Witches and Whatnots: An Izzy Cooper Novel (12 page)

Lady Luck’s headlights barely penetrated the thick darkness ahead. The full moon might have illuminated the road some, if it weren’t for the blanket of clouds that covered the sky.

I was putting so much concentration into watching the road in front of me that when a white owl swooped toward my headlights, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Seeing an owl was definitely a bad sign. Granny used to say that owls were messengers of death.

I tended to believe my Granny, especially when it came to omens. She hadn’t been wrong too often.

On a good note, at least I hadn’t seen Mister Grim in the last twenty-four hours.

Just as my heart rate returned to normal, the road twisted around a clump of trees, and out of nowhere there was someone standing in the middle of the road.

A loud gasp pushed its way from my lungs as I slammed on the breaks, which resulted in the tires skidding across the loose rock and dirt.

Lady Luck came to a jolting stop. Another few inches and I’d have gone right over the idiot, who apparently thought it was okay to stand in the middle of a dark road.

It took a few minutes, but I finally recognized the figure standing in the road as Zane Dupree. Obviously with him being a vampire and all, he hadn’t been worried about getting tire tracks over his backside.

It was still an idiot move. I could have lost control of the car and went right into a tree, and I could die.

Slamming Lady Luck into park, I jumped out. “What the hell was that all about? Do you realize you could have caused a serious accident?”

“I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.” He shrugged, and as he did, locks of long blond hair fell off his shoulders.

I wasn’t so sure I believed him.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“I can’t let you go up to the Dell.”

“Like hell you can’t! My sister is up there.” I glowered at him, though I had serious doubts he could actually see my face, due to the glare of the headlights.

“Your sister will be fine … but you cannot go up there,” he insisted.

Now he was really starting to rub me the wrong way. “Well I guess you can try and stop me, but any minute now I’m going to get back in this car and put tire tracks over your back if you don’t get out of my way.”

“If you go up there right now, you’ll interfere with their power, and that could have grave results for a lot of people,” he explained, as if he were talking to a wayward child.

“Excuse me if I have to say I don’t give a crumb about their power. All I care about is getting my sister away from those murderesses.”

A hint of a smile touched his lips. “You know … you’re wrong about them.”

“Since when did you decide to go in cahoots with the Black Moon witches anyway?” For some reason, this irritated me as much as Annabelle jumping in with them.

Rayanne’s tinkling laughter caught me by surprise. The witch stepped from the shadows of the tree line at the side of the road. She was wearing a red hooded robe that made her
look like a cross between some kind of medieval priestess, and Little Red Riding Hood. Still, her witch’s getup did nothing to take away from her beauty.

The other witches were close behind her. All of them wore black, except for Annabelle, whose silver robe shimmered like liquid moonlight.

Rayanne stopped when she’d reached Zane’s side. Putting a possessive hand on his arm, she turned to me and smiled. “Zane and I go back a long way.”

Why did I all the sudden have the urge to rip her arm from its socket? “I suppose you joined him in Salem and sailed together on the Mystique?” I smirked. My mood had quickly gone from not so good, to really bad.

“You could say that.” Her smile widened.

“So if your magic is so powerful … why do you need a vampire to protect you, especially when you are all together?”

“Tonight of all nights … we cannot soil our magic in petty battles with you. We must let the essence of our magic renew.”

Now that was insulting! Soiling their magic? “So Zane has to be your bouncer?”

“In a way.” Rayanne nodded.

I folded my arms. “I am not leaving here without Annabelle, so fire away.”

Finally, Annabelle stepped forward. I was beginning to think they’d brainwashed her. “I am okay, Izzy. I promise. Please understand … it isn’t that I don’t want you to join me on this special occasion, but they are right. You have darkness with you, and that darkness will interfere with our essence.”

“If that happens, it will ruin the magic that allows me to walk in the sun,” Zane added.

That explained what his motive was.

“Without our magic, Zane will be cursed to the darkness, and you …” Her voice trailed off when Zane gave her a sharp look that was meant to shred.

“What does any of this have to do with me?” I asked. Zane’s dirty looks didn’t intimidate me a bit.

Ignoring my question, Rayanne stepped forward and grabbed my hands. “Izzy … we are not the villains you think we are. The person you are looking for has a black heart. She will do anything to remain in this life, even if it means killing.

“And who would that be?”

“I can feel the darkness in her soul, but I can’t see her.” Rayanne dropped my hands.

Hmm, so this was basically a witchy guess. Not all that helpful.

“I still don’t see why I can’t be with my sister,” I persisted, changing the subject. I figured unless she could tell me something solid, I’d be wasting my time to ask her about the killings.

Rayanne shook her head. “The darkness inside you will ruin everything. You cannot be a part of this.”

So I couldn’t attend their witchy shindig because I was demonized. That seemed so unfair.

“Your sister will be fine,” Rayanne promised.

With that, she made her way back to the other witches. As I watched, they slowly rose into the dark sky and seemed to disappear.

Now that was cool, even if I didn’t much like Rayanne.

When they were gone, I turned furious eyes on Zane. “Thanks for interfering with my family.”

“One day you really will be thanking me,” he said, stepping closer.

Although with him standing so close I could barely think coherently, I did have doubts that I would end up thanking him for his interference.

Cupping my chin in his hand, he tilted my head until I was looking in his eyes. “Just forget about this, Izzy. Go home and enjoy the rest of the night.”

Was he trying to compel me?

“Sorry, that doesn’t work on me anymore.”

Deep – rich laughter bubbled from his throat. “I’m not trying to weave some kind of vampire spell on you. I am just concerned for you.”

My lips parted to say something, but I quickly forgot what that was as soon as he covered my mouth with his. His kiss was intoxicating, which resulted in me practically melting into a pile of demon goop right where I stood.

I was breathless by the time he pulled away.

“If you don’t mind … I’ll accompany you to your house to make sure you get there?”

I kind of did mind. He was acting like I was some kind of child that needed tending. Then again, I wasn’t exactly opposed to spending a little more time with him.

When I shrugged, he started for the passenger side of the car. “This would be a good night to spend some time snuggling by the fireplace. I hope you have one.”

* * *

I did have a fireplace, but it was the kind that plugs into the wall. Still, it was cozy enough.

I hadn’t said too much since we’d arrived at my house. Partly because I was still upset with him for keeping me away from Annabelle’s initiation into the Black Moon Sisterhood, but also because I was still a little shaken up by his kiss.

Staring at the illusion of fire dancing in the electric fireplace, I sipped at a cup of red wine.

“Red looks luscious on your lips,” he said, scooting a little closer.

He was getting too close and I was already pressed up against the arm of the couch.

“Why are you afraid of me?” he asked, his voice low and seductive.

“I’m not. I am just upset that you are here babysitting me so that I don’t go up to the Dell.”

“But if I weren’t here … that’s exactly what you would do.”

He had a point.

“Well, I could just fry you and go anyway,” I pointed out. It was true, I could use my demon juice on him and go up there anyway, but it might cause real death, and I wasn’t sure I actually wanted him dead.

Leaning into me, he brushed my lips with a kiss. “Let me help you forget about all this for awhile.”

“I can’t.” I shook my head, maybe with a little too much venom. He knew how he made me feel and was determined to use it to his advantage.

Jumping to my feet, I moved to my recliner and picked up the Mystique Island book that I’d tossed on the end table when I came in.

“This book is really interesting. That’s how I found out about the Dell witches,” I rambled.

He placed his glass of wine on the coffee table. “You are being too hard on them.”

“I don’t think so,” I was really starting to get irritated that he kept defending them. Actually, I was beginning to think he and Rayanne had something going on, which was that much more reason to keep my distance.

Opening the book, I started thumbing through the pictures. There were several I hadn’t looked at because I’d been so caught up in the picture of Betty Hansen. On nearly the last page, there was a picture of a couple standing on the docks. It was even older than the photo of Betty. I estimated the clothing to be about the beginning of the twentieth century.

The guy I didn’t recognize at all, but the woman looked familiar. It took about twenty seconds for it to sink in.

The woman was Missy!

“Oh my God! Look at this.” I pushed the book into Zane’s face. “That is Missy Rogers.”

Zane took a good look at the picture. “It does look like her.”

“What do you know about Missy?” I asked, drawing my brows together. “Is she one of those witches?”

Zane shook his head. “Not that I know of. All I know about her is that she’s pretty hot in the sack, and she isn’t human.”

“You knew this and didn’t say anything?” I asked, ignoring his reference to being intimate with her. It actually didn’t surprise me much.

He gave me a lopsided grin. “I’m not a tattletale.”

“Damn!” I jumped up from the chair. “She’s with my uncle right now. If she is the killer, and from this picture, I’d say it is safe to conclude she is, he is in big time danger.”

Without waiting for a response, I ran for my car keys.

“Where are you going?” he asked, getting up from the sofa.

“To find my uncle.” I was already out the door.

“I’m going with you.”

I wasn’t about to argue with him. Having a badass vampire as a partner wasn’t the worst situation to be in.

“You might want to slow down,” Zane advised. I’m immortal, but you’re not.

“I might be … a little.”

Although I’d already had a bad experience due to being preoccupied with my phone, such as getting run over by a truck, I tried to call Aaron while I sped toward the lighthouse. We’d already checked Granny’s house, and his car wasn’t there. The lighthouse was the only other place I could think to look.

My heart sank when I saw Malcolm’s Camaro in the lot.

“Damn! He’s not here. Now what?” I wasn’t so much asking Zane, as complaining, but he decided to answer me.

“Well go up there and see if they know where he’s at.”

Slamming the car into park, I jumped out and started up the stairs. Zane was close behind.

Since I was completely out of breath by the time I reached the front entrance, getting to the lantern room at the top was going to be a real trick. As I stood there gasping for air, Zane brushed the hair away from my eyes.

“You know … if you let me turn you, none of this would be a problem.”

“No thanks. I think I have enough problems already.”

As soon as my breathing returned to normal, I started up the winding staircase that would take me to the top of the lighthouse, and Aaron’s studio. When I got to the top, I burst through the door, without bothering to knock.

Malcolm was kicked back in Aaron’s chair, his long, sandy blond dreadlocks hanging down the back of the chair. There was a heavy metal magazine covering his face while he slept. He’d apparently decided to put the music on automatic and sleep through his shift.

When Malcolm heard us enter, he jumped from the chair, knocking the magazine to the floor in the process.

“What’s wrong?” he mumbled, still half asleep.

‘Where is my uncle?” I asked, still a little out of breath.

Malcolm lifted both shoulders. “I don’t know. The toad was supposed to come in and relieve me at 11:00.”

“Well, where do you think he went?” I was really starting to get worried. This wasn’t like Aaron at all. If it had to do with the station, he was right on it. Leaving it too long to Malcolm would never happen.

Something had to be wrong.

“Did he say anything at all about what is plans were for the night?” Zane stepped in.

Again Malcolm shrugged. “He was with Missy Rogers. They were going for chili and to the pumpkin walk. That’s all I know.”

“Where does he usually take women when he’s on a date?” Zane asked.

It was a good thing I had him with me. I’d never have thought to ask about that. Even thinking of Uncle Aaron on a date was a little yuk.

“He sometimes uses my boat at the North Point Marina … he also likes the sea caves.” Malcolm rubbed the sleep from his eyes, obviously still not too alert.

The feeling of defeat loomed over me like a dark cloud. How could I check both places at the same time? They were miles apart.

“The Marina is further away. I’ll check there,” Zane volunteered.

“How?” I asked, but suddenly realized that I’d actually saw him dissipate into a cloud of smoke once.

“You check the sea caves.” After brushing my lips with a kiss, he was gone.

I turned to Malcolm and tossed him my cell phone. “Call Tim and tell him where I’m headed.”

Without giving him time to answer, I was out the door and practically flying down the winding staircase.

The sea caves were only a couple miles away. If I hurried, maybe I had a chance of making it in time. Too bad the medical examiner hadn’t been able to figure out exactly how long it took for the murder to occur. I had no idea.

Did she suck the breath out of them like some kind of reverse vacuum?

As soon as I burst out of the door, I found myself in a thick fog.

The fog bank must have come up on us fast. We hadn’t been inside longer than five minutes.

This would definitely slow me down.

Pulling back onto the loop road, I started north. The sea caves were famous for tall tales. Some said that there was pirate treasure buried there, others thought it was haunted by natives. All I knew was they were dark - dank, and gave me the creeps.

It wasn’t until I was less than twenty feet away that I could see Aaron’s car through the mist.

After easing Lady Luck to the pull off, I put it in park and switched off the ignition.

Reaching beneath the front driver’s seat, I grabbed my pistol. I had no idea how to stop a succubus, but having the gun with me probably wouldn’t hurt.

What I didn’t have was a flashlight, with the exception of the tiny flashlight attached to my key chain.

A lot of good that was going to do me.

Tall weeds made finding the path in the dark next to impossible. By my estimation, it probably slowed me down at least three minutes, and that wasn’t good. Somehow I knew that every minute counted.

When I finally reached the sandy beach at the bottom of the hill, I turned left. I knew I’d find the sea caves approximately a hundred yards up the beach. It was a good thing I knew their location by memory. Visibility sucked.

I walked for what seemed forever before coming to the dark - looming mouth of the cave. There were a few caves along the cliffs, but this was the biggest and most easily traversed.

Feeling my way along the moist rock wall, I started making my way into the bowels of the earth. When the passage opened into another cavern, there was nothing. At least there was nothing I could see.

Although it was still dark, the warmer air inside the cave had dissipated some of the mist. At the far end of the cavern, there was another passage, so that’s where I headed. I just hoped I picked the right cave, otherwise I might not like Uncle Aaron’s new look when I finally did find him.

Of course when I found Missy Rogers, she probably wouldn’t’ like my new look too much either.

About twenty feet into the passage, I started to see a strange blue light at the end. Not like a flashlight kind of light, but more like an ethereal light.

I’d never heard of a succubus being connected to strange lights.

Encouraged, I started walking a little faster. Big mistake, I hit some slick rock and nearly fell on my face.

Suddenly the air grew thick, as if it was alive. Drawing in a deep breath, I realized that the very act of taking in oxygen was becoming more difficult.

When I reached the end of the passage, I peeked around the rock wall into a massive cavern.

I’d hit pay dirt. Uncle Aaron was definitely there, and he was unconscious, but instead of seeing Missy Rogers sucking the life out of him, like I’d expected, he was suspended in the middle of the cavern by some kind of weird glowing blue web.

Missy was nowhere to be seen.

What was going on?

I was preparing to dart toward Aaron when something dropped from the rock ceiling.

The massive creature was at least the size of a house, if not bigger. Its brown - grayish body glistened, as if it had just come out of the water. I’d never seen anything like it. The thing looked like a cross between a crab and a giant spider.

Could it be?

I’d grown up hearing the legend of the Luska, but I’d never believed it. The Luska was said to be a creature that lurked in the waters around the island, and every once in a while, it would snatch a swimmer, and sometimes even a boat. The Luska’s victims were taken to the bottom of the sea and never seen again.

Just a crazy story, so I had thought.

Two questions stormed me at once.

How the hell was I going to kill this thing with a gun?

And where was Missy Rogers?

Suddenly it opened its mouth, which moved side to side instead of up and down. I cringed as I watched it lower its mouth over Aaron’s face.

Not since I was a kid could I remember being so scared. That was back when I’d spent countless nights searching for monsters beneath my bed, and now here I was, face to face with a real monster.

There was only one thing to do.

Closing my eyes, I summoned that darkness lurking within me. Black fire shot from my fingers, knocking the creature onto its back. It took one more big shot before it started squealing.

To my surprise, the thing got on all six of its legs and started in my direction. I shot demon juice at it with both hands. Not only did it squeal, it actually started sizzling.

I stared at my hands, a little shocked.

Julius laughter echoed through my skull. “You’re slipping, love.”

Doing my best to ignore Julius, I ran to my uncle, all the while keeping a wary eye on the sea creature. It wasn’t moving.

Uncle Aaron’s pallor was kind of blue-black, but he was still breathing, though it was shallow.

“Blow in his face,” Julius’s low voice reverberated through my head.

There was no time to worry about what it would do to my soul. Aaron wouldn’t last much longer without some kind of intervention.

Taking a deep breath, I blew in his face.

The air filled with hazy smoke that wound its way into Uncle Aaron’s mouth and nostrils. A moment later he was choking and gasping for air.

“What … the,” he choked.

In that instant, I noticed something different. The air was lighter and the cavern darker. It was easier to breathe.

“Are you okay?” I heard Tim come up from behind.

“Yeah … I just killed it,” I told him, pointing toward the sea monster. But it was gone. In its place was Missy, at least what used to be Missy. She was shriveled, almost beyond recognition. If not for her blond hair, I wouldn’t have known who it was.

She’d had me fooled. I thought for sure she’d been a tramp, and a succubus, but I’d never have guessed a shape-shifting sea monster.

One minute I was looking at the gross remains of the Missy sea creature, and the next everything was spinning out of control.

The only thing I was aware of was someone picking me up and cradling me in their arms.

“The shock must have been too much for her.” I heard someone say, as if from a distance. Suddenly I felt like I was encased in an iceberg and I blinked out.

* * *

I opened my eyes to twinkling silver stars against a black velvet sky. The mist was completely gone.

The chill I’d felt before blacking out was also gone. I was lying on the sand with a thin blanket covering me.

“Welcome back.” Zane was leaning over me.

“What happened?”

“You went into shock. I have a feeling you are not accustomed to dipping into those powers … that you shouldn’t be using,” he added.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“I know,” he said, his voice more tender than I could ever remember it. “But it has taken its toll on you.”

“Where is everyone?” I asked, my voice sounding too scratchy.

“They are in the process of loading your uncle into an ambulance. He is dehydrated and has depleted potassium.”

“I have to go with him.” I tried to get up, but my limbs wouldn’t cooperate.

Zane shook his head. “It’s going to take awhile before you can do anything.”

“Why?”

I couldn’t understand what was wrong. I’d used the power before, and sure I’d felt a little dizzy, but I’d recovered quickly.

Again I tried to move, but got nowhere.

Sighing, Zane removed the blanket and then lifted my head until I could see my body. A scream tore from my throat.

My arms were covered in scales … like a snake’s scales.

“What happened!”

“When you give in to it … a little more seeps into who you are?” Zane explained.

“How do you know all this?”

“I’ve known you for a long long time,” he whispered, pulling the top half of my body onto his lap so he could hold me close to him.

“It will pass. I promise. Soon you’ll look as good as new. But you have to be careful and not let it tempt you.”

His voice was like a calming lullaby. Soon I managed to focus my attention on the waves lapping against the shoreline. I had to think of anything other than the demon within me, struggling to come out.

“Did you know about her?” I asked him.

“No.”

I wondered if Julius had known, and had maybe even staged this entire thing. Staring at the dark sea in front of me, I couldn’t help but wonder what other ominous secrets it held. What monsters still lurked in her depths?

Before long the roar of the sea and the soft starlight brought on a drowsy feeling. Drifting until I was somewhere between in the twilight world of dreams and what was real, I felt Zane hug me a little tighter.