Page 6 of Vampire's Vixen

“All right, all right. Yes, he was married. They were arguing, or so he told me. We started seeing each other and he kept promising he was going to leave her. Then, after two years, last week he broke up with me and told me he’s going to work on his marriage. He must have told her, or she found out somehow, because, last week, I found my car keyed. And now she’s telling everybody in our mutual friend group that I’m a whore.” Cara leaned forward, grimacing. “I suppose you don’t want to read for me now?”

I let out a sigh, trying to keep my judgmental side under control. “Cara, I’m not going to kick you out. I’ll read the cards for you, but you have to be upfront with me. Okay?”

Cara side-eyed the door but stayed seated. “Okay. I still think she keyed my car, and I’m worried that she might be targeting me now, because I found a package in the mailbox yesterday that had this in it.” She opened her purse and brought out a plastic bag. Inside was what I immediately recognized as a charm. As she lifted it out, I shuddered. The energy around the thing was angry—and dangerous.

“Set it on the table,” I said.

As she did, I leaned in for a closer look. I had no intention of touching the thing until I knew what it was for. The charm was a pair of crossed sticks, wound together by some yarn in the center. A string hung off the center, with several beads on them, along with a pewter charm of a mask. The smell reminded me of spice and tobacco and pepper. Hmm…protective herbs. But there was nothing that felt protective about this.

I slowly held my hand over it and closed my eyes. There, under the fragrance of the herbs, there was another scent that seemed familiar to me. I inhaled deeply, focusing on the layers of fragrance. And then, I knew why it smelled so familiar.

“This has War Oil in it.”

“What’s that mean?” Cara asked.

“Used in this way, War Oil will attract negative things and entities to you. It can be used to protect, or to go after someone. It all depends on the other aspects of the charm.” I began to sift through the layers of the charm and began to see just how powerful the witch was who created the talisman. “Is Mary witchblood?”

“No,” Cara said. “She’s like me…we’re human.” She gave me a Bambi look. Deer-in-the-headlights afraid. Despite her no-nonsense demeanor, Cara was scared out of her wits.

“Whoever sent you this is a powerful witch. Leave this with me—you don’t want it around, anyway. I’ll see if I can find out who made it and maybe I can trace it back to who sent it to you. Meanwhile, you might want to apologize. I don’t guarantee it will help, but it’s not going to hurt.” I returned to the reading. There were so many threads here that it was hard to read.

“You’re bound up in chaos right now,” I continued. “The situation is so muddled that I don’t know how you can expect to sort it out without getting away from both your boyfriend and Mary. You need a period of time where you can gain some clarity, and you absolutely have to let her calm down. I don’t know if she hired the witch to make this charm, but she’s angry at you to the point of where I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“She should be mad at him,” Cara mumbled. “He’s the one who stepped out on her.”

“I agree,” I said, noticing the surprised eyebrow lift. “But the question also must be asked: did you know he was married? If so, you’re also part to blame.”

The last of her sullen look drained away and she just looked sad and lost. “Not at first. He told me they were separated. I found out about four months in that he was still married. By then, I was in love.”

“You’re really lonely, aren’t you? And this relationship hasn’t given you what you need.”

She shrugged. “You never get everything you want. But you’re right. I’m lonely. I guess I never really believed he would leave her for me, like he said he would. But hope can blind you. And it was nice to have someone to love me.”

“I’m sorry to say this, but do you really believe that he loves you? If he really did want to make a life with you, he’d be divorced and with you. From what I see here, he’s a selfish man, and he wants it all—his wife and his lover. And he’s too cowardly to make a choice.” Sometimes, it took the truth to really get through to someone.

Tears started to trickle down her cheeks. “What am I going to do? I’ve wasted two years on him, and we humans don’t live nearly as long as those of you who are Otherkin. And now, she’s angry at me, and some witch is hexing me, and…” She leaned forward, burying her face in her hands. “I don’t know what to do, Maisy.”

I let out a long sigh. “You want my advice?”

She nodded, peeking out from behind her hands. Her mascara was running, and the pain in her eyes hit me hard. Failed love always hurt to see.

“Here’s what you do. First, you tell him you’re done and don’t give him a chance to argue. Second, you apologize to Mary. Third, we’ll try to figure out who’s hexing you and put a stop to it. I’ll need a few days, probably. Can you take some time off of work?”

Cara shrugged. “I think I can. I’ve got a couple weeks coming.”

“Then I want you to take a week, and I want you to go to Seattle, or some other place with plenty of people around. Book a hotel, go visit museums, explore the city. Treat yourself to dinner. Take a friend—not a guy, unless he’s gay—with you, and relax. You need to breathe for a little bit. You’re too close to this.”

I folded the cards. “Meanwhile, I’ll see what I can find out about this charm. I advise your friend drive. I think being away from this charm may help protect you, but I don’t know for sure. Make certain to leave me your number so I can get hold of you, if I need to.”

Cara straightened. “All right. What do I owe you?”

I took her card and ran it, then—as she headed for the door—I lightly placed my hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be all right. In a while, this will be a blip in your life.”

“You think so?” she asked, glancing at me.

“I do,” I said, wishing I felt as confident as I sounded.

CHAPTER FOUR

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