Witchcraft (#2 Witchblood Series) (16 page)

‘
Any chance you’ve learnt any
mending magic yet then?’ Eva asked.

‘
No, sorry. I’ll go and see if I
can find anything in the books while we wait for Daniel. And Eva,
I’m going to London, whether you help me or not.’

Daniel came back just past midnight, by
which time I had Eva back onside, after earning serious brownie
points for my new magic skills. In the hours while we waited for
Daniel, I had indeed kept my word and flicked through my Book of
Shadows until I came across a transmutation spell. I found it early
on in the book, in the section which Franny had suggested I start
working with first - the beginner spells.

It only took two attempts to master it,
and even then it was all down to concentration. Eva sat opposite me
at the table, instructed to stay perfectly motionless and utter not
a word. I zoned her out and concentrated on breathing. Now, as a
vampire it is true that I didn’t need to breathe, but it was a
habit that being a new vampire, I’d not lost. This was convenient,
because it was certainly easier to relax when you could hear
yourself breathe. It still freaked me out when Eva occasionally
stopped for minutes at a time, until I gave her a quick jab in the
ribs.

To be fair to Eva, the only movement she
made throughout the whole half hour was a movement so slight, but
so full of expression it made me giggle. Luckily, by then I didn’t
need to concentrate so much, because I had already grounded, drawn
the energy through my body, down into my hands which rested on
either side of the fracture. In a low tone, I quietly chanted the
simple, ancient lines that had been printed in the book, and
watched as I turned the wood under my hands to a jelly-like
substance. In my head I envisioned the wood growing again, weaving
its now softened splinters together. I stroked the pliable,
dough-like wood back together, caressed it and smoothed out any
bumps. Her jaw dropped open enough for me to notice the movement
out of the corner of my eye. I smirked, pleased with myself, and
once I was sure the table was as good as new, I let the excess
energy leave my body and looked up.

‘
Woah! That is serious magic,
witch-girl,’ Eva said. ‘It would have come in useful when you first
broke my mirror at Exodus, wouldn’t it?’

‘
I think this was an easy first
attempt, as I only had a single crack to sort out. A shattered
mirror would be a different story.’

‘
When do you think Daniel will be
back? He’s out later than usual,’ I asked.

‘
Any minute now, and from the
vibes I’m getting he’s in a mood. Something’s up…just be
warned!’

‘
Great! I bet Sebastian’s grilled
him. That’s all I need, before I tell him I want to go to London,’
I said.

‘
Jess, I know you’re going to go
anyway, but I think it’s a really bad idea. I will try and get
Sebastian to allow me to follow you, but without Cole’s invitation,
Daniel and I would be on dangerous ground.’

‘
Eva, I don’t want to risk getting
you in trouble with Sebastian, or Cole. I’m sure Luke will be able
to watch out for me. After all he can fly me out of trouble, can’t
he.’

‘
Why will Luke be needing to fly
you anywhere? What exciting plans are being made behind my back
then?’ Daniel said quietly from the door frame, making me jump with
sudden guilt.

‘
Daniel, you’re late, where’ve you
been all night?’ I said.

‘
You know where I’ve been and stop
avoiding the question. Have you seen Luke?’ he said, as Eva took
one look at his face , set like marble, pushed back her chair and
left us to it.

‘
Yes, I have. He came here. I
didn’t invite him but…’

‘
Oh, so that makes it okay then!
When were you planning on telling me your plans to fly off into the
sunset with him?’

‘
Oh, shut up and stop being so
damn jealous of me! I’ve told you there is nothing between Luke
& me anymore. I’ve also told you I want to be with you, so
chill out and back off, before you make me break some more of your
bones,’ I said, placing my palms flat on the table again. I could
see I was going to need to ground again very soon, as my annoyance
was already brewing.

‘
Fine, so why were you talking
about him flying you out of trouble, when I came in?’ he asked,
sitting down opposite me.

The next half hour thankfully passed
without the need to break anything or to ground, and he managed to
keep his temper, as I explained what Luke had come to tell me, and
what I had discussed with Eva. He remained adamant though. He
wouldn’t let me go, and certainly not at dawn, with Luke.

‘
Did you tell Eva about your plan
to feed?’ he asked.

‘
Yes, it was rather fun watching
her face,’ I said, smiling at the memory. ‘But I can’t go to the
club tomorrow. Not now. I need to find Alex first.’

‘
Jessie, that is exactly what
you
should
do tomorrow. If you
are intent on going to London, you should do it with your full
strength. He will be expecting you sooner rather than later, and if
you put it back a couple of days, feed and then go, there is a
chance you may have the upper hand.’

‘
And there is also the chance she
could be dead by then,’ I said.

‘
He won’t kill her Jess, he
wouldn’t risk everything he’s got for one human girl, I promise
you.’

I didn’t know what to do, as I
desperately wanted to find Alex. I could only hope that Cole’s
vampires behaved better than Sebastian’s chief bodyguard, Aaron
had. I shivered as I remembered the vampire ripping at my top, my
bra, pinning me down. My breathing became shallow, and faster.

‘
Hey Jessie, it’s okay. We’ll work
it out. It’s not your fault. The angels should have done something
about it, but as usual they don’t want to get involved in vampire
politics.’

‘
It
is
my fault. She’s been through all this because
of me.’

‘
Jessie, who left you at the club?
Who walked home, leaving you to get attacked by the girl gang? It’s
not your fault. None of this is.’

‘
It’s not hers either. She was
just drunk. She would never have left me alone if she was thinking
straight, and she doesn’t deserve to pay for it like this,’ I
said.

‘
She may still turn up. He may not
even have her. Luke said they hadn’t heard any of his staff or
peers mention a girl. It could all be a ploy.’

‘
He
has
got her. Even Luke thinks so now.’

‘
Luke again!’

‘
Yes, and you better get used to
it, because Luke was her friend too and he wants to find her as
much as I do. I don’t love him anymore and he certainly doesn’t
love me, but he can help us find Alex.’

‘
Fine, but you’re not going with
him at dawn. He can go and scout London, follow Cole or whatever,
and I will find a way to take you to London myself,
after
you have fed properly in Exodus
tomorrow night.’

I badly wanted to leave that
minute. I was concerned that Cole could already have taken action,
after his warning not to involve the angels, but what Daniel said
made sense, and even though Cole had warned me not to involve the
angels, he had not forbidden me to bring other vampires. It
could
work, if Luke went on ahead and
scouted possible locations, spied on Cole, and then I followed with
Daniel in a couple of days, hopefully strengthened by my first real
feed.

‘
Okay. I would prefer to leave
tomorrow night, straight after the club, but Monday at the absolute
latest,’ I said.

‘
Deal!’ he said, the tiny red
flecks glittering in his dark eyes as his full, sexy lips widened
into a smile that could hypnotise a thousand girls. ‘Let’s go and
tell Eva the plan before lover-boy returns.’

‘
Ex
-lover-boy,’ I said, getting up from my chair
and moving over to him for a kiss.

A loud banging on the door interrupted
us, and we heard Eva’s angry words as she tried unsuccessfully to
bar people from entering the house. I leapt from Daniel’s lap, and
we both shot out of the room and skidded to a stop in the narrow
Victorian hallway, which was now uncomfortably full of
supernaturals.

The kitchen end of the hallway contained
myself, Daniel and Eva, who had now backed towards us. The rest of
the hallway contained no less than five angels, in the same green
hooded robes I had seen when they had come to Luke’s and my rescue,
a couple of weeks previously. They held their long,
beautifully-crafted swords close to their bodies, and their faces
were drawn with barely concealed anger.

‘
We have come to arrest Mr Daniel
Bailey for the suspected murder of human girl Tillie Rose, tonight
between the hours of ten and twelve. Your maker may accompany you
to the cells and advise on your behalf.’

Chapter Thirteen

It had been an hour since Daniel and Eva
had left with the angels. For one long hour I sat pretty much
motionless in the back room, Murphy on my lap, staring at the wall.
I was trying to get my head straight and decide what to do. Daniel
had gone willingly, his eyes betraying a sadness he refused to
emote. Eva had accompanied him, telling me not to worry, that it
would all work out. I didn’t know what to believe. I was in
shock.

It turned out that whereas Daniel
had apparently been telling the truth about not seeing Sophie since
before he made me, he had lied when he said that he didn’t have a
regular human girl that he fed from. Tillie Rose was a nineteen
year old vampire groupie, and she
had
been his regular. Even Eva knew that he had
been seeing her the entire time he had been with me. Why hadn’t he
told me? We’d had the conversation before and he had assured me
that he fed from different people each time.

In the five minutes this all came out,
before he left the house, he told me it was because I wouldn’t
understand, as I hadn’t yet fed from a human. He promised me he was
innocent, that he hadn’t killed her. He pleaded with me to believe
him when he said that all he did was feed, that she meant nothing
more to him, and when he’d left her tonight he swore she’d still
been alive.

As I ran my hand the length of Murphy’s
back, caressing his soft velvety fur, I could feel him connecting
with me, soothing me. He took my confusion and pain and fed me hope
and belief. He strengthened me and allowed me to think. I began to
feel bad for the jealous words I’d shouted at him, asking him if
he’d had sex with her, because I hadn’t been ready to. This poor
girl was dead and yet I felt cheated, jealous. I needed to get my
priorities straight. He begged me to believe him, to accompany them
both to the courts, but I was confused. If he had lied to me so
easily about having this regular girl to feed from, to see at the
night club, when I wasn’t there, what else could he lie about?
Could he have drained these girls? I was sure I hadn’t left him too
thirsty this last time…but maybe I was wrong.

I didn’t think it was possible for
Daniel to commit such a crime. When we found out about Sophie, we
all thought it must be a horrible fluke, but now a second girl had
turned up dead. A girl who, as his regular, he had admitted to
feeding from this very night, the night she died. Her blood must be
in his system, making him strong and again it was his first feed
after a night with me. I simply didn’t know what to think. Why
would both girls be linked to Daniel, if he hadn’t drained them? I
couldn’t think of why anyone would want to set him up, as he seemed
to get on with everyone in the clan. It just didn’t make sense. Why
had he gone with the angels, so willingly, so submissively? The
only thing he had fought for was to have me with him, and I had
refused. I needed time. Murphy purred and shifted in my lap.

A light knock on the patio window
disturbed my thoughts and I found myself staring into those azure
blue eyes I knew so well. I flicked the latch and he opened the
door, and as I didn’t move from my position I soon found myself
being gently pulled from my seated position into a bear hug, and
the tears were unlocked. After a few minutes my sobs subsided and
he pushed me back and sat down next to me.

‘
I heard. Jess, I’m so sorry. I
don’t know what to believe,’ Luke said.

‘
Neither do I. I can’t believe
he’d drain anybody, never mind a girl he cared about. He just
wouldn’t Luke, but he lied to me about her. I’m so
confused.’

‘
I tend to agree. I don’t like the
bloke…obviously, and a blood sucking parasite has definitely
drained these girls. It was lucky we got to this one before the
human authorities, otherwise we’d have a full-scale cover-up
mission on our hands.’

‘
He wouldn’t do it, Luke,’ I said,
feeling more certain with every word.

‘
Then why didn’t you go with him?’
Luke asked. ‘I was sure I’d find you in the courts with them both.
When you weren’t there, I came straight over.’

‘
I don’t know why I didn’t go. He
begged me to. I was confused. I still am, but it’s more about the
lie surrounding him seeing this girl, having a regular. I guess I’m
jealous,’ I admitted, looking at the floor.

‘
But why would he lie to you about
this, if he was innocent? After all, it’s what you guys do…you bite
people, you suck their blood. Why wouldn’t he want you to know he
fed from this girl?’ Luke asked, his voice growing
colder.