Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) (34 page)

“Well, well,
well, if it isn’t my favorite little witch. Come to play with me have you,
poppet? It’s about time, I’ve been waiting. Hoping you’d come. I missed my
chance with you outside the ball. I prayed I’d get to see you again.”

His words were
ridiculous, why was he so interested in me? “Why Devlin, why would you want to
see me again?”

“Oh poppet, you
don’t even know how special you are. So very, very special. They sent me here
to distract you. To drive a wedge between you and Galen. I had no idea why,
didn’t care. I just wanted to play with Galen. My deliciously beautiful sire.
He’s the key to Roark’s heart you know. The key to getting him back here, in
this realm. You were just collateral damage, something I paid no attention to.
Until, I tasted you outside the ball.”

“Devlin, you’re
making no sense. Who sent you? Why? What do I have to do with Galen and Roark?”
My brain tried to connect everything he was saying but the picture remained
unclear.

“You have
nothing and everything to do with Galen and Roark. See, I will never get Roark
back without Galen, but the powers that be have decided Galen must die. You can
stop his death. You stopped it this time even after I framed him up so well he
was sure to be executed for the murders.”

“So you framed
him, then used me to make sure he wouldn’t die for it?”  Devlin made no sense
to me whatsoever.

“Bollocks woman,
I think you’re getting it. See my plan was full proof, do what I was told,
fulfill their wishes, get what I want, and not be blamed when things didn’t
turn out exactly how they wanted. Tormenting Galen was pure icing.
Unfortunately, you botched things up too much, I didn’t get Roark back. And you
really threw a wrench in my thinking process.

“I started to
wonder why they wanted you and Galen kept apart, and why Galen found you to be
so utterly undeniable. As they say curiosity killed the cat. Now look where I
am.” He laughed lowly. “I lost my focus because of you. Such a tasty little
morsel you are. So full of power and potential. You will be the one to finally
fulfill the prophecy. They stopped your mummy and daddy you know.”

Prophecy? My
mother said something about a prophecy; it had been written for her and my dad.

“What prophecy,
what are you talking about?” I grabbed him and the visions came so fast I
couldn’t control them.

Cloaked figures
stood around a large fire chanting. One figure stood in front of a stone crushing
something with a mortar and pestle. The figure turned and walked over to two
naked men and two naked women standing before a large altar.

The cloaked
figure dipped its finger into the bowl then drew an image between each woman’s
breasts then turned to the men and drew a different image above their genitals.

“Your unions
will result in those whose destiny will destroy the evil, the darkness
threatens to take over. Witch and warrior, flower and stone, power and blood,
together, united they will wage war upon the darkness.”

The two couples
climbed onto the altar and made love as the cloaked figures circled around
them, the chanting growing louder and louder until it roared in my ears and the
room spun.

I let go of
Devlin. He smiled wickedly.

“I stole that
memory from a very old sorceress, along with some of her power. She was a wild
fuck, power spilled from everywhere. I couldn’t help but gobble it up and save
it for a rainy day. I had no idea at the time the memory would prove to be
useful. Not until they started talking about prophecies and the decision to
move forward once again with their plans.”

“Who? Who is
moving forward with what plans? What the hell is going on?” I screamed at him,
careful not to touch him again.

Devlin reared
up, breaking the shackles around his wrists. He pushed me down and pressed my
back onto the table and kissed me hard. Power breached my shields. “Poppet,
you’ll know in time. Now the bindings I put on you have been removed you’ll be
seeing more, knowing more than you ever wanted to.”

He kissed me
savagely, forcing my mouth open. Energy thrust into me, a cold shock of
electricity flowed into my soul. It warmed the deeper it went. He ground his
pelvis into mine igniting a fire in my core. “I give this to you. You will need
it. It will help keep you sane. Not that it’s ever done much for me. Of course,
I was half crazy to begin with.”  He snarled with a sarcastic crazy laugh as he
continued to grind against me.

Mel finally put
her camera down and pulled Devlin off me. I lay there in complete shock while
whatever Devlin had forced into me flowed until it found a nice place to
settle. It curled up inside me like a cat cozying up by a fire.

I was completely
and totally freaking out. I stood up.

“What the hell
did you just do to me? What did you put inside me?” I cried.

“You’ll thank me
later, luv. When they come for you, when the truth comes out. You will be glad
you have it.”

“What is it? Who
is coming for me? What the hell is going on? I don’t understand!” I paced
around the room freaking the fuck out. I was shaking uncontrollably at this
point.

“I am sorry,
poppet. I can tell you nothing else.” And with that Devlin’s eyes glazed over
and he was gone, back to wherever he had been before our arrival.

Mel put her arms
around me. “Are you okay, did it hurt?”

I pushed her
away from me. “Did it hurt? Did it fucking hurt? What the fuck, Mel? Why didn’t
you stop him, why didn’t you get him off me? He could have killed me. All while
you snapped your fucking pictures!”

She looked
dumbstruck. “I don’t know. It didn’t feel like a threat. I felt nothing. There
was no feeling or energy to cause a violent reaction. I’m sorry. And the
pictures. Oh my Goddess, Wyn. The energy flowing in this room. There was so
much of it. Nothing to match any of the other magick signatures I have captured
on Devlin before. It’s like he’s a chimera, or a storehouse of magick…”

I interrupted
her, “That’s fabulous, Mel. I’m glad your scientific research of magick
signatures has been advanced. Meanwhile, I’ve been violated. He put something
inside me, Mel. Inside me. I. Can. Feel. It! It’s like it’s alive. Inside me.”

She put her arms
around me again. “Shh girl, we’ll figure it. I promise.”

Chapter 42

Two days later I
propped my elbows up on Mel’s work table in the basement of the P.I.T. building
and watched her work. I couldn’t believe everything we’d been through in the
past couple of days. I prayed to the Goddess life could get back to normal now.
The murderer was caught, Galen was cleared, and the big bad hovering around
Flint seemed to be quiet…for now.

“So after
everything that happened, you never did get to tell me what interesting tidbit
of intel you discovered with your camera Halloween night.”

“Gurrlll, I made
some very astounding discoveries about magick signatures. I assumed all Others
have distinct signatures—which is partially true. Witches, wizards, sorcerers
and sorceresses all have a magick signature with them at all times—even if they
are not using magick, even if they are not actively casting. Are you following
me so far?”

“I think so.
You’re saying our magick signatures are like fingerprints or DNA. It’s always
the same and each one of us has a unique signature.” I was thrilled I got it.
Guess having my powers back made me more capable of following Mel’s tech talk.

“Yes, exactly.
The signature is always the same no matter what we do. Our powers can grow and
change but the signature will remain the same on any spell, incantation, ward,
or anything that we do. I assumed this would be true for all Others.”

“But it’s not?”
I asked quizzically.

“No. I found out
vampires, werewolves and other shifters project a different signature when
actively using magick than they do when they are at rest.”

“Asleep?” This
time I wasn’t following.

“No, just at
rest. Like not actively using magick. Say a vampire isn’t vamping out. No
fangs, no pheromones, no glamour or anything, they appear to be human. When
they are like that their signature is completely different than when they
transform or are actively using a vampire power. The same is true for weres and
shifters. If they are not in one of their shifted forms or using some magick
particular to their Other form then the signature is almost that of a human.”

“So you are
saying when they appear to be human their magick signature pretty much says
they are?”

“Kinda. The
magick just barely registers, but when they are actively using it the signature
is completely different. That’s why it has been so hard to trace some of these
spells. I had to catch vampires in action to get their true signature. Of
course, Devlin is still a mystery, when using magick I captured at least six
different signatures from him.”

“Oh. You know he
mentioned something about stealing memories and magick. That would probably be
helpful, too, wouldn’t it?” Mel’s eyes gleamed as she looked at me. I
continued, “What about the fae? What’s their signature like?”

“They are like
us. It looks like anyone born into their power keeps the same
signature—witches, wizards, fae, demons, etc. Except for the hereditary
shifters, everyone has the same magick signature they are born with at all
times. But those born human who are later transformed into a were or vampire,
their signatures are two-formed just like them.”

“Amazing.”

“I know, right?
You wanna know the other weird thing I found?” she asked with a big smile on
her face then proceeded before I could answer. “Vampires’ magick signatures
hold traces of Other types of signatures.”

“What do you
mean?”

“Well Galen’s
holds evidence of demonic magick while Satinka’s shows traces of fae,
shapeshifter, and something else I can’t figure out.”

Something
clicked into my head. “Well that fits with what Galen told me.”

Mel’s eyes
narrowed. Shit I was going to be in trouble for not having told her this
sooner. It’s not my fault I must have forgotten it with all the craziness or
because of the bindings.

“Well Galen told
me many humans hold a small trace of Other inside them. I guess because of all
the interbreeding that once happened. I suppose it’s been almost bred out of
the human race but many still hold the smallest trace of Other. It may never
manifest, the human may have no outward signs of being Other until they become
a vampire.”

“Then their
powers manifest.”

“Yes.”

Mel looked so
excited. “That explains so much. It explains the vast differences among the
vampire race. The different powers, the different weaknesses, their different
magick traces. Oh this is fabulous, Wyn. Did Galen tell you anything else about
origins or magick or vampires in general?”

“No just the
basics—holy water nada, garlic not so much, silver bothers some vamps. Little
things.” I shrugged and wished I could offer more, but knowing Mel, she could
make serious breakthroughs just from the tidbits I gave her.

She sat down
across the table from me and I thought she was going to ask me more about
vampires. Instead, she grilled me about my relationship. “Since we’re on the
subject, how are things with you and Galen?” Mel asked, concern showing in her
big brown eyes.

“Really, Mel? We
weren’t actually on that topic. And I really have no idea. He pretty much told
me to leave him alone. He’s keeping his distance from me again. And now I’ve
thought about it, in a way, I really don’t mind the distance. It gives me time
to think about things. I want to be wanted, but I am not sure if I really want
to be a walking happy meal, you know? After being bit by him or Roark or
whoever was controlling Galen’s body—I just don’t know if I’m up to dating a
vampire. Then all the weirdness with Devlin, why would he decide to help me
after trying so hard to hurt me?”

“I don’t know,
Wyn. Vampires are crazy. Every single one. I’ve done the vamp dating thing
several times, the bite is seductive and amazing when done right, but like you
said, it can get old being dinner instead of being taken to dinner.”

I laughed
sarcastically. “Well, so far I have not been bitten right because it was
neither seductive nor sexy when it happened. Sure it sizzled a bit, but I don’t
see why everyone thinks the bite is so orgasmic.”