Embrace The Dawning (The Covenant Series Book 1) (12 page)

Reece had transitioned as well and followed close behind Adrian and the fledgling. Adrian turned and kicked Reece as he raced toward them. The sudden force of solidity against his moving body broke one of Reece’s ribs, causing it to pierce his lung. His body automatically buckled and left him wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. Adrian held the fledgling vampire in a headlock and reached for his sheathed blade. As he leapt over the balcony, he released his headlock on the vampire and swiftly thrust the blade across the fledgling’s bulky throat.

***

Danika sat in the fine upholstered chair within her new high-rise dwelling. At her feet lay a dead body recently drained of his blood by several different vampires, including herself. Danika kicked away the limp arm that lay across her boot as Reece entered the suite, unaffected by the scene.

“He got away,” he proclaimed between gritted teeth, his hands clenched in fists.

Danika turned to face Reece. Her eyes golden. Blood stained her sharp white fangs. She licked her lips clean, savoring the remaining blood of her victim. Her lip curled as she rose from the chair. She came at Reece with vampire speed. Her hand shot across his face. The slap echoed through the room. Reece touched his face as blood seeped from the sharp cut of Danika’s nails.

“What do you mean he got away?! Your arrogance is going to get us killed! I’m going to have to acquire another safe house after only having this one for a day! No doubt Adrian will be here in a night or two. It doesn’t take him long to trace a blood trail!”

Reece glanced to the other coven vampires, squared off his shoulders, and raised his head. His vampire eyes glowered back at Danika.

“Killing him was an opportunity I couldn’t ignore.” Reece grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him. He lowered his voice to a whisper.

“I don’t care how many times we have to move. He needs to be killed. I want to be the one to do it.”

Danika leaned in, running her tongue across the bleeding laceration before whispering, “You’ll get another chance, and
next time
you better not fail.”

Danika scowled at Reece before turning away from him to address her coven vampires. “The vampire hunter is hot on our trail. Tomorrow night we’ll get him off course.”

Chapter 7

Kayci sat up in her bed, repeatedly glancing at Elise, who was lying the opposite direction of her. She had serious anxiety about coming clean with Elise last night. The wine had made her lips far too loose. She had been sitting there now for twenty minutes worrying about how Elise would react when she woke.

When Elise started to grumble, Kayci sat silently, anxiously. Elise peered at her through puffy eyes.

“Last night wasn’t a dream, was it?” she asked with a raspy, dry voice.

“No.”

Elise’s eyes widened. “So to sum it up—you’re part vampire, your boyfriend’s a vampire, your father is a vampire, he might still be alive, there are other creatures that exist that go bump in the night, you have to hide your identity from Adrian’s employer, and a crazy vampire wants to potentially hurt you.”

“Yes, that sums it up.”

“Hmm,” Elise mumbled. “Is it too early to start drinking again?”

Kayci chuckled. “Yes, it is, and we have somewhere to be today, if you still want to come?”

“Yes, I do, even if my curiosity kills me. I’m not going to lie. This all freaks me out, Kayc, but I’m going to be there for you the best I can. I can only imagine how crazy this all is for you. I’m not the one having to deal with it, so I need to get over it and support you.”

Kayci smiled out of relief. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say all that. Honestly, Elise, I thought you were going to wake up this morning and run away and never speak to me again.”

“You should know me better than that.” Elise looked at her with a frown. “I never run. I sashay.”

Kayci laughed before tossing a pillow at Elise. It made a whooshing sound as it hit her stomach. Elise grabbed the pillow and threw it back at Kayci. “Careful now. You could hurt me with those superpowers of yours.”

Kayci rolled her eyes as she slid off the bed. “Time to get dressed, girlie.”

Within an hour Kayci was shouting to Elise that she was headed to the car. Elise came rushing down the stairs behind her while pushing an earring into her ear.

“Okay, okay, I’m ready. So what’s the name of this place again?”

“Wymsical Treasures. The woman who owns the shop is Rosemary.”

“She’s the witch?”

“Yeah.”

“You think she can do the spell you were talking about last night?”

“If she was able to put a spell on the talisman like she did, then yes.”

“What happens again when you come in contact with the talisman?”

Kayci opened the car door before glancing at the talisman hanging on her front door. It was far enough away she couldn’t make out the design on the charm, but she noticed a small flicker of bright light and instinctively looked away.

“If I look at it, it temporary impairs my vision and causes serious discomfort. If I touch it, it burns my skin. It also causes the vampire part of me to react to it and causes me to feel strange. It’s more harmful to regular vampires though. If they look at it, it blinds them for a while. I don’t know how long though. And if they come near it, it causes them to catch on fire.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool. How does it do that?”

“I don’t know exactly. I think it’s because of the spell that Rosemary puts on the charms and the way vampires react to the engraving on the charm. It’s meant to ward off evil.”

“So vampires are evil?” Elise asked with unease.

“Not exactly. Vampires were created from a man and demon becoming one. The new creature that developed is the vampire. Vampires are demonic in nature, I guess, so they do react to the talisman, but Rosemary said vampires aren’t all bad. She explained that they are just like humans. Some humans are good. Some vampires are good. Some humans are evil, and some vampires are evil.”

“How do you keep track of all this stuff? My head is spinning, but then it might also be from my hangover.” Elise fervently rubbed her temples.

Kayci looked at her empathetically. She’d never had to deal with an actual hangover because of her ability to heal quickly, but she imagined the blow to the head she had a few days ago was a good example of what it felt like.

Kayci pulled out a bottle of water from her bag and handed it to Elise. “I brought you energy water. Figured you’d need to hydrate.”

Elise took the bottle from Kayci. “I’m
so glad
you’re a physical trainer.”

Kayci smiled. “Drink up. We’re almost to the shop.”

Elise quickly opened the bottle and started guzzling. Kayci slowly pulled into the parking spot outside the shop, relieved when she saw the sign said
Open
. She had been concerned that the shop might be closed, with it being Sunday.

“We’re here.” Kayci pointed to the sign.

Elise removed the water bottle from her lips and looked toward the shop. “It does look whimsical. Good name.”

“Wait till you see the cool stuff inside.”

Kayci opened the shop door and awaited the jingling sound of the little bells and the wonderful aromas to fill her nostrils. Her tension eased with each breath she took. It reminded her of a spa, with the calming colors and soothing smells. Rosemary casually glanced up from her task of adding inventory to the shelves. She recognized Kayci instantly and smiled.

“I didn’t expect you to be back so soon, my dear.” Her eyes shifted to Elise as she came in behind Kayci. Rosemary’s demeanor changed, likely unnoticed by Elise. Kayci knew Rosemary would be cautious about what she said around Elise, unknowing of what Elise did or didn’t know. Rosemary’s eyes shifted back to Kayci.

“You brought another potential customer with you. That’s wonderful.”

Rosemary addressed Elise. “Feel free to look around, dear. There are candles, lotions, and jewelry to your left. Handmade treasures in the middle, and one-of-a-kind books to the shelves on the right.”

“She knows,” Kayci admitted.

Rosemary nodded her head. “I had a feeling. The offer still stands though. There are a lot of interesting creations to look at.” She smiled charmingly at Elise.

Kayci was humored by Rosemary’s devotion to making a sale.

“Gladly,” Elise responded. She meandered toward the table and began handling the homemade crafts and jewelry. “There are so many beautiful and interesting things.”

Rosemary smiled, then turned her attention toward Kayci. “What brings you in, my dear?”

“I’ve realized I may need more protection than I thought, and I wanted to hire you for one of the side jobs you referred to. I’m hoping you can do a spell for me.”

“What kind of spell?” she asked with interest.

“Is it possible for you to make me a charm that draws out the vampire side of me without harming me like the talisman does?”

Rosemary thought for a moment. “I’ve never done a spell like that, but I think I could manage it. Why though would you want to do that, my dear?”

Kayci glanced at Elise, who, to her surprise, was holding a basket with a necklace, matching earrings, a bag of herbs, and the white air candle. Kayci chuckled. “Of course, you’re a Gemini.”

Elise looked up at Kayci when she heard Gemini. “What?”

“The candle you chose. It’s your element. You’re drawn to it.”

Elise looked down at the candle in her hand while admiring the design. “Really? That’s so cool!”

Kayci smiled at Elise’s obvious fascination of the shop and its treasures. She returned her attention to Rosemary. “It’s complicated,” she replied.

Rosemary let out a small sigh. “Ladies, how about we have some tea?”

Elise lifted her head from browsing the shelves of books. “Yes, that sounds nice.”

Rosemary closed the front door, clicked the lock, then guided Kayci and Elise to her back room. She pulled three cups from the armoire, sprinkled tea leaves into the cups, then poured in hot water in a circular motion. Kayci took the same seat she had sat in the last time. She noticed there were two chairs on the side of the table where she sat, instead of one. She looked at Rosemary, who noticed her looking at the extra seat.

“I had a feeling company was coming this morning,” she explained to Kayci.

Kayci nodded. She wasn’t surprised. Elise took the seat next to Kayci and set her basket of products to the edge of the table. Rosemary set the teacups on the table for them before she took her own seat. Rosemary looked at Elise with a kind expression.

“What is your name, dear?”

Elise smiled. “My name is Elise.”

“The tea will help your headache, Elise.” Rosemary nodded toward the teacup for Elise to take and drink.

Elise glanced at Kayci, then the cup, and giggled. “How did you know I have a headache? Are you psychic?”

Rosemary looked amused. “I’m intuitive. I saw you rubbing your temples.”

Elise laughed. “I’m sorry. This is all so fascinating to me. I’m a writer, and I’m curious. These past two days with Kayci have been more exciting than my whole writing career. Kayci told me you were a witch, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet you.”

“I understand, dear. From the outside looking in, this lifestyle would seem fascinating.”

“You mean it’s not?” Elise asked.

“Oh, it has its moments where it’s wonderful, but it has its obstacles as well.”

It was clear that Elise wanted to dive into that conversation even deeper, but she stopped herself from continuing the interview.

“Perhaps we can discuss your lifestyle in more depth another time?”

Rosemary’s smile appeared just behind her teacup. Her bright eyes shifted from the top of her cup back to Elise.

“Perhaps,” she replied.

Rosemary focused her attention on Kayci. “Kayci, my dear, you were going to explain why you need such a spell that would bring out more of your vampire nature.”

Kayci rubbed her forehead. Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about where to begin. “The vampire that saved me turned out to be the very vampire hunter you spoke about.”

Rosemary nodded her head in obvious interest.

“We have gotten to know one another since that day.”

“They’re dating,” Elise blurted.

Rosemary acknowledged Elise’s remark with a nod and a surprised expression. She returned her gaze to Kayci, carefully studying her. Kayci eyed Elise. She wasn’t sure she wanted Elise to share that fact with Rosemary. She sighed.

“Yes, we’re kind of dating. If you can call it that. I’d say we are getting to know each other better and are interested in spending more time together.”

“What’s the vampire’s name?”

Kayci paused a moment and studied Rosemary. She wondered why that was of interest to her. Rosemary quickly became aware of Kayci’s reluctance.

“You have nothing to fear from me, my dear. I’m only asking to ensure that the vampire you are spending time with is one and the same as the vampire hunter. If so, you are aware that this puts you in a dangerous predicament?”

“Yes, this is why I have come to you. Adrian Spade is his name, and yes, he is the vampire hunter working for the Covenant. I haven’t shared with him that I am a half-breed. I don’t want to put him in a situation where he has to decide between keeping my secret and risking his safety, or sharing my identity and risking my safety. There is also a vampire that he is currently hunting. The rogue vampire you mentioned. She is aware that he cares for me and may use that as leverage to get him to stop hunting her. She may come after me. I thought that if I had access to more of my vampire nature that I could protect myself better.”

Elise butted in again. “In her defense, she did try to break it off with Adrian and give him the boot, but they are very attracted to one another. It’s extremely obvious when you are in a room with them both.
Believe me
.”

“She’s right. I did tell him we couldn’t see each other.”

Rosemary’s eyes narrowed.

“But…” Rosemary coaxed.

“But he came back, and we kissed. I’ve never experienced a kiss quite like it. It was incredible.” Kayci’s face flushed from the thought. Her cheeks warmed. She was sharing more than she was comfortable with, and sharing it with Rosemary was an odd feeling.

“Yes, I see,” Rosemary said as she adjusted in her seat.

“See what?” Kayci asked.

“Your paths have crossed for a reason. May I give you a reading, Kayci?”

Kayci was taken aback. “What kind of reading?”

“I’d like to read the cards for you. It is a way for me to receive more insight into your future.”

“You can do that?!” Elise asked.

Rosemary smiled warmly. “Yes, I can. I don’t usually offer them unless I sense a need for it or someone has come looking for a specific answer.”

Kayci’s eyebrows pinched in. She was skeptical but also interested. “All right.”

Rosemary picked up the cards from the edge of her side of the table. She shuffled them twice and then fanned them and held them in front of Kayci.

“Four cards. Clear you mind and pick them slowly.”

Kayci looked at Elise, clearly excited and curious. She looked back down at the cards. She wished she shared the same feelings as Elise. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She closed her eyes, focused on the black of her eyelids, and tried to clear her mind. She opened her eyes and instinctively reached down for a card, then another, until she had all four cards chosen. Rosemary set the remaining cards aside. She took the four cards from Kayci’s hand and laid them out on the table, flipping them over one at a time.