Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) (7 page)

“I cannot
imagine the horror you endured.” He seemed relieved I had not run scared.

“I had to live
far too long in a nightmare, Anwyn. And that was just the tip of the horrors.
After torturing us with sex and pain he starved the vampires knowing we needed
blood to heal. He let us loose on other victims… innocent victims…so we tore
them apart with our need to feed. He fed us powerful aphrodisiacs droving us
wild with lust and heightening the need for blood. I do not know if he used
spells or potions, but we lost control of ourselves. And he loved to watch
every minute of our crazed blood and sex filled feedings. His cold, cruel and
insane customers loved it too. They brought victims to us and watched us rape
and kill them while they got off on the feeding frenzy.”

His voice filled
with anguish and remorse. I wanted to hold him, console him, let him cry on my
shoulder, but honestly we weren’t that close…yet, and this kind of intimacy
only occurred between people much closer than we were at this point. I was
shocked and appalled by the things he told me. Thinking about what he had been
forced to do made my stomach twist. No wonder people thought him capable of
killing all the women recently murdered. In the past he had done much worse.
Been forced to do it, but the truth of his past wouldn’t matter in the eyes of
the law.

“Anwyn, the
things I have done in the past have made me not trust myself. I could not
control myself back then. I was a killer. Now the women I have been close to,
women I drank from… are dead…again. I thought the nightmare was over.” He
stopped, his gaze meeting mine and locking. “I killed my sire. I destroyed that
son of a bitch to set us all free. Now I am the only one left. The others, the
rest of his victims, killed themselves or had to be put out of their misery.
Perhaps I should be, too.”

Tears poured
from his green eyes. Intimacy issues be damned. I stood up and put my arms
around him. He stiffened at my touch as spirals of power connected and tore
through me, through us both. Thank Goddess I didn’t receive any images from
him. Instead, I received power and yearning, an immense power made him a
survivor and an intense yearning to be normal. He shivered before his strong
arms wrapped around me. His firm embrace tightened. In his arms it felt like home.

“Anwyn, you
cannot get close to me.”

He struggled
with his emotions, with his fear, it settled inside me.

“I could be…a
killer. I am a killer,” he rasped, his fight with himself apparent.

I tried my best
at reassurance. “I know you suffered through horrible circumstances, but you
did not make the choice to be a killer. It was forced upon you. And now you
would never make the choice willingly. Someone wants you to doubt yourself, but
I know in my heart you did not kill those women. I know with my power you are
innocent of these crimes.”

He pulled away
from me slightly and looked intensely into my eyes. Before I could respond his
mouth covered mine.

Power spiked
between us like nothing I had ever experienced before. Better than anything
those poor women in my visions had felt from their killer. Goddess, is this
what it’s like to be with a vampire?

His full, warm,
sinfully delicious lips...hmm tasted like a mochaccino latte.

I melted into
his fire, ready to let the flames of desire consume me. I was such a goner.

Suddenly, he let
go of me, like the floor disappeared beneath me and I’d been dropped. I
stumbled from the sudden change. His arms no longer wrapped around me and his
lips no longer on mine, left me cold without him. The expression on his face
looked even colder.

“I am sorry,
Anwyn, I should not have kissed you. I must ask you to leave now.” He folded
within himself and shut down. The electricity vanished. The warm man who had
just poured out his painful history to me now drew it all back inside a cold
vampire shell.

What could I
say?

Nothing.

I turned and
left, running down the stairs and out the front door of VAMP.

Chapter 7

I kept running
down Saginaw Street. Didn’t pay attention to where I was going. Tears
threatened to fall, but I sucked them in.

Finally, when I
looked around, realization hit, I’d rushed down by the river heading into the
park. Thoughts of Galen consumed me.

I was so
screwed. Before, I was just seriously crushing on Galen, now he had me wrapped
around his little finger and it had nothing to do with vampire mind tricks.

No, that kiss
awakened something inside I’d never felt before. A power rush had whipped
through me like a bolt of electricity. Like my soul ripped wide open and lay
bare, but no one knew it except me… and maybe him.

Galen really
stirred me. Heat, passion, lust…other things. He made me feel at home, like I
walked into a safe and familiar place. All within one kiss. Something slept
deep inside me, and he brought it to life.

Then, he kicked
me to the curb.

This sucked bad
and totally not in a sexy vampire way.

I had never
belonged anywhere. Not normal enough to hang out with humans and I wasn’t
powerful enough or scary enough to chill with the monsters. I even felt left
out with my mother and grandmother. They were both so powerful. Magick spilled
from them without effort. We all kept waiting for my magick to manifest, still
waiting, but my gifts all seemed to be more defensive than offensive.

I saw spirits,
sensed spells, and knew what things were, what kind of magick was used. I could
even remain immune to vampire charms and fairy glamour. Yet, I had no power I
could use outwardly. I couldn’t twitch my finger and send things flying like my
grandma. Nor did I disappear or walk through walls like my mom. And I sure as
hell didn’t spell up a storm like my mother could back in the day. And when I
say spell up a storm I wasn’t being euphemistic, no, the witch could actually
spell a storm into existence.

Pretty sure I
disappointed them. Maybe it was just my imagination because they always told me
how proud of me they were. Well, Grams did, Mom…not so much. She never said
much of anything.

I didn’t fit
with Grams and Mom, like I was missing something important. Galen made me feel
warm and welcome. As if he touched my soul. Like he and I were a match. Two
parts of a whole. Meant to be. That disturbed me. Especially after what he told
me. I knew people…and vampires could overcome their history but seriously…he
had one hell of a messed up history to get over.

His past made me
wary. I didn’t believe for one second any responsibility for the recent deaths
of all those women in Flint fell on Galen, but with his past, there had to be
some residual serious issues. Major baggage. But the feelings rolling through
my body did not want me to be wary of him or his past. They wanted me naked in
his arms. Something I would gladly do. Hell, I would have done it right then
and there in the little apartment above VAMP if he hadn’t tossed me out the
door.

Ever since we
had met at my best friend Melanie’s party six months ago I tip-toed around
Galen, avoiding him as much as possible while wanting to be with him ever so
badly. Strange feelings of connection to a vampire kinda spooked me. Yet, when
we connected, the air vibrated with magick. And I didn’t mean only the
physical. Serious magick soared between us.

It wasn’t just
wondrous magick energy holding us either. Galen made me feel special, like I
mattered, in that you are important to me no matter what way. Which made no
sense considering we barely knew each other, but I felt it, special energy
between us.

More than what
my own family gave me. My mother checked out of the sane world when my father
got killed and grandma tried so hard to take care of me the best she could. My
mother became so high maintenance most of Gram’s attention went to her. I was
left to fend for myself.

Now there was
Galen. So much, in so little time. And, the murders and his connection to them,
this was so not good.

My heart tore in
two directions, but I would not turn him in. I couldn’t. Knowledge was my
power, instinct my tool and weapon. I had to trust my gifts, but I also had a
job to do. I needed to figure out how to use the information I learned without
putting Galen in harm’s way. His past could be enough to execute him, yet it
also held the key to the recent killings.

The new laws and
tolerance of “Others” had given vampires and Others more rights but with
Galen’s past and his connection to the murders…it would surely mean an almost
instant execution. Vampires were too strong and tricky to be locked up. Once
they went rogue they were killed. Too many times the police had tried to take
powerful beings like vampires or weres into custody and got themselves hurt or
killed. One night a couple years ago several rogue vamps were arrested, then
they went on a killing rampage and wiped out the entire police force. The
Hunters had to be called in to take care of the case.

I would not let
them hurt Galen.

Damn, I wanted
him so bad it ate away at me, tormenting me. Why did he have to decide that
pushing me away was a good thing?

I walked back
down Saginaw Street past VAMP and to my car still parked at the P.I.T. Crew
station. I decided no matter how hard he pushed me away I was going to have
him. I would save Galen from himself and the police by catching the real
murderer. Then Galen would be mine and I didn’t give a warlock’s butt crack
about his past. All I cared about was the future.

Eventually, I
would probably get hurt, but the thrill of the pursuit would be exhilarating…
or excruciating. Who was I kidding, it was definitely going to be excruciating.

Chapter 8

I decided to
visit my mom and gram. After my rough day I needed a little comfort. Mom would
not offer much but at least being in my childhood home surrounded by familiar
things might make me feel better. If Gram wasn’t too busy with Mom she would
sit down and chat with me. I prayed she was baking, her cookies were amazing.

I left the city
and hit 69 to I-75 north to the Pierson Road exit and headed toward Flushing.
My mother and grandmother lived in one of the quaint Victorians on the
outskirts of downtown Flushing. The city had once been beautiful. An idealic
setting for growing up had my life not been plagued with so much drama and
unease. I called Flushing storybookland because it was so picturesque. I
created stories of how perfect my life would have been if my dad had not died
during the Hysteria and my mom hadn’t withdrawn from the world.

At least I had
Grams. She was a wonderful, sweet, caring woman, and she always tried so hard
to take good care of me. But, Mom was Grams’ baby, her only baby and taking
care of Mom was Grams’ number one priority. I was a good kid, didn’t get into
trouble so I didn’t seem to need much care. Looking back I often wondered if
maybe I should have caused more of a ruckus from time to time. Maybe Grams
would have paid more attention to me.

I shouldn’t be
so bitter, a lot of kids were worse off than I had been. I just wished I had
more of a normal childhood without the magick and the knowing things and the
constant vampire…I don’t know what to call it, racism maybe. The hatred of
vampires was constantly pushed at me, pounded into my head. The warnings echoed
over and over until I grew sick of them.

I supposed my
interest in Galen was part of me being rebellious, like the silly rich white
girls who dated black guys just to piss off their racist daddies. Maybe I
wanted to date a vampire just to get Mom and Grandma’s attention. Sure I was a
little old to be rebellious. I should have done it in my teens. But hey what
could I say, just like with everything else I was a late bloomer.

I bounced in the
back door off the kitchen and was met by the tiniest goat I had ever seen and
the most heavenly aroma my stomach could imagine—ginger cookies. My favorite.
And they smelled hot and fresh from the oven.

The little goat
bounced around at my feet and butted my shin with his little head. I reached
down to scratch him behind his nubby little horns as I yelled, “Gram those
smell delicious. Have you frosted them yet?”

I scooped the
little goat into my arms and headed toward the kitchen. He gave a little “eep”
noise of content as he snuggled against me.

“Doing that
right now, Wynnie. I knew you were coming so I made your favorite.” She always
knew when I decided to drop by.

I smiled as she
stood with her back to me hovering over the huge island in the middle of the
fully remodeled old kitchen. It had all the modern updates, but it was done in
a style complementing the old Victorian architecture with a fancy paneled
refrigerator hiding among the cupboards and new appliances reflecting the old
era. It even contained an authentic punched tin pie cabinet which came with the
house when my mom and dad purchased it decades ago.

Most of the
updates happened when I was a teenager though the appliances were brand new.
When I was little we used authentically old appliances which sometimes didn’t
work and the refrigerator had been an awful brown color. The damn thing made
more noise than a car with no muffler and it was the first thing replaced.