Page 12 of Of Fate & Forbidden Desire

“What are you doing here?” I grumble at her, wanting nothing more than to fall into the double bed that she’s currently lounging on, “Get your shoes off my bed,” I snapped at her, glaring at the offending knee high black boots.

“And where have you been?” she asked, raising one of her perfect eyebrows in an arch above one of her blue eyes and drawing in a deep breath, “ah, you smell like sex, so does this mean you've got that human out of your system?” she asked, grinning up at me.

“Witch,” I retorted on my way to the ensuite bathroom, slamming the door a little too hard behind me, hoping she'd get the message that I wanted to be alone. I hadn't been expecting Charleene's scent to still be affecting me so much, however Tilly's thinly veiled humour made rage pour through me.How dare she make light of such a special person.My mind agreed.

“How have you gotten mixed up with a Witch?!” Tilly called through the door.

Ignoring her I turned the tap and got the shower running, how indeed had I gotten involved with a damn witch? And how hadn't she known what I was? I'd been asking myself those two questions since leaving Charleene's house and was still no closer to an answer.

Just thinking of Charleene brought a flush to my cheeks as I remembered our time together and my thighs clenched as steam slowly filled the small room. Last night was amazing, I'dnever known how different a woman's body would feel compared to a man's. Charleene had been soft and her tongue had known exactly where to play to make me moan. She also hadn't rushed; where most men seemed to be in a race to finish, Charleene had drawn out each moment of pleasure.

“Adrina?!” Tilly shouted as her fist reigned down against the door, rattling it on its hinges.

“I'm not in the mood Tilly, so leave me alone.” I called back, rolling my eyes at her antics. I knew why she was so concerned, if Charleene was truly a witch then there was no way we’d ever be allowed to be together. Even casual dalliances between species were severely frowned upon by the High Council.

“Fine, grumpy pants, I'll leave you be for now but tonight I will have answers.” She threatened, before I heard the soft thump of my hotel door closing behind her. Wiping a thick line through the steam on the mirror I met my usual frowning gaze and wondered what the heck I was going to do? A relationship with a human was hard enough, one with a witch was going to be impossible, however I couldn't stop myself from thinking of her. Quickly stripping out of my clothes, I stepped under the warm water and washed away last night. Once clean and dry, I flopped onto the bed without getting dressed and fell into a fitful sleep.

A loud thumping at the door, forced me awake for the second time that day, leaving me feeling grumpier than normal as I left Charleene in my dreams. Opening my eyes, a little of my ire left me, as the dim light of evening peeked in around the heavy curtains and I remembered my promise to meet Charleene tomorrow. I’d woken earlier from tortured dreams of the life I would have had, if it hadn’t been stolen by a man with hundreds of broken promises and when checking my phone for the ungodly time I’d found a message from an unknown number. Clicking on it had taken me longer than it should have but once I’d read her short message my heart had soared.

More thumping came from the door, dragging me back to the present as I wondered sourly,What now?before tossing back the thick quilt and hunting for something to wear in the small wardrobe the hotelprovided for its guests. Finally dressed in another black shirt and skin tight black jeans, I threw the door open, revealing a frowning Tilly with her clenched fist in the air, clearly ready for another round of pounding. “What?” I grumbled at her in an almost growl.

“What? What?!” She demanded striding into my room and pinning me with a piercing glare, “This morning you come back from your night of…fun” she finally said finding the word she wanted, “and dropped the bombshell that the woman you’d bedded was in fact a witch, before kicking me out.” Tilly was incredulous and I understood why, I was edging into dangerous territory. However it seemed that when it came to Charleene I wasn’t entirely my usual rational self.

“Yes, she’s a witch, big deal.” I threw back at her, slamming the door shut, ready for whatever fight was coming.

“Big Deal?” she threw back at me raising one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows in question, “Do you even hear yourself Adrina?” Tilly stomped over to my unmade bed before spinning back round to face me, “if she is a witch, nothing further can happen between you both. You know our laws better than anyone, and what happens when one of us breaks them.” Her voice dropped some of its anger by the end of her speech.

“Of course I know our laws Tilly, I’ve spent the last century enforcing them, but—”

“There are no buts Adrina, you must leave the witchling alone.” Her words made my heart squeeze painfully at the thought of having to never see her again. “We need to inform the York Coven so that they can bring her into their fold.”

“What?” I almost shouted at her, “she clearly doesn’t know what she is Tilly,” I protested trying to protect Charleene, from what I wasn’t too sure, but the overwhelming need to keep her from harm crashed through me.

“And what? You’re going to be the one to tell her, train her?” Tilly’s questions brought me up short, making me think rationally, and realise I probably wasn’t the best person. “The York Coven is better equipped to deal with a wild grown witch, we are not.”

I knew she was right, it would be best for the both of us if I never saw her again, but the thought of hurting Charleene didn’t feel right. “At least let me say goodbye?” I asked, defeated.

“Fine but you need to feed before you go anywhere near her again.”

Nodding my agreement, I sank onto the hard chair near the small desk and asked my next question, “What about the rogue?”

“Seems to have gone to ground with his latest victim.” Tilly said drearily as she followed suit and perched on the edge of my bed. “If they follow their usual pattern, we’ll have a couple of nights before another human is taken.”

“Then I’ll take tonight to feed and say goodbye to Charleene tomorrow evening.” I said, falling in line like the good soldier I’d always been since the London Coven had taken me in. Finding the rogue vamp before they killed again had to be our priority, too many innocents had already died.

“Good, I’m going to check in with some of my contacts in the city, hopefully they’ll have heard something new.” Tilly muttered dejectedly. She was fuming that whoever this vamp was, they’d managed to out manoeuvre us for so long and I completely agreed with her. We hadn’t had this much trouble finding one vamp in our centuries of working together.

Before my thoughts could turn to Charleene again, I bid Tilly goodnight and grabbed my favourite coat from its hook. The hotel key card was still in my pocket from this morning, so leaving her to close up, I stomped off down the hotel corridor. Using my vampiric speed I was out in the darkening night ready to begin my hunt in a matter of seconds. Being a vampire certainly had its perks, I thought turning to my left and merging with the throng of humans. The crowds thinned as I walked unsuspectingly to the nearest archway out of the city walls and breathed a sigh of relief as I picked up my pace, eager to find someone I could use to satisfy my bloodthirst.

I’d only been searching for a few minutes in one of the less reputable areas belonging to York, when I crossed the sickly sweet scent of burning drugs. Following it like a bloodhound, and bingo. He stood at the end of a dark alley, with nostreet lamps, towering over two skinny children with messy hair and dark shadows lining their eyes. They barely looked old enough to be roaming the streets, let alone being drug addicts already.Such a waste,I thought sadly to myself as I stalked closer down the alley. My hackles rose when I heard his threatening voice, pushing them into handing over cash for the life-draining drugs in his hand.

“Come on,” he purred down at them, “you know you need what I’m giving.” Sneering, I made sure my feet made no sound on the litter strewn floor. The youngsters eyes widened as they spied me first, raising my finger to my lips. I gestured for them to be quiet before tapping the thug's shoulder with my right hand. “Just a minute,” he grumbled without taking his eyes off the kids.

“But I’m desperate,” I fake whined, already enjoying the hunt that would come soon.

“I have enough for everyone, Sweetheart,” he answered smugly and finally glanced at me over his shoulder. His glazed eyes flowed over my body, noting the tight clothing I wore and my short stature as his attention switched from the two kids to fix firmly on myself and I smiled up at him.

“Oh, that’s a relief,” I gasped, taking a step back. I needed the kids to leave before my fun could truly begin. Other than the laws set by the Vampire Council, I had my own which kept my humanity in place and protecting the young was very high up on that list. “Why don’t you kids get out of here,” I prompted them, flashing the thug another coy smile as he stepped towards me.

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