Courting the Darkness (7 page)

“Somehow you’ve convinced Drake that you can cast this spell. I hope you don’t disappoint him.” He shook his head. “Drake doesn’t take disappointment well.”

“Then I’ll have to do my best not to disappoint him.” She tilted her head, staring at his profile again. “What did you mean when you told Drake we were taking the long way back?” He turned his head away from the road, gazing at her, and their eyes locked. “Why are we delaying going back?”

He smiled, glancing back at the road. “In case you didn’t notice, I don’t take orders very well.” He looked back over at her. “I also figured that Hargrove will try to follow us. He must want you dead very badly to try and butt heads with Drake.”

She could not help but smile back. Somehow, she found his stubbornness endearing. “He didn’t know anything about Drake until I told him.” She shrugged. “He thought I was lying. He said vampires don’t have anything to do with witches.” She laughed at Jason’s expense. “And here we are…he was wrong again. And as to the part of wanting me dead…” She sighed. “Yes. He does.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “I made a fool of his father fifty years ago by escaping. Jason has made it his life’s mission to destroy me.”

His eyes took on an icy glare as he stared into the inky blackness of the highway. “He’ll have to get through me first.” He gripped the steering wheel harder, his knuckles turning white. “He won’t get the chance to ambush you again. He’s a dead man; he just doesn’t know it yet.”

“So, you plan to set a trap for him.” He nodded in response and she continued. “Where are we stopping to set this trap?”

“There are plenty of caverns in the mountains of Tennessee.” He glanced over at her, and then back on the road. “We’ll hide out there for a few days.”

She nodded, looking out of the windshield to the horizon. “It will be dawn soon.” She furrowed her eyebrows together. “What would happen to you if you walked out into the sunlight?”

He cringed, looking at the horizon as well. “It wouldn’t be pleasant. I would burn.” He shook his head. “It wouldn’t be an immediate thing. The pain would be instant, but it would take hours to kill me.”

She shuddered at the thought. “We had better wake up Caleb then.” She looked back out of the window. “I can see the sun coming up on the horizon. It will be daylight in about a half an hour.”

He pointed at a sign. “There’s a rest area up ahead. I’ll pull over there.” Pulling the van into the parking lot, he parked it, cutting the engine. He turned around in his seat. “Hey, Caleb, it’s time to get up.”

CHAPTER NINE

Jason Hargrove arrived at the inquisition center at 4:30 that morning. Pulling his minivan up to the curb, he threw it in park, and cut the engine. Climbing out, he hurried up the walkway, eager to get the execution over with and hit the road. “Damn that Desiree,” he cursed under his breath. “Leave it to her to get Drake involved. Now I’m going to be on the run.”

Approaching the front door, he found the guard unconscious on the front steps. “What in the hell is going on here?” Grabbing Hank’s shoulders, he shook him hard. “Hank—Hank, Hank, wake up.”

Hank groaned in protest. “Where am I?”

“You were sleeping on the grass.” He barely held his exasperation in check. This did not look good. “Why aren’t you inside guarding Desiree?”

Bringing a shaking hand up to his brow, Jason could see his confusion. “Desiree who?”

“Damn it, Hank! Desiree, the witch I brought in yesterday,” he spoke testily, shaking Hank’s shoulders again and locking eyes with him. “That witch was supposed to burn at dawn.
Where. Is. She
?” He stressed every word.

His eyes grew wide, and he shook his head in denial. “I don’t know.” Desperation rang clear in his voice. “Two very large men came for her.” He continued to shake his head.

His mind raced.
The witch is gone. How can she be gone?
He shook his head.
No, no, no, no… That witch was supposed to burn in an hour and Hank’s telling me that two large men came for her? I have to get her back.
“Large men… Hank, what do you mean by large men? Large as in fat?”

Hank violently shook his head no. “No, Jason, large as in dangerous, large as in lethal.” He continued shaking his head. “When I grabbed that witch by the scruff of the neck, the largest one turned on me.” He shook uncontrollably. “I could see the bloodlust in his eyes. I thought I was a dead man.”

“Just one vampire.” Hank’s voice still quivered; he gulped. “The other one was a—a—oh God…He was a black panther.” His eyes glazed over, remembering. “I almost wet my pants when I saw those lethal golden eyes train in on me. And that witch, she stuck closely to him, just like she knew him and was right at home with that sleek cat.” He shoved Jason’s hand away from his shoulder and then glared up into his eyes. “I don’t know who this witch is, but I’m not going after her. They can fire me. No witch is worth my life.”

He rose to his feet, then looked down at Hank. “A black panther?” He scratched his head. “I thought you said two very large men.”

Hank avoided Jason’s eyes as he spoke. “When I followed them outside, the panther had turned into a very large man, and he was putting clothes back on.”

“A shape-shifter,” Jason grumbled under his breath. “Vampires and shape-shifters don’t normally hang out together. With a pair like that, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find out who they are.”

“Are you crazy?” Hank’s eyes snapped up to his in a panic. “They’ll kill you. In fact, they already do want to kill you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean when I spied on them from around the corner, the large one was very upset by the condition of the witch’s face. He said, and I quote, ‘I’ll kill Hargrove for this.’ And the witch spat out that she’d kill you first.” Hank raked his fingers through his hair, then looked away. “Man, I’m glad I’m not you.” He looked Jason in the eyes once again “If you knew what was good for you, you would hide and forget you ever heard of that witch.”

“A black Express Van,” he repeated under his breath. “That’s the kind of vehicle that gets noticed, nice, expensive, and noticeable. It shouldn’t be hard to track them down. I’ll see you later, Hank.” Jason stormed back to the van.

“Good-bye, Jason.” Hank shook his head forlornly. “It was nice knowing you.”

CHAPTER TEN

They arrived in Sevierville, Tennessee just as the sun set. A blanket of snow freshly coated everything. Caleb pulled the van into the parking lot of a local department store and grocery, cutting the engine. He was hungry and ready to get out of the vehicle.

Turning around in the driver’s seat, he gazed at Desiree sleeping soundly on the back seat. Mica slept in the back of the van on the cot. He should let them sleep, but he knew Desiree would be hungry too. “Wake up, we’re here.”

“We’re here?” She groaned, lifting her head. “Where is here?”

Mica sat up. “We’re in the mountains of Tennessee.”

Desiree sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and looking around. Twilight gave the snow an eerie glow. “So, what now?” She threw the question out to whoever would answer.

Caleb smiled at her worried expression. “We’re going to stock up on some camping supplies, and food.”

She looked out the window at all the snow. “We’re going to camp in the snow?”

Mica looked out of the window too. “No, we’re camping inside the Forbidden Caverns. They’re closed this time of year, so we should be safe from discovery. The temperature in there is a constant fifty-eight degrees, so you won’t freeze.”

“Oh.” She looked down at her rumpled clothes, and then back out of the window at the snow again. “I’m not really dressed for camping. In fact, I’ve never actually camped before in my life.”

Caleb chuckled softly. “It won’t be so bad. We’ll stop off at a truck stop and get a hot meal and a shower before we head to the caverns.”

“A hot shower,” she replied wistfully. “I can’t wait. If only I had some clean clothes to change into.”

Mica nodded. “New clothes suitable for the outdoors are on the list of supplies.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” She was suddenly in a hurry. The prospect of a hot shower and clean clothes seemed to be too much to resist.

Mica chuckled softly at her change in attitude. “We’re waiting on you to get out of the car.”

* * *

With the shopping complete and the van loaded down with supplies, Mica drove to a truck stop and parked. “You two go and get a table. I’ll join you shortly.”

Placing her hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes at that statement. “I don’t believe that.” She locked eyes with him in a challenge. “If I had an encounter with you, I know I’d remember it.”

His grin was flirtatious. “Do you want to put that to the test?”

Caleb ran in between them. “Nonononono.” He put his hands up between them to keep them apart. “This is a crowded parking lot.” He looked frantically around to see if anyone observed them. “You both are attracting too much attention. If our plan is to work, we can’t attract attention.”

Mica laughed. “I don’t think it’s other people’s attention you’re worried about, buddy.”

Caleb glared at him, snatching Desiree’s arm to steer her toward the truck stop. She yanked her arm away, irritated with both. “Wait a minute. What is it with you two?”

Caleb’s eyes widened. “Nothing, come on.” He reached for her arm again, and she ducked out of the way.

She frowned, anger edging her voice. “I don’t believe you.” She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. “This rivalry between you two has got to stop. We are all stuck out here together. I can’t have you two at each other’s throats.”

Caleb rolled his eyes impatiently. “We’re not fighting.”

She glared at him in disbelief, and then she looked over at Mica. He threw up his hands, smiling. She shook her head in exasperation. “Please, please, please, try to get along with each other.” She abruptly turned and walked into the truck stop on her own.

* * *

Mica watched her leave. The smile never left his face. He nudged Caleb with his elbow to draw his attention away from Desiree. “She’s smarter than you give her credit for.”

“All right, a friendly competition.” Mica nodded. “But Desiree can’t know anything about it, or she won’t speak to either of us. In the end, it will be all her decision.”

***

Caleb walked into the truck stop, grinning; he sat down across from her at the table. She looked up with suspicion. “What are you grinning about?”

“Who, me?” His eyes opened wide. “I just have an overall cheerful disposition.” Reaching across the table, he tried to take her hand.

“Right,” she remarked, pulling her hand back. “What were you two talking about for so long out there?”

His grin was cocky as he shrugged. “We were just making up like you suggested.”

“Good.” She glared at him a few seconds longer, and then she picked up the menu. She stared at the print without actually seeing the words. “A good friend is hard to find. I didn’t want to mess things up between you two.”

“We’re all good.” Caleb picked up his menu.