SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (237 page)
Read SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits Online
Authors: Erin Quinn,Caridad Pineiro,Erin Kellison,Lisa Kessler,Chris Marie Green,Mary Leo,Maureen Child,Cassi Carver,Janet Wellington,Theresa Meyers,Sheri Whitefeather,Elisabeth Staab
Tags: #12 Tales of Shapeshifters, #Vampires & Sexy Spirits
He waited for her bag to slip out of the conveyor belt then grasped it. “Is this your bag, ma’am?”
“Yes.”
“Could I have you step over here please?” Rex gave her a moment to retrieve her other things and slip on her shoes. He slipped open the zipper of her backpack and inspect the contents. Every item he touched gave him a better of image of who she was, when she wasn’t trying to hide herself in plain sight.
“Will this take much longer? I’m going to miss my flight,” she said, her voice laced with both fear and agitation. Her fingers wove together as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.
Rex glanced up to see two men in black with government-issue shades, striding in a beeline for the blonde. What the hell? They weren’t just FBI. He knew top level security when he saw it. Exactly what had she done to draw their attention?
“I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m going to need to move you to a screening room. Can you please come this way and I’ll find a female agent to assist you.” He hastily piled her things back into the backpack, picked it up by the handle and walked in front of her toward the less crowded portion of the security area.
The minute they rounded the corner, he grabbed her by the arm.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”
A blur of visions assaulted him. She was in danger. There were files. Vector Force. Her image, with her own red hair staring back at her. And more importantly the words Enochian Brotherhood. He had no idea how much she knew of him or those like him, but she was clearly in danger and so were the members of the brotherhood.
“Look, in about thirty seconds two men in black are going to pull around that corner and try to take you away. Come with me now if you want to live.”
“What?” She took an involuntary step backward. “You’re crazy. I want a supervi—”
“Miss Harlow?”
Her head whipped around and her eyes narrowed as she stared at the men in black. She turned back to him. “Get me out of here. Now!”
VAMPIRE MAGIC
Blood Genie, Books One and Two
The Vampire Pendant
The Vampire Bracelet
by Sheri Whitefeather
Table of Contents for VAMPIRE MAGIC
THE VAMPIRE PENDANT: A Blood Genie novella, Book One
THE VAMPIRE BRACELET: A Blood Genie novella, Book Two
About the Author: Sheri Whitefeather
Beautiful Musician – Preview Chapter
The Vampire
Pendant
Chapter One
Tessa Clarins hated going out in public. She hated the way other people looked at her. The rude stares. The pity glances. But today she was braving her way into the magic shop.
Again.
This was Tessa’s fourth trip to The Chakra Circle. Luckily the shop was located close to home. Tessa lived in Old Town Orange, a quaint neighborhood in Southern California. Of course she rarely enjoyed its historic charm, as she rarely poked her nose out the door.
But there was something about The Chakra Circle that drew her to it in person and kept her coming back. Otherwise, she would have bought what she needed on the Internet. Tessa did most of her shopping online. She also worked at home as a freelance book editor. In this day and age, it was easy to be a recluse.
But she was tired of it. Tessa desperately wanted to be normal, to look normal, to have a normal life.
She entered the magic shop and the little bell above the door chimed. The old man who owned the store glanced up and greeted her with a smile. He was behind the counter, rearranging things in the front display case.
Tessa returned his smile. Hers was much weaker than his, but it was the best she could do. She hadn’t smiled for real since her face had caught fire.
She was glad the old man never got in her business. Apparently he sensed that she wanted to be left alone. But it was obvious, she supposed, by the way she behaved.
Eager to shop, she headed for the books section, hoping to uncover something she’d missed on her previous visits. Or maybe there was a new book in stock.
Tessa loved books and she was certain that she would find the key to her survival in a book, and she was certain that she would find it here.
Why else would she be drawn to this store? Why else would she feel compelled to keep coming back?
So far none of the other books she’d purchased from this store had helped, and neither had the supplies, but she was determined to keep trying.
She searched and searched, but there wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before. Nothing new, either. Disappointed, she headed for the door.
Then the old man approached her, stopping her before she could leave. “I apologize for intruding, but are you working on a glamour spell?”
Damn. So much for him not getting into her business. He could obviously tell from her previous purchases what she was after. “Yes, but I’m not a witch or anything.”
“Have you considered hiring a magic practitioner to help you?”
“I don’t want anyone else to cast the spell.” She wasn’t comfortable letting a stranger control her destiny. Tessa wanted to be in charge of her own life.
“Why don’t you let me read your cards and see what they say?”
A Tarot Card reading? “How is that going to help?”
“You can ask the cards if there is a spell that’s meant to work for you and how to go about finding it.”
She was intrigued, but nervous, too. The spell she sought was extremely powerful. The idea was to “glamour” those around her and make them “see” her as normal. Basically, the spell would hide her scars, metaphysically speaking, and if it worked, she would see herself as healed, too.
“I’ve never had a reading before,” she said.
“It’ll be painless, I promise.”
“How much will it cost?”
“Fifty-dollars.”
That wasn’t cheap, not by her standards, but maybe it was the reason she’d been drawn to this store. “Okay. I’ll give it a try.”
He closed the shop, putting one of those old-fashioned clock signs on the door that showed what time it would reopen.
He brought her into the back room, where she sat across from him at a tidy desk.
Before they got started, he said, “My name is Darrin.”
“I’m Tessa.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” She studied his attractively aged face. She figured him for around seventy. With his longish white hair and naturally tanned skin, he looked as if he had some Native American blood in him. She hadn’t seen any Native goods in the store, though. He obviously wasn’t touting himself as a New Age shaman or trying to sell his heritage. Somehow that made him seem more trustworthy.
He told her to shuffle the cards and soon the reading was underway.
He explained the cards that came up and what they meant. But unfortunately, they didn’t direct her to a spell. In fact, the result in that regard was negative. A glamour spell wasn’t in Tessa’s future.
Her eyes turned misty. “But I want people to see me the way I used to look. I want to see myself that way, too.”
She could tell that he felt badly for her. That made it worse. Now she really wanted to cry.
“Don’t be sad,” he said. “There are other types of magic you can use.”
She sat more upright. “Like what?”
“Hold on and I’ll show you.”
He left and returned with three pieces of jewelry: a necklace, a bracelet, and a ring. “Each of these holds the power to grant wishes.”
Tessa frowned. He was trying to sell her a talisman? Maybe he wasn’t as trustworthy as she thought. Fifty dollars for a useless reading and now this?
“They’re antique pieces,” he said.
She squinted at him. “How much are they?”
“They’re not for sale. But I can loan you one of them.” He leaned toward her. “I only loan them to people who are worthy of their magic, and I think you are.”
Still suspicious, she asked, “What’s the catch?”
“Your wish will only last for two weeks. But I guarantee that it will come true. All you have to do is choose the one you want and wear it for the next two weeks, around the clock, day and night. Then return it to me when your wish ends.”
She thought the necklace was eye catching. The pendant hanging from the chain boasted a gothic-style cross with a ruby in the center. All of the pieces had crosses worked into the designs.
“Are the wishes only granted to women?” she asked since it was women’s jewelry.
“I have other pieces that are for men. So, are you interested, Tessa?”
Her heart pounded in her throat. “Yes.”
“It’s only for two weeks,” he reminded her.
“I know.” But if the magic was genuine, she would take whatever she could get for however long she could get it. She desperately longed to be normal, to be pretty, like she was before, even if it was only temporary. She even went as far as to confide in him, making certain that he understood how important it was to her. “I’ve been this way since my sixteenth birthday. While I was blowing out the candles on my cake, I got too close and my hat caught fire. It was this silly thing I’d made myself, with all sorts of fancy things streaming from it. I didn’t know it was flammable and when it caught fire, the side of my face ignited, as well. No one ever looked at me the same way again.”
“Go ahead,” he said softly. “Make your selection.”
Anxious, she pointed to the necklace.
As Darrin lifted the pendant and put it around her neck, a reddish mist came out of the ruby and drifted to the corner of the room, where it remained.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Just part of the magic.” He brought her a mirror, proving how quickly her wish had come true.
She gazed into the glass and saw the reflection of a lovely young woman. Herself, without the scars!
The Vampire Pendant: Chapter Two
Tessa knew instantly when she left the shop that she looked normal, not just to herself, but to others. People passed her on the street without casting curious, pitiful, or rude glances. She blended in. She was just like everyone else.
She wasn’t going to waste time. If she had only two weeks, she was going to make the best of it.
She rearranged her work schedule so she could take a vacation and enjoy her newfound normalcy. Since she loved anything connected to Old Hollywood, she decided to reserve a room at the Beverly Hills Hotel, spending the next fourteen days living like an old-time movie star. She even booked limousine service so she could arrive in style. She shopped, too, buying clothes that complemented the pendant. Her credit card bill would be astronomical when this was over, but it was worth it.
She rode to Beverly Hills in a long black Lincoln Continental, with the windows rolled down and the wind rushing through her pale blonde hair. She couldn’t believe how pretty she felt. Every moment was an awakening, an adventure, a short-lived dream come true. A wish, she thought, as the pendant shone in the sun.
After she checked into her room, she flopped onto the canopy-draped bed and sighed. She was in the main building, and her accommodations featured classic wood furnishings and a luxurious marble bathroom.
Tessa smiled to herself. She was going to order room service for lunch and dine at the famed Polo Lounge for dinner. Then she would strut into Bar Nineteen 12, named in honor of when the hotel first opened, and sip cocktails until she got wonderfully tipsy.
Heavens, this was exciting. So exciting, she had plans to get her cherry popped. Yes, sir. She was going to find a man at this hotel and have a glamorous affair.
At twenty-five, Tessa was still a virgin. But that was about to change. This was her moment, and she was going to live it as if there was no tomorrow, enjoying every illicit turn it took.
* * *
At dinnertime Tessa dressed to the nines, putting on a sleek black dress that plunged deliciously low in front, showcasing the antique pendant. She slipped on a pair of classic black pumps and gazed at herself in a full-length mirror. She’d styled her hair in a deliberately sensual way and done her makeup with a touch of naughty flair, making her eyes smoky and her lips glossy.