Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) (35 page)

Mel giggled. “Galen
needs to bite you the right way, not under duress, not when he’s starving or
under the control of a demon, but when he’s in the mood for romance.”

I gave her a
puzzled look; this was getting way too complicated. “So this is what it’s like
dating Others?”

“Welcome to the
dating world of the single witch. And honey you ain’t even scratched the
surface of the dating complexities of Others. How about dating a man who has
more monthly issues than you? Like turning furry and howling at the moon—just
dealing with that gave me irritable howl syndrome. Or what about dating a guy
who can magically get summoned away from you at any time, like right in the
middle of sex? Talk about hide and go shriek!” Mel giggled.

“You dated a
demon?” I asked unbelieving.

“Oh yeah, and
damn the sex was amazing, when he got to stick around for it. He was quite
popular in the summoning world, some dumb ass posted his true name on the
internet and suddenly every black arts wannabe and teenager on a dare was
calling him. It got to be too much, so I broke up with him. Too bad since he
was a hottie with a body meant for pleasure.” Mel shivered from a pleasurable
memory then looked at me. “What about Malone? No inhuman drama there.”

“Uhm, yeah there
is…kinda; mostly it’s my inhumanity that makes him a little twitchy,” I
replied.

“Wyn, he has got
it bad for you, the whole witch thing he will get over or accept. The good
thing with Mike is you don’t ever have to worry about him sinking fangs into
you… unless of course someone changes him.”

“I don’t know,
Mel. He hasn’t talked to me since the night of Samhain. He’s back to avoiding
me. You would think after almost getting blown to bits together he wouldn’t be
ignoring me. But I think he thinks because I left with Galen, I chose Galen
over him. This is so high school isn’t it?”

Mel smirked. “He’s
just freaked about you two getting busy in his office… then again at the Ball.
Under all the bullshit, fake crass attitude and cop-face, he’s a gentleman. And
yeah he is a little hurt thinking you did choose Galen over him.”

“Really? And you
know this how?” I looked at her through narrowed eyes.

“That’s just the
tip of what I know about Mike Malone thanks to a little truth spell I whipped
up.”

She smiled
wickedly as I stood up and moved toward her menacingly. “Mel…”

She backed up;
arms held high, palms out, laughing. “Wyn, I’m on your side. I just wanted to
know where he stood and how he really felt. Come on girl, you’re my best
friend, you know I got your back…and I can tell you more,” she said with a wink

The fight was
gone from me so I sank back onto the stool. “Thanks, Mel, but I don’t want to
know anymore right now. I don’t know if it would help or make things worse. I’m
just not sure how I feel…about either of them right now.” I decided to change the
subject back to her tech talk. “So how’s it going with all the magick info you
collected from all the fires and spell sites?” I asked as she sorted through
the magick photos on her desk with the threads open on her computer screen.

Mel became
animated. I could tell something really excited her, to hell with men, let’s
talk magick.

“It’s wild; I
can’t believe how many signatures and sources are on some of these spells.
We’re looking for more than one Other who is behind the Hex on Flint. So far
I’ve unraveled at least thirteen different magickal signatures and none of them
are in my database.” She now looked frazzled as she continued to trace lines on
the screen.

“So none of the
signatures are Devlin’s or Roark’s?” I asked with disbelief.

“No, at least
not any from outside of the clearing where we found Devlin and Galen or from
Devlin’s little gift giving party at Satinka’s,” she replied, her mouth set in
a grim line. “I’m not even sure if I have Roark’s signature. I have two for
Galen and like eight for Devlin. And I don’t think either was under Roark’s
spell or possession or whatever you want to call it when the photos were
snapped.”

“That means we
don’t have the source, we don’t even have a clue. So this whole thing with
Galen and Devlin was just a coincidence? All for revenge? All for Roark?” I
cried with frustration. This was bad. Mel and I had been so sure the incidents
were connected.

“Devlin said he
was sent here to keep you and Galen apart and used the situation in conjunction
with his own needs.”

“Who or what is
the big bad and why send Devlin? And what does it have to do with me, Galen, or
my parents and some old prophecy?”

“I have no idea,”
Mel replied, her mouth set in a grim line of frustration making frown lines
appear on her forehead.

“So we’re back
at square one?” I asked.

“Yes and no.”

“What about
Devlin? Should we try to talk to him again?”

“The Guardians
are trying, but he seems to have snapped completely. It’s like whatever was
holding him together is gone. His brain is fried, probably from hosting Roark
too many times. Demon possession can seriously fry brains into mush—even in a
vampire.”

“He said what he
gave me would keep me sane, Mel. What if giving it to me let go of whatever
little thread still held him together? What’s going to happen to him?”

“If nothing
useful can be gained from him he will probably be executed. You know it’s the
law. If humans had arrested him, he’d already be gone. Satinka is trying to
gain knowledge from him before putting him out of his misery. She asked if you and
I might want to try and read him again before his execution.”

“I don’t think
so, Mel. He has nothing left to give.” I chewed on my bottom lip. It bothered
me that Devlin was going to be executed. I know he toyed with me and he killed
all those woman, but in the end he tried to help me. At least I think he did. I
was still very confused by everything.

“I didn’t think
you’d want to. I already told Satinka no but said I’d let her know if you
changed your mind.”

Mel knew me
better than I knew myself.

She turned back
to sifting through all her magick data then just stopped. A little gasp escaped
her lips before she said, “Wyn, I have some good news and some bad news for
you.”

Mel turned to
me, fear and worry filling her eyes, then she looked back at the computer
screen in front of her. She could switch emotions in 2.5 seconds flat. The fact
she showed any fear or worry was bad. Very bad.

“Well, tell me,
Mel. What is it?” I sat up straight bracing myself.

“Good news, I
traced the magick signature of all of your old bindings. The computer matched
the signature. Because I have a definite origin I think I can unravel the
bindings.”

I jumped off the
stool. “Oh my Goddess, Mel. That’s fabulous. You mean I will finally have my
full power?” I jumped around the room like a happy school girl. Finally I could
fit in with Mom and Grandma. I was going to be a powerful, respectable witch
just like them.

“Wyn?” Mel’s
voice made me stop in mid hop.

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear
me? I said I had good news and bad news.”

Crap on a broomstick.

“What’s the bad
news?” I couldn’t think of anything that could bust my bubble. I was so
thrilled. No more bindings, finally after all these years I was going to come
into my powers. My real and true full witch powers.

“The magick
signature of the bindings…I know who it is, Wyn.”

“Well, Mel,
spill. Don’t keep me waiting in suspense. Who has been binding me?”

“Wyn, it’s your
mother. She’s the one who has been binding you all these years.” Mel stood
there biting her lip nervously; her eyes full of confusion and sympathy as I
sank back onto the stool in shock, my bubble officially busted.

~End of Vehicle
City Vampires Book 1~

About the Author:

Story strumpet, tome loving tart, eccentric night owl...these
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