Mother May I (Knight Games Book 4) (3 page)

The fae lowered his shoulder and barreled into me. My feet left the floor, and we crashed through the picture window, glass shredding what was left of my exposed skin. The force of the impact threw Nightshade from my grip, and I landed in the street, covered in silver fae blood courtesy of his spurting wrist.

“Ow! What the f—?” Where the silver blood hit my wounds, my skin sizzled and foamed like acid. I screamed and thrashed, trying to brush the stuff off me. It stuck like tar.

“Stupid witch.” The creature crawled off me and cuddled his bloody stump to his chest. “Goblin blood is poisonous to your kind. You’re as good as dead.”

Goblin? I knew almost nothing about goblins. Less than nothing. That they existed was the extent of my education. At the moment, I sorely regretted my lack of edification.

My muscles twitched and hardened. Rigid, shivering, I couldn’t swallow. Foam filled my mouth and spilled over the side of my face. I gagged and coughed reflexively. The cobblestone street was cold and uncomfortable under my head and back.

“You did it, Tobias!” A female goblin came into view beside the one called Tobias. The two were almost identical, blue eyes twinkling as if my impending death was a huge victory. She tucked her long white hair behind a pointy ear, exposing a bronze symbol pinned to her lapel. It was the same symbol as on the arrow fletching, and it seemed to taunt me with its vague familiarity. “This is a proud day. There will be much celebration.”

“I need the doctor,” Tobias moaned, hugging his bleeding stump.

In cold blood, the female drew her bow and released an arrow into my shoulder, unnecessary considering I was dying anyway.
Bitch.
My muscles rigid, I couldn’t even flinch from the pain.

“Come, brother.” She stepped over my body to wrap her arm around his shoulders and help him away to whatever doctor treated silver-blooded goblins.

They left me there to die.
I
was the woman I’d seen dying in the street! My breath gurgled in my bloody throat. The pain was excruciating as the neurotoxin worked its way to my lungs. I could barely draw air as it was, but as the venom did its dirty work, my inhales whistled as if my throat was closing off. I tried to reach out with my magic, but I was too weak. I couldn’t even sense Nightshade in my current condition.

My eyes burned. I’d lost my ability to blink. All the muscles of my face had frozen in place. I took one last tight breath and thought of Rick. If I did die and was reincarnated now, there would be no one to help him get his memories back. No one to help the new me find her magic. No one to manage the Monk’s Hill or Salem wards in my absence.

I tried to release the breath I was holding but couldn’t, and I couldn’t draw another one. Spots danced in my vision, and then, despite my eyelids being locked open, the world around me turned black as night, and I slipped into oblivion.

Chapter 3

Dangerous Liaisons

A
s a reincarnated witch, you would think I’d be used to dying, but apparently death never loses its edge. My lungs ached, the neurotoxin rendering them unable to release the air trapped inside me. I was frozen, vulnerable, and slowly succumbing to the creeping darkness of death. I silently said goodbye to Rick, to my father, Michelle, Poe… where was Poe, anyway?

Warm liquid washed over my arms and legs, my face, my open eyes, into my mouth. The shock of the dousing revived me, and I tried again to breathe.

“Come on, Hecate. Don’t disappoint me by feigning ineptitude.” Julius’s smooth voice slipped through my mind—the leader of the free vampire coven in Carlton City and unexpected ally as of late.

I swallowed the pool of liquid on my tongue and sputtered as my throat obeyed. A magic potion? Julius had found a secret magical antidote for goblin poison. And it tasted good! Like… like… “Wine?” I rasped.

“I thought the fermented Pinot might have a neutralizing effect on goblin venom. The creature’s magic comes from the metal element. Its blood is effectively smothering the wind and wood in yours. Grapes are a product of wood and earth. Fermentation introduces gases to the mix. As such, it should have healing properties for you.” There was a pause, the sound of a cork popping from a bottle, and then more splashing against my skin. “Perhaps your affinity for the beverage has kept you alive tonight. Regardless, you are one lucky witch that I happened to be near when your familiar came for me. You are at death’s door. I’d venture to say a minute from the grave.”

My eyes began to work again, and I blinked them against a sea of deep red. I was back inside the liquor store. I couldn’t move my limbs, but I could see Julius. Dressed in a blue silk shirt and trousers smudged with my blood, he hovered above me, an open bottle of wine in one hand and what looked like scotch in the other. His chocolate waves curled perfectly behind his ears. As usual, he looked almost human, aside from his too-large navy-blue eyes. Vampires had some illusive abilities, but under it all they were nocturnal creatures.

“What’s the scotch for?” I croaked.

He took a deep swig from the bottle in his opposite hand, then raised it as if to toast me. “The scotch is for steadying my nerves. Goblins are nothing to mess with, Grateful. You should know better.”

As if I’d done it on purpose. “Help me,” I sputtered.

He dumped more wine over my shivering limbs. “What do you think I’m doing? Although, I am sorry I can’t do more. I’ve neutralized the poison, but I fear the damage is done. Your internal organs are a bit overcooked even for the magic of Pinot Noir.” He tossed the bottle over his shoulder where it shattered against the fallen shelf, then retrieved another bottle from a display and popped the cork.

“Poe?”

“Your familiar flew in the direction of home. I presume to retrieve your caretaker, although we both know he won’t be coming.”

“He’s fine.” I groaned in pain.

Julius knelt by my side, his superhuman speed making it appear as if he zapped in and out of existence. “Do you know why I was close enough to help you? I’ve been following you for weeks, Grateful. He hasn’t patrolled once since his run-in with Tabetha. Can he shift? Does he even remember how to drive a car?”

“You’ve been following me?” I closed my eyes, too weak to argue. He was right. Rick probably wouldn’t come, and I was hurt—bad. I could feel myself slipping under again, like I was drowning. My breath rattled and, as a nurse, I was well aware rattling was a bad sign.

“Following you, yes. I find myself drawn to you, in fact,” Julius said softly. “Despite myself. It’s an unnatural thing for a vampire to take an interest in a witch, and I am an old vampire who has seen many unnatural things.”

“I need Rick,” I whimpered.

“You are bleeding,” Julius murmured in a breathy, lover’s voice. His lips were close. The glass had shredded most of my exposed skin, and I could feel warm blood drip down my face, over my chin, and across my neck to pool in the recess between my clavicles. He fixated on that heavy, wet spot.

“Don’t do it, Julius. You won’t be able to stop. You’ll kill me. I can’t lose any more blood.”

Long, tapered fingers ran through my wine-and-blood-soaked hair. Gently. Lovingly. He lowered his face until his nose almost touched mine. “I would never hurt you, Grateful. Don’t you see how we’ve helped each other these past weeks? We are friends now, yes? Maybe more.”

In fact, Julius’s help had been a godsend in Rick’s absence. It wasn’t the first time he’d shown up when I needed him, although this time he was a little late to the party. He’d sworn to be my ally and had kept his side of the bargain. Still, I didn’t like the way he stared at my jugular.

His lips lowered to the base of my neck. The slurping made me cringe as he drank the pool of blood there, then licked along my shoulder to my ear. His tongue gripped like sandpaper, like a cat’s. I grimaced.

“Please don’t,” I whispered, bracing myself for the bite.

Although his fangs grazed my skin, and I could hear him swallow, he did not strike. I opened my eyes to find his nose almost touching mine again, his eyes wide, pupils dilated, my blood on his lips.

“You are very near death,” he said.

“I need Rick.” My throat was dry and raw.

“There is another way.”

His nocturnal blue eyes twinkled. He raised his right wrist to his mouth and bit. “Drink my blood. It will heal you.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to be a vampire.”

“A witch cannot become a vampire, but I have read of witches drawing on a vampire’s eternal life. If the legends are true, my blood will temporarily give you qualities of a vampire. It will heal you and make you harder to kill. All you have to do is drink.”

A bubble of thick blood formed on his wrist. My head was foggy, and the room wavered like a boat at sea. I didn’t completely trust Julius, but I was dying. What would happen to Rick and our territory if I did? Did I have a choice but to try Julius’s way?

I parted my lips. His blood was thicker than human blood, and the first drop came concentrated and syrupy. I closed my eyes and waited for it to hit my tongue.

“Don’t drink that,” Polina’s voice said. I opened my eyes to see my half-sister, the redheaded witch from Smuggler’s Notch. I hadn’t seen her since the night we rescued her from her underground prison, buried under Tabetha’s magical landscaping. She’d helped me kill the evil wood witch and had earned my trust. Now, her hand hovered between my mouth and Julius’s wrist. His fangs were out, and a deep growl rumbled from his chest.

“Grateful, tell your vampire to back off,” Polina said.

“Julius, please. Leave her alone.”

The vampire retreated from us in a graceful bending of crouched limbs. Polina wiped his blood on my wine-soaked jeans. “Thank the goddess I made it here on time. And thank your familiar. He risked his life for you.”

Poe landed on my other side and laid his head on my chest. He looked like I felt. Large patches of feathers had molted from his back and wings. As my familiar, if I was dying, he was dying too.

“Don’t you remember my warning about letting a vampire drink your blood?” Polina admonished.

“Vaguely.”

“Julius has had your blood three times. He’s bound himself to you.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means he is yours to control as you please.”

I scrunched my brow slightly, a movement that made my face hurt. “Why would he do that?”

“Judging by this”—she held up her bloody palm—“it appears he was planning for you to bind yourself to him too.”

“He said it would heal me.”

Polina frowned. “It would. Unfortunately, it would also make you his as he is yours. You’d be metaphysically bound. I don’t think you want that, do you?”

I shot an accusing look at Julius. “No.”

Julius inhaled sharply as if we’d insulted him. “I did no such thing. I am not bound to the witch, nor trying to bind her. Only to save her.”

“Ignorance of magical law does not negate magical law.” Polina shrugged. “You drank her blood three times. That binds you. If she drinks your blood, she is bound to you.” She turned back to me and whispered. “I think you’ve broken his heart.”

Julius grunted, looking disgusted. “Is this true?” he asked me.

“You’re asking the wrong witch,” I mumbled.

“Can it be undone?” Julius demanded.

Polina’s lips pursed with disapproval. “What is done cannot be undone. The bond must run its course.”

“How long will that take?” Julius demanded.

With a roll of her eyes, Polina responded, “Likely the length of her natural life.”

Julius scowled.

“I need Rick,” I said to both of them. “Or he won’t be bound to me for long.”

She flipped her long red braid behind her back. “I’m here to help. Poe was smart to send Hildegard to find me, although I fear your raven is in as dire straits as you.” She gently pressed the flesh around the arrow protruding from my shoulder, and I moaned in pain.

“Don’t pull it out. I’ll bleed to death if you do,” I said, drawing on my experience as an ER nurse.

“Agreed. I apologize in advance. I’m going to get you to Rick fast, but this may hurt a little. The way a metal witch travels isn’t as glamorous as some, but I’ll get you where you need to go.”

“How does a metal witch travel?”

Polina gathered me into her lap and reached into the heavy bag at her hip. “Take her blade and meet us at Rick’s cottage,” she said to Julius.

He didn’t move.

“Tell him,” she said to me.

“Why can’t I take it with me?” I asked her.

“Your blade is made of bone, and you alone can wield it. But as your servant, Julius can transport it for you. I can’t.”

Through cracked lips, I said, “Julius, please take my blade to Rick’s.” In a flash, he was gone and so was Nightshade.

Polina pulled a fistful of glittering gold dust from her leather satchel and held it over our heads. Poe’s heart pounded ominously against mine, and I tried to comfort him by cradling his body to my chest.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Gold dust.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “How does a metal witch travel, Polina?”

She sighed. “By metal.” She opened her fist.

Instinctively, I took a deep breath and held it. It was an excellent strategy. We came apart in a swirl of metallic pieces, and I found out the hard way exactly how a metal witch travels.

Chapter 4

The Guilt Trip

I
learned something traveling with Polina. There’s metal everywhere, mostly in the form of pipes. We washed through the waterworks, squeezed through rocks lined with veins of iron, and even followed a few electrical wires. Our travels ended with my entire body pouring out of Rick’s kitchen faucet. I rolled off the edge of the sink and landed painfully on his linoleum.

“Ouch,” I said. I’d dropped Poe in transit, and he landed by my side looking as disheveled as I felt. A cloud of mangy black feathers he couldn’t afford to lose shed to the floor as he shivered next to me, conspicuously quiet.

Polina was the last through the spigot but unlike our painful arrival, she leaped from the faucet and landed on her toes, oddly invigorated. Her braid had come undone in our travels, and her hair floated around her in wild red waves that only enhanced her otherworldly quality.