The Oath (10 page)

He just stared at me.

“Would you even know the difference between good magic and dark magic?” I pressed.

“We don’t do dark magic,” he told me, his voice hard.

I sighed. I didn’t think there was anything I could say at this point to convince him, but maybe if I showed him, he’d understand.

I opened my hand, careful that only he could see. A rose started to grow. It unfurled and sat there, looking fat and healthy. “This is good magic. It creates life, gives stability to things around it.” I then made the rose wither and die. “This is dark magic. It kills, takes the life out of the things around it.”

Sebastian’s eyes grew wide. I didn’t know if it was because of my abilities, or he recognized the difference between good and dark magic. “Think about it,” I told him. “Go home and think about all the magic you’ve done. Why did you do it, what happened after? Did anything bad happen, even something small? Can you do that for me, Sebastian?”

He nodded, his face troubled. He didn’t even finish his food, just paid the bill and took me home. Not that I blamed him, mind you. I’d given him a lot to think about. I hoped I was wrong about him, that he was a good person at heart. He might not even know about the spell cast on Jenny. He could be just as much a victim as she was in all this.

I didn’t go in right away, despite the cold. Instead, I sat down on the porch swing. Sebastian had thrown me, and I needed time to think about it, about what that might mean for my grand plans of revenge. The simple task of killing them all had now grown into saving some of them. How had I managed to get so far off course? I couldn’t kill innocent people, though. Brandon wasn’t even a part of their group when Jenny died, and now I didn’t think Sebastian even knew what they did to her.

“Not so black and white anymore, huh, Rose?”

My head whipped around to see Xavier leaning against the porch railing. How had I not seen him sneak up on me? He had to be freezing in the jeans and gray sweater he wore, but he didn’t look at all cold. He looked perfectly at ease.

Xavier always knew way too much. How did he know what I was thinking? Had he been somewhere in the café and I hadn’t seen him?

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, playing dumb.

The grin he gave me was wicked and sexy all at once. Things started to clench in places they shouldn’t be. “When are you going to realize you can’t lie to me? I can smell it on you.”

He could smell a lie? That wasn’t possible. “Just what are you?”

“I already told you the price of that information, Melinda,” he said and winked. “All you have to do is say yes.”

Why did I feel like I’d be saying yes to a lot more than just dinner? I shook my head. That was even more ridiculous than his so-called ability to smell a lie.

“Why is so important for me to go out with you? Why not just tell me?”

“Because I need you to trust me, Melinda,” he said, his voice so serious it gave me pause. “You saying yes is a step toward that trust.”

“Why?” I asked, frustrated.

He simply smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I watched as he simply leapt off the porch and started walking down the drive. I stared until he’d disappeared into the darkness. He confused me almost as much as my new situation. I needed to rethink my plans. Whoever killed my sister would suffer the same fate, but if there truly were innocent people in that group, I had to try and protect them.

This had gotten way too complicated, and I needed help.

My first instinct was to call my dad, but I wasn’t honestly sure what the Council could do. They were humans, not witches. Sure, they were playing with magic, but lots of humans did. Didn’t mean the Council went after all of them. There wasn’t an incident in the last hundred years involving a human coven that I knew of. The Council would be all but useless. It wasn’t designed to deal with humans. The human law wasn’t designed to deal with humans playing with magic either. I’d never be able to prove in a court of law they’d killed Jenny.

I just didn’t know what to do!

My head started to pound. I groaned and stood up. Maybe after a good night’s sleep things would look better in the morning.

Chapter Fourteen

~ The Protector ~

After spending the last few hours researching Protectors, I gave up and called my dad. Gran might know, but there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d ask her. It would earn me a session of The Spanish Inquisition. Gran was very good at nosing out exactly what I was up to, so the best thing to do was not even mention it to her.

“Hello?”

I winced at my dad’s scratchy, sleepy voice. It was barely six in the morning in LA.

“Hey, Dad,” I said. “Did I wake you up?”

“It’s Saturday, Melinda.” He yawned the words. “Of course you woke me up, but I don’t mind. The house is too quiet without you here. What’s up, pumpkin? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s all cool,” I told him. “I just had a question about a reference I ran across on the Internet, and I can’t find any more information on it. Gran had no clue, but considering you
are
on the Council, I thought you might.”

“This couldn’t have waited until later?”

“You know me. Once I get focused on something, I can’t stop until I’m satisfied.”

I heard a suspicious sound, and then the toilet flushed. “Gross, Dad!”

“You were the one who woke me up, Melinda,” he said, chuckling. “Now what is so important you had to wake me up before the crack of dawn?”

“It’s hardly the crack of dawn,” I grouched. “I can hear the sirens over the phone.”

He only grunted.

“Have you ever heard the term Protector?”

“Where did you hear that?” he asked sharply, which made my eyebrows race to meet my hairline.

“I was doing some research on the use of dark magic and came across the term on a website. I don’t remember which site, though,” I said quickly to prevent him from asking.

He sighed, and I could just imagine him running a hand through his hair. It was his tell when he was nervous.

“Are they dangerous?” I asked. My gut told me Xavier was dangerous, despite his easygoing attitude.

“Extremely,” he told me. “They’re the right hands of Angels, Melinda Rose.”

“What?” I squeaked. That couldn’t be at all good.

“Protectors are assigned to certain people from birth. I know you’re familiar with the Guardian Angel concept, but the truth of the matter is, they’re busy beings. It’s the Protectors who do all the actual work. They typically show up to try and protect someone from themselves or from following a path that will lead to something potentially devastating for the Heavenly realm. If the person can’t be swayed from their destructive path, Protectors will execute them to protect not only the person, but Heaven and Earth as well.”

I gulped. I couldn’t help it. This path would lead to something that could harm Heaven? I was just after revenge for my sister. How could that hurt Heaven? Would Xavier really kill me if I tried to go through with my plan?

And he’d watched me since I was born. No wonder he knew so much about me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Just how old was he anyway? Did that make him pervy? Did I care?

“Melinda?”

“Hmm?”

“Is something wrong, honey?” There was a clear edge of concern in Dad’s voice. If I didn’t put him at ease, he’d fly out here in two heartbeats.

“Yeah, Dad,” I sighed. “I keep seeing Jenny everywhere. It hurts.”

“Honey, I’m still not sure this is a good idea. I knew it was too soon for you to be there, especially in her school, with her friends.” There was a rattle and then the sound of something pouring. Dad and I always tended to down our orange juice before we brushed our teeth. It let us get rid of the sewer mouth, but kept us from leaving acid on our teeth after we brushed.

“Dad…”

“Don’t Dad me,” he interrupted. “I miss Jenny too, but I didn’t change everything about myself. You completely changed how you look. You enrolled yourself in her school just so you could be closer to your dead sister. That’s not normal, Melinda. Why don’t you come home, honey? We can get through it together.”

Tears sprang to my eyes at the raw hurt in his voice. He’d loved Jenny like his own daughter even after Jenny’s dad had taken her from us. I forgot that Dad hurt just as much over her death as I did. He’d lost a child.

“Daddy,” I whispered. “I
promise
I’m okay.”

“You’re obviously not okay, Melinda,” he sighed. “I had hoped being with your grandmother might help you, but I don’t think it is. I’ve watched you slowly turn to darker magic after your sister died. I just don’t want to lose you to that darker side of our craft. I can’t lose you too.”

Dad was worried about me becoming a dark witch? Why hadn’t he said something?

“Dad, I swear, I am not a dark witch. Sure, I use dark magic here and there, but just barely. You don’t have to worry about me.”

His sigh turned into a heartbreakingly heavy one. “You can’t see the path you’re on, Melinda. I’ve seen so many people go down that same path and never come back from it. Come home, please.”

I’d no idea he’d been watching me so closely these last few months. Made me wonder just how much he’d seen. I’d grown increasingly more closed off as my plans took shape. I thought my dad would have been pleased that I’d shed my Goth look, considering how much he despised it. It had concerned him about my state of mind instead.

“I don’t know what else to say, Dad,” I said after a moment. “I’m good, honest. I’m here with Gran, and she’ll make sure I stay on the straight and narrow, okay? You trust her to watch me, right?”

“So you
are
doing something that requires your Gran to watch you?” The suspicion ran deep in his voice, and I winced. Why was he always so damn perceptive when it came to me?

“No, I’m not!” I denied. “I just meant…”

“Melinda, I’m coming up next weekend, and we are all going to sit down and talk. Do you understand?”

“Really, Dad, you don’t need to do that…”

“
Really
, Melinda, I do,” he cut me off. “No arguments. Oh, and Mel, send me that website you found the reference to Protectors on. We need to have it removed immediately.”

“Removed, why?”

“Just do it, Melinda.”

“I don’t remember…”

“Bull,” he said. “You either found it online, or you aren’t telling me what’s really going on. Either way, I am going to find out when I get there on Friday.”

“Dad…”

“I have to go, honey. I can see Mrs. Amos struggling to keep her mammoth of a dog from dragging her down the street.”

Mrs. Amos was eighty if she was a day, and Dad and I always helped her with Rufus each morning when she took the Great Dane outside. Or at least on the mornings we were up early enough to help.

“Okay,” I told him. “Talk to you later, Daddy, love you.”

I hung the phone up before he could say anything else. I fell on the bed, slightly defeated. That gave me barely a week to go through with my plan. I was going to have to step up my game now. I’d planned on worming my way into their little makeshift Coven, but with Dad coming up, I couldn’t risk it. What the hell was I supposed to do now? Damn Xavier.

With a sigh, I stared up at the ceiling. A dark witch. Could it be true? Dad was worried about it, and Jeff had said my eyes turned black twice yesterday. I didn’t want to be a dark witch, but if I went through with my plan and killed the people responsible for Jenny’s death, would it damn my soul? Would the darkness suffocate out all the good I had left? I wanted to save Brandon and Sebastian if they were innocent. Didn’t that count for anything?

“No, it doesn’t.”

I almost shrieked when I saw Xavier standing in my doorway. How did he get up here? I hadn’t heard the doorbell ring. Wait, how did he know what I was thinking?

“What are you doing here?” My voice came out shrill, and I winced. I didn’t want him to know how off balance I felt.

“I told you last night I’d see you today,” he reminded me almost gently.

“Can you read my mind?” I asked him point blank.

He grinned. “Were you having indecent thoughts about me?”

“No!” I shouted. “I…you…
no
!”

He burst out laughing. “Well, you should be.”

“Are you always this much of an ass?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” he agreed. “Now, get your coat. We have things to do.”

There was no way I was going anywhere alone with him. Not if he was planning on killing me.

He sighed. “Your jaw is set in that stubborn way. Why must you always be difficult, Rose?”

“Mel, you okay?” Jeff asked. Xavier turned and gave him a once over before dismissing him. My eyes narrowed. Jeff deserved more respect than that.

“I am now that
you’re
here.” I smile my flirtiest smile. “Can you escort this ass out for me, please?”

“You really don’t want to push me this morning, Rose.” Xavier’s voiced turned soft, sinister. His eyes hardened, and I took a step back from the aggression in his stance. “We have things to do. I don’t have time to hurt the boy.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Jeff growled.

Yeah, no. I was pretty sure Xavier would obliterate Jeff on the spot, and I’d developed a soft spot for him. I didn’t want to see him get hurt. “Jeff, I’m fine. Xavier really is here to pick me up. I told him last night we’d go do some stuff today, but I didn’t expect him this early. It’s cool, really.”

He frowned at me, not buying a word of it. “I promise,” I assured him. “Xavier’s harmless.”

Jeff and Xavier both snorted at that. “Can we just go?” I snapped, irritated. I wanted out before Jeff had time to put two and two together. He was very intuitive.

“Of course.” Xavier smirked, and stepped aside so I could get through the bedroom door. “Get your heaviest coat. We’ll be spending a lot of time outside today.”