Witch (4 page)

Sam

He felt her eyes on him, they hadn’t left since she’d met
him.

“Can you just ask her to try to not to stare?” He
whispered into Lucas’s ear.

Lucas laughed, “On your own there man. I don’t get
involved.”

“Pretty sure Ari is going to feel the full strength of my
Siren gift when I get home. I might just show you what unleashed really is.”

Lucas’s back straightened. He bit into the chicken thigh he
was gnawing on. He crunched the chicken bone and licked his fingers. He glanced
back at the woman, “Janine can you do me a favor?”

“Sure Sugar, whatever you need.” Her eyes never left Sam.

Lucas frowned at Sam and then looked back at Janine, “Just
stop okay?”

She didn’t even bat an eyelash, “No.”

Lucas looked back at Sam, “I tried, you even think about
messing with Ari and I will kill you, cook you and eat you.”

Sam grinned, “Try.” He flashed from the room.

The moonlit night was peaceful and cool in Maine. He
couldn’t believe the size of the moon. He could feel the pull of the oceans as
he stood under it. His Siren appeal was always stronger under the full moon.
The wolves knew that no doubt. Fae knew a lot about the supernatural world.
They stayed in groups and educated their offspring. Not like the rest of the
supernatural world. Most were rogues who wandered the world alone. Except
Siren's who all lived on the Island in Greece. With no actual skills beyond
their sex magic they stayed where they were the strongest.

His mother had been one until she met an angel and gave
him her heart, the other Sirens had shunned her. Sam had grown up with his
mother and the Wiccan's. He had always told everyone his father was alive. He
never wanted anyone to know whose son he actually was.

His phone vibrated in his pants. Hanna had finally
messaged him.

She answered his question, ‘At Lydia’s’

‘I want to see you’

‘Where r u?’

He sighed and looked around, ‘Butt eff nowhere with Luke’

‘ewww try to behave ;-)’

‘Funny’

‘I have to leave tonight. Lorri is sending me to Greece to
see my fam’

Panic filled him, ‘NO’

‘yeah’

‘I’m coming to you’

‘Leaving now with Aims. Text when I know where I am.
 
<3 U’

He sighed, “Fuck.” Then sent his last message to her, in
hopes it would help his cause later, ‘I love you too’

The last thing he wanted was for Hanna to meet the others.
He had hoped to explain the whole situation before she met the rest of them.

Ophelia

Panic made her heart race as she ran through the downtown
core. The small town along the Maine coastline was tiny enough that downtown
consisted of about four blocks. Her feet ached from the flip-flops but fear and
heartache pushed her on. She raced until she reached the only small lane that
looked as if it could be considered an alley. She didn’t notice the shadows
begin to take form around her feet.

She leaned her back against the cool brick wall of the
local hardware store. She didn’t know what had happened to Jake. Why had she run?
Why had the voices told her to run? Where was her sister? She pulled her phone
from her pocket but sparks flew from it as her fingers met it. She sighed.

She slumped onto the ground between two huge dumpsters and
clutched her knees in her arms. She pulled her knees into her chest.

She was so lost in thought, she didn’t notice the white
blue eyes watching her. She didn’t notice the dark shadows forming into
fingers, trying to reach out to her.

Her skin started to shiver from the cool air, brushing
against the sweat beading on her skin. She had been hot all day. She felt like
a freak wiping her hands against her forehead.

Her breath grew rapid, she felt something change in the
air around her. Suspense hung in the air, coating her skin like mist. She felt something
moving but saw nothing. She heard the mist whisper.

She gulped but didn’t move, she waited for whatever it was
to show itself. The thumping in her chest was starting to drive her nuts. She
tried to hold her breath in. Nothing moved around her.

Suddenly a huge animal lunged at her from the black empty
spaces between the walls and the unlit alley. She put her hands out and
screamed. Something pulsed from her. The huge wolf with the pale blue eyes
stumbled back. She screamed again.

‘RUN OPHELIA’

She looked around at the voices but instead of belonging
to the mist they had taken a shape. A huge ball of light separated into six
smaller balls. As the light dimmed suddenly six girls stood in the alley. Each
held their hands out as she had. They turned to face her, their faces each
identical to her.

Instead of eyes the bright blue lights filled their faces.
Each made a panicked face and screamed at her in unison, ‘RUN’

Their voices filled the air around her. She scrambled to
her feet nearly losing her balance.

‘RUN TO THE HOUSE AND STAY INSIDE OPHELIA’

She rounded the corner of the hardware store and didn’t
stop until she was on her street. She raced across her lawn and bolted up her
front steps. Her shaking hands were barely able to grip the door handle but she
finally got it open. She shot inside the house and locked the door. She didn’t
know if the beams of light could get in. She pressed her back against the door
and began to sob.

A knock at the door startled her. She shook her head
letting the tears flow from her eyes.

“Ophelia?”

She stopped and whispered, “Jake?”

“Ophelia let me in. Are you okay?”

She shook her head and swallowed hard, “No I feel really
sick. I need to go to bed.”

The door handle rattled above her head.

“Ophelia let me in.”

She shook her head, as if he could see her.

“Jesus Christ I just want to talk.” His voice started to
sound angry.

Trembling she wiped her face and waited for him to leave.

His hands shook the door handle again, “Oh my god. What is
that? Ophelia let me in. LET ME IN!”

He began to pound on the door. She jumped back from the
door and watched the handle shake.

“SOMETHING IS OUT HERE!”

She grabbed the lock and threw open the door.

He leapt in knocking her to the ground. She screamed as he
pinned her to the floor. The huge wolf with the pale blue eyes lunged at the
door. Its wide-open muzzle bounced off the open door, as if it hit a glass
wall.

Jake scrambled off of her and dragged her further inside of
the house. He lifted her off of the ground and held her in his arms tightly.

"WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!"

She tucked her face into his chest, squinting away from
the wolf at the door.

Jake’s arms wrapped around her, “What the fuck?”

She shook her head.

He put her on the couch. The door hung open. Jake stepped
toward the door.

“No Jake, no stay here. No don’t go over there.” She
whispered putting her hands out. She never took her eyes off of the open door.
A cool breeze blew in making the door creak. She felt like her heart was in her
throat watching him take another step toward the door. He peeked around the
open door frame.

“I don’t see it.” He whispered.

She could feel it though. She could hear it whisper in her
mind. It wanted her. It wanted to do bad things to her. It called her a witch.
It said that was its favorite.

Suddenly Jake jumped back. The huge wolf growled, filling
the doorway. He grabbed the door and swung it hard. The door slammed shaking
the entire house.

His chest rose with his breath.

She had covered her eyes with her hands and was peeking
through the spaces between her fingers.

He turned at her, “What the hell was that?”

She shook her head, “A wolf.”

"Yeah I get that it’s a wolf O, but what the fuck is
it doing in town? Why is it chasing us?"

"I don’t know."

He turned the lock on the door, “Why couldn’t it get past
the doorway? It bounced on nothing.”

She shook her head again, “I don’t know Jake. Why did you
freeze in the truck? What was that?”

He turned to look at her confused, “What?”

“Lance’s driveway. We were kissing and then you froze.”

“I don’t know. I never. I just looked out the window and
you were gone.”

She rubbed her hands over her eyes, “What? That doesn’t
even make sense. You didn’t hear me leave the truck? You were frozen. I touched
you. It was like a seizure.”

He backed away from the door. He went to the windows and
closed all of the blinds.

"What made you come here? Why didn't you go in the
party?"

He walked over to her, his dark blue eyes looked
concerned, “I just knew you were here. I had a bad feeling, like I needed to
get here right away.”

He climbed onto the couch and pulled his cell phone out of
his pocket. He dialed and held it up to his ear.

“Dad there's a huge wolf outside of Ophelia’s house.
Ophelia. You know Dr. Peters. Ophelia Peters. Yeah.”

He rubbed his forehead, never taking his eyes from the
front door, “It was the size of a horse dad. It was huge. It jumped at us and
tried to get us.”

They both watched the door.

“No we’re safe at Ophelia’s but you need to call the
police and the forest rangers.”

He pulled the phone away, “I’m staying here with you
okay.” He whispered.

She nodded, she didn’t know if that made her feel better
but it didn’t feel worse.

“I’m staying at her house. Yup.” He hung up the phone and
started to fiddle with it.

“I’m going to text everyone at the party and let them
know. They should go home, this is nuts.”

She watched his hands fly across the surface of his
iPhone. She couldn’t help but notice how graceful they were for such large
hands.

He looked at her again, “You okay?”

She shook her head again. Her words didn’t make it out of
her throat.

“That was bizarre. Why couldn’t it get in the house?”

“I don’t know. It was in the alley, behind Lawts Hardware.
It attacked me then but then, uhm, well- I got away.” She didn’t want to tell
him about the six ghosts that had looked exactly like her. She didn’t know what
to say about any of it.

Jake put his hands on her bare arms. His touch made
electricity run up and down her arms. She remembered his lips pressing against
hers. His tongue was roaming her mouth. She blinked trying to focus on him and
let go of the daydream that seemed to be taking over her mind.

He frowned, making his dark blue eyes almost black, “You
okay?”

Her head shook back and forth, before she could even
register what he’d asked.

He pulled her in to his chest. He kissed the top of her
head, “Me either.”

She hadn’t imagined he could be weak or tender. She
definitely never saw him as vulnerable. She also never imagined a massive wolf
would be chasing her around town or that her house would magically keep it out.
She didn’t even want to think about the ghosts in the alley or the fact Jake
had been frozen in the car. The broken windows at school suddenly felt a lot
less serious.

“I am sorry for kissing you when you were saying no. It
was like I couldn’t stop.”

She closed her eyes, “It’s okay. This has been a weird
night.”

The front door opened suddenly making them both jump.
Abbey raised an eyebrow at her, “You didn’t even make it there huh? Did you
even leave the yard or just wait for mom and dad to leave?”

Jake shouted, “CLOSE THE DOOR ABBEY!”

She frowned, "Don’t yell at me in my house Jake. You
two are wankers. I can't believe you never came."

“We did but a huge wolf chased me, and Jake had, like, a
seizure. Close the door.”

Abbey looked back poking her head out of the door, “I
don’t see anything. Maybe it was a love wolf.” She snickered.

"CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!"

She slammed the door with a red face, “Asshole. You don’t
have to shout.” She turned and stormed out of the room and up the stairs.

Jake sighed and tried to call to her, “Abbey I-I-I’m
sorry. It was there. I didn’t want it to get you.”

Her angry footsteps on the stairs drowned out his voice.
He looked at Ophelia and shrugged, “Sorry.”

“No. She never saw it. Better she's pissed at us than
eaten by that friggen thing.”

She climbed off the couch and took his hand. Her body felt
alive, like energy flowed between their grip and sparks flew from where their
hands met. She pulled his massive body from the couch and dragged him from the
front room. She walked up the stairs to her bedroom.

Sam

The elder's meeting was boring. He couldn’t even pretend
to care about the numbers of deer and bears in the woods. He wanted to get to
the point. He felt his leg starting to twitch.

He looked at Luke, who gave him a subtle headshake. Sam
sighed and pulled his phone out. His heart sank when he saw no new texts or
missed calls. Hanna was going to be the death of him. He was glad the scouting
trip to Alaska was over but he was terrified of her being in Greece without
him, and without an explanation. They would pollute her. He felt a slight ache
in his chest, imagining her pulling away. They would tell her he was bad. He
was cursed.

“Sam.”

He looked up to see the room staring at him. He cleared
his throat, “Sorry.”

Lucas laughed, “They found his scent. It’s a little north
of here. Want to flash some of us up there?”

“Sure but I can’t do many. Maybe three others.”

Sam stood feeling the eyes of the ever-watchful females on
him. Janine licked her lips and looked directly at his groin. He felt it
twitch. It had been a long time since he’d satisfied himself and he couldn’t
help but smile at the thought of a shifter. They were like forbidden fruit.
They hated his kind. His kind hated every kind. He tore his gaze away from the
sultry mouth of the blonde shifter.

“Let's go.” He spoke in a quiet voice.

Lucas strolled over nonchalantly, “You need to see Hanna
dude. You need something, because even I can feel what you’re giving off.”

He felt his cheeks flush, “Yeah well that’s not going to
happen. She’s gone to Greece. I’m not welcome there.”

Lucas winced, “Well your tension is all the better to kill
a wolfman with.”

“I would probably rip him to pieces from fifty yards right
now. Who all is coming?”

Lucas pointed to the two men and Janine, “The elders. Two
trips for the other three?”

He nodded and clenched his jaw at the thought of Janine
constantly around him. He would need a picture of Hanna in his mind constantly.

“Stupid Siren sex vibes. Stupid full moon.” He muttered.
His half angel half Siren situation was brutal, unless he kept it under control.
He remembered the feeling of Hanna in his arms. The delicious feeling of her
lips brushing against his. The soft noises she made.

“Dude, Jesus.”

He looked at the faces of the shifters and smiled. They
were loosening their collars and trying not to pant.

“Sorry. Anyway, shall we?” He put a hand out. Everyone
touched him. One of the taller men held the picture of a small town. Sam nodded
and flashed them their instantly.

He was back at the lodge and flashing the other members
instantly.

The small town was silent. The great hall with the voices
and people surrounding them and the smell of campfire was suddenly gone.
Replacing it was silence. His senses became heightened. He looked around
watching the shifters turn their noses up to the wind.

He could smell something but he wasn’t entirely sure it
was what they smelled. He could smell Annabelle almost but different.

He frowned seeing Lorri walking toward them. Her fiery red
hair was spiked more than normal giving her a feisty look.

“What the hell are you two doing here?”

Sam smiled, trying to ignore the bodies surrounding him
tensing.

Lorri nodded to the elder in front of Sam, “I am sorry for
your loss. Ben was like a son to me. We have shared a loss.” Her eyes glowed
with an inner fire, “Want to share revenge?” Her plump lip turned up slightly.

He nodded, “Yes. We want our kill.”

Lorri nodded, “I will allow you to kill the man
responsible. His name is Daniel.” Her eyes lit up even more, glowing with evil,
“He’s a vampire.”

The elder grinned, “Whatever you need that we may offer is
at your disposal until such time as we may kill him.”

She turned to Lucas, “Why are you here?”

Lucas’s face flushed, “Aleks’s dad.”

She raised an eyebrow, “What the fuck?”

He shrugged, “Look you wouldn’t let us come to Alaska so
we decided to find our own entertainment. We’ve tracked him.”

She shook her head, “Dorian gets this one.”

Sam laughed, “We can catch him and hold him until Dorian
gets here.”

Lorri laughed, “If he was so easily caught do you not
think he would have been already.”

Sam sniffed the air, “I can smell him.”

Lorri nodded, “I don’t give two shits Sam. Lydia said
there is someone here we need. A girl. She’s been missing for eighteen years,
human years. Her father is Jonathan.” Her tone dropped on the name.

Lucas looked sickened, “Jonathan?”

Lorri nodded.

Lucas shook his head, “He had all his daughters murdered.”

Lorri shrugged, “Lydia says she is the girl. She sensed
her about forty-eight hours ago. It was like a switch turned on. I have no clue
but Lydia wants her now. We don’t have a minute to spare.” She leaned over to
Sam and smirked, “You smell nice Sam. Maybe you can convince her to come with
us.”

Sam rolled his eyes, “Whatever.”

Lorri grinned and pointed across the small downtown
square, “It’s this way.”

The shifters phased instantly and spread out. Any normal
human would have lost them in the dark night, but Sam’s exceptional vision made
it easy.

He walked along behind Lorri, the only two still walking
on two feet.

She looked back, “You pissed at me?”

“Yup.”

“You know she needs to meet them. She’s alone in the
world. They can teach her to tame it down.”

He felt his rage building, “She isn’t alone. She has me
and Roland and the Roses. They will teach her things she doesn’t need to know.”

Lorri looked almost softened for a moment, “You know she
will always love you right? You’re the one. No one can replace that.”

Sam growled, “I’m not worried about her not loving me.”

Lorri snorted, which was odd for Lucifer to do. “Sam she isn’t
going to hook up with some Greek just because they tell her too.”

He sighed, “So you concede they will try to make her
experiment? That's their way.”

“It’s their way. If they teach her to pull to ease the
tension and the need then all the better for us.”

He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He wanted to
smash things and destroy people that stood in the way of him and Hanna. It had
been all he could do to not make an attempt at killing Marcus.

Lorri turned onto a street and walked up to a large country
house with a beautiful front porch.

Sam froze as he felt it. He felt the cold in the air. It
sparkled around his body.

He looked at Lorri who growled, “Guards.”

Sam nodded. He looked up to the window with the light on.
He could see movement in the window. He flashed himself to the roof below the
window. He peeked inside. He looked back at Lorri and pointed. She nodded and
looked back the wolves surrounding the yard.

“Aleks’s dad has been here Lorri. I can smell him. It’s
fresh.”

Lucas growled and began sniffing the yard.

Sam watched a guy and girl sitting on the bed talking. He
smirked at how awkward they looked, they liked each other. He gave a slight tap
on the window, making them both jump and turn around sharply.

The guy dove at the window like a hero protecting his
girl. He pulled open the window with a look of rage on his face.

“What the fuck? Who are you? Why are you doing this?” He
grabbed at Sam.

Sam laughed, “I’m here to help. Has a wolf been here?”

The girl nodded looking terrified. Her left eye was
incredibly dark but her right eye was pale and slightly frightening looking.
Sam felt badly for her. Her face couldn’t look more terrified. Her pale skin
looked stark against her dark hair and one dark blue eye.

“How the fuck did you get up here? What do you want?” The
raging teenager got in Sam’s face. Sam tried not to laugh, “I am a magical
being with powers like being able to travel without walking or moving. What is
your name?” He looked directly at the frightened girl.

She frowned at him, “Who are you?”

“I’m a Rose and you are in terrible danger. If you come
with me I can protect you. That wolf won’t be the only thing that comes after
you.”

The girl’s face broke into a smile, “Like the Terminator?”

Sam grinned back, “Exactly.”

The guy looked back at the girl, “We need to call the
cops. This is nuts Ophelia.”

Sam continued to look into her marvelous eyes. He hoped
she would use her ability to sense him and know to trust him. The guards
weren't going to let anyone in.