Influential Magic (39 page)

“That’s it.” I got to my feet, turning to tell Phoebe to call Tal, but Nicola grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.

The effort left her winded as she huffed out, “The witch.” Her eyes rolled and she passed out again. But this time she woke almost instantly, gasping for breath.

I glanced once at Phoebe and David, then crouched back down. “Nicola, I need to ask you a few things. The last thing I want to do is hurt you further, so just hold up a finger if you can’t answer. Is that all right?”

She clutched the side of the settee and bobbed her head.

She couldn’t mean Phoebe; she hadn’t done anything to her other than fight physically. It had to be the one who gave her Influence. Hadn’t I broken that spell? “I’m going to ask some things that might not make sense. I’d appreciate it if you could answer as honestly as possible. If you can’t, it’s okay.”

She didn’t respond, only kept staring with her giant brown eyes. I took that as consent.

“Did David force you to eat Influence?”

He shifted behind me as if he’d taken a step forward in protest. I chose to ignore him.

“No,” she said, her voice feeble. Her eyes stayed big and round, unchanged.

“Did Phoebe?”

My partner gave a small huff, and I held back a smile. I knew damn well she hadn’t done any such thing.

“No.”

“Pandora?”

“No!” Nicola’s voice was stronger.

Good, that’s what I was hoping for.

“Allcot?”

Her mouth worked and her pupils dilated, but no words came out.

“Yes or no?” I said gently.

“N…yes.” The light brown line of her irises disappeared for a fraction of a second as her pupils took over. She blinked and her regular color returned. If I hadn’t been watching for it, I never would’ve seen it.

“One more. Did someone spell you to keep their secrets, even if the Influence wore off?”

She stopped rocking and stared at me, her eyes filling with tears. She seemed frozen, unable to move or speak.

“It’s all right, Nicola. I’ve already figured it out. You don’t need to answer.”

One fat tear spilled down her temple. “Hurts…”

I nodded and wiped it away. “I know. We’re going to fix that right now.” I kept a hold of her hand. “Phoebs?”

“Yeah?”

“You got a spell-breaking curse handy?”

David stepped between us. “You can’t use anything like that here.”

I shoved him with one hand. “Go tell Pandora we need her. And tell everyone to keep their hands off Maude until we work out what’s going on with Nicola.”

He cast me a dark look and did his vampire disappearing act. It was obvious they wouldn’t believe anything I said until I broke the hold over Nicola. One of their own had been hurt, and the only suspect they had was my aunt.

“Wil,” Phoebe whispered into my ear. “I don’t have anything like that. They didn’t let me bring my spell case.”

“Shit!” I stood and glanced around the plush room. The door swung open and Pandora rushed in. “What’s going on? Is she worse?” Pandora dropped gracefully beside Nicola, cradling her hand. “We’ll fix this, I promise.”

David came back into the room, and the first thing I noticed was blood on his shirt. I poked a finger into his hard chest. “Where did this come from? Maude? Or a feeder? Huh?”

He stood, stoic and unmoving.

I scrutinized Pandora for bloodstains. There weren’t any. “Where’s my aunt?” I demanded again. I knew how to fix Nicola’s aliment, but I didn’t have the tools.

“Take her to the director,” Pandora ordered, her voice thick with emotion. “Do it, David. Maude’s been useless for the last six hours anyway.”

Pandora’s long sheet of blond hair covered her and her sister’s faces, giving them an illusion of privacy.

David huffed out a long-suffering sigh. “This way. Try to remember the measures we take are necessary.”

Heat burned my skin from the inside out. Necessary measures my ass. Another door whooshed open, but this time bright fluorescent lights filled the stark white chamber.

I stepped through the opening and shielded my eyes. Then I spotted her. Maude sat slumped over, her black wings crumpled and pinned to the wall. Blood trailed from her neck to her thighs, bite marks everywhere. Nathan stood to the side, blood dripping from his fangs.

My heart stopped. It took a moment to start breathing again, but when I did, I turned cold, hard eyes on David.

“Wil,” he said, reaching for me.

I stepped back, my muscles trembling with the effort to stay in control. Every fiber of my being screamed to stake him. If only I had one and the strength to execute such an act.

The only weapon I had was some small piece of his heart. “Don’t ever touch me again. I’m not your Wil, and never will be. Got it?”

He stared at me for a long time, then took a step back.

I ran to Maude’s side. Her head listed to the left. “Aunt Maude,” I soothed. “I’m here. Everything’s going to be okay now. Hear me?”

A soft moan came from the back of her throat.

I glanced up, finding Allcot standing beside his son.

“Unchain her.” I wrapped an arm around my aunt, pressing her head to my shoulder. She winced with the effort. “She risked herself to save me. She isn’t the mastermind behind this…” I waved a hand in the air. “…crazy situation.”

Allcot studied us curiously, almost amused.

Sick bastard.

“Come up with a solution to cure Nicola of her condition and I’ll free her.”

I started to argue but Maude lifted her heavy head, and her eyes focused. “Willow’s Influence. It’ll break the hold.” She collapsed back on my shoulder, her body limp.

“Maude?” I cried, shaking her a little. “Damn it, Maude, wake up!”

“It’s the pain killers,” Allcot said and took out his phone. A second later he commanded, “Bring it up.”

I stood. “You gave her painkillers?”

“Yes, young Willow. It became clear a while ago either she was telling the truth or she was too delirious to tell the difference. There was no need to keep her suffering. Pandora administered the drug ten minutes ago.”

I gaped. He was a total enigma.

The door swung open and a cart was wheeled in. Did every vampire move at warp speed? It was enough to give a girl vertigo. He thanked his servant and waved a hand. “A fresh dose of your Influence. Administer it to my sister-in-law.”

“Oh shit,” Phoebe mumbled and took a step closer. “This cannot end well.”

I held up an impatient hand to silence Phoebe, my insides churning with betrayal and frustration. Never ever trust a vampire for anything. “Where did this come from?”

“Daniels,” Allcot said, appearing unaffected by my disrespectful tone. “We found it in his office and confiscated it.”

“And you didn’t
think
to hand it over to me?” Of course he didn’t. Despite his platinum cufflinks and overpriced wardrobe, he was no better than a street thug.

He gave me an indulgent smile. “Do you honestly think any vampire would give up such a valuable resource?”

I stared at David. “An honorable one would.”

David averted his gaze and focused on something over my shoulder.

The look confirmed my suspicion. He’d known about it. What else was he keeping from me? I turned to Allcot and bit back the threat to turn him in for harboring illegal enhancements. My complaint would fall on deaf ears. The board enforcement practically worked for him.

“Let’s do this, Willow,” Phoebe said moving toward the cart.

“No!” I cried and jumped in front of her. “Don’t touch anything.” If this breach was somehow reported, I didn’t want her prints anywhere near it. It would be a lot easier to explain mine. The truth was we did need the Influence. There wasn’t any at my shop since I’d been too busy trying to stay alive to make any. The one piece I’d had at home, I’d used on Maude. “I’ll do it.”

I grabbed a chocolate wedge, and as I moved past Phoebe, I whispered, “Get Talisen here. Maude’s going to need him.” I knew I should call him myself after the way I’d run out on him. Especially since I wasn’t asking for a small favor. This would put him on Allcot’s radar. Who knew what consequences that would bring? But I couldn’t risk the possibility of him turning me down. If he was really pissed, he might do just that. He wouldn’t dare say no to Phoebe, though. If he did, she’d find some way to force his hand.

Please don’t let me have messed up so badly he ignores the request.
We’d never be able to move Maude without his healing powers.

Leaving Eadric and David behind, Phoebe and I slipped back into the other room. I kneeled beside Nicola and heard Phoebe talking to Talisen, but she was too far away and I couldn’t make out the words. Judging by her tone, it wasn’t going well.
Come on, Tal. Don’t let me down now.

Pandora stood behind the settee, smoothing back her sister’s light hair. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to settle down. The last thing I wanted was a vampire’s sister under my control. Hell, I didn’t want anyone under my control. Now I’d have two people.

Just get it over with.

“Nicola,” I said softly.

The witch looked up at me through dazed eyes.

“I need you to eat some of this.” I held a small chunk up to her lips.

She twisted in protest and strained to sit up. Her legs kicked out and one foot landed right in the middle of my chest.

“Oomph,” I cried and fell back on my ass, jarring my still-sore wing.

Pandora placed a firm hand on Nicola’s shoulder. “You have to do this, Nikki. It’ll help.”

Nicola started to mouth words, and I leaned closer, trying to hear.

But Phoebe jumped in front of me, her hands held in front of her, casting a protective circle. Whatever spell Nicola had conjured crashed into Phoebe’s barrier, shattering it. Both spells dissipated into the ether.

Phoebe fumed, her fists clenched in tight little balls.

Pandora clamped a hand around Nicola’s mouth and nodded to one of the other vampire lackeys to restrain Nicola’s hands.

I touched Phoebe’s arm. “It’s the spell she’s under. I don’t think she can control herself.”

My roommate narrowed her eyes, glaring at the other witch. “If she tries to cast that death spell one more time, I’m going to put her in a coma.”

“Death spell?” I whispered. Vampire balls. She’d tried to kill me. I glanced down at the ruby ring on her right hand. “I thought her ring was empty?”

Phoebe nodded. “It was. Maybe she has another spelled piece of jewelry.”

Pandora ripped the ring off Nicola’s hand and handed it to Phoebe.

“It’s empty,”‘ Phoebe said. “Totally useless.” She handed it back to Pandora and eyed Nicola. “I don’t see any other jewelry, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have another spell hidden.”

That was it. All my reservations about using the Influence vanished. “Forget it. Once she’s Influenced, it won’t matter anyway.” I took a place next to Pandora, gritting my teeth against the burning sensation when her shoulder rubbed mine. “We’re going to have to force-feed her.”

Pandora nodded once, her big round eyes conflicted with emotion. She shifted her hand from Nicola’s mouth to cover her nose. The second Nicola opened her mouth, I stuffed the Influence in. She began to spit, but Pandora clamped an iron hand over her mouth and waited for her to swallow.

We all stood there staring, not certain the Influence had worked.

“Say something,” Phoebe said to me.

“Right.” Crap. I was the inventor of the stuff. You’d think I’d remember I had to give her directions. “Let her go,” I said to Pandora. I wanted to see how she reacted before I gave instructions.

Pandora nodded to her lackey, and they both released her. Nicola slumped on the settee, sighing as the tension seemed to roll off her. She stared at her wrists, inspecting the fresh bruises.