and I accepted
it, as he pulled me up against him, so our faces were mere
millimeters apart, our bodies in full contact with each other.

“You smell good enough to eat.” He smiled
with his sexy grin that he saved exclusively for when he was alone
with me, as he nudged my nose slightly with the tip of his.

“Thank you. So do you.” I chuckled, loving
the feel of being next to him. “I have to warn you, though,” I
said, suddenly serious. “I’m overripe.”

I held up my pruned looking fingers which had
been in the water far too long, showing him their wrinkled
appearance.

He just laughed and slipped his fingers
through mine so they were intertwined together.

“I thought you had drowned in there,” he
smiled gently, as he looked at me with a concerned look.

“Sorry,” I apologized, feeling bad now for
keeping him waiting for so long. “I got a little too relaxed.”

“Looks like your dad is back,” he said, as
his gaze moved away from my face, looking over my shoulder though
the glass into the living room. “Shall we go in and have a chat? I
think we have some planning to do.”

“Lead the way,” I said to him, though I
wasn’t at all eager to get into the Damien Cummings issues
surrounding us.

We went back into the condo, where the coven
was gathering together to talk things over. Vance led me over to
the wall and leaned on it, pulling me so my back lay against
him.

We had been standing there for a few minutes,
waiting for things to get started when I noticed I could see our
reflection in the large mirror that decorated the opposite
wall.

Vance had apparently noticed the mirror also
as he was already looking at me through the glass, too. I had never
realized what a handsome couple we made together before now. There
was something about us that just fit. It was like we were two
separate parts of something that made a whole picture.

I looked at him in question, as these
thoughts ran through my mind.

He nodded his head slightly in
acknowledgment.

“I see it, too,” his voice whispered into my
mind.

I couldn’t look away from the image in front
of me, and I wasn’t even trying to be vain or anything. There was
just something there, something different about each of us that
made us the same. I couldn’t explain it, except to say he was my
other half, the thing that completed me, and I him.

We just stood there staring at each other
until he leaned his head forward and kissed me softly on my
neck.

I found that I liked watching him do that in
the mirror, and I leaned my head slightly to the left to see if he
would do it again.

I heard him laugh quietly, as a quick grin
spread across his face, but he still leaned in and obliged me once
more.

“Temptress,” he accused, and I gladly
accepted the title.

Dad began speaking then, and I reluctantly
turned my attention away from the mirror and the special moment the
two of us had experienced together there.

“We need to have a discussion and make some
decisions,” he said, looking around at each of us seriously.

Grandma stepped forward slightly then.

“As you know, things are much worse than we
expected them to be,” she said. “We’re all kind of at a loss about
how to deal with this problem, as we’ve never had to be involved
with anything like this before, so any suggestions you may have
would be greatly appreciated.”

“I think we need more help,” Babs said,
looking around with a concerned expression. “This guy has proven
he’s completely evil and has no concern over who he destroys.”

“We need to get out of here before we all end
up being his lunch, too,” Hal said, shaking his head. “I mean,
don’t get me wrong, I’m all for confronting the guy, but it would
be better on our own turf and under our own conditions.”

We listened quietly as the conversation
bounced back and forth, realizing that everyone here was seemingly
scared to take Damien on. Not that I blamed them for feeling this
way. He terrified me, too.

Finally, Dad turned toward Vance and me.

“The two of you have been awfully quiet over
there. Do you have anything you want to add?” he asked us.

I shook my head, not even wanting to be here
for this discussion, but Vance spoke up quickly.

“I think we need to bring him to us,” he said
matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean exactly?” Dad asked,
clearly wanting a better explanation from him.

“I mean I think we should set up a trap for
him,” he replied.

“What kind of trap are you suggesting?”
Grandma asked, leaning forward in interest now.

Vance shrugged his shoulders, as if setting a
trap for his father should be no big deal.

“I say we let him think he’s found his next
victim. You know, get him really excited,” he said.

I turned to look at him with wide eyes,
knowing the answer to my question before I even asked it.

“And who, pray tell, will be the bait?”

“I will be of course,” he replied
nonchalantly, as he looked back at me, holding my gaze stare for
stare.

“Absolutely not!” I replied as I folded my
arms over my chest, knowing this was an issue I was not going to
budge on.

“Why not?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at
me, actually having the gall to try and look surprised at my
reaction to his suggestion.

“Well, let’s see,” I began, feeling the heat
from my frustration creeping into my cheeks. “You’ve been running
from him your whole life. You lost your mom because of him, and
Marsha, not to mention the fact that this coven has spent the last
two years of their lives trying to keep you hidden from him. Now
you want to just waltz in for a family reunion? No! It’s too
dangerous. I don’t want him to hurt you.”

I stared at him, waiting for him to say
something, but he just stared back at me. After a moment passed, I
turned to face the rest of the group.

“I’ll be the bait,” I offered, stepping
forward, knowing the coven needed another option or they might
actually consider what he was suggesting.

“What?” he said loudly, grabbing me by the
arm and turning me back to face him. “No! Absolutely not!”

“Well, now you know how I feel!” I shouted
back, my eyes flashing in anger as I returned his angry look.

“Kids! Kids!” Dad spoke above us. “Relax!
Let’s calm down and talk about this together.”

Vance and I both stood there glaring at each
other, neither one wanting to be the one who gave in.

“I think Portia would be a good person to use
in the trap,” Dad said, surprising everyone in the room.

“What?” Vance and I both said in unison, as
we turned to look at him.

Dad sighed as he shook his head slightly in
frustration.

“I’m saying that I think your idea to reel
him into a trap is a good one, Vance, and that I think Portia
should be the bait.”

“Not a chance!” Vance argued with him,
stepping protectively in front of me, as he glared angrily at my
father.

“Listen to me, Vance,” Dad said, holding his
hands up in front of himself, trying to calm him down. “I have no
intention of putting my daughter in any real danger. We’ll just use
her to draw him out so we can get him alone somewhere, into a
position where we can contain him.”

“Contain him? How? And if you manage to
succeed, then what?” Vance asked, not letting his guard down for
one second.

“I don’t know! This is why we’re having this
little get together,” Dad replied in irritation as he waved his
hand around at the rest of the group.

“I’d rather you use me as the bait,” Vance
said in a steely determined voice, not willing to let it go.

“Think about it, Vance,” Grandma said
suddenly, standing up and coming over to put an arm around his
shoulders. “We’ve been protecting you all this time, and your dad
knows it. He sent your mom to get you, and you killed her, then
disappeared. If all of a sudden you show up right in front of him,
in a different country no less, don’t you think it would make him a
just little bit suspicious?”

The muscles in Vance’s jaw were working back
and forth the entire time she was speaking to him, as he clenched
his teeth together.

“All right! I see your point,” Vance said,
folding one arm across his chest and resting his opposite elbow on
it so he could reach up to pinch near the bridge of his nose before
rubbing there as if he were starting to get a headache.

He sat there with his eyes closed for several
moments before he spoke again, looking directly at my dad.

“So if I was to agree to this, and I mean IF,
what do you have in mind?” he asked.

“We would need to get him someplace where
we’d be able to use our magic, without alerting a bunch of people
to the fact there are real witches and warlocks out there. And we’d
definitely need all of our powers to contain him,” Dad said.