Finally my words sink into some of their heads. Victor grabs me rushing us outside, with Kheda and Jasmine on our heels. We hear Nina screaming “Bomb,” and everyone starts running for the exit. We reach the road’s edge when the bomb explodes. Fire and debris rain down around us as we rush out of harm’s way, before turning to stare in shock at the fiery ruins of Victor’s bar.
“I’m so sorry, Victor.” Staring at his pub in horror, I squeeze his hand that’s linked with mine.
“It’s just a building. Thankfully, we all got out.
How did you know?” “What?”
“How did you know there was something wrong with the head?” Victor repeats curiously.
“I couldn’t remember seeing her in the pub before Savannah and Sally came in on your security tape, yet her head was there. I kept remembering how Simon had kept staring at the head in fear. I had assumed it was because, well, a decapitated head was staring at him, but the body parts weren’t adding up either, and I just had a feeling all was not right with the world.
“I couldn’t stop looking at the head, so I had a proper look, and the rest is history,” I finish as I nod toward the destroyed burning pub.
Kheda, Nina, and some other detectives and officers had listened to my answer. I saw the instant their brains realized my observations had been correct. None of them remembered seeing Beatrix, with or without a body, before her head was on the floor!
We hear the fire engines zooming through the streets, their sirens blaring. I wonder if one of the officers had phoned them, or if it was the loud boom of the bomb going off which had attracted them. In the scramble out of the bar, I hadn’t noticed.
With a groan of exhaustion, I sit heavily on the ground, leaning my body into Victor’s muscular legs. The officers decide to hustle us to the police station, to book Savannah and take our statements for both the murder of Ben, Evelyn’s disappearance, and how we knew to get to the bar and what happened. Thankfully, Victor had passed over the security tape. Victor picks me gently off the ground, and I wrap my arms around his neck, before snuggling into him.
Feeling the gentlest of kisses brush across my forehead, I close my eyes, just to rest them for a minute. I’d only just closed my eyes when I’m getting told to wake up. Grumbling unhappily, I open my eyes to inform the annoying person I’m not asleep, when I notice we’re at the police station. Huh, when did that happen? One by one, we’re dragged in to a little room to be grilled.
“Why were you looking for Sally and Vincent?” demands the questioning officer. What did he say his name was again?
“Because there was a murderer on the loose, and after the scene caused in Cynthia’s Café, we thought it best to make sure they were okay,” I reply as I try to remember who the officer is.
“What happened to Ben Sherman?”
“He was murdered, and brought back to life by a necromancer. Look I’ve already answered your questions, and I am tired, so unless you have a new question to ask me, not just the same question asked in a different way, I’m going home,” I inform the officer in annoyance. He has been questioning me for almost two hours and I’m ready to drop. I’m not sure if exhaustion or hunger will claim me first.
“How did you turn into a wolf?”
Looking at the officer, I give a snort of derision. So we’re finally coming to what he really wants to know. Leaning forward, I look him straight in the eyes and continue staring until he starts fidgeting nervously. I let a smile twist my lips. “How do you think I turned into a wolf, officer? You obviously believe you know the answer.”
“I think you’re the one from the prophecy. My grandfather told me about it, and I think it’s you he was telling me about,” the officer whispers. His eyes hold a well of curiosity, excitement, and some doubt.
“If you have nothing else to ask me pertaining to the case, I’m leaving,” I repeat, as I eye him thoughtfully. “What did you say your name was again?”
“My name is Officer Jesse James, Miss Reynolds, but you can call me Jesse.”
A smile slips across my face before I can prevent it. “You can call me Candi, Jesse,” I reply as I head toward the door.
“Wait, Candi. If you think of anything else, please call me.” He passes his card to me while showing me out.
****
I watch the witch leave the police station, and hurry down to her waiting vampire lover. She hasn’t noticed the young officer watching her. But I do. I watch him, watching her, and am astounded at how envious he looks. Turning, I look at the witch in time to see the breathtaking smile she bestows on the vampire, and anger rolls inside of me.
The young officer and I both watch as she says something, links hands with the vampire, before they walk off without a backwards glance, heading toward the college campus. Quickly I go in the opposite direction, leaving the officer behind as he watches the couple walk away.
****
I’m the last to be released. Leaving the police station, I spot Victor waiting patiently for me. I hurry toward him, drinking in the wonderful sight of him.
“The others are at the campus diner ordering food.
I told them I’d wait for you. You okay?”
“I’m fine, thank you, just starving. How are you?” I beam as I lace my fingers through his and we head toward the diner.
“Better now you’re with me.” Victor smiles as he gently squeezes my fingers.
It doesn’t take us long to reach the diner, and we spot Jasmine and Kheda in the back booth. I think we’re all thinking of it as ours. I reluctantly release my fingers from Victor’s to slide in. Victor sits beside me, so close we look glued together, and I don’t care. Lacing my fingers back through his, I give them a squeeze. Jasmine and Kheda are sitting opposite us, and I’m delighted they’re sitting pretty damn close, too.
“So, you literally are double magick,” Victor states grinning a very sexy, lopsided grin at me, as he traces a pattern on my hand.
“Yeah,” I reply, grinning back at him, “I literally am.”
“So what happens next?” Jasmine enquires.
“Next we order our food, before even thinking of doing anything else,” I laugh.
“Already been taken care of, and it should be arriving soon,” Jasmine informs me. “What did they ask you?” she enquires quietly, leaning forward to catch my answer.
“Probably the same as the rest of you, over and over again, and in different ways, until at the very end when I was asked how I changed into a wolf, and if I was really the double magick from the prophecy,” I inform them.
“Holy cow, who was questioning you, and how do they know about the prophecy?” Kheda demands in shock.
“Jesse James, and apparently his grandfather told him,” I answer trying not to smile again at his name.
“Jesse James? Seriously, that’s his name?” Jasmine asks her lips twitching.
“I have to ask, how do you manage to keep your clothes on? Every shifter and werewolf I have ever met has to strip, or get their clothes destroyed in the change. What makes you so different?” Curiosity laces Kheda’s voice. He leans forward to make sure he catches my answer. Looking at his puzzled expression, I try not to laugh.
“I don’t know how to explain it, to be honest. It’s the way I’ve been since the first time I transformed. It’s part of my magick. It’s like my witch magick and wolf are separate. My clothes in that sense belong to the witch side of me. It’s why when Sally put the binding spell on me, it only worked on my witch magick, so my wolf took over.”
The waitress turns up with our burger, chips, and sodas, and receives grateful smiles from all of us. We dig into our food. Turning to Victor, I ask a question which has been bothering me for a while now. “What happened with the demon, and why was she impersonating my grandmother?”
“Apparently, Savannah had sent her to find out what you knew about me. My sitting with you at the booth spiked her interest. She couldn’t understand why I willingly met you but wouldn’t associate with her. She was also confused about Jasmine, though she hadn’t realized she was a shifter, just why you had a dog, being a witch and all,” Victor replies. “The demon is still with Big Michael, he believes she’s still withholding information.”
“Okay, but what was with kidnapping George Seabast the Fourth?” Jasmine asks.
“He dumped her after dating her for a month, with no reason, so it was simply a little revenge thrown in for good measure,” Victor answers, with a shake of his head at the oddities of people.
“Wow, talk about a harsh lesson,” I mutter thinking of the state we’d found him in.
“So the only thing we don’t know, is why your grandma is practicing black magick, and who else is practicing with her,” Jasmine states, as a frown creases her beautiful face. Kheda rubs the frown away from her forehead making her smile at him, before kissing him gently on the mouth.
I lean into the wonderful man beside me, resting my head on his shoulder, and feeling contented.
“We’ll find out sooner or later, hopefully sooner. But it’s not the only thing we don’t know the answers too. I’m going to give my gran a ring and see if we can meet up. Hopefully she will tell us why, and who else is practicing black magick, but to be honest, I doubt it. Practicing black magick is a personal choice and frankly none of our business. I might not like the choice, but I have no say in the matter.”
Victor wraps an arm around my waist and drags me even closer to him.
“What did you do to piss off Savannah so much?” I ask curiously.
“Nothing, I didn’t even know her. She’s a customer in my bar and has waited on me in Hal’s, but otherwise I didn’t pay her any attention.” Victor shrugs his powerful shoulders in puzzlement.
“She obviously wanted you. What about Sally, did you know her?” I inquire as jealousy ripples through me as I remember her touching him.
“She hung out with Savannah at the bar, but I paid them no attention,” Victor answers with a delighted smile as he senses my jealousy.
“Okay, but where is the body of the decapitated witch?” Jasmine asks. “And did Sally and Savannah kill all those in the cave, and the man in the woods, because their murders were definitely on a whole different level. They were the work of The Protectors, and nothing like the bar massacre.”
We all stare in horror at Jasmine, as the truth of what she says ripples through us.
“Flipping hell!” I exclaim in disgust at myself.
“You’re right. Their murders are nothing like the bar. How the hell did I not see this earlier?” I grumble in annoyance.
“None of us did, well, except Jasmine,” Kheda adds looking at her in admiration.
“Look, there’s nothing we can do about it now. We’re all knackered and need to rest. How about tomorrow, we look at everything with fresh eyes, and see what we come up with,” Victor states.
With a happy sound, I snuggle into him and enjoy the moment. Feeling my leg vibrate, I realize it’s my phone. Removing it, I read the message. Reading again, I draw in a sharp breath.
“She’s left,” I exclaim.
“What? Who’s left?” Victor demands in concern.
“My grandmother. She says she needs to sort some things out, and she can’t do it here. She doesn’t know where she’s going, or for how long. She also says for all of us to be careful.”
I trail to a stop staring at my phone, until Victor, who’d been gently rubbing my back, finally asks, “What else did she say, Candi?”
“She said, a change is on the way, and darkness follows it swift and fast. We had better call in help, and find the answers we seek, but we won’t find them here.”
“Where are we meant to find these answers?” Jasmine asks quietly.
“I don’t know,” I reply shaking my head. “It’s all she wrote.”
Quickly we pay for our food, and as one we hurry into the night. A rumble of thunder breaks the quietness surrounding us, followed by a distant flash of lightning.
We dash back to the student houses where I’d left my car and pile into it.
Once we’re buckled up, I reverse and head home. Thunder rumbles once more followed swiftly by another growl and grumble, and the smell of raw electricity permeates the air sharply, just before a bolt of lightning flings itself from the sky, ripping it open, and rain pours from the open wound in a heavy downpour. Thunder crashes and booms angrily above us; louder this time, deafening in its intensity.
I drive quickly through town and up the lane to the old Winters’ house, where in relief I stop. We scramble out, running to the front door. Jasmine unlocks it, and we all feel the welcoming warmth of the house embrace us. Turning, I lock the door. We trudge toward the kitchen to grab a drink.
Finishing one drink, I fix myself another. Looking enquiringly at Victor with a small smile, I raise my eyebrows and waggle them suggestively, making him laugh as he reaches for me, dragging me against him before kissing me soundly on the lips.
We deepen our kiss, finally separating, leaving me panting, as desire tingles and anticipation shoots through me, pooling in my belly. Tangling my free hand in his, as my other hand keeps its death grip around my spilling drink, I pull Victor out of the kitchen and upstairs.
With a saucy grin, I lock my bedroom door behind us, taking a sip from my drink. I sashay to my desk, placing my glass carefully down. Turning to face Victor, I watch him move with infinite grace and fluidness toward me. Slowly unbuttoning his shirt, he reveals delicious skin, soft as velvet, encasing muscle and bone as hard as marble. With a moan of anticipation, I cross the room, meeting him halfway.
Tonight I will let nothing come between us, and tomorrow, well, tomorrow we have a killer to find. Tomorrow can wait, for tonight is ours. Reaching up, I run my fingers through his luxurious hair and drag his head down to meet my waiting mouth, in anticipation of his kiss.
His arms anchor me to him, lifting me off the floor. Wrapping my legs around his lean waist, I hold on tight. We make love slowly, and with so much emotion, I feel like crying.
I fall asleep curled around him, his arms like steel, holding me tight, as if at any moment I might vanish, his embrace, the only thing keeping me here. I’m okay with it. I don’t want to go anywhere, or for him to either. The last thing I remember before sleep drags me into its world is Victor’s voice, whispering on the breath of a kiss, “You’re mine, always and forever, my Double Magick woman.”