Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss (35 page)

“Why? So you can steal my powers now?” I
teased back, albeit badly.

“No, just your heart,” he replied,
seriously.

“You can’t steal what already belongs to
you,” I reminded him as I wrapped my arms around his neck and
kissed him with every intense emotion I had, until he finally had
to pull away.

He held me tightly for several moments, and
we finally turned back to survey the damage in the room. We looked
at the three dead bodies lying on the floor, drenched in their own
blood.

“It’s finally over, isn’t it?” I said as I
looked up at him, having a hard time believing the two of us were
responsible for the gruesome scene in front of us.

“Almost,” he replied, with a nod.

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up in
confusion, wondering what I might have missed.

“Now it’s time to clean house,” he said.

Vance checked us in to another hotel and
placed a call to my family in Sedona, letting them know he had
found me. He explained everything that had happened, and everyone
was greatly relieved to hear we were both safe.

The coven came to Las Vegas to assist in the
cleaning up of loose ends, as Vance had called it.

We spent a lot of time in Damien’s penthouse,
going through files and personal items trying to trace all the
other members of his coven, so they could be destroyed also.

Every time we found a lead, we organized a
strike team to go and take care of the threat. Soon we had found
everyone except for Darcy, the maid from the penthouse who had been
instructed to take care of me.

I watched Vance in amazement as he handled
things with great efficiency. It was almost as if he had assumed
the role of leader in our coven, though he politely deferred to my
dad and Grandma in every aspect of decision-making.

I had also noticed his powers were
significantly stronger than they had been before. I could feel it
just when I was standing next to him, pulsating through his veins,
but it was even more obvious as he destroyed every demon we
encountered, fighting like nothing I had ever seen before.

The strange thing in all this was that he
seemed to have suffered no ill effects in performing the demon
kiss. In fact, it seemed to have just the opposite effect, as he no
longer suffered from the awful withdrawal he had experienced
before, and I had yet to see the red eyes reappear. We finally
decided that the exchange must have completed something in the
cycle he had been going through.

Vance and Dad had also been going through all
of Damien’s holdings, which had proven to be vast indeed. Vance had
decided to liquidate all the properties, which were located all
over the world, stating he certainly did not have a need for so
many places of residence in his life. He told my dad to use the
money from those sales to give to the witches and warlocks Damien
had stolen powers from. It wasn’t magic, but Vance felt they should
be compensated somehow for their losses.

Even with all his generosity, Vance was still
going to easily be a multi-millionaire. Damien had been a very rich
man, with a lot invested in many lucrative pots which were still
accruing money hand over fist. Dad assured us that Vance would be
extremely well off for the rest of his days.

This evening, Vance and I were getting ready
to walk down to Freemont Street on the strip. Tonight was New
Year’s Eve, and there was a lot of celebrating going on in the
city.

Vance had asked me out on a date, to go see
the light show and watch the fireworks. I was very excited about
it. We had been through so much lately, I was ready for some
relaxation and celebration.

We walked hand in hand as we strolled down
the sidewalk, watching the people passing us by, and reading the
bright signs that were advertising all the A-list headliners for
the evening.

“How are you feeling?” Vance asked as he
looked at me.

“I’m a lot better,” I replied, knowing he was
referring to the weakness I had felt after being fed on by both him
and his father. “Thanks for healing my neck.”

“No problem,” he said as he squeezed my hand.
“I am just sorry that you were placed back into that
situation.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I was just the means
to an end.”

“Don’t talk like that,” he said turning to
look at me.

“Like what?”

“You’re so much more than a means to an end,”
he said, staring at me with eyes full of love. “You are my life! I
couldn’t live without you.”

I smiled and gave him a quick hug before we
continued on down the strip, until we reached Freemont Street.

The light show there was fantastic, as we
stood shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other people packed
into the place to watch the spectacle.

As the colored images flashed down the roof
in many patterns, I suddenly spotted a face in the crowd that I
recognized.

I nudged Vance hard.

“What is it?” he said loudly over the music,
and he leaned toward me so he could hear me.

“It’s Darcy!” I shouted back, pointing over
to where she was standing several feet away.

He followed my finger with his gaze, his eyes
searching the crowd.

“She’s the one in the red jacket with the fur
around the hood,” I described as I continued to point at her.

It was as if she heard us, for she turned
right then to look at us. Fear instantly crept over her face, and
she ran away through the crowd, shoving people out of her way.

Vance instantly took off after her, and I
started running after him.

Several people protested loudly as we pushed
and stumbled through the throngs, trying to move after her through
the crush of bodies.

Ahead, I could see that Darcy had reached the
edge and moved to run down a darker alley, just as we came to the
outer rim of the masses.

Vance took off after her with a sudden burst
of speed, and I found I had a hard time keeping up with him, his
enhanced powers becoming more evident with each passing day.

Darcy rounded the corner onto another side
street, then across traffic to go into another alley.

Vance and I danced through the traffic as we
crossed the street behind her, causing several people to slam on
their brakes and honk their horns angrily at us.

As we entered the alley, we could see Darcy
running ahead of us, down at the far end. Vance threw a burst of
magic at her, hitting her and causing her to trip and fall forward
onto her hands and knees.

Vance was easily upon her at that point,
picking her up none too gently and dragging her to her feet.

“Please don’t kill me,” she gasped in fear as
her face transformed into her demon mask.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t,” he
replied roughly, jerking her and lifting her cleanly off her feet,
so she was dangling in the air in front of him.

She hesitated for only a second.

“Because I know where your mother is,” she
huffed, her eyes looking wildly about.

“Sorry. Try again. My mom is already dead,”
he growled back at her. “I killed her myself.”

Darcy shook her head.

“No, she isn’t,” she replied, her red eyes
never leaving his face, though her lower lip quivered as she
spoke.

“What are you talking about?” Vance asked,
shaking her like a rag doll.

“Damien sent a shape shifter to get you. He
was toying with you,” Darcy answered him.

“Liar! That isn’t possible!” he yelled, but I
saw a flicker of doubt cross his face.

“Yes, it is,” Darcy pleaded with him. “Krista
was his prisoner, but he never turned her. He needed her for
something else.”

Vance pondered this for only a second.

“Where is she?” Vance said, pulling Darcy
within an inch of his face, his sculpted features hardening into a
sudden deadly calm.

“Scotland,” she cried out desperately. “She’s
in Scotland with Damien’s parents … your grandparents!”

Vance released her then, in shock, taking a
step backward.

Darcy took full advantage of the release and
ran as fast as she could down the alley, rounding the corner out of
sight.

The fireworks began shooting off overhead as
Vance turned to look at me in disbelief, his face a mask of
complete shock.

Krista Mangum was still alive!

###

About the Author

Lacey Weatherford has always had a love of
books. She wanted to become a writer after reading her first novel
at the age of eight.

Lacey resides in Arizona, where she lives
with her husband and six children. She is currently working on
editing projects for the next three books in this series.

Visit the official Of Witches and Warlocks
website at:

http://www.ofwitchesandwarlocks.com

Follow on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/LMWeatherford

The Of Witches and Warlocks series

The Trouble With Spell

The Demon Kiss

Blood Of The White Witch