Page 40 of Dark Desire
“The oldest record of any witch who has ever lived was 843 years old. She’d be nearly triple that age. What if she is Darcelle Raine? What if she was presumed dead after that fire but actually went off the radar because she is in fact a time traveller?”
“A time traveller?” Luka baulked. I stared at Leif as my heart started racing. Something was telling me, as far-fetched as this seemed, it might have some merit. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking. I wanted to believe that there had to be another possibility. “Do they even exist?”
Leif shrugged. “Witches can manipulate time. It’s a very rare gift and a dangerous one. I’ve never heard of someone with the power to jump back centuries, but it makes sense. The camera. The photographs. The fact that she doesn’t seem to have aged.”
“So hang on,” Luka lifted his hands to still us both. “You are saying she could have travelled from present day to the night our family were attacked and saved Zoran by turning him into a raven?”
“It’s possible,” Leif shrugged, glancing towards me. I felt my throat constricting as my breathing became ragged. Could it really be possible? She hadn’t been a slayer? She hadn’t been there as someone who intended my family harm? “We can speculate all we want, but the only person who has the answers is her. Let me guess,” Leif gave me a little side-smirk. “You flew out of there before asking her what the hell all of this was?”
I grabbed the back of my neck and stared up at the sky. “She’s…passed out.”
“Because…” Leif eyed me suspiciously. “You gave her the sleeping potion?”
I shook my head. “No. I–er–fucked her and drank from her. It makes non-vampires pass out.”
“Some vampires, too,” Luka added with a smug smile. “I’ve fucked your sister enough times until she passes out to know.”
Leif held his hand up and closed his eyes. “I know I don’t normally say this, but too much fucking information.” Leif yawned again, stepping towards me and shoving the pictures into my hands. “I’m going back to bed. Want my advice, Z-dog? And I’m saying this from a place of love. Get your head out of your ass and ask the goddamn witch some goddamn questions. If you don’t trust what she might say, give her the truth serum and you’ll have no doubt.”
“You’re right,” I grumbled. “I thought I knew what the fuck happened that night, but I have no idea who this woman is. I need answers.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Leif chuckled, shaking his head. “And I thought wolves were hot-headed. You demons are something else.”
Before he lifted his hand to disappear, I remembered the branding tattoo. “Wait! Luka, do you still have that picture of the fae’s flesh tattoo?”
He stepped forward, pulling out his phone to find the photo before handing it to me. I showed it to Leif. “She has one too. On her shoulder. Do you know what it is?”
Leif took the phone, zooming in on the image. He shook his head. “No, but it does seem oddly familiar. I feel like I have seen this symbol somewhere before, but I can’t remember where. Maybe on the cover of a book?”
“Can you find out for me?”
He placed his hand on my shoulder and shook me a little. “Or…you could ask her yourself. Remember that thing I told you to do? Ask people questions about themselves. It’s rather useful.”
“Alright, cocky twat,” I grumbled, passing the phone back to Luka. “You can go back to bed now. Thanks for coming.”
“Anytime,” he winked. “But preferably between sunrise and sunset. Come on, hot demon no. 2. I’ll take you back to my sister.”
Luka grabbed my shoulders. “Keep us updated, yeah?”
I nodded and they both disappeared, leaving me standing in a field with a fried fucking brain, not knowing what the hell to think. But there was only one way to find out.
Chapter Fourteen
Ishould have expected it. I mean, why would he hang around for me to make pancakes in the morning or spoon me through the night? I bet he’d be an exceptional big spoon. But no. He was gone. Prince Charming couldn’t even wait until sunrise to leg it out the door.
Glancing at the floor to check he hadn’t fallen out of bed in his sleep, I found it empty. No sign of his clothes, either. Maybe I’d dreamed the entire thing. Except I was pretty sure the human-sized hole in my wall and the smashed shards of glass from the broken window were clear signs I didn’t.
I sat up, pressing my hand to my neck to feel the bite marks and dried blood as I stared out the window into the black night. The cold wind lashed at my naked body, and I shivered. The guy couldn’t even throw a blanket over me before he left? He may be a six-foot-six, deep-voiced dreamboat with an impressively talented cock, but he had appalling manners.
If the strange aching in my chest from his absence wasn’t unsettling enough, the soreness and stickiness between my legs were there to remind me of him, too. Urgh. Just wonderful.Hobbling to the shower, I turned it on and stood under the scolding water with my eyes closed. Well, I suppose I should look at the silver lining of tonight. I was still alive. He didn’t kill me. I was starting to think he never actually would. He seemed to be struggling with it, but I couldn’t understand why. Did he feel this weird connection between us, too? I raked my hands through my wet hair as I tried to understand what the hell happened tonight. It was incredible sex, I’ll give him that, but I felt…different. Had he rearranged my brain chemistry as well as my insides? Because I felt like crying over the fact he wasn’t here. It felt like the ultimate rejection, which I never normally felt after a one-night stand. I craved him, but I also wanted to…know him? Drop to my knees and beg him not to kill me so we could run off into the sunset together and make lots of red-haired, green-eyed babies? Oh, sweet Jesus. I had truly lost the plot. What the hell was wrong with me? The psycho gives me one great fuck and I’m suddenly planning our wedding.
Turning off the shower, I dried myself off and pulled on leggings, boots and my coat. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, so I might as well try to summon the raven again, or if that still fails, perhaps I’d try my luck with The Underworld. Slinging my bag of magical contents over my shoulder, I made my way out of the church and up the narrow, crystal-lined pathway, which reminded me, how had he got into my church to attack me earlier with my wards in place? Was I losing my touch? Was that why I couldn’t find the raven?
It was a chilly but clear night and the wooded area at the back of my church felt alive with activity. I smiled at the owl watching me pass by with its sharp, unnerving gaze and saluted the fox that dashed across my path and into the undergrowth. I loved the forest at night, especially the nocturnal animals. It felt like I was entering their world for a while and leaving my own.
Finding the perfect space, I knelt on the forest floor and arranged my candles, crystals and scriptures. I no longer had the ancient spell book that once belonged to the St Wythren witches, but I could remember enough of the Underworld spell to hopefully make it work. Closing my eyes, I focused on calling to the raven first, reopening the wounds on my hands and thrusting them into the earth. After three attempts, I gave up, panting as I hunched over and pressed my forehead to the ground.
I took a few minutes to catch my breath before sitting up to look at the bright moon between the thick canopies. This was it. The riskiest dark magic I’ll ever use and probably my final act in this life, but if it meant freeing that demon from his raven form, I knew it would be an act I’d be proud of. I licked my lips and inhaled a deep breath before holding the rare crystal of Payrenion in the palm of my hand, smothering it with my blood. This crystal would not only enhance my abilities but also thin the veil of the in-between, allowing the dead to hear my call.
