West Coast Witch (21 page)

I didn't want this to get messy. I'd seen how vampires could fight last night. Teresa
had been fast and tough. I didn't want to see what two cornered vampires, who knew
what was coming, could do in this situation.

“Hey,” I said, taking a step forward in between the two groups. “Rico, Julia, we just
want to see her, and take her home. You really want this to get nasty? It can get
nasty. You're outnumbered five to two, and we all mean business. Cut your losses,
and let us take Becca home.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
Julia was about to protest, but Rico stopped her. “Easy. Fine, we'll play it like
that.” He said. “Take the girl. She's in the bedroom.” He gestured to a door on the
far side of the living room.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Jackson nodded to me. “Eric, take Amy and go get her. We'll stay out here with these
two.” He had his eyes locked on Rico, a predator's glare. I looked back to Amy, and
nodded. The two of us walked to the bedroom door, and I opened it up.

Becca, or who I could only assume was Becca, was lying on the bed. She was a pretty
girl, a very pretty one. She had dark hair, just with enough curls for it to be wavy
in an alluring way. Even sleeping, she had a grace to her, feminine and powerful.
She wore a silk robe, loosely tied, leaving her neck and breasts exposed. There were
marks on them, bites like the one I had on my neck.

I walked to the side of the bed and crouched over it. “Becca? Rebbecca Young?”

The woman stirred. “That's my name...” She murmured, rolling a little on the bed.
Her voice was a soft purr, almost luxurious in its pleasure.

“Becca, I'm Eric, and this is Amy.” I gestured to my guardian, standing at the foot
of the bed.”

“We are here to take you home.” Amy said. “Do you know where you are?”

Becca shook her head. “All I remember are the two vampires, and feeling really good.”
A little sloppy grin crossed her features.

“It is the Bliss.” Amy looked up to me. “Come on, you grab her right arm, I will grab
her left.” We both moved to pick her up, but a crash came from outside the bedroom.
“Eric, go check it out. I'll take care of Becca.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
I ran out of the door, only to find that the tension had broken. The melee was just
beginning, but already Robby was on the ground, holding a bloody face. Rico and Jackson
were in a grapple, and Julia and Tyler were taking swipes at each other. “Oh, Jesus
Christ.” I rolled my eyes.

There was no safe way to get Becca out of here now. I certainly didn't want to fight
my way out right now, especially with a loopy werewolf in tow. But at the moment,
there seemed to be little choice in the matter.

I drew the pistol, chambered a round, and fired it into the kitchen. “Everyone, stop!”
I yelled. I think the gun must have made their decision to shut up and stop. I don't
believe I'm that scary. “I don't care if you're undead, a werewolf, werebear, or freaking
Tinkerbell. I'll shoot the next one of you who punches someone else.”

They all looked at me, almost in disbelief. “Shit,” Jackson growled, and he reached
down to help Robby up.

“Who hit first?” I asked.

“They did,” Tyler said almost immediately.

“Only because they went for our supply.” Julia hissed. “You just wanted the girl.
Didn't know you were here on official gang business to raid our place.”

Maybe I had misjudged Jackson. Here I thought he was just doing this out of the kindness
of his heart. But he saw the Bliss, and he made a move on it. A little voice in my
head told me this was what I got for dealing with criminals.

“Jackson, you're not touching the drugs. I don't care, really, but you said we were
just here for Becca. If I find out you lied to me, I'll hex you.” I had no idea if
I could hex someone, or to what extent that could work. It sounded like a good threat,
though, and Jackson flinched just for a moment.

Amy came out of the bedroom, helping Becca along. The female were had an arm over
Amy's shoulders, and my guardian had a look of displeasure on her face. “The things
I do..” She murmured.

“All right, everyone. We're leaving now. I am not going to-”

I was cut off by the growl of a dog. No, not a dog, a wolf. Robby was no longer on
the floor. Instead, on top of a pile of clothes, there was a big, gray wolf. It had
its fangs bared, and was already looking to pounce.

“Where's Robby?” I whispered.

“That is Robby.” Amy's voice was quiet, fearful. “No, no..” The large wolf pounced,
lunging at Rico. Chaos broke out. In a matter of seconds, the wolf had taken a hunk
of flesh from Rico's side, and Julia was on the wolf, pulling it away from the male
vampire. They went crashing into the kitchen, sending things flying everywhere. One
of them, a water bottle, came flying straight at me.

I didn't have time to duck. Instead, I got hit in the face by the liquid it had in
it. It was flora, sweet. I didn't realize until it was too late I'd gotten hit by
Bliss.

My senses went into overload, and my vision went black. The first thing I remembered
was that everything seemed just more acute. The growls of Robby's wolf, the sounds
of the fight. Amy was shaking me, but it seemed to be like an earthquake. “Eric, Eric,
snap out of it. Snap out of it. I need your help, Eric.”

Slowly, though, my senses started to fade. Eventually, I was left in just a wonderful,
hazy state. Nothing seemed to matter. Not the fight going on outside my head, not
that we needed to get out of there. The only thing that mattered was just how peaceful
I felt, and that I didn't want it to end.

I couldn't tell how long I was out of it. The next thing I honestly remembered, I
was in a bed. I was in a bedroom, with the lights on. The bed was a large one, obviously
made for a couple. I certainly didn't recognize the decor, though. It was homely,
the type of bed where someone puts way too many pillows on it. I never understood
that.

My vision was hazy at first, but slowly started to clear up. There was only one other
person in the room, and they looked to be sitting on the bed.

“You smell funny, Mister.” It was a kid, a girl. I studied her for a moment. She was
a cute kid, maybe about four or five, with auburn hair hanging messily around her
shoulders. Her green eyes were alive with energy. She looked back towards the door
and yelled. “Daaaad, he's awake!”

I forced myself to sit up. The ringing in my head didn't agree with it, but I forced
that particular sensation away from the front. “Dad? Who's your dad, kid?”

“That'd be me.” Jackson stood in the door way, leaning on the frame. “Hey, Eric. I
see you're at least awake. That's surprising, with how much Bliss you got hit by.”

“Uh, how much?” I asked him.

The little girl hopped off the bed, hustling to her father's side. He scooped her
up with one hand. “Give me a moment. I don't want to discuss business in front of
the kid.” He left the room.

I rubbed at my forehead with a hand, trying to ease the ache. I started to wonder
where Amy was. The reasonable part of me guessed that someone had been hurt in the
fight, and she was attending to them. All that, hopefully, happened to me was I got
a hit of a drug. It had looked like a real brawl was starting when I had passed out.

Jackson was back in a moment. He wasn't wearing the leather and jeans any more. Instead,
he was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, with an unbuttoned flannel shirt covering
that. “Your friend Amy really proved herself. She got both you and Becca out of the
apartment. How, I have no clue. But once you were both out, Tyler carried you out
to the street before the cops showed up. Cops don't usually go to the Covens, but
we couldn't take the chance.”

“How much Bliss?” I murmured.

“You know how a cotton swab is supposed to be enough to get you high and give you
the wildest night of your life?” He asked. I nodded, remembering that Saturday morning
class vaguely. “You got hit with enough to start an orgy.”

“How the heck am I not dead?”

“Amy explained it as your metabolism.” He said. “I mean, you should have been out
for a day, but it's only been a few hours. Lucky you.”

“Yea, lucky me.” I murmured. “You've got a cute kid there.” I said.

“Yea, Abby's a grace. She's got my nose, and she's been asking about what you are
ever since I brought you here.”

I furrowed my brow. “You didn't tell her?”

“No, man.” He said. “I considered what would happen if it got out that you were a
witch. I'm not a bad guy here, Eric. The last thing I'd want to put on a man is a
witch hunt.”

“Thanks, I guess.” I said, and slowly started to pick myself up off the bed. “So where's
Amy?”

“She's in the living room. She's been looking after Becca. She says she's going to
have a bad case of withdrawal from the Bliss, but that's about it.”

“What about Tyler and Robby?”

“Robby, for that little shift, is going to get a very severe...talking to. We don't
shift like that in public. Robby pulled something equivalent to waving around an assault
rifle in the middle of a street.”

“Great,” I deadpanned. “Glad to know that's at least turning out well.” I stood up
on the floor. My boots were next to the bed, and I tugged them on.

“Yea, thanks to you guys.” Jackson said. “Seriously, I owe you one.”

I paused a moment, wondering if I should say it. It needed to be said, however, at
least to me. I walked right up to Jackson, and found myself looking up just a little
to him. “Jackson, the Bliss. Were you expecting to find it there?”

“We knew they were dealers. It would logically follow they had some in their lair.”

“And you went for it. You said it was just for Becca, and you made me look like a
liar when you guys went for the Bliss after I said we just wanted her.” I looked right
into his eyes. “Were you there to get the Bliss too?”

He didn't flinch, or pause. “It was considered a secondary objective.”

That was what I needed to know. As nice as Jackson might seem, he was a dangerous
man. Were politics were not something I wanted to get involved with. I had to be careful
about how I called in my favor with Jackson.

“Lie to me like that again,” I whispered. “And you'll find that I'm not as good a
friend. And I am a guy you want to keep as a friend.”

“I'll keep that in mind, Eric.” He said. Jackson didn't bat an eye. I guessed that
was a gift of his, or maybe weres in general.

We walked out into the living room. Amy and Becca were on the couch, with Becca now
dressed in sweats, shivering and feverish. Abby, and a woman with matching auburn
hair, who I could only guess was Abby's mother, sat on the couch. Amy looked up to
me, and smiled. “I am glad you are awake. It seems only one of you got the bad end
of the Bliss.”

“Small favors,” I remarked.

Abby's mother spoke. “Yes, and I have to thank the both of you for bringing Becca
back.”

“We were just trying to do some good.” I said, and I extended my hand to her. “I'm
Eric Carpenter.”

“I'm Patty, Jackson's wife.” She shook my hand. Where Jackson was large and burly,
every bit of Patty seemed small. She looked almost fragile, but I knew from those
green eyes that she was anything but. They had the same vivid liveliness that her
daughter had.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Miller.” I said.

“Oh, Patty, please. So, you don't have any of the tattoos...You came back from the
Bliss quick for a human.”

“Yea, well, I've got the metabolism of a crazy man.” I said, dismissing it.

“How are you feeling, Eric?” Amy asked me.

“Uh, as good as can be, I think.” I said. “We'll see once we get out of here and back
to work on the Coolidge case.”

“What was your next move?” Amy asked.

“Uh, I'll tell you when we get in the car.”

Patty offered a little smile. “Before you two go, you should take something to eat.
I need to tire this one out anyways, so she can help. Do you two like PB&J? It's about
the only thing we have the stuff for right now.”

“What is...” Amy furrowed her brow. “PB&J?”

“This is disgusting.” Amy remarked as we piled into her jeep.

“Don't knock it until you've tried it.” I said. “This was what I grew up on. Hell,
this is what a ton of kids grow up on.”

She shook her head, and took her sandwich out of the bag. Amy took a dainty bite.
“It is...not bad.”

I had already taken a large bite of it. “Not bad? It's freaking great.”

She sighed. “You have not had great food until you have gone to Italy or France.”

“Yea, well, my vacations growing up were typically down to Disneyworld.” I said. “Europe
was definitely not on our budget.”