Witch Way to Turn (28 page)

Good Lord, Breena, stick your foot in it again, why don’t you?

“I tried that but no one wanted to risk the president’s wrath. The attempt caused me to go under constant supervision. Eventually, I stopped trying and was given this.” He held up his finger with the copper ring.

“What’s so great about it?”

“It’s kind of like an ankle bracelet for a prisoner under house arrest. As long as I wear it I can go anywhere I want, but if I take it off and go more than fifty feet from it, the president’s henchmen descend. It also keeps me from self-harm.”

“You didn’t want to kill yourself after you got the ring, though?”

A vague unease squirmed through her, and she shifted in her seat.

Focus, Breena. The guy is finally talking.

“No. Being immortal messes with your mind. As time passes, you begin to forget parts of the past. And by the time I’d turned Dandi, I no longer wanted to take my own life. If anything, I wanted to live.”

Breena recalled Orin’s statement when they’d been by the dam.
How hard is it to live for something? To die for something is beyond most people.
“What do you live for?”

“You.” He flashed his sexy grin her way. “And Dandi and Jenny. Something
worth
living for.”

Terrific.

More pressure. Would Myles want to committee suicide if she broke his heart? Could a vampire’s heart even be broken? Although…maybe his love for her was the same as his love for Dandi? A low burn of anxiety rippled through her. She pushed it aside. “Why’d you turn Dandi?”

“Purely selfish reasons. I’m still trying to make it up to her, though I probably never will.” He took a deep breath. It made him seem so human.

She swallowed hard. “You wanted a mate?”

“No. I wanted a child.” His voice was raw and full of desperation.

“Why her?”

“Dria’s favorite flower.”

A low itch in her bones made her fidget, trying to get comfortable. “Really? That’s the only reason?”

“I told you it was selfish, Bree.”

“Is Dandi serving a sentence too?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“She wasn’t exactly thrilled when I turned her. She went on a killing spree shortly after.”

“She killed humans?”

“Yes.”

Sarcasm seeped through Breena’s words. “I thought killing mundanes was ‘acceptable’ in the supe world?”

“It is acceptable if you’re feeding and there’s an accident, but two hundred humans isn’t an accidental dinner. It’s a massacre.”

“Two hundred?”

“In one night.”

“Damn.” Breena’s breath hitched.

“I begged the WC not to execute her.”

“So they sentenced her?”

“Fifty years under my watch.”

“Fifty years? That’s all? You kill twelve witches and get one hundred fifty years and Dandi goes all mass murderer and only gets a third of that? What the hell?”

Okay, so it wasn’t like Breena hoped Dandi would serve any more time, but damn. Did human life mean so little to the Witches’ Council…to her grandmother? Obviously it did. Which only supported her theory that Lucinda Vale couldn’t be trusted.

“I know. It doesn’t make sense, but the president rules the way she sees fit.”

“What does the WC make Dandi do for her sentence?” She wanted to know this, needed to, but she couldn’t just sit here while…

While what?

What the hell is going on?

“They won’t tell me, and she’s not allowed to.”

“Why? It must be pretty damn bad, then, for all the secrecy.”

“I’m afraid it probably is. Since I’m her maker, I could legally kill her at any time. So, I’m glad I don’t know what it is the WC has her doing.”

“Because you love her?” Breena tried to choke back the jealousy. She needed to move. Now.

He found her hands and squeezed. “Yes, I love her, as a daughter. Just as you love Jenny, as a sister. They may not be relatives by birth, but they
are
our family. They’re all we have.”

Jenny.

The anxiety became an inferno. “Where is Jenny?” Breena pulled her hands away. “I thought she was with you.”

“She’s fine. She’s in the cafeteria.”

But Breena had an ache in the pit of her stomach. She felt like a caged animal.

“Something’s not right.”

Chapter 23

Breena did a double-take as they walked through the door of the cafeteria. Unlike the stark white walls and cement floors of her community college’s cafeteria, this place seeped beauty, from its cherry-stained hardwood floors to its marble-topped round tables. Her fear for Jenny’s safety downgraded to mild concern.

“Stop doing that.” Breena tossed Myles a scowl. The blood-bond was driving her batshit crazy.

“What?”

“Sending me calm vibes.”

He shook his head. “Not me this time.”

The indoor waterfall caught her attention. It reminded her of her dam, flowing with a rhythm unmatched by the rapid beat of Breena’s heart. The sound calmed her nerves, and she knew this was the culprit. Not Myles. She watched it for a moment, letting it soothe her, though she wondered where the water supply came from. It looked as though the water appeared out of thin air before flowing over the smooth cobblestone wall in the center of the room.

When she managed to look away, she noticed a row of people forming a straight line against the far wall of the room, execution style. But they didn’t look scared. They all looked pleased enough. Some even seemed to be excited about something.

“What’s going on?” Breena asked.

“Buffet.”

“I don’t see any food.” Then she caught Myles’s sideways glance, which seemed to say,
We don’t talk about it in here
.

“Oh,” Breena replied to her own little revelation.

They circled the fountain in search of Jenny but didn’t find her.

“So what’s the deal with the WC anyway? How’d the witches get to run the show?”

“They were appointed.”

“By the djinn?”

He cut his stare to Breena with a terrifying flash of red, which nearly stopped her in her tracks. “Shhh. Yes.” He looked at her in the same shut-the-hell-up way he had when she’d questioned the buffet. “But we don’t speak of the Ancient Ones. Especially not here.” He looked around warily, as if lightning would strike him down any moment.

“Well, why did they choose the witches?”

“Witches are the only supernatural beings who don’t have to worry about killing their prey when feeding.”

“Do they…uh, we feed on humans?” Breena hoped the answer was no. Maybe her inner witch would redeem her in some way. Her preternatural side already seemed to devour any good qualities her witch-half offered and she wasn’t sure how much more hunger she’d be able to resist.

“Yes.”

“Shit–”

“But,” he said, apparently reading the anxiety on Breena’s face, “they feed on energy, not soul or blood or flesh.”

“So that’s where their…my power comes from?”

“The witches’ long lifespan comes from feeding on human energy, but their magical power draws from nature.”

Breena wanted to ask what made the djinn so dang special, but she didn’t think she would get a straight answer from Myles at the moment. So she went with her next question. “What do the Ancient Ones feed on?”

The pregnant pause swelled between them.

Myles kept his voice low. “The supernatural.”

* * * *

Breena’s anxiety slammed into her the moment they walked out of the cafeteria. No Jenny. Myles suggested another place for them to check, so she followed him to the elevator.

Her pocket vibrated again. Reaching in, she grabbed the cellphone. That was the fourth missed call from this number, whoever it belonged to. She had voicemail, so she should probably listen to it eventually. For now, she put it back in her pocket.

On the second floor, Myles led the way down a hall similar to the one the president lived on, except this floor resembled a day care, with brightly-colored balloons and clouds painted on the walls. The magic here smelled a lot like Play-Doh.

They stopped mid-way down the hall to face a set of wooden double doors.

“This is it.” Myles opened one of the doors for Breena.

With basketball goals, bleachers, a volleyball net, a stage, and what appeared to be locker rooms near the back wall, the wide-open space looked nothing like she’d expected. “How is there a full-size gym on this floor?”

“Expansion spell mixed with an invisibility charm on the outside to keep the mundanes unaware.”

They walked over to the middle of the wall behind one of the goals and leaned back to scan for Jenny. Soon Breena spotted Dandi on the bleachers flirting with three attractive, high school-age girls.

“How old is Dandi?” Breena asked.

“Human years, she’s sixteen.”

Explained a lot.

“The youngest a human can be turned,” he added.

Well, great, her loaded list of questions continued to grow.

After searching the crowded gym for what felt like eternity, Breena finally saw Jenny.

Phew.

With a side of crap
.
“What the hell?” She took off like a shot, running toward the stage along the back wall of the gym.

“Bree?” Myles called after her.

She kept going. He followed her, matching pace.

When they got across the gym, Breena had to stop and suck down short breaths but Myles stood as cool as a cantaloupe by her side.

Jenny sat on the edge of the stage, swinging her feet. The silver-haired lady, Rae, stood next to her.

“Come on, Jenny.” Breena caught her breath. “Now.”

“But, sis…”

“So soon? Jennifer and I were having a nice little chat.” Rae’s green eyes honed in on hers. They were too bright. So familiar. Why couldn’t she place her?

Breena faced Jenny. “Yes, now.” Then she returned her gaze to Rae. “And she doesn’t like to be called Jennifer.”

“It’s okay, Bea. She’s my friend.” Jenny kicked her shoe against the stage.

“The hell she is.” Suddenly Breena’s ears sprang up. All she heard was humming. The entire gym screamed with the sound of souls, waiting for her to feed on them. She rushed forward and pinned Rae against the wall.

In a flash, Myles stood between them.

“Breena, focus. Look at me.” He cradled her face in his hands, his touch cool against her clammy skin.

“Huh?” Breena didn’t feel like herself. She needed to taste a human soul so damn bad. God, the hunger. And a PB and J definitely wouldn’t cut it this time. She wanted to scream.

“Bree, we should go.” Myles smoothed her hair back behind her ears.

“Listen to the vamp, unnatural.” Rae’s tone held an air of dominance.

I’m half-witch too, dammit.

Breena wanted to smack the smug look off her face and drain the life out of her, not necessarily in that order. But from the deer-in-headlights look Jenny wore, she’d been scary enough for one day.

Cutting her gaze to Rae, she hoped the look said,
Watch your back, bitch
. But Rae’s expression was utterly blank.
 

“Come on, Jenny.” Breena managed to keep herself in check.

Myles helped Jenny off the stage.

“I enjoyed talking about the different glows, Jennifer.” Rae smiled sweetly at
Breena’s
sister.

Jenny glanced at Breena and spoke quietly to Rae. “Me too.”

Hell’s bells. How many times had she told the girl to hold onto a secret?

Jenny never listened.

* * * *

Who the hell did she think she was?

She has no right to
my
sister
.

Biting down on her bottom lip, she squeezed her eyes shut, but the insistent noise wouldn’t stop.

She was a wreck. What was wrong with her?

Myles walked her back to the apartment but she stopped in front of the door, blocking his way.

“Breena, I should stay.”

She gripped the doorknob. “I need…
food
.”

“Come with me, then.” He held out his hand. “We’ll go to the cafeteria.”

“I’d never make it in a room full of buzzing.”

“Bree, please–”

“Go.”

“Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll hurry.” He took off down the hall.

“Myles,” she called after him. He froze, back still to her.

“Make sure they’re willing.”

He nodded.

When Breena unlocked and opened the door, Jenny bounded into her bedroom, leaving Breena slumped against the front door.

Everything went quiet, except for the buzzing coming from Jenny’s room. It wouldn’t stop. She had to make the noise go away. It had to stop. Had to.