Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) (27 page)

Galen let Roark
take him so I could be free. He sacrificed himself for me.

I looked at Mike
again and smiled. How did I end up with two beautiful men who would do anything
for me?

Mike must have
felt my eyes on him. “You feeling okay?” he asked. “You look a little flushed.
Maybe you should lie back down.”

“I’m fine,” I
said, standing up and giving Mike a good view of my naked flesh before slipping
into the robe. Not that he hadn’t seen it last night. I sure as hell didn’t
undress myself and climb into his bed, at least not that I remembered. “You
know it was all a set up. Devlin never had any intention of letting those
demons really do anything to me. He was testing Galen.”

“So you really
are okay?” he asked, looking concerned even as interest flashed in his eyes.

“I’m fine. I am
not a rape victim. I’m not traumatized. Well maybe a little, the sight of the
demon schlong was scaaareee.”

“Maybe I should
show you mine so you can get the hideous image out of your head,” his voice had
gotten deeper and he moved closer to me.

He was cop
enough to know not to get near me without finding out how I felt and what state
of mind I was in. Rape victims normally don’t want anything to do with men
after their experiences. I just didn’t want anything to do with hideous demons.
And I wasn’t a rape victim.

“I still feel
kinda icky, so I’m going to go take a shower. Okay?” I said sweetly. I did want
to get close to him, more than anything, but at the same time I thought taking
it slow was probably a good idea. I may have been in shock. The full effect of
what happened may not have sunk in yet. A shower was definitely a good idea.

****

“So did you kick
dragon demon ass or what?” I asked Mel after she came by to pick me up from
Mike’s. My car was still at Mel’s house where I left it when we went to the
Ball. Mike could have easily taken me to the station but I needed some girl
time. I think he understood.

“Yes and no. I
got rid of the demons, but I don’t think I kicked any dragon ass. You better
believe if I get my hands on one of those red dicked demons I’m going to fry
their asses for what they tried to do to you.”

I believed her.
When Mel got pissed she got even, which usually meant some guy got a serious
hurting put on him. I almost felt bad for those demons. Almost. Okay, not
really.

“So how’d you
get rid of them?”

“I had a vile of
Galen’s blood in my office. He gave it to me to run tests on before he got
snatched the last time. He thought it might help in the investigation. No one
has ever had the chance to really test vampire blood before, at least not that
I know of. I wondered if it held any trace of the people he drank from—you
know, like a DNA imprint or if the blood became the vampire’s with the
vampire’s own signature. He really worried about being connected to the crimes.
He thought if any trace of those women was still in him it would prove he did
it. Which we know he didn’t,” she quickly added.

“Damn, Mel, you
are such a tech magick geek. And I love it. You’re a freakin’ genius. So, you
used his blood to cast out the demons?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t
easy either. Demons can be nasty devils to work with. I had to add my own blood
to the mix, too, because there wasn’t enough of Galen’s. Enough to make it work
but not to go around the whole circle. I hate doing blood magick.”

She shivered
which worried me. It must be bad for Mel to freak about it.

“The odd thing
is the dragons disappeared before I started the ritual, so they were not
summoned with the other demons.”

“But we’re good
now, right, no demons?” I asked anxiously.

“No demons I’m
aware of. I am seriously concerned about those dragons, though. Satinka said a
portal opened in the sky and they all flew into it and disappeared. Those
dragons didn’t come from Devlin’s magick. I’m worried about where they came
from and who brought them here. Someone had to open the portal but who and why?”
Her brows knitted into a thoughtful line as she chewed on her bottom lip. She
appeared very upset. “I’m also worried Devlin still has Galen so he can use him
until he drains him dry.”

“That’s what I’m
afraid of too,” I confessed

She hesitantly
turned toward me. “You know, I did get to run a few tests on Galen’s blood…
before all hell broke loose.”

“I don’t like it
when you get all edgy and quiet, Mel. It’s never good. So spill.”

“Galen’s blood
was weird. It wasn’t at all like what I expected. Now don’t worry, I didn’t get
any trace of the women or any other human normality.”

“All right, but
what did you find that was so weird?” I asked as something in the back of my
head tickled, like a memory not fully formed. I was not a science geek like
Mel. I hoped she used small words and layman’s terms so I could follow what she
said.

“Honestly, I
don’t know. I am going to need another sample to run more tests. I also want
some other vampire blood to compare it to. Preferably several other samples so
I can get a good base of what normal vampire blood is like.”

“What do you
mean normal?”

“Well after
seeing Galen’s blood, I became much more convinced about the demon/vampire
thing. I just have a hunch other vampires don’t have blood like Galen’s. Damn,
I would love to get a sample of Devlin’s blood and some of those demons so I
can do a thorough comparison.” She seemed excited at the prospect.

“Wow, this has
really got you going,” I said with a bit of venom. My BFF wanted to play doctor
with my vampire and a bunch of other vampires and demons. The whole thing
sounded weird to me.

“Wyn, I could be
on the verge of a magickal science breakthrough. Nothing like this has ever
been done before.”

I understood how
she felt, at least a little. I didn’t like the idea of Galen being her guinea
pig. “So what does it all mean if your theories are correct? How can the
knowledge be used?”

Her face fell. “I
have no idea.” Then she smiled. “I guess for the good of science and the
further advancement of magickal understanding.”

The mood
lightened and I giggled. “Spoken like a true geek.”

“I bet I am the
sexiest geek alive.”

“Without a
doubt. Girl, if you went to one of those geeky science conventions, all the
pent up freaky geeky boys wouldn’t know what to do with you.”

“I bet I could
show them a thing or two,” she purred then meowed but choked on it which sent
both of us into a fit of giggles.

I felt so much
better. Girl time was exactly what I had needed.

Chapter 34

I sat up in bed
wondering what woke me. Then my cell rang, must have been what roused me from
my fitful dreams. At least it was just my normal ring tone, which meant it was
not Malone calling me about another crime scene.

“Hello?” I
mumbled.

“Anwyn, dear,
how are you? Did I wake you?”

“Fine, Gram.
Yes, Gram, I was sleeping but that’s okay. I’m sure I needed to be up by now.”

“I heard about
the trouble at the Vampire Ball the other night.”

Oh my Goddess, I
hoped Gram didn’t know about the demon attempted rape thing, she would be so
worried. “Oh, what did you hear?” I asked carefully.

“That it got
quite out of hand and a few humans were killed. You weren’t hurt, were you sweetie?
Those blood thirsty bastards didn’t sink their fangs into you, did they?”

“No, Gram, I’m
fine. No fangs,” or anything else, I mentally added, “were sunk into me. In
fact, it wasn’t vamps giving us trouble. Some strange demons showed up. You
know anything about flying demons who look like small dragons?”

“Dragon demons,
no, I don’t know anything about those. I will gladly do some research for you
though. What I’m most concerned about is you. Thank the Goddess you weren’t
hurt. I didn’t think you were since I didn’t feel the panic I normally do when
you’re in trouble. Plus, you sound fine now. But just to be safe I’d like you
to come by today and pick up a protection amulet your mother made for you,” the
excitement in her voice was barely contained. She sounded a little too cheerful
about the vampire trouble.

I was so shocked
I almost fell out of bed. “Did you say mom made me a protection amulet?”

“I know, it’s
amazing. Maybe she’s finally coming out of her state. She hasn’t done magick in
years. Not since…well you know. You must come and get it. Perhaps it will
encourage her to do more magick.” Gram was all about Mom being…Mom. Being
herself…for the first time in over a decade. No wonder she sounded so happy.
And so very hopeful. I knew she wanted nothing more than for her baby girl to
come back, and I have to admit it would be nice to have a mom again.

“Sure Gram, I’ll
drop by sometime today and pick it up.’

“Wonderful dear,
I’ll see you later then. Love you.”

“Love you, too,
Gram.”

****

I stopped at
Gram’s on my way to work.

“How’s she
doing?” I asked as I wandered into Gram’s kitchen where she was baking
something that smelled delicious and cinnamony.

“I don’t know.
Her moments of lucidity are becoming quite frequent. It’s amazing, after all
these years…”

“I know, Gram,”
I said as I hugged her tight. She was afraid Mom would never come back.

“Why don’t you
go see her? She’s in the altar room.”

The altar room
was Gram’s little space in the house reserved for casting. The walls were lined
with magickal supplies and in the center of the room, inside a very decorative
hand painted circle adorned with powerful magick symbols stood a hand carved
round altar. It was older than I could fathom. Even as a child I could feel the
age and power radiating from it. She had told me the altar had been passed down
through the generations, a lot of generations. The altar room was our family’s
sacred space.

I walked quietly
into the room not sure what I expected, and found my mother perusing the
shelves along the wall, picking up jars, reading labels, placing jars back on
the shelf.

“Mom?” I asked
quietly, afraid she wouldn’t respond.

She turned to
look at me. Her eyes were filled with life, understanding and…her. She was
actually in there.

“Anwyn, I’m so
glad you came.” She walked over to me and pulled me into a tight embrace. A
warm embrace. A mother’s embrace.

I choked up. It
had been so long since my mother held me.

“Anwyn dear, are
you all right?” she asked and pulled away, holding me at arm’s length to look
at me. “Why honey, you’re crying, whatever for, sweetie?”

Why? Why? Maybe,
because my mother hadn’t been this lucid in over fifteen years. “It’s just been
awhile, Mom,” I managed to choke out.

She pulled me
back into an embrace. “I know sweetie, I know. But I’m here now. And I have
something for you.” She pulled away, smiled, walked over to the altar, and
picked up a necklace. “You’re father gave me this necklace a very long time
ago. I’ve added protective shields and wards to help keep you safe. I know
you’ve followed in your father’s footsteps with the law enforcement, and I want
you to be protected. I want you to have a part of both your father and I with
you at all times. Will you please wear this?” I took the necklace in my hands,
the silver cool to my touch.

How could I
refuse her? For the first time since I was a little girl she worked her magick
and was offering me a gift. Something my father had given her. The necklace was
beautiful, an antique silver heart shaped locket pendant hanging from a long
silver chain. The locket was inlaid with roses and vines that formed Celtic
symbols. The chain was long enough it would nestle between my breasts and not
be in the way while I worked.

“Of course I’ll
wear it, Mom.” I tried to keep the emotion minimal but it was hard. I’m so not
a crier, but this was all too much. I opened it to find photos of my parents
when they were young—in their late teens or early twenties I would guess.
Probably from when they had started dating. “Mom, it’s so beautiful.”

“And it’s long
overdue to be yours. I should have given it to you years ago.”

“Thank you, Mom.
Thank you so much. You have no idea…”

“Ssh, of course
I do,” she said taking the locket from me and placing it over my head. Then she
once again wrapped me in her warm embrace.

I didn’t want to
leave, but I had to get to work. And I had to find Galen. I prayed my mother
would stay lucid and still be like this when I came back.

“Mom…”

“I know dear,
you have to go to work.”

“I do.”

“I’ll be here
when you come back.”

I wanted to ask
if she really would be here when I came back, but I was afraid I’d jinx it. I
gave her another hug and left out the front door. I couldn’t talk to Gram right
then, my emotions ran too high and I was feeling much too fragile. If Gram and
I…I think we’d both melt down, and I just couldn’t do it right then. I needed
to focus.