The Lightning Prophecy (The Lightning Witch Trilogy Book 1) (18 page)

“Delaney, you do what you like. If that means going out with Mitch, then by all means, have at it.” He crossed his arms over his chest. He looked so cold and detached. His words stung like little fire ants over the whole of my body.

“Reid, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.” What else could I say? I wanted what we were; I didn’t want him to be so cold.

“Delaney, it’s fine. We have no commitment here. You are free to do what you want, just as I am.” Again his voice sent a chill through my body.

“Reid, is that how you really feel? Me putting a foot in my mouth aside, is that what you want?” I knew in my bones I was born to love this man. But, that meant nothing if he couldn’t return it.

His lips formed a white line and his caramel eyes were flaked with green. He was so hard to read and my heart began to beat ever faster with each moment that passed. Finally, I knew he made up his mind when his face grew colder.

“Yes, Delaney.” He turned to go. My head, my heart, hell my whole body ached to stop him and slap some sense into him. My heart was irrevocably broken. His actions put the spike in my heart and his words were the hammer to shatter it. I knew he loved me, but he didn’t know it yet. I would not make him stay even though that went against what every cell in my body was yelling. When he reached for the knob of the door it took everything in me not to run at him.

“Bye, Delaney,” he said, opening the door.

I said nothing in return. When he shut the door to my apartment, I half wondered if that door was more than a physical barrier; I wondered if he was shutting himself on the other side not just to leave, but to shut himself off from me. I hated that fucking door.

WE HAD LITTLE
more than four days before whoever was hunting Delaney would surely try again. I was due to arrive in Dallas in about an hour and I could not get her out of my head. I had made a royal mess of things, and done something I’d never done before. I left. I walked out of her door and didn’t look back.
What the hell is wrong with me?
She had said something that was out of line and I pushed her away. Why? Hell, well duh, because I refused to open my heart to anyone since Beth. So, knowing Delaney was falling in love with me, I saw an opening to get out and, like an asshole, I took it.

I put my head into my hands and rubbed my temples. Now, because I was a coward, she was back in Savannah with Mitch. The thought of him and her had a low growl starting in my throat. The thirty-something man sitting next to me shifted a fraction of an inch away. I didn’t blame him, as I was in the foulest of moods.

About an hour later, I landed at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. I only packed a small carryon bag as I could not afford to stay here long. I had to figure this out and only had four days to do it. I knew the Coven was the key to this whole thing. Now, I just had to get a group of uptight bureaucrats who never open up to outsiders, to talk to me about their most closely guarded secret that I somehow stumbled across. Yeah, I bet they wouldn’t ask questions and they would be ready and willing to talk to me.

Bottom line, I had to protect Delaney. She was powerful, probably more so than she or I even knew, but if the whole of the inner circle of the Coven was after her, I’m not sure even I would be enough to keep them from getting to her.

When I called the Coven to set up this meeting, I had to stretch the truth slightly. Hell, more like I had to strap the truth to me then bungee-jump off the Eiffel Tower with it. I told them we had a lead, but I was made aware that they may be in danger and needed to speak with the inner circle as soon as possible. These assholes were so arrogant they got me on the fastest flight out here. Above all else, the Coven wanted to protect their own asses. Once these killings got the attention of the media and the human government, that was when the damned Coven had called. Not when the first witch, registered or not, lost her life.

I walked out of two sliding doors to find a black town car waiting by the curb. Outside of the car stood an elderly man who reminded me of a raisin; he had so many wrinkles and folds on his loose skin. In his hands he held a sign that read,
Reid Jamison
. I walked over to him and felt his power before I even touched him. I offered my hand to shake his. He looked at my hand and then looked at me.

“I’m Reid, nice to meet you.” I left my hand, trying desperately to be nice.

The old man looked me over then said, “ID.”

I dropped my hand and pulled out my wallet, slipped out my license then handed it to the man. He looked it over with brisk practicality, then reached in his pocket and pulled out a clicker to the car. With the press of a button, the trunk popped open.

“Put your stuff in the trunk. Then get in the car, wolf.” He spat the word
wolf
as if it were simply distasteful to even say.

“I’ll hold my stuff, thank you.” He handed me my license back and then slipped into the driver’s seat.
Well, wasn’t he just the picture of hospitality.
I shut the trunk and got in the passenger seat. I hated riding shotgun, but it was better than the back and I was afraid I would give the guy a heart attack if I drove. He started the car, giving me very little time to fasten my belt.

The Coven was based in Dallas, Texas. There was a large reservation just north of Dallas, near Plano, and that was where the inner circle of the Coven had their headquarters. I had been here once before with Mitch, when the Coven first asked us to investigate these murders. I should have known they didn’t give us all of the information. But, I had to see them. I just knew they were the key to keeping Delaney safe. After what I said, would she even want me?
Do I want her to want me? Shit, I don’t know what I want anymore.

It took about thirty minutes to get to the reservation. Once we got through security, we arrived at the main building. The building was a somewhat small, white-brick, rectangular structure. On the surface, one would think it had only three stories. But, the reality is the headquarters had a vast network of underground levels. The inner circle of the Coven met in one of the lower levels.

As much as the Coven wanted people to be afraid of them, I was not swayed into fear. Witches and weres could always recognize each other. There was a strange feeling of otherworldly power, almost as though we were separates of a whole. After what Delaney told me, about where we both originated from, that seemed to be the case.

Every witch we passed in the hallway to the elevator looked at me with disgust.
What a friendly bunch they are.
Then it all made sense. I almost laughed at what was so obvious. They hated me not just for being a were, but from the bullshit the inner circle was spouting. I bet these people had no idea why they hated me. But, the inner circle knew. I was a reminder of the power they lost and was a threat to the power they had retained. It’s amazing what knowing that prophecy could illuminate.

“Here is the key. Go to the tenth sublevel. This is a private meeting so I cannot escort you down there.” The driver’s tone indicated that he was happy about not having to go any farther with me.
Prick.

I held out my hand for the key and gave him my best predatory smile. “You've been so kind. I’ll be sure to send you a thank you note.” He placed the key in my hand and turned to walk away. I took a deep breath in through my nose and smiled. The smell of fear was a sweet one and my wolf revealed in it.

I stepped into the elevator. It was paneled in wood and had gold accents. It looked like it was about as outdated as the rest of the building. The decorations were straight out of the 1970s. I quite liked them, as they reminded me of what my time should have been. There was a brass panel on the right side of the door and several buttons, but only one key hole. I slid the key into the slot, then pressed the button for the ninth sublevel. Dumbass upstairs must have thought I was stupid or he just wanted to be a dick when he told me the tenth. One, I had been here before, and two, witches did everything in groups of nine when possible. It’s a magical number to them. Although there were twelve sublevels and three main levels, there would only be one place for the Coven to meet.

There were nine members of the inner circle. Two witches from each element and then an overall leader of the Coven. The leader of the Coven was said to be the most powerful witch. They served a lifetime term. Once they died, the others searched for a new Coven leader, most likely a member of the inner circle already. Seemed like a breeding ground for corruption to me. But, who was I to judge? Werewolves were fairly organized within a pack. But, we tended to be too dominant to be ruled by one being. When a bunch of weres who are not pack get together, our natures tended to take over and it can become mass chaos.

Mitch always said we would never progress unless we were organized and public. He had been the biggest supporter among the alphas across the States, but was met with a lot of resistance, from both the weres and the Coven. Mitch even tried to recruit me, but I preferred to stay out of pack issues. I just did my job and hunted down cheating spouses, found missing people, and used my skills to help solve murders like these. Now, if I could clear Delaney out of my head long enough, I might be able to figure this whole thing out.

The elevator came to a slow stop and the doors opened to a short hallway that led to a metal double door. The walls were all chiseled stone. I was told that because the inner circle could no longer meet in a stone circle outside, they liked to be surrounded with as much nature as possible. Hence, why the main room was nothing but stone walls and ceiling, and a dirt floor.

I opened the larger metal door and the scent of damp earth assaulted my nose. I had to shake my head from how strong it was. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the dim lighting. The room was about forty feet in diameter, and while it was in a type of old-world surrounding, it was anything but. The inner circle had power and this stone room showed it.

There were nine large white and gold marble pillars encircling the room. In the middle stood an impossibly large black table. It was at least twenty feet in diameter. The table itself was a mystery. It was most certainly made of the darkest obsidian I had ever seen. It was, amazingly, all one piece that had certainly been chiseled by hand. I could only imagine it had been pulled whole from the bowels of the earth and didn’t care to think of the power required to achieve it.

As I walked into the room, the members of the inner circle were already sitting around the table. On my direct left sat the two representatives from Air, Genevieve Terence and Helen Davis. Both women had a power level of eight. Next to them were the representatives of Fire, Jerome Withers and Jayne Milton. Again, both were at an eight, power-level wise. In the middle sat the Coven leader, a Fire witch named Bernard Tailor. His power level was a ten. To his left sat the representatives from the Water witches, Erin Franks and Herald Pitman. Erin at a nine and Herald an eight. Last, to my right sat the representatives from Earth, Monique Thomas and Sylvia Stern. Both were nines. Theoretically, these were the most powerful witches in the States, and arguably the world. I looked at each one, and even though the power in the room was so thick I could practically reach out and touch it, it did not feel anything like the power Delaney had. As if I didn’t already know, this only solidified that fact that they could never know or get their hands on her.

I walked up to the empty chair pulled it out and sat down like I owned the place. The glares staring back at me held a lot of questions. But, unlike the driver, there was no fear in this room.

“Reid Jamison. You asked to meet with us to discuss a breakthrough. Please let us know so we may issue our own justice,” said the Coven leader, Bernard.

“Well, how about you tell me of the prophecy,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.

Every single pair of eyes flew to Bernard. And every single gaze was filled with shock and disbelief.
Yeah, that’s right, you pretentious assholes. I know.

“Look, before you can lie and say you have no idea what I’m talking about, save it. Your inability to disclose all of the information has gotten no less than six of these women killed. You knew why this was happening when you hired me. You choose to keep me in the dark and now I have these women’s blood on my hands.” I was pissed. I hadn’t realized how pissed off I was until I was yelling at these self-righteous pricks. And by God if they got Delaney killed, I didn’t think I would be able to contain myself.

“Reid,” Bernard started. But I would have none of it.

“Mr. Jamison,” I countered, “you and your Coven have treated me like an animal from moment one. I put up with it because I wanted to save the witches who were being killed. I don’t care about the prophecy; I care about the six witches and their friends and family who have been devastated by your inaction. Now, you tell me who the animal is?”

I made sure to look at each one of them in the eyes as I spoke. They needed to know how their actions affected this case. Clearly, they had never looked at this from another angle. They honestly thought not telling me wouldn’t matter. I could see in their eyes that, until this moment, they felt no guilt.

“Mr. Jamison, I think I speak for the whole inner circle when I say that our actions were ill thought out. We sincerely regret not telling you about the prophecy. How can we assist you further?” Bernard’s face looked guilt stricken, but his eyes did not mirror what was plastered across his face. He was lying about something, I just didn’t know what.

“I already know the prophecy, that explains the hostility toward me, but do you keep a written copy of it? How many people know about the prophecy?”

“Only the inner circle know about it. We hold our positions in the circle until death or we leave voluntarily, but the latter rarely happens. And yes, we have one written copy of the prophecy. It’s over a thousand years old so it is kept in a safe and hospitable location,” Bernard explained. He was pulling at the French cuffs of his shirt through his Armani suit coat. This man was dressed to the nines. Clearly to impress and intimidate. My wolf was neither impressed nor intimidated. However, my wolf did wonder if he could rip out his jugular without getting blood on the pretty suit.