Witch Fury

SIX

THEO BROUGHT HIS HARLEY TO A HALT IN FRONT OF Sarafina’s home, which was housed in an older building that had been converted into apartments. He let the bike idle as Sarafina unwrapped her hands from around his waist and got off.

They’d strapped Grosset to her for the short ride to her house and he’d seemed to enjoy the trip. Theo had to admit Sarafina looked cute in the helmet he’d given her. She unstrapped it and handed it to him.

“That was fun!” Her eyes were shining bright with excitement. He liked that look on her face much better than the anger or sorrow he’d been seeing.

He shut the bike down and got off. “I’m coming up to ward your place. Since we don’t know why Stefan took such a special interest in you, there’s no telling if he’ll come after you again.” As an earth witch, Theo possessed the ability to ward, and his wards were stronger than most.

She looked alarmed. “You mean the bad guys aren’t done with me yet?” “We don’t know if they are or not. After the raid, Stefan went on the run, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The wards are just a precaution.” He’d leave off the part where he was hoping Stefan did show up. He was using her as bait.

“Ward? What does that mean?”

“It’s a magickal barrier that’s set up. A perimeter. It wards away certain types of people or magick, whatever you charm it for.” “Uh-huh. And what about the creepy demon?” “A demon won’t go out of his way to track you down when there’s easy prey all around him. It’s the Duskoff you need to be concerned with.” “Great.”

Together they mounted the stairs to her apartment. When they reached the top, Sarafina stilled, staring at the door. Theo followed her gaze, saw that it was ajar.

“Stay back,” he ordered her. “And keep the dog quiet.” He approached the door carefully, wincing every time the old floorboards beneath his feet squeaked. With his metaphysical grasp, he loosely fisted a couple of defensive charms from his stores of magick and pushed the door open the rest of the way.

Sunlight streamed in from huge windows in the living room and small kitchen, bathing brightly patterned furniture and throw pillows in buttery light and nourishing the five hundred houseplants in her apartment. Nothing seemed out of place in the small, comfortable-looking place. Her apartment was a lot like her: friendly and beautiful.

But someone was in here; Theo could sense their presence.

Behind him, out in the corridor, Grosset yapped.

A brunette stepped out of the kitchen at the sound, took one look at him, and let out a scream so loud Theo swore his eardrums popped.

Sarafina raced past him and threw herself into the woman’s arms, who only then ceased her ear-piercing shriek of terror. Grosset danced around the woman’s feet.

“Maria, it’s okay! I’m okay,” Sarafina said.

Maria held her at arm’s length, letting out a stream of Spanish before switching to English. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve been so worried about you.” She glanced at Theo, then at Sarafina’s clothes. “Don’t tell me that you. . you. .” She waved her hands.

“Uh, Maria, this is Theo,” Sarafina interrupted, blushing. “Theo, Maria. She’s a good friend of mine. Theo is. . he’s. .” Sarafina’s blush deepened.

Maria gave him a slow once-over, female appreciation on her face. He was familiar with it, even though he almost never welcomed it.

Theo shifted and looked out the living room window, clearing his throat.

“So, what’s going on, sweetie?” Maria asked. “Everyone expected you home from Kentucky three days ago. When you didn’t show up for work, Daniel was really concerned. You need to call him. Even Alex has been beside himself.” “I’m sorry, I—” Sarafina broke off. Clearly, she was looking for a way to explain her absence without revealing the truth and was at an uncharacteristic loss for words.

Theo stepped forward and smiled. Sarafina’s mouth snapped shut. “It’s my fault. Sarafina and I have been seeing each other for a while, and when I saw how much she was grieving the loss of her foster mother, I insisted she drop everything and come away with me.” He paused. “I didn’t even let her pack a bag, which is why she’s wearing my clothes.” He stepped to Sarafina and took her into his arms, pulling her up against his side. “Isn’t that right, sweetie?” Sarafina stiffened. “Uh.” He rubbed his hand along the chilly skin of her upper arm. “Uh,” she said again.

“Wow, Sarafina. Dating for a while? You never told me. What about Alex? You guys just broke up like two weeks ago!” Maria gasped and grinned mischievously. “Were you cheating on him?” “Did I say a while?” Theo asked. “Actually, we just met. It just feels like I’ve known her a long time.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and Sarafina’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that right, snookums?” “Maria. .” said Sarafina with a shaky smile. She pulled away from Theo and led Maria toward the door. “I’m really tired. Thank you so much for your concern. You are the best of friends. Once I get myself in order, take a shower, and call Daniel, you’ll be the first person I contact, and I’ll tell you everything.” Maria grabbed her purse off a small bright red and blue painted table by the front door. “Okay, you promise to call me? We can go out for mojitos or something.” “Absolutely.”

Maria hugged her again. “I’m just so relieved you’re all right. Never do that again!” “I promise. I just. . just got carried away.” She cast a furtive glance over her shoulder at Theo. “We’re kind of, uh, into each other right now.” Maria leaned forward and whispered something in Sarafina’s ear, glancing at Theo. Sarafina giggled nervously. Then Maria disappeared out the door.

Sarafina turned. “Thanks. I had no idea what to say.” “What did she whisper to you?”

She smiled, her eyes sparkling. “No wonder, he’s gorgeous.” Theo cleared his throat and looked away.

Sarafina laughed. “You’re bad with people, but especially women, it seems. A pity, since. . well, it’s a pity.” “It’s a pity since what?” His voice came out a gravelly, low growl and he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Uh, because most women probably think you’re pretty hot. Most women would agree with Maria.” “Most women? That include you?”

She tipped her head to the side. “Are you. . flirting with me, Mr. Winters?” He grunted and turned away from her. “I’ll do the warding now.” While he pulled the proper charms from his stores and cemented them around her windows and doors, Sarafina went into her bedroom and changed out of his clothes.

The wards snapped into place just as she emerged from the bedroom with his clothes neatly folded over her arm. Now she wore a pair of tight-fitting, worn blue jeans that did good things for her ass and a long-sleeved blue shirt that did good things for her eyes.

Not that he noticed her ass or her eyes in any way but a perfunctory one.

She handed him her clothes. “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to wash them.” “No problem. Your wards are in place. They’ll keep out Stefan or any of the Duskoff.” He jerked his head at the book she’d placed on her coffee table. “Read that and get back to me.” “Oh, that’s my first priority. I’m making a pot of tea, maybe some dinner, and settling in to read.” She glanced at a small table near her kitchen. “Right after I listen to the fifty messages I have on my recorder, probably all of them panicked.” Damn, she had fifty-two messages on there. Apparently, Sarafina had lots of people to care about her. That must be nice.

He left the apartment, intending to walk down the stairs and go back home. Instead, he turned in the hallway outside her apartment to look at her. He didn’t want to leave her. It bothered him. There was something odd about her, something off, something he wasn’t comfortable with—“Why are you staring at me like that?” “Was I staring?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know, you really need to work on your people skills. Good night, Theo.” She slammed the door in his face.

Something really irritating about her.

SARAFINA SLID INTO HER OWN BED, WITH HER OWN sheets and her own pillows, snuggled down, and sighed. It was almost perfect. She was just missing. . Grosset jumped up and settled at her feet. Ah, now it was perfect. She smiled and closed her eyes.

Immediately, an image of Theo popped into her mind. Her smile faded and she shook her head a little, grimacing.

She tried to snuggle back down and immerse herself in the treat that was her own bed and apartment after the hellish few days she’d had, but rest didn’t come. Really, it was no surprise. The book Theo had given her lay on her bedside table. She’d spent all afternoon and evening reading it.

It was not material that made for good dreams.

Warlocks — witches gone bad — and demons? Demons? Really? And she was part demon? Or at least, created through a demon’s magickal tampering. It was all so unbelievable. Yet she’d felt the power inside her. She’d wielded it. She knew it was all for real, no matter how bizarre it was.

Earth, air, water, and fire. She was fire. At the thought, the seat of her magick gave a little pulse.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. That was Shakespeare, she was pretty sure. Had it come from Hamlet? She wasn’t sure, but wherever it had come from, it was true.

She’d spent most of the evening stunned that she wasn’t more surprised by the contents of the book and by what had happened to her. In an odd way, the information she’d been given completed a circle of knowledge within herself. She’d always known there was something more, that she was something more, but until now she hadn’t known what.

Like a puzzle piece finally fitting into place. Now she had the complete picture.

Her mother had been crazy, there was no doubt about that, but maybe she hadn’t been quite as crazy as everyone thought.

Ugh.

She couldn’t think about her birth mother without a cold knot settling in the pit of her stomach. As she always did, Sarafina turned her mind from the woman who’d given her life. . then had tried to kill her. Anything else caused too much pain.

And who knew that witches were men, too? She’d always thought that women were witches and men were. . wizards or warlocks or something. The term witch had always meant something feminine to her.

There was certainly nothing feminine about Theodosius Winters.

Why did she have to keep thinking about him? He was like some kind of virus she couldn’t shake.

It was true she did feel better with the wards up around her apartment. If she concentrated, she could sense them: solid, unyielding, better than a moat around a castle. Ironically, Theo would help her sleep tonight.

Forcing Theo and the book from her mind, she closed her eyes. After her foster mother’s death, she’d taken all her paid vacation from work and planned to use the time to get her head together. She would just have to ask her landlord to give her an extension on her rent. If she gave blood or something, maybe she could actually afford a few groceries and some dog food.

Double ugh.

First thing on her agenda tomorrow was a trip back to the Coven. That meant she needed to get some rest tonight.

Eventually, she drifted off only to be awoken by a crash in her living room. Grosset jumped up and started barking. Sarafina shushed him so she could hear.

More movement.

Panic sending an icy jolt through her body, she threw the covers off and grabbed the baseball bat she kept by the side of her bed. She still wasn’t comfortable enough with her fire magick to use it as a weapon. Thanks to the warding, at least she knew it couldn’t be Stefan or any other warlock — well, she hoped like crazy, anyway — but it could be a burglar. The way her luck had been running, she wouldn’t doubt it.

She inched to the doorway of her bedroom, holding a hand up to keep Grosset on the bed. He sat down and put his head on his paws with a whimper. Something crashed in the kitchen and Sarafina winced. It sounded like a wild animal was loose in her place.

She peered around the doorjamb at her darkened apartment. Luckily, she was a lover of nightlights, so she could see a little. . enough to know a hulking dark form blocked her path to the front door. She’d hoped she could grab Grosset and make a break for it. She’d had quite enough of fight or flight during the last few days, thank you very much. This time around she was choosing flight.

The large form turned and ambled toward her room. Oh, no.

Sarafina turned quickly, her back pressed against the wall of the bedroom and her hands clenched on the baseball bat. Her breath came fast and hard and her nerve endings were electrified with terror. Grosset had his nose buried under his paws, seemingly as nervous as she was. God, she hoped he wouldn’t bark.

What was that smell, by the way? It smelled dry and sort of bitter. How odd. There was something about that kind of scent in the book, wasn’t there? She searched her memory, knowing she’d read something about a smell like that. Wasn’t it caused by. . Her whole body shook as realization took hold.

Daaeman magick.

Demons.

The intruder reached her doorway and she swung her bat high and hard, aiming for the man’s face. The trespasser simply grabbed her bat and swung her instead. She slammed into the doorjamb with a crack of blinding pain. She collapsed on her ass, stunned for a moment.

Grosset went ten different kinds of Pomeranian wild at the man’s feet.

“Vae Sarafina. It is good to see you.”