Found (Book One of the Castle Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel (3 page)

“You can’t go, you just got here. This is meant to be your home,” Beatrice cried, and Hailey broke away, shaking her head.

“It doesn’t matter. If my presence is disturbing the coven, it’s Donato’s job to fix that.”

Beatrice looked like she was going to protest, but Luca was nodding. There was something lost and sad and, terribly enough, something resigned on his young face.

“That’s the way it happens,” he said, and she remembered that he had only recently come to Angioli.

“Oh no, not for you,” Hailey said, squeezing his shoulder. “It’ll be different for you, I promise.”

Luca didn’t look convinced, and she leaned down to give him a tight hug. She couldn’t tell him that he was at a place where he would be cherished and taught. It was a lesson he could only learn with time. It was one that Hailey had yet to learn herself.

The hug had to end, however, and she gave her two young friends a smile before she went off looking for Donato. The sun was just beginning its slow descent. She paused to watch the streaks of violet across the sky. It was beautiful, and she wondered when she was going to find a place she could stay permanently.

 
She knocked crisply on the door to Donato’s office, and when she heard his greeting, she entered. The coven master, a rather lean and saturnine man, was at his accustomed place behind his desk, but the man who stood next to him was unexpected.

Hailey blinked, convinced that she was mistaken, and then she realized that she was not.

“You!” she exclaimed, forgetting to greet Donato at all. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Hailey!”

Donato’s voice was like a whip crack, and she turned to him in surprise.

Donato hadn’t been happy to introduce her to his coven, but he had been fair to her. She knew that he ruled his coven with a firm hand, but no one was abused. All had the same opportunities to hone their talents. Now he looked at her with an expression that she had never seen before. When she stopped to really look at him, she could see that he was afraid.

In the pause, Donato calmed himself, and started again.

“Hailey, this is Major Kieran McCallen of the Magus Corps. He’s here on Corps business and needs to speak with you.”

That was all Donato said before he walked past her and out of the room. He didn’t meet her eyes, and when he closed the door behind him, Hailey felt as if she was trapped with a large predator.

The silence stretched out between them longer and longer, and when Hailey lifted her eyes to meet the man’s gaze, she did it with all the strength and force of will that she could bring. Her whole life, both before she knew of her skills and after, people had sat in judgment over her. One more man, no matter who he worked for, or what rank he held, was no different.

“So what do you want?” she said, meeting his gaze.

• • • • •

The first time he laid eyes on Hailey Devereaux, Kieran had been charmed. She looked like a sweet, little urchin, with her red hair caught in a loose braid and blowing around her face. If he had been on his own time, things would have gone differently, but he wasn’t. He was there to test and to examine, and so he had bullied her. It was a crude tool, but an effective one, and as soon as he had seen that flash of temper in her bold green eyes, he knew that he had found the woman he had been looking for.

At the same time, watching her stand up to a man who was easily twice her size, a blush on her cheeks and an utter sense of fearlessness radiating from her small body, made something stir inside him that had not moved in a long time. It wasn’t until later, when he realized that nine hundred euros could help the old bookseller a great deal, that he realized that she was compassionate as well.

Right now, she was so lovely that it took everything he had not to grin. Instead, he kept a straight face and nodded at her.

“What I need is to test you,” he said bluntly. “The Magus Corps is aware of your talents, and we think that they may be of use–”

“I don’t care.”

Kieran blinked as Hailey stared up at him, arms crossed over her chest and an expression that could only be described as stony.

“I don’t care,” she repeated, when it looked like he wasn’t getting the idea. “Do you understand? I don’t care what you think of my talents. I’m doing work, good work here, and it is not up to you to pull me away from it.”

“Good work. You mean translating old manuscripts and going over the work of Wiccans long dead?”

She bristled.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m not interested in any kind of work you have for me.”

“The Magus Corps–”

“Can look for its own torturers.”

The words stunned him to silence, and apparently it made Hailey think that they were done. She nodded stiffly to him, and he was so surprised he almost let her get out the door.

“Hailey, wait.”

Without thinking about it, he grasped her wrist as she walked past. He was startled to see how small it was. She stilled completely when she felt the touch of his bare skin on hers.

“You touched me,” she said, her eyes wide with surprise.

“You were leaving,” he pointed out. “Our talk isn’t done.”

“You
touched
me.”

“I did.” Kieran paused, worried. “Are you all right? I didn’t intend to hurt you.”

He let go of her hand, but she seemed to be so stunned that she forgot all about leaving. Instead, her bright eyes flicked between her wrist and his hand. Finally, she looked up at him.

“Did they not tell you anything about me?”

Her tone was torn between shock and pity, and perhaps there was even some rage there. Kieran realized with a sense of shock that the rage was on his behalf.

“What do you mean?”

She paused, and for a moment, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking or what she felt. Then she took a deep breath as if bracing herself for a jump into cold water.

“They didn’t tell you what I am and what I can do.”

“I assure you they did, Hailey.”

Her glance was cutting.

“I don’t think they could have. Let me explain it to you, Major. I’m a vampire. If I put my hands on a witch or a warlock, I can drain them. I don’t have any magic of my own. I can’t do
anything
if you put me in a room by myself. But if I touch a witch or a warlock, if I have my skin on their skin, I can steal some of their power, and then I can do anything with it.”

“Anything?”

“As far as we can tell. It doesn’t seem limited to what the person I stole from can do. Suddenly, I have power, and I can use it in nearly any way that I can think of. It’s that simple.” She shook her head. “Whoever sent you here without telling you what I can do, well. I don’t think much of them.”

“You’re wrong,” Kieran said quietly. “I knew exactly what you could do, and I need to learn more.”

She stilled, and now there was doubt in her eyes.

“I’m safe,” she said, and there was a new sense of urgency in her tone. “I am… Please. You have to believe me. Ask anyone. I’ve never lost control, not in the time that I’ve been living with a coven. I didn’t understand my powers when I was first awakened, but I do now. I swear it. I would swear it on anything that you cared to name…”

Kieran flinched at the rising panic in her voice.

“I am not here to punish you for what you cannot help,” he said, keeping his voice as gentle as he could. “I told you that I am only here to evaluate you and to learn more about what it is you can do.”

“To what end?” she asked, frustrated. “Why in the world do you want to know about what I can do? Almost everyone else has been content to make sure that I wasn’t lurking around trying to suck the life out of them. And I’m not.”

Kieran shook his head.

“That’s something that will only be revealed to you at a later point. In truth, there is a chance that I am simply going to observe you for a few days, and then leave you right where you are. It is not the intent of the Magus Corps to disrupt your life or to make things difficult for you.”

“And yours?”

Her comment caught him by surprise.

“What do yo mean?”

“What are your intentions towards me?”

For a single insane moment, watching her stare him down with all the ferocity and determination of a hunted fox brought to bay, the only thing he could think of to say was
to kiss you.
That was a dangerous road, and one that would be treacherous to both of them. He shook the thought away, alarmed by his own impulses.

“My intentions towards you are the same as that of the Magus Corps’” he said stiffly. “Beyond the aims of my mission, my duty is of course to protect you, the way it is to protect all witches and warlocks that live under our rule.”

She was silent, watching him with those gorgeous green eyes. He could almost hear her thoughts:
I will believe that when I see it.

Kieran nodded, acknowledging her distrust. He knew that in some quarters, the Magus Corps was seen as a necessary evil. Some of the more militant covens, especially those in the most remote parts of Canada and Russia, didn’t even think of them as necessary. He’d had to earn the regard of the people that he was trying to protect more than once. He was unsurprised that it was going to happen again.

“Will you cooperate?” he asked.

After a long pause, she nodded. There was still a proud set to her shoulders, however, and he could tell that her agreement was good only so long as she saw him worthy of it.

“Then that is all I ask from you,” he said. “I will see you at dawn at the practice field tomorrow. Dress warmly.”

“Yes, Major. Of course, Major.”

The respect in her voice was overdone, almost syrupy, but he thought she meant it. He stepped aside to let her pass, but as she reached for the door, he couldn’t help calling her name.

“Hailey.”

“Yes, Major?”

Her expression was skeptical, but he couldn’t prevent himself from making one more try.

“Hailey, I’m not your enemy.”

For a single moment, he thought he saw something flicker across her expression. He couldn’t read it; it was there and gone.

Then she nodded, and Kieran thought that there was something there, something that he could build on. Perhaps it was a place where they were not at each other’s throats.

“Thank you, Major,” she said softly.

She closed the door behind her gently, and Kieran sighed.

In a little while, he would have to find Donato and return the man’s office to him. He would have to find sleeping quarters, and he would have to see to getting in contact with his superiors.

At the moment, however, all he felt was tired, and he wandered to the window, where the bright Alpine sky was deepening to purple. Below him, he could see a handful of Wiccan children playing in the courtyard. Beyond them was the curtain wall that surrounded the monastery, and beyond that were the mountains themselves.

As he watched, he could hear a single wolf howl, greeting the night and sending a message to those that could hear it.
Here I am,
that message said.
Here I am, and I am alone.

Kieran smiled a little to himself and turned away. After all, there was a great deal to do.

• • • • •

That night, in the tiny room that she called her own, Hailey wasn’t sure what to think. She had eaten dinner alone. When she had passed Donato, he had pulled her aside.

“Your meeting today with the major from the Magus Corps…”

“Yes, sir?” she asked warily.

Donato had treated her fairly, even if he had always made it clear that he was unhappy with her presence. Now, though, there was a thunderous expression on his face. He glared down at her from his far greater height.

“You are still a member of this coven,” he said at last. “Whatever he wants you to do, if you don’t want to do it, if you feel he is crossing lines, I want you to come to me.”

Hailey stared up at the coven master in surprise before she found her tongue.

“Yes… yes sir, I will.”

Satisfied with her answer, he walked on, leaving Hailey staring after him.

She was touched that the coven master cared to tell her that, but when she thought about it for a little bit longer, she realized what it was. Power struggles between covens and the Magus Corps were legendary. Right now, Donato was probably looking on her as the bone that was being pulled between them. Still, it was far better than he needed to do. Another man might have just turned her over to the Magus Corps without a single qualm, especially if the witch in question had a set of powers as intimidating as hers. Instead, Donato had said that he would stand with her, and that was a comfort.

In her own room, dressed only in the white nightgown she had brought with her, Hailey brushed her hair thoughtfully. It gleamed by the light of the single bare bulb, and after a moment, she opened the window.

The cold moonlight streamed into her room. After a moment, a winged creature flared outside and alighted silently on her window sill. Before she had awakened as a Wiccan, Hailey had seen pictures of snowy owls before, but pictures did not convey the real size of these animals. Merit was a young female, and a large one at that. She had a five foot wingspan that could knock the breath out of someone who was caught unawares, and in the faint light of the room, her golden eyes shone.

“Good evening, beautiful one,” Hailey said softly. “Have you come for a visit?”

The owl blinked twice and inclined her head so that Hailey could ruffle her horns, the feathery tufts at the top of her crown. There was still something awe-inspiring about the fact that this wild animal had decided to be her familiar. They had been together for almost as long as Hailey had been a witch, and now, though the bird hunted the forest, she still came to see her mistress every day.

“What do you think, Merit?” Hailey whispered. “Do you think this is going to be okay?

The owl turned her honey-colored eyes to Hailey, and the sound she made was oddly gentle. She nibbled lightly on Hailey’s fingers with a beak that could easily kill a full-grown rabbit. Hailey smiled. This great predator had never been anything but gentle with her.

The owl gave one last affectionate peck to Hailey’s wrist and swept off into the night. Her white wings flickered against the dark, and then she was lost to sight.