Blood of the White Witch (26 page)

“Yes, I know that you love me with every
fiber of your being. I just wonder if you feel safe around me now
with the same kind of intensity. Or do I scare you completely?”

“I know you’ll always protect me and never
try to hurt me,” I answered in a matter of fact tone.

He gave a small smirk, before slightly
shaking his head from side to side in disagreement.

“You’re dancing around the question,” he
stated, staring at me. “Give me a straight answer.”

He wasn’t going to make this easy on me.

I sighed.

“Yes, I feel safe around you, and yes, you
scare the crap out of me,” I said honestly.

I could see the sadness creep into his
eyes.

“But,” I added, “there have always been some
dangerous things about you that have scared me a little. I mean
let’s face it, all the demon stuff you’ve been through. You killed
the woman you thought was your mother. You killed your father. Then
there’s the whole demon kiss thing, and now this. You are
dangerous.” I paused for a moment before continuing, placing my
hand over his chest. “Here in your heart, though, is the desire to
be a really good person, and I love that about you. That and the
fact that I’ve never met a girl yet who didn’t enjoy having a guy
who could be a little bit of a bad boy on occasion, myself
included.”

I smiled at him, trying to make him
understand.

“That’s the problem, though,” he replied
seriously. “Under the right circumstances, I could be a very bad
boy, so bad that I could even kill you.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” I said
firmly. “You’ve had the opportunity to kill me on a couple of
occasions in the past, and both times you chose to try and save me
instead.”

He grunted in disgust. “Yeah, after I’d
helped myself to drinking your blood and then basically begged you
to make the demon conversion with me. I’m not some super hero,
Portia,” he replied with a frown.

“That was the bloodlust talking, after the
fact. It doesn’t mean anything. It wasn’t real,” I said dismissing
his comment.

“It wasn’t real?” he argued back, his eyes
suddenly flaring with a heated emotion. “It felt pretty real to me.
I can tell you honestly that there were times you’d lay in my arms
and I burned with the need to bite you, drink you, even to the
point of killing you. I wanted to so badly it hurt, and then it
would all tangle in with that horrible sex drive. You have no idea
how much I ached to do these things to you, all while you lay so
trustingly in my arms.”

I was shocked by his bluntness. I hadn’t
realized how hard I had been pushing him. I didn’t know what to
say.

“Even now things are still difficult for me.
While I may not have the desire to kill you like I did before, the
physical needs are still driving me crazy. I don’t think it has
diminished at all!”

I smiled then, pursing my lips to keep from
laughing.

“What?” he asked, looking annoyed at me.

“Have you ever considered that maybe we just
have really strong chemistry?” I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders then, and he
glanced away from me.

“Well, consider this then,” I whispered, and
I moved as close as I could to his face, turning his head back
toward me. “I burn with the same desires that you do, and I’ve
never tasted a drop of demon blood. Explain that.”

I looked at him triumphantly when he
struggled with a comeback but couldn’t find one.

“See?” I asked. “This connection has nothing
to do with your dark past. We’re linked together because we’re
soulmates, plain and simple.”

He sighed, giving in completely then.

“I don’t know how. You and I are complete
opposites.”

“It’s our opposition that works for us,” I
replied, tapping the end of his nose lightly with my fingertip.
“I’m a woman, you’re a man. I’m a witch, you’re a warlock. You are
an Aries, I’m a Virgo, and though we aren’t completely opposite
there, it’s close. Your magical powers rule from fire, and mine
from ice. You know what they say…opposites attract.” I smiled
impishly at him. “Even wise philosophers say there must be
opposition in all things.”

He laughed then.

“I don’t think they were referring to our
relationship,” he said, and he smiled broadly.

“I don’t care,” I replied while I stared at
his beautiful blue eyes and flashing smile. “I just want you know,
without reservation, that I love and trust you completely.”

His smile slowly faded, and he reached a
finger under my chin, pulling me toward him, kissing me gently.

“Thank you,” he said. “That means more to me
than you’ll ever know.”

We sat around the large dining table with
everyone else while the food was being passed around for dinner
from one hand to the next.

We had discussed the fact that Brian had not
known about the box for the ritual when I had questioned him about
it. This led to the general consensus that there was a good
possibility that the rest of the Cummingses’ demon coven was
unaware of the box also. This made sense since it would have
eliminated the possibility of someone else wanting to take the box
for themselves.

“I think we should look for Darcy,” I said
popping into the conversation after listening to several
suggestions from the others.

“Why is that?” Dad asked with a curious look
on his face.

“Well, we know she worked closely with
Damien in Las Vegas. He wanted the Awakening for himself. That’s
why he hid Vance from Douglas and Fiona. It’s also why he was
performing the demon kiss. He knew the Awakening would greatly
enhance any powers he was carrying. He was stealing as many as he
could so he could be even that much more powerful. I assume that
Douglas and Fiona have probably done the same thing.”

“What does that have to do with Darcy?”
Shelly asked with a slightly confused look crossing her
features.

“Damien was actively preparing for this
event. I think it might suggest that he was the one in possession
of the box. Think about it. Darcy has now been accepted into the
welcoming arms of Douglas and Fiona after she served their wayward
son. What could she have possibly offered them that would’ve made
them interested in her?” I asked, and I looked around the table at
each of them.

“That could make sense,” my dad said. “It
could also mean that she’s the only one besides Douglas and Fiona
that knows where the box is. However, I’m inclined to think perhaps
Damien was still working with his parents. Otherwise, why would
they have helped him out with Krista?”

“That’s true. Either way we need to get hold
of Darcy. I’m sure she could help us with answers,” Vance
interjected in a no-nonsense tone of voice, as if kidnapping a
demon was an everyday discussion. “She’s a housemaid now at Bell
Tower. Surely she must have time off or run errands. I doubt that
Crispin and his coven would watch her much, probably thinking she’s
insignificant.”

“You’re right,” my dad agreed as he looked
back at him. “They’ve tended to focus on the more influential
members of the coven. Perhaps it’s the ones they’re overlooking
that are actually carrying out the dirty work, so to speak.”

“It’s a crafty idea,” Vance said, agreeing
with my dad’s assumption. “If there’s one thing I learned about my
grandmother while I was there, it’s that she’s definitely
crafty.”

“I agree,” I added softly, thinking of the
prim and proper Fiona who in reality was probably one of the most
devious people I had ever known in my life, which was really saying
something after I had met her son.

Vance looked at me with an apologetic
glance, reaching over to pat my leg under the table.

“It’s settled then,” Dad said, while he
buttered his roll with a knife. “We go after Darcy. We need to set
up a containment area somewhere too in the event that we find her.
It would have to be someplace that wouldn’t alert the construction
workers that are in and out of this place.”

“Well, this is a Scottish keep,” Vance said
with a mischievous smile spreading across his face. “Portia and I
had an excellent time exploring the dungeons underneath here. They
haven’t been touched at all, and it’s my understanding that they’re
to remain that way since the owner wishes to use them as a point of
interest to the guests who stay here.”

“Hmmm, holding a prisoner in the dungeon?
What a novel idea,” Dad smiled before he bit into his roll.

“You boys are having way too much fun with
this idea,” my mom said, shaking her head from side to side.

Vance and Dad looked at each other and
chuckled, while I blushed at remembering the ever-so-hot kisses
Vance had shared with me during our exploration of the dungeon.

Vance noticed my blush immediately and sent
a seductive little wink in my direction, which caused me to flush
even harder.

“I’ll get started on our guest preparations
right after dinner,” Grandma said, giving a disapproving look to
Vance and my dad before glancing at me also. “I’m going to need the
magical help of you two and Portia, though, when it comes time to
reinforce the cell. Hopefully that’ll be enough power to contain
her.”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be,” Vance
replied with a slight shrug. “I got the impression that she was a
less than desirable subordinate.”

“Now you sound like a snob,” I whispered
over his shoulder into his ear, and I elbowed him lightly in the
ribs.

“What?” he replied, turning to look at me,
his eyes flashing over me. “I’m just telling it like it is.”

He grinned widely at me then.

“You are being a snob!” I said in shock, and
I looked at him in amazement, never having seen him in this light
before.

He turned back to take a bite of his
food.

“Maybe,” he replied with a smile, and he
quirked a handsome eyebrow at me while he chewed his food.

“You’re a bad boy,” I said, my eyes widening
at his teasing behavior.

He swallowed and then leaned over close to
my ear.

“You like that, if I recall correctly.” His
grin took on a completely seductive light, and I suddenly realized
that he was grandstanding for my benefit.

“You’re a chauvinistic pig.” I smirked back
at him.

He laughed and placed a quick kiss on my
cheek.

“Thank you,” he said with all the machismo
in the world.

This was definitely a new surprising side of
him I had never seen before. He had never been self-boasting,
always modest. While it made me nervous, it kind of turned me on,
too, mostly because I couldn’t argue with it. He really was as good
as he thought he was.

“Don’t over analyze it, Portia,” he said
into my head then. “I’m just messing with you.”

“Why?” I asked back, curiously.

“Because it’s fun.” He chuckled.

I reached out and slugged him hard in the
arm, making everyone at the table look over at me in disbelief
since they hadn’t heard our mental conversation.

“You all are my witnesses,” Vance said,
pointing around at them, waving his arm in a sweeping motion.

“Witness to what?” I asked him
incredulously.

“Spousal abuse,” he said and grinned even
broader, and I slugged him again.

“You’re just building my case.” He laughed.
He raised his arms then, crossing them in front of him as if he
were warding off an impending attack.

I stood up and wrapped my arms around his
upheld ones reaching behind his shoulders, wrestling him to my
chest.

“You’re going to get a beating for real
now.” I laughed, and he squirmed in my grasp.

“Quick!” Brad said, suddenly grabbing
Shelly’s plate from in front of her. “Let’s get out of here before
they start making out on the table.”

Everyone started laughing at us then.

The light was dancing in Vance’s eyes, and
he looked up at me with a mischievous smirk, arching an eyebrow at
the suggestion as if it were a wonderful idea.

“Are we really that obvious?” I sighed,
releasing him and plopping back into my chair.

“If the two of you were any more obvious,
we’d have to give you an x rating,” Brad replied dryly.

Vance laughed right out loud, and I blushed
to my roots.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said
with a boyish grin, winking at me before turning to look at
Brad.

“You would,” Brad replied, with a shake of
his head.

Brad suddenly reached out and grabbed Shelly
to him, plastering a giant kiss on her lips, right in front of
everybody, before releasing her so quickly that she almost fell out
of her chair.

“See. I can act like that, too. How does
that make you feel when you have to watch it?” he said, directing
his comment at Vance.

“I’d say it’s about dang time,” Vance
replied, a huge grin spreading widely across his face, and he
winked in Shelly’s direction.

This time Shelly blushed, and everyone
laughed again.

“Enough of this conversation,” Mom scolded
us with a small smile. She stood and began clearing dishes. “Milly,
why don’t you and Sean head downstairs to the dungeon and start
working on things there while the kids help me clean up things
here? I’ll send them down when they’re finished.”

“That sounds good,” Grandma agreed, turning
to my dad. “Sean, you want to help me get my things?”

“Sure thing, Mom,” he replied, wrapping an
arm around her shoulders.

She reciprocated, wrapping her arm around
his waist, and the two strolled out of the room together.

Clean up was easy since we all chipped in
with a little magic to get the work done in the kitchen.

Thankfully, Dad and Grandma had been able to
combine their magic to restore the damaged kitchen back to its
original condition after Vance had attacked Brian. No one would
ever realize that a magical battle had taken place here.