Blood Magic: Witch’s Bite Series Book Three Read online

  “Want to get a drink?” He asks. Even this close I can barely hear him over the music.

  “Sure,” I shout back.

  He wraps our hands together and leads me toward the bar. He’s able to slip into a gap and pulls me up in front of him, leaning into my back.

  “What’s your poison?” He asks. It’s slightly quieter over here, so he doesn’t have to shout.

  “Tequila, always,” I say, leaning my head back to smile up at him.

  He gets the bartenders attention and orders two shots.

  “What’s your name?” He asks.

  “Olivia, what’s yours?”

  “David. What brings you to Vegas?”

  “What brings anyone to Vegas?” I ask with a laugh.

  “Fair enough.”

  The bartender slides our shots across the bar. David hands me mine and holds my gaze as we throw them back.

  I feel a hand on my elbow and look back to see Elise grinning at me.

  “I see you’ve made a friend,” she says.

  “Elise, this is David. David, this is Elise,” I say.

  “Nice to meet you, Elise,” David says, extending his hand. Elise shakes it with a smile.

  “Oooh, you even found one with manners,” she says, nudging me with her elbow. “Everybody is here now. Did you want to come say hi?”

  “Umm, sure,” I say hesitantly. I really just want to dance more. The kissing was nice too. “We can come over for a quick drink. If that’s alright with you David?”

  David nods without hesitation, one arm still snug around my waist. It takes a couple of minutes, but we each get a vodka soda, then follow Elise back to the table.

  Austin is leaning against Corinne’s chair laughing about something with her. Zachary is standing off to the side nursing a beer and scanning the room like he suspects something fishy is going on.

  Corinne spots David behind me and interrupts Austin.

  “Who is this?” She asks with a big grin. Her eyes are a little glassy and I suspect she’s had quite a few drinks while I was dancing.

  “David, this is everyone. Everyone, this is David,” I shout over the music. Most of the group nod in greeting. Austin just stares at David for a moment before looking at me like I’m dirt. His eyes linger for a moment on the neckline of my dress, then he scoffs and turns to Zachary, who is still looking over the crowd intently. I sip my drink and let David snake his arm around my waist again.

  There is an awkward tension in the group. I take another drink. I want to finish this and get back to dancing. I didn’t come here to stand around. Hu and Corinne seem to be in a good mood at least. He’s had a smile all night, and so has she. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Corinne in a bad mood though.

  I finish my drink and set it on the table with the other empty glasses. The table is a bit crowded now.

  “Are you done with your drink?” Corinne asks, reaching across the table to grab my hands.

  “I am,” I say with a smile.

  “Let’s dance then!” She exclaims, dragging me forward.

  “Ok, hold on,” I laugh as I tug my hands away. David follows me around the table and I let Corinne grab my hands again and lead us to the dance floor.

  She bounces, flipping her hair from side to side as a new song comes on. I dance with her, David a constant pressure against my back. We slowly push farther and farther into the crowd.

  Someone I don’t quite see spins Corinne around and David takes that moment to turn me as well, capturing my mouth in a kiss. I kiss back, but it doesn’t have the same heat as it did earlier.

  I pull away. Corinne is laughing next to me, her arms linked around the neck of a girl with blonde hair and full lips. I spin around in David’s arms. My lips are starting to feel bruised and I’ve either had too much to drink, or he’s making me nauseous. I shut my eyes and try to lose myself in the music again.

  Someone slide into place in front of me. They’re close enough that their legs brush against mine. A hot finger traces the line of mesh along my waist, just above David’s arm. The touch makes my stomach clench and my skin heat.

  I look up and find dark brown eyes and dimples staring back at me. I grit my teeth. Reilly looks smug like he thinks he’s won something. The room is spinning though, and I don’t care what he thinks. I came here to dance, and to forget. He doesn’t get to rile me up today.

  I lean back into David’s chest and grind against him, keeping my eyes locked on Reilly’s. The dimples fade and he clenches his jaw tightly. He steps in closer until I’m sandwiched between the two men. His hands find their way to my waist and his fingers press into my skin like he’s trying hold onto me. His thumb traces the curve of my ribs.

  David tries to tug me away and step backward, but I’m leaning toward Reilly. One hand leaves my waist and comes up to rest on the side of my neck.

  David says something behind me, then scoffs when I don’t respond. He shoves me forward and disappears back into the crowd. Reilly doesn’t let me scoot back away, he holds my hips tight to his as we continue dancing. The music fades into the background. I wrap my hands around his neck. His heart is pounding just as fast as mine.

  He leans in, his head just inches from mine. It’s just like that moment on the porch. I hate him, but I can’t ignore him. I can’t ignore the heat spreading through my body either, but it doesn’t have to make me weak. I lean in until I see in his eyes that he’s sure I’m going to kiss him, then slide past him and push my way through the crush of bodies to get off the dance floor.

  Elise isn’t at the table anymore, so I turn in a circle searching for her. Reilly didn’t follow me, thank god. I head toward the back of the club and the neon sign that says ‘restroom’. The bathroom isn’t completely empty, but there at least isn’t a line.

  One girl is swaying in front of a sink washing her hands. I step up to the other sink and turn on the cold water, scooping up a handful and splashing it on my face and neck. The contrast between my hot cheeks and the cold water is exactly the slap in the face I needed.

  The girl teeters out of the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. It sounds like she falls back against it before stumbling away. I look up in the mirror and freeze. My mother is standing behind me, finger pressed to her lips just like she had done during the raid.

  She looks younger than I remember her being when she left, but I suppose all children think their parents are old. I can’t take my eyes off of her even though I want to look behind me to see if she’s really there.

  “What do you want?” I whisper. No matter what Corinne says, it feels like this is her ghost. Like she’s haunting me.

  My mother holds up a tattered, brown book. As she holds it out toward me cuts and bruises begin appearing all over her body. Her mouth opens in a silent scream and tears prick at my eyes as my fingers dig into the porcelain sink. I don’t want to watch this, but I can’t turn away. The book begins crumbling in her fingers. The pieces are carried away like ash on the wind. She reaches for me and I turn around, almost expecting her to be standing there but she’s gone. The tingle of magic skates along my arms and pain shoots through the welts as I slide down the wall. I bury my face in my knees and wait for it to pass.

  I don’t know how to stop this. It’s hard to want to, even as horrible as it is. It still feels like I might be able to find something, even if I can’t find her.

  14

  The electric magic dances across my palm. I can’t get it to take on any sort of shape, but I have kept it contained tin my hand this time. I close my fingers around it, snuffing it out and glance at my phone. It’s two hours until sunset. Reilly is dead asleep in his bed, and I know I won’t have many more chances to do this.

  I text Zachary to let him know I’m headed over to talk to him. Elise is doing something with Stocke, and odd are Zachary is already awake. I almost brought it up last night when Zachary drove me back to the hotel, but I couldn’t get Reilly’s face out of my head and I knew I was too drunk to ask the ri
ght questions.

  I crawl out of bed and tuck my room key into my pants, then slip out of the room. I’ll figure out what to tell Reilly about what I was doing later. I hurry to Zachary and Elise’s room and knock twice.

  He opens the door and steps back to let me in.

  “Is everything alright? Your text sounded kind of urgent.”

  “Yeah, it’s fine. There’s just something I need to talk to you about,” I say, fidgeting with the bottom of my sleeve. “You’ve been looking into the cult. The one that attacked the clanhouse.”

  “Elise told you?” Zachary asks, irritation flashing across his face.

  “I saw the files in your room and asked her if she was looking into it. She said you were.”

  “Alright, I have been. Someone needed to,” Zachary says.

  “I agree. Have you found out much about them? Do you know who they are?”

  Zachary sits down and flips open one of the files in question. “They’re interesting. They’ve been around longer than most covens, and they have ties to the witch council. Did you already know that?”

  “Nope. I don’t know anything about them, unfortunately.”

  He looks at me like he’s looking for the lie. “Why’d you bring this up then?”

  I roll my eyes. “Because I want to know who they are and why they targeted me. Those assholes blew up my future. They ran off Maybelle. And they tried to kill Patrick.”

  “Is that why you agreed to help the vampires? Because you didn’t have any other choice?”

  “Well it certainly wasn’t out of the goodness of my heart,” I say, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

  “Is he forcing you to do this somehow?” Zachary asks, leaning forward. The irritation on his face from earlier has shifted to concern.

  I shake my head. “Why are you acting so concerned?”

  He throws his hands in the air. “Because I care about you! I shouldn’t. I should hate you, but I can’t. I still worry.”

  “Save it for someone who needs it,” I say softly. His father always had a big heart for anyone he thought might need help. It’s not surprising Zachary has that as well. “I’m fine, and I can take care of myself.”

  “You don’t always have to,” he sighs.

  “Can you tell me what you know, or not?” I ask.

  Zachary runs his hand over his head roughly, then sits up straight and pulls one of the files closer and flips it open.

  “Demeter Yagislov, Brittany Gable, and Benjamin Gable were the three witches that attacked the clanhouse. We’ve been calling them a cult, but that isn’t really right. They’re more like religious fanatics, but instead of worshipping a particular god, they believe they are in charge of killing one.” He pulls a picture out of the file. An old woman with snow-white hair in a bun on top of her head stares out at us with a stern expression on her face that reminds me of a disapproving teacher. She is dressed in black robes like an old school witch. “This is the woman we have tentatively identified as their current leader.”

  “They want to kill a god?” I ask, confused. As far as I know, there’s no such thing.

  Zachary nods. “The few texts we have been able to associate with them speak of the Bound God and a prophecy of some kind that centers around the Day of Breaking. It appears they are looking for the key to the prophecy so that they can kill this Bound God once and for all, and prevent the apocalypse. They’ve been keeping him trapped for something like two-thousand years, but it looks like he might break free soon.”

  The woman that had been at the hospital, and the clanhouse, had kept insisting that I was special. Perhaps they wanted to recruit me to fight this alleged god.

  I twist my hands together. Zachary doesn’t have all the information about what they were looking for, and why they went after Maybelle.

  “I want to help you investigate this. There are some things you don’t know yet, that are important, but I want you to promise you won’t shut me out if I tell you,” I say, staring at the floor.

  “Dammit Olivia, why didn’t you tell me you had information sooner?” Zachary asks through gritted teeth. “I try to trust you and every single time it turns out I shouldn’t.”

  I look up at him and catch his gaze.

  “Promise me, Zach. They killed my mother. I want to help you catch them, but I need to be part of it.”

  His eyes go wide and he stares at me open-mouthed for a second. “They killed your mother? Why?”

  “I’ll explain all of that. Just—”

  “Alright, I promise,” he interrupts, dropping his hands into his lap. “What the hell do you know?”

  “Maybelle knew my mother.” I hesitate, trying to decide how much to share. I’m not ready to tell him everything. The circumstances of my birth don’t really make much of a difference anyhow. “Maybelle and my mother stole something from these people. Some kind of spellbook which they later sold. The coven questioned Maybelle about who she sold it to.”

  He’s quiet for a moment and I can see the wheels turning in his head. He saw Maybelle after she had been rescued. He knows what they did to her.

  “They killed your mother when they tried to question her?” Zachary asks.

  I nod, grateful I didn’t have to say it out loud.

  “Maybelle knew who I was, but I didn’t know who she was until the day she was in the hospital. She told me everything then.”

  “Do you know why this spellbook is so important to them? Or what’s in it?” Zachary asks, pulling the file toward him and taking out a pen.

  I shake my head. “I don’t know why they want it so badly. Do you have any idea where they are? Or how many of them there are?”

  Zachary taps his pen against the desk. “No one knows where their headquarters are, or if they have any. Do you think Maybelle might now?”

  I shrug. “She stole something from them once, so I guess she knew where it was. Do you think they would have moved it after something like that?”

  “Perhaps,” he nods. “And as far as how many there are, I’m just not sure. We don’t know what they do, just that they have influence with the witch council. I’m not sure how they’ve managed that either. I’ve wondered a few times if the fanaticism was just a front for something else, but the more I look into, the more sincere they seem in their beliefs.”

  “Could you, I don’t know, subpoena the witch council to give up information on them? I ask.

  Zachary chuckles. “That’s not exactly how that works. Though, we might eventually be able to question the council. However, I haven’t been able to get a proper investigation opened. It’s being blocked.”

  “Blocked? By who?” I ask, immediately angry.

  “I don’t know, and neither does Stocke. She was furious when the refusal came down. JHAPI is supposed to be above those kinds of politics, but of course, it isn’t.”

  “So you started your own, off the record, investigation?”

  “Yes,” he says with a nod. “The refusal was a huge red flag. There’s obviously something big going on, and I want to know what it is.”

  “How far do you think you can get investigating this under the radar?”

  “I hope far enough that I can make a case they can’t ignore. I’m not sure what I’ll do if they continue to try and bury this.”

  I rub my hands down my face. “I want to find Martinez, but I’d rather be spending my time tracking down these fanatics. I want the people who killed my mother dead.”

  Zachary looks at me with pity in his face, and I hate it. He always got that look when I talked about her, so I eventually stopped bringing it up. His father had understood better. He had always encouraged me to keep looking for my mother. I run my thumb across a welt, not that finding her turned out to be a good thing.

  “This god they want to kill, do you know why they want to kill it? Normally people worship them,” I say.

  “It’s a god of destruction. It hasn’t been clear, but they believe he intends to destroy either magic itself, or all
paranormals.”

  “I guess I can see why they’d want to kill him. If he even exists.”

  Zachary laughs. “And that’s a big if. Nothing like that has ever been proven to exist before.”

  I sit down on the end of the bed. “There are the old stories that witch children all learn. The ancient demons, beings that were made of magic itself. Aris and Izul supposedly led a war against them.”

  “Aren’t those stories debunked as myth? Like the dragons humans supposedly fought in the dark ages?”

  I shrug. “No one really believes them anymore, but I know I wished they were true as a child. It all sounded so epic.”

  “I hope this one doesn’t exist,” Zachary says, shaking his head. “Especially since it seems like this coven might have trouble containing him this time around.”

  I tap my thumb against my thigh, an idea forming in my head. “Would it help if I tried to Find one of these people?”

  “What?” Zachary asks, sitting up straight. “I thought you couldn’t use that magic because of your injury.”

  “I’ll get better, I’ve already started working with Corinne. Just answer the question.”

  “Of course it would help. We couldn’t question anyone in an official capacity, but if we end up in the same city we could do some surveillance. Stocke might even help us. Off the record of course.”

  I nod. “Then I’m going to figure out how to Find one of them. Whatever it takes.”

  Zachary furrows his brows together. “Do not do anything stupid trying to use magic that hurts you. That won’t help either of us.”

  “I know that.” I roll my eyes. “I’m not trying to martyr myself, I just need to know that we have a plan besides sit around and hope we figure out who they are.”

  “You just have a history of acting before thinking.”

  “I won’t try to Find them until I know I can do it, alright?”

  He nods once. “Alright.”

  “And one last request, does Reilly already know you’re doing this?” I ask.

  Zachary shakes his head. “No one knows but Elise and Stocke.”

  “Let’s keep it that way. I don’t want him involved in this.”