Witchcraft (#2 Witchblood Series) (2 page)

‘
Yes, they do. I thought I was
seeing things at first. Is it a family book then?’ I asked, relief
washing over me, that finally someone understood me and didn’t
think I was hallucinating. Eva and Daniel never saw the leaves
move, not the slightest bit.

‘
Oh yes, it goes back to the very
first coven leader in New England. We have another copy of this at
home. We thought this one was lost. How did you get it?’ she asked,
and again I thought I noticed a hard cold rush of emotion clouding
her eyes, but it was gone instantly.

‘
I was given it as a gift,’ I
said, not wanting to get Eva in any trouble with the
coven.

I walked the last couple of steps
towards the dresser and went to pick the book up. It felt dangerous
and exposed lying within her reach, and I felt a need to hold it
close. Protect it. My hands went out, but she got there at the same
time.

Simultaneously, she started muttering
something quickly and quietly under her breath and immediately my
bedroom ceiling turned into a black thunderous vortex, spinning and
swirling its snake-like tail down towards us.

‘
What the hell?’ I shouted, trying
to pull the book from her grasp, as she hung on.

‘
I’m sorry Jess, but the white
witches of Malden cannot claim you, especially now you have this.
We’ve sought this book for hundreds of years and now we have one
who can engage with it. Only direct family members can make the
leaves dance. You will join us. It’s your destiny.’

And all at once several things happened.
The black vortex hovered over our heads as Susannah shouted out a
final command. I used all my vampire strength available, and
yanking the book from her grasp, turned to run, when I heard the
front door bang. Mere seconds later Daniel and Eva shot into the
room, but it was too late. Susannah’s hand hooked around my neck,
her long, purple-painted nails breaking my skin. Her other arm
wrapped around me from behind and, with our bodies glued together,
the vortex descended and sucked us up into a vast dark
nothingness.

Chapter Two

My survival instinct kicked in and I
struggled to release myself from her grasp. I wriggled and kicked,
but she held on fiercely and yelled into my ear.

‘
Don’t be stupid Jess, you don’t
know where you’ll end up if you fall from the ley lines mid-stream.
We don’t want to harm you.’

But I couldn’t take that chance. I
didn’t have a clue who she was, but I knew for sure that she wasn’t
who she said she was. She wasn’t my cousin. She wasn’t from Malden,
and if she wasn’t a white witch, then presumably she must be a dark
witch. From a coven that wanted my Book of Shadows.

I felt an encouraging tingle of
electricity start to bubble under the surface of my skin, a
familiar low humming in my head, as everything began to spin out of
control. As I felt my power hum beneath the surface, waiting for an
outlet, I scrunched up my eyes and holding firmly to the book,
bucked with all my might and sent my elbow ramming into the witch
behind me. I wrenched my neck from her hand, feeling her nails
leave deep welts across my skin, and threw myself to the side of
the vortex. Suddenly I was free falling, plummeting towards a green
field, and seconds later I landed with a bone-crunching thud as my
head spun and I blacked out.

I awoke to find myself lying under the
shade of an old oak, its dark green leaves shading the late spring
sun from my sensitive skin. I quickly sat up and looked around me.
The witch was sitting watching me, cradling my book in her
hands.

‘
Now look what you’ve done. We’ll
have to wait here for my sisters to join us. They won’t be long,’
she said, before adding ‘You might want to sort your arm out. It’s
making me queasy just looking at you.’

At her strange comment, I looked down
and flinched. My arm was hanging down at a strange angle, and the
bone just above my wrist was jutting out of the broken skin, my
dark, almost black blood congealing around it. As my eyes followed
the broken arm upwards, I winced again as I took in the strange
angle of my shoulder joint, as it pushed forward, straining against
the tight, pale skin. All I could feel was a dull throb in my
shoulder and a slight burning sensation around my wrist, but I
couldn’t blame the witch for her queasiness, as looking at it made
me heave uncontrollably.

‘
Oh, for goodness sake! You’re a
vampire aren’t you? Just pop your shoulder back in and push that
bone back into your arm. Otherwise they’ll heal like that and
Carrigan will only make you break them again,’ she said, looking up
at the sky quickly.

I followed her eyes, but could see
nothing. She was right, I needed to sort my arm out, but I also
needed to get my book back and fast, if we were about to be joined
by the rest of her coven. For the first time since I’d woken, I
looked around us. We’d landed in some farm fields and all I could
see were miles of yellowish, square-patterned, rolling hills. On
the brow of the next hill, I could make out a farm and a track
winding down to a busy main road. I wondered how long it would take
me to run for the house, five minutes, maybe less. I could easily
pretend to be a human girl, then they’d take me in, but they’d also
be bound to call an ambulance and ask questions. All I needed was a
phone to call Daniel. Maybe if I got my arm fixed first I could
escape their inevitable questions. I looked down at my arm again
and gulping back retches, tried to push the bone back in, but it
seemed stuck and tears sprang to my eyes. I was useless, pathetic!
I couldn’t even mend myself properly. I couldn’t cast spells. I
couldn’t bring myself to bite people and defend myself. I was
nothing, neither a vampire nor a witch.

‘
Are you crying?’ Her surprised
voice cut into my thoughts and I glanced up quickly, wiping the
tears away. ‘Oh my, you were, weren’t you? I never knew vampires
could cry. Well, aren’t you an interesting find!’

Anger surged within me, a maelstrom of
emotions giving me the strength I needed. I jumped to my feet and
found to my surprise that my arm still worked. I punched forward
and then brought it back, swinging it round until with a sickening
crack it found its rightful place in my shoulder joint once again.
The bone would just have to wait, as the witch was already
clambering hurriedly to her feet, my book clasped to her chest. She
had hastily dug deep in her pocket and withdrawn a handful of salt,
and was pouring it out on the floor in a circle around her,
chanting as she moved.

‘
I conjure thee, O Circle of
Power. A boundary between...’

‘
Oh no you don’t!’ I cried,
leaping out of the shade of the old oak and into the bright
sunshine. My eyes squinted against the light and I could feel the
instant warmth against my skin. It wasn’t uncomfortable, yet. But I
didn’t have long.

A second later my hard body slammed into
hers and I knocked her back out of the half-circle. The book had
tumbled from her grip and we both made a jump for it. I was
quicker, and though I fumbled with my injured arm, I somehow
managed to stuff it into the waistband of my jeans as she flew at
me. I hurled myself onto my back, and as she landed on top of me,
curled my feet into my body and kicked out hard, flinging her back.
I jumped to my feet and made a run for it, as a low chant broke the
silence and a hot wind whipped up, blowing my hair about my face
viciously. I ran full pelt towards the road and with vampire speed
it should have taken moments, but her chanting made my legs feel
leaden. I looked down with dismay to see the sun-baked ground turn
to a thick quagmire of clay-like mud, sucking me in, slowing me
down. I turned round to face my quarry. If I couldn’t run, I would
have to fight.

I bent down, then sprung up, focusing
all my strength to power my thigh muscles and jump me out of that
bog and back onto dry land. It worked, and I looked up to see
Susannah coming at me once again, her face set in a determined
line, as she produced a wooden stick and began a slow, menacing
chant. I had no idea what her spell would do, but I was pretty sure
it wouldn’t have a pleasant outcome; so as the dark clouds drew
together overhead, mercifully blocking out the bright sun, I
unleashed the vampire which I had always kept locked up.

My fangs broke through the surface of my
gums, as I let her intoxicating scent wash over me. I felt all the
muscles in my body tense for a fight and my eyes flicked around the
field, scouting for enemies, searching for allies. But nobody came
to help me, as they had no idea where I was. I was on my own.

As Susannah finished her chant, I
watched with superhuman eyes as she flicked her wand towards me. A
bolt of silver shot out of the air, and had I been human would have
pierced my heart within seconds, but I’d seen it coming and easily
jumped out of the way. Leaping gracefully over the arched beam of
light I landed nearer my quarry. She took a step back tentatively
and flicked her eyes skywards again. Relief washed over her face,
and I followed her eyes upwards, to see a crazy paving design of
electricity skim over the surface of blackened clouds. Then, like a
finger placed upon a static electric ball, it condensed, before a
lightning bolt shot to the ground. This happened four times, once
in each of the corners surrounding us, to the north, south, east
and west, and from each of those corners a woman’s figure unfolded
from a crouching position and began to walk toward us.

I had to do something fast.
Knowing I would have no chance of running, I turned back and
pounced at Susannah. As my strength knocked her down, a shriek
escaped her lips and her scent washed over me, drawing me in. I
wouldn’t bite her, I wouldn’t, I told myself. But she’s not human,
not
really
, a voice whispered
to me. She’s not innocent anyway. She wants your book. She lied to
you and she’s going to hand you over to them.

My eyes flicked up to the swiftly
advancing figures, wands drawn for battle. I stood up and dragged
her shaking body with me. Holding her in front of my body as a
shield, I wrestled her wand from her quaking hand, and forcing her
head back I curled my lips back and went in for the kill.

‘
Stop! Jessie stop. Release her.’
His voice brought my head up with a snap and my eyes darted around
until I found him. He was standing within the circle of witches,
just behind my injured right shoulder. I took in his floppy, dirty
blonde locks and saw the monster I had become reflected in his
turquoise eyes. With a shiver I released the witch, and she fell to
the ground in a heap and began crawling away to the circle of her
coven. Instantly I realised the mistake I’d made and turned on
Luke.

‘
Look what you’ve made me do? Now
we’re both trapped and have no bargaining tool,’ I stormed, trying
to ignore the delicate pink flush to his cheeks, the way his jeans
tightened around his thighs, the fact that his beautiful smooth
chest was bare, his muscles rippling gently down towards the dark
fuzz peeking from the waistband of his jeans. But most of all, I
was desperately trying to ignore the white feathered wings unfurled
majestically from his back, exuding light and creating a well of
luminosity which somehow seemed to soak up the surrounding
darkness.

‘
They’re dark witches, Luke.
They’ll kill us. They want my book,’ I added.

‘
Shhh, I know. I’m sorry Jessie. I
shouldn’t have walked away from you. I didn’t realise your powers
had awakened with your rebirth, but I couldn’t stay away. You know
I couldn’t quite leave you, don’t you? You’ve seen me watching over
you? I’m here with you now,’ he said.

‘
Right! So if you’re going to fly
me back home then, now might be a good time,’ I said, inclining my
head towards the five witches, who were now surrounding us only a
couple of metres away, wands all pointing in our
direction.

‘
Oh, don’t tell me you’ve got the
angels on side already? Susannah, this wasn’t mentioned in your
report,’ a tall thin woman said, standing directly in front of
me.

‘
I beg your pardon, Priestess. I
did not know,’ Susannah replied quietly.

‘
So be it. We have dealt with
worse,’ the woman answered.

‘
Luke, get us out of here. What
are you waiting for?’ I whispered furiously.

‘
I can’t Jess. They’ll burn my
wings if I try to fly. There are too many of them. I need a
distraction.’

‘
Great! Why did you make me let
her go? That would have kept them at bay.’

‘
If you’d fed from a dark witch
your own bloodline would have been polluted. I couldn’t take that
chance.’

‘
OK Jess, hand over the book. You
can still join us. We can teach you to be strong, powerful. Jessie,
come to me,’ the priestess said, her words sweet and intoxicating,
lulling me, drawing me into her web.

Luke stepped behind me and placed his
warm hands on my shoulders, gently massaging the injured one and
breaking the spell being cast upon me. I blinked in confusion and
shook my head.

‘
Jessie, he left you. He abandoned
you. He has only returned to you because of your powers. You need a
mother, to guide you and care for you. Let me teach you. With my
help you can be more powerful than all of them. Come to me child,’
she said.

I took a quick glance back at the
boy I’d once loved so deeply. The boy who had lied to me, pretended
he was human. An angel even, who had deserted me when I was
attacked by a girl gang and left to die. The same angel who had
called me vermin, because I’d been made into a vampire,
because
he
had left me. I
needed to know his story, his reasons. I needed to know why he was
here now, but most of all I needed to know if I loved him
still.